Frequently Asked Questions
49 answers covering pricing, turnaround, file formats, quality, confidentiality and how to start. If yours is not here, email us or send a message through the contact form and a person will answer, usually within a few hours.
No credit card, no sign-up, no minimum order.
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Eight categories. Pick the one closest to what you are trying to find out.
Getting Started
What happens before you have sent anything.
How do I get started?
Send three images through the free trial with a note on the look you need. They come back edited within 24 hours along with a quote for the rest of your set. There is no credit card, no sign-up and no obligation to continue.
Is the free trial really free?
Yes. Three images are edited to your brief at no cost, with no card details taken and nothing to cancel afterwards. It exists so you can judge the work rather than the sales pitch. The trial is limited to three images per account.
What should I send for the trial?
The hardest files you have, not the easiest. Hair against a busy background, glass, lace, a patterned surface, a difficult colour. An easy image tells you nothing about whether a studio can handle your catalogue.
Is there a minimum order?
No. A single image is a normal order. There is no minimum quantity, no contract and no monthly commitment, and clients who send thousands a week are on the same terms.
How do I send you my images?
Our upload portal, Dropbox, Google Drive or WeTransfer. For recurring volume we connect directly to your FTP server so hand-off and delivery happen without anyone doing it manually.
Do I need an account?
Not to try. An account is created when you submit the trial so you can track the job, message us and download the finished files, but you do not need to register before sending anything.
Services & Capability
What we do, and what we do not.
What services do you offer?
Clipping paths, image masking, background removal, eCommerce and marketplace editing, ghost mannequin and neck joint, apparel retouching, jewellery retouching, colour change and product variants, portrait and headshot retouching, newborn editing, real estate and HDR work, sky replacement, furniture editing, photo restoration and general enhancement.
What is ghost mannequin, or neck joint, service?
The mannequin is removed from a garment photograph and the interior of the collar, cuffs and hem is composited back in from a second frame, so the clothing keeps a three-dimensional worn shape on a white background with nothing visibly propping it up.
When do I need image masking instead of a clipping path?
A clipping path is a hard vector outline, so it works on a solid edge and fails on anything soft or see-through. Hair, fur, lace, mesh, smoke and glass need masking, which stores partial transparency per pixel so the edge survives on a new background.
Can you handle very large volumes?
Yes. Capacity runs to 8,000 images a day across more than eighty retouchers, so a full seasonal catalogue is routine. For large projects we agree a delivery timeline upfront and meet it.
Do you use AI or automatic tools?
No. Every image is edited by hand in Photoshop. Automatic background removal and generative fill are what produce the halos on hair, the hard edges on soft materials and the invented detail that this studio exists to avoid.
What if the service I need is not listed?
Send the images and describe what you need. Custom editing is normal work here, and we will confirm whether it is feasible and what it costs before starting rather than turning it away for not having a line on the price list.
Can you combine several services in one order?
Yes, and most clients do — a clipping path with colour correction and a shadow, for example. Combined work is quoted as a bundle, which costs less than ordering the same steps separately.
Do you serve clients worldwide?
Yes. We work with more than 200 brands across over seventy countries, and the studio runs around the clock across two sites, so time zones rarely matter to turnaround.
Pricing
How the numbers are arrived at.
How much does photo editing cost?
Rates are per image and start at $0.30 for a clipping path, $0.39 for standard eCommerce editing, $0.60 for image masking, $2.00 for jewellery and portrait retouching and $3.00 for real estate work. Every rate is confirmed against your actual files before work begins.
What does "starting from" mean?
It is the base rate for an image of standard complexity. More intricate work — more paths, finer edges, heavier retouching — costs more, and we tell you the exact figure in a written quote before any work starts. You are never billed above the rate you approved.
What is the starting price for a basic clipping path?
A basic clipping path is $0.30 an image. That covers a single closed outline with no interior holes — a book, a box, a phone. Medium, complex and super-complex paths are priced above it by how intricate the outline is.
How much does jewellery retouching cost?
Jewellery retouching starts at $2.00 an image. It is the highest-detail product category we handle, covering dust and scratch removal, metallic lustre, stone sharpening and rebuilt reflection shadows.
How much does apparel photo editing cost?
Apparel work starts at $0.39 for background removal, $0.50 for colour correction, $0.80 for fabric clean-up and $0.99 for a full ghost mannequin composite. Most clients order these as a bundle.
How much does colour change cost?
Colour change and product variants start at $0.99 an image. A full colourway range is generated from one photograph, which is almost always cheaper than sampling and reshooting each colour.
Do you offer discounts for bulk orders?
Yes. Orders of 10 images or more qualify for discounted pricing, and orders above 100 images for up to 50% off list. Volume rates are quoted against a sample from your set and then fixed for the whole order.
Are there any hidden fees?
No. Revisions, quality control, file conversion and FTP delivery are all included in the listed rate. Tax is added at invoicing only where your location requires it, and it appears as a separate line.
Will the price change on repeat orders?
No, provided the work is the same. Once a rate is agreed for a product type it holds for later batches of that type. If the brief changes — a new background, extra sizes, a harder product — we requote before starting.
Turnaround & Delivery
When work comes back, and in what shape.
What is your typical turnaround time?
Standard turnaround is 24 hours for most services, and 24 to 48 hours for high-end retouching, restoration and large batches. Because production runs around the clock, work sent at the end of your day is usually finished by the start of the next.
Do you offer rush or same-day editing?
Yes, for an additional fee, when a deadline cannot move. Tell us the deadline when you send the files and we will confirm whether it is achievable before you commit.
How are finished files delivered?
By download link as standard, or written straight to your FTP server for recurring volume. Files are named and foldered to your own convention, which is usually what makes a bulk delivery actually usable.
Can you follow our file naming convention?
Yes. Tell us the naming pattern and folder structure your gallery, PIM or client system expects and every delivery follows it.
Is customer support available 24/7?
Yes. Support runs 24 hours a day across the Singapore and Dhaka offices, and messages are typically answered within minutes rather than the next business day.
Quality & Revisions
How the standard is held, and what happens when it is not.
How do you ensure quality?
Three things: your standard is written up as a style guide for the account, a named retoucher works your batches to it, and a second editor checks every file against the brief and against the rest of the batch before delivery. The process is ISO-certified, which means it is documented and audited rather than assumed.
Do you offer unlimited revisions?
Yes, on every order and however many rounds it takes, at no extra cost. Revisions are part of the price rather than an upsell, because a file you cannot use is not a delivery.
What if I am still not happy after revisions?
A money-back guarantee applies. If revisions do not resolve the issue we would rather refund the order than argue about it.
Can you match my existing catalogue style?
Yes, and it is the most common request from brands with existing imagery. Send examples of what you already have and the contrast, colour, background and crop treatment are recorded as a written style guide, then applied to everything that follows.
Will a repeat order match the first one?
Yes. Your style guide stays on the account and the same retoucher handles your repeat work, so the fifth batch matches the first even months later.
Files & Formats
What we accept and what you get back.
What file formats do you accept?
JPEG, PNG, TIFF, PSD and RAW from any camera. Scanned prints for restoration are accepted as JPEG or TIFF — scan at the highest resolution you can, because restoration quality is limited by what the scan captured.
Do you edit RAW files?
Yes, and we prefer it. A RAW file holds far more recoverable highlight and shadow data than an exported JPEG, so white balance, exposure recovery and grading all happen with the full file intact.
What formats do you deliver?
JPEG, PNG with transparency, TIFF and layered PSD, in whatever combination you need, at the dimensions each platform requires. Print work is supplied CMYK-ready alongside the web set.
Can I get layered PSD files?
Yes, on request. A flattened file is standard and the layered PSD can come with it, so your own team can adjust the retouch later without coming back to us.
Can you deliver multiple sizes of the same image?
Yes. Send one master and the list of platforms, and every size comes back in one delivery with sharpening applied per output size rather than one setting across all of them.
Privacy & Security
What happens to your files.
How do you protect client privacy?
All client work is confidential by default. Files are stored securely, deleted on request, and never used in our portfolio or marketing without written permission. Unreleased campaigns and pre-season ranges are handled under NDA as a matter of course.
Will you sign an NDA?
Yes, on request and before any files are sent. Buying houses, agencies and brands working on unreleased ranges do this routinely.
Can I work under my own brand?
Yes. Everything is white label by default: files come back unbranded and unmarked, so photographers and agencies deliver them to their own clients as their own work. Your client never sees us.
Will my images appear in your portfolio?
Not without your written permission. That is also why some of our largest accounts do not appear on the portfolio page at all.
Company & Payment
Who you are dealing with, and how you pay.
When was Pixel Retouching founded?
In 2014. It started as a small clipping path team and now runs more than eighty retouchers, with over three million images processed.
Where are you based?
The head office is at 182 Cecil Street, #31-01 Frasers Tower, Singapore 069547, and the production floor is at House 39, Road 19, Block A, Avenue 2, Mirpur-11, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh. Client management runs from Singapore; the retouching is done in Dhaka.
How many clients do you work with?
More than 200 brands across over seventy countries, ranging from single-person marketplace sellers to national retailers, studios and agencies.
What does ISO certification actually mean here?
That the quality process is documented and audited rather than left to individual habit: a written style guide per account, a named retoucher, and a second editor checking every file. That is what lets eighty people produce one consistent standard.
What payment methods do you accept?
PayPal, credit and debit cards, and bank transfer. An invoice is issued for every order, and payment is due on the next working day after invoicing. Standing accounts are usually billed weekly or monthly.
How do I order paid work rather than a trial?
Email [email protected] with a few sample images and roughly how many you have, or send the same through the contact form. We review the samples, send a written quote, and work starts once you approve it.
Can I visit the studio?
Yes. The Dhaka floor in Mirpur-11 is a working studio rather than a sales office, and local clients are welcome to come and see the team before sending work.
Ask a Person Instead
Support runs 24 hours a day across Singapore and Dhaka, and replies usually come within minutes rather than the next working day.
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