Menu Close

Models

Whatever is there on the floor should be removed, be it stickers, dirt or hair

If the background is not isolated, it should be maintained clean and spotless. It should also be consistent and bear no banding or any other abrupt color shifts.

It depends on the store, but usually stretch marks are removed

Skin defects such as pimples, spots, blemishes, stretch marks, bruises, and moles have to be removed without blurring the skin texture more than necessary.

Palms, knees, elbows and heels should not be very dark, red or wrinkled. How perfectly they should be retouched depends on the particular store demands.

Models wear shoes they don't own when they work. Sizes may vary

Shoes should have a perfect fit, no matter if they are too small or too large for a model.

Hair should be tidy, no stray hairs or loose strands if it's not on purpose.

Removing labels is tricky but necessary

If a label is ought to be removed after purchase, it should be removed from the image as well.

Stitching will be removed after purchase anyway

Suits, jackets and coats sometimes have stitched sleeves, pockets and other parts of the garments. This stitching should be removed.

I painted the tape over with a normal brush, but I admit that wasn't easy

Sometimes shoes are taped during the shooting to protect the soles from scratching – this tape has to be removed. If it's time-consuming, more care and attention is expected from stylists or whoever tapes the shoes

If the left image is okay, you're probably not in a luxurious online store

Excess wrinkles and “bubbles” on clothes should be removed. However, the question how many wrinkles and how thoroughly they should be removed doesn't have a single answer. In some online stores the left image would be totally fine, while in others it would not be tolerated as too wrinkled.

It doesn't matter if you can see underwear seeing through a garment,or there's a bra strap out, retouch it.

If model’s underwear looks out of place, it should be removed.

Men's nipples are totally fine, which is just not fair. I wonder why it's the standard of the industry

Female nipples are usually removed.

I hope we will stop retouching armpits in a few years, just the way it happened with moles

Armpits should not be wrinkled and dark. Doesn't matter if it's natural or not, it's just another harsh standard of the industry

Blurring skin is the easiest way to retouch it. But it's totally obsolete and frowned upon nowadays

Skin should not be heavily blurred, overall or locally, especially locally.

Watch out for labels

No labels should be visible under clothes.

Liquifing symmetry-killing bulges is a must

If a pose is static, the garment is expected to look symmetrical

5 years ago you couldn't find an image like the one to the left online. Now it's more and more common that we don't turn people into plastic puppets

There's no single approach to plus size models retouching. Some online stores prefer a more natural look (to the left), while others go for flesh-cutting heavy-blurring retouching methods (to the right).

Next: Quality control process

Top

On this website, we use first or third-party tools that store small files (cookies) on your device. Cookies are normally used to allow the site to run properly (technical cookies), to generate navigation usage reports (statistics cookies) and to suitable advertise our services/products (profiling cookies). We can directly use technical cookies, but you have the right to choose whether or not to enable statistical and profiling cookies. Enabling these cookies, you help us to offer you a better experience. If you choose to disable cookies, you won’t be able to watch the embedded videos. Cookie policy