Photo retouching involves techniques to enhance appearance of a digital image. There is generally a routine sequence to image editing. Working on what is typically an RGB copy, image noise and artifacts are removed before adjusting contrast. This prevents accentuation of undesirable pixels. Blemishes and red eyes are edited in portraits. Then focal points in the foreground and background can be emphasized or subdued. At times, portions of several images are combined. Sometimes during a photo session, a single group shot may not include all the best expressions. Merging eyes, smiles, or entire heads may be necessary.
- Color mode change
- Noise reduction
- Artifact reduction
- Shadow and highlight balancing
- Blemish reduction
- Red eye removal
- Sharpening details
- Background blurring
- Removing undesirable objects
- Merging photos
- Cropping and resizing
- Final sharpening and color mode
Important details in some professional photos are sometimes lost when scaling to a much smaller size. Customers may request that detail be simulated to achieve similar appearance at the new size.