Retouch studios are an integral part of the entire marketing process. What the world would do without retouch studios? Companies would have to hire their own graphic designers to do the job. That’s how it has been years back by the way. Companies needing photo editing or graphic designers would hire graphic designer for their inhouse work. They would have to pay the employees an arm and a leg for their service. With the advancement of internet and introduction of offshore outsourcing, companies are now hiring offshore professional photo editing service providers to do the job at a fraction of a cost.
When did professional photo editing service outsourcing start?
We have to dig up some not so long history to find the exact date. The timeframe is around the time when internet started and communication with the developing countries became much easier. Without the use of internet, email, FTP, etc., there would be no way to deliver those files back and forth to get retouched. Internet made it not just easy but possible for companies to hire offshore professional photo editing service providers to do the job at a fraction of the cost.
If we were to do a safe guess about the timeframe, it would be sometimes in the mid 90s when internet started being widely used. People started getting familiar with emails and internet browsers. Files were being transferred using FTP protocol. It didn’t take long for opportunists to see the opportunity. People in the developing countries with certain skills saw the opportunity and embraced it. They started offering their professional and skilled services like professional photo editing services and other IT related service to developed countries.
How it is beneficial for companies to outsource to professional photo editing service providers?
It’s not only the people in the developing countries saw the opportunity to start an outsourcing business. Companies in the developed world also saw the opportunity. They are spending a lot of money to hire their own people for a specific job. It is now all of a sudden costing them a fraction resulting in a higher net profit.
After all, if a clothing company can hire a foreign outsourcing company to do the same job that is costing them higher, why in the world they would continue to pay more for the same job? It is bad business. Regardless of how patriotic is it to keep the job within the country and hire local employees, it is the profit margin at the end of the day that the business is shooting for. No business in their right state of mind will pay more for a job that they can do for less.
How the communication is done between the companies and retouch studios?
It is usually the email communication between parties. Since the company that outsource and the company that does the outsourcing work are two different corners of the globe, there is no physical or phone conversation. Most of the retouch studios are small in nature with English not being their native language. If a job is assigned, they can do the job. But in terms of communication, they prefer email to communicate with their clients.
There are some other companies however where the company owners live in the USA or Canada and runs the business form there. It is easier for companies to communicate to those companies as they offer phone support. Read this blog for more information on a professional retouch studio.
