Editing
Software:
Post-processing software is a must for anyone starting out in Microstock. You don't need to buy the largest or most expensive software out there, but you need something. Photoshop Elements is a bargain at under $100.00. I have also listed some free software options on the Resources page. If you have never edited an image outside of the camera, it will take some time to learn the software. Don't get discouraged. The skills you learn with your editing software will be invaluable and translate to your personal photographs as well. Even the most beautiful images can be improved in the editing step prior to uploading to the agencies. Remember...you want to maximize your chances of having your image accepted at every agency you upload it to.
Processing:
How you process your images once they are out of the camera will be your decision and largely based upon your personal taste in photographic appeal. If you are new to editing images, you will want to experiment with the "one-click" fixes on your editing software. These are one step buttons that automatically adjust the color, light and contrast. In Photoshop, this is called the Smart Fix. The more you use your editing software, the more comfortable you will become with the different types of changes you can make to your images.
You will want to be careful not to over process your images. This is s common rejection reason for many Microstock agencies. You also want to check for noise and other imperfections in your image. Use your software to magnify your image to 100% and scan the entire image for noise and granularity. The approval inspectors at each agency will be doing this, so you should too.
Your editing software should have tools to reduce noise, but there are also inexpensive noise reduction programs available such as Noise Ninja and Neat Image.
One rule of thumb: Never work on your original image. Always make a duplicate of the image to work on while editing so that you are never in danger of changing or losing your original image. It is a very good idea to have back ups of all your Microstock images somewhere outside of your computer's hard drive, in case of a computer crash or a loss of data. External hard drives are very good for this purpose, and their prices have come down quite a bit lately.
Lastly, as you scan over your images for any imperfections and noise, you will aslo want to keep an eye out for any protected subjects as we discussed on the Shooting page. It is common to become so focused on cleaning up an image that you neglect to notice an obvious logo or license plate in the corner of the picture. If the protected subject is something that can be removed (ie a brand name or logo, as opposed to an entire building that may be protected) then use your editing software to remove the protected images before uploading.
Software:
Post-processing software is a must for anyone starting out in Microstock. You don't need to buy the largest or most expensive software out there, but you need something. Photoshop Elements is a bargain at under $100.00. I have also listed some free software options on the Resources page. If you have never edited an image outside of the camera, it will take some time to learn the software. Don't get discouraged. The skills you learn with your editing software will be invaluable and translate to your personal photographs as well. Even the most beautiful images can be improved in the editing step prior to uploading to the agencies. Remember...you want to maximize your chances of having your image accepted at every agency you upload it to.
Processing:
How you process your images once they are out of the camera will be your decision and largely based upon your personal taste in photographic appeal. If you are new to editing images, you will want to experiment with the "one-click" fixes on your editing software. These are one step buttons that automatically adjust the color, light and contrast. In Photoshop, this is called the Smart Fix. The more you use your editing software, the more comfortable you will become with the different types of changes you can make to your images.
You will want to be careful not to over process your images. This is s common rejection reason for many Microstock agencies. You also want to check for noise and other imperfections in your image. Use your software to magnify your image to 100% and scan the entire image for noise and granularity. The approval inspectors at each agency will be doing this, so you should too.
Your editing software should have tools to reduce noise, but there are also inexpensive noise reduction programs available such as Noise Ninja and Neat Image.
One rule of thumb: Never work on your original image. Always make a duplicate of the image to work on while editing so that you are never in danger of changing or losing your original image. It is a very good idea to have back ups of all your Microstock images somewhere outside of your computer's hard drive, in case of a computer crash or a loss of data. External hard drives are very good for this purpose, and their prices have come down quite a bit lately.
Lastly, as you scan over your images for any imperfections and noise, you will aslo want to keep an eye out for any protected subjects as we discussed on the Shooting page. It is common to become so focused on cleaning up an image that you neglect to notice an obvious logo or license plate in the corner of the picture. If the protected subject is something that can be removed (ie a brand name or logo, as opposed to an entire building that may be protected) then use your editing software to remove the protected images before uploading.