What is the Third Edit?
This is a question we get asked a lot of times by our clients. So what is meant by the "third edit?"
Most studios, including our own, goes through a image review three times following a shoot:
- First Edit: Review all of the images taken at an event, and begin the curating process. This means that "top shelf" images are selected and set aside in a separate folder. In our case, we keep all RAW images from a shoot, whether selected or not.
- Second Edit: Each image that was selected is individually examined for needed color adjustments and cropping. Those images are then placed in another folder, and then uploaded to the client's gallery for review and selection.
- Third Edit: This is commonly referred to by many studios as "retouch." The final selected images by the customer for print, or insertion into an album, are scrutinized. Perhaps blemish removal, artifacts that distract from the overall image, or additional color or application of "fine art" treatment. Sometimes, that final edit or retouch may take anywhere from several minutes, to an hour or more.
So if you see "Retouched" used on a photographer's quote, you now have a better idea what this represents.
