The early stages of a project are for getting aligned on our client's wants and needs. Oftentimes, a client will provide guidelines or goals that help us understand their exact expectations—this is awesome because it helps us help them. For example, we had a jewelry client who had a specific way they needed their gold to look—just think of how weird it would be if their golds looked different all over their website. They needed the golds and silvers to be cohesive and consistent. We identified this need early on and were able to deliver with flying colors. Pun intended.

Also, in the early stages, we employ our favorite strategy: the alignment round. This is where we get colors approved by the client in a smaller batch. Starting with a few images that encapsulate the full spectrum of colors within a project ensures that we can proceed with confidence and move full-steam ahead on the rest of the assets—without any surprises.

Our alignment rounds bring us to our next point: managing client expectations. Given the nuances of digital photography and screen calibration, it’s critical that our clients understand the display differences between their many screens and know how to evaluate photos properly. You may not have considered this, but colors show up differently depending on whether you’re viewing them on your smartphone, laptop, or at your office workstation. And that’s not even taking into account the time of day and lighting around you. We educate our clients on these differences and have them pinky-promise to look at their colors in an ideal setting: in the morning, in a work station that’s calibrated to industry standards, and without fluorescent or warm lighting. This best practice makes sure our clients can evaluate the colors accurately and effectively.

To ensure consistency, we have one person retouch a group of similar images. Why? Consider this: There are so many ways to accomplish the same task in tools like Photoshop. Having one person work on a group of images creates consistency because they can edit or fix the images in that group the same way. Now, if the client needs adjustments down the line, we don’t have to worry about fixing multiple colors as a result of different editing methods. Consistency, even when you’ve missed the mark, is better than 50 percent right.

At View, we actively build internal guidelines for each project. These guidelines are based on our general project standards, as well as project specifications and client requirements. Topics include ways to structure Photoshop files, how files are named, and types of layers and advanced retouching techniques used. These techniques are important, especially when we’re dealing with a time crunch in high-volume production. For example, if everyone used curves to change a color, that consistency would make it easier to seamlessly drag and drop the effect into the next file. Being thorough in our internal guidelines allows for efficiency and consistency in an effortless way across our diverse range of photography and image retouching projects.

Superheroes are real, and they’re our quality checkers. We ALWAYS account for quality control and have designated people to approve colors. On a typical project, there are between five to 20 retouchers, one to three quality controllers, and one person who has the final set of eyes on everything. This final person has the skills, talent, and eye required to make final calls and ensure quality throughout all the sets of images. Our quality checkers are our line of defense, fighting against retouching’s greatest enemy: inconsistency.