Photography & events
Photo Retouching Pricing Calculator
Prices retouching, where defining the standard is most of the quote.
Result
Overhead and margin are taken as shares of the selling price, which is why the cost is divided rather than multiplied. Adding 15% to cost does not produce a 15% margin. Gross profit is what is left after the cost of doing the job. Overhead comes out of that: the building, the office wages, the vans, insurance, software and advertising. A healthy gross margin still loses money if overhead is larger.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Time per image at the level of retouching required, times the image count, with the standard defined and revision rounds limited. Retouching spans from basic correction to extensive reconstruction, and the price difference between them is large enough that the level has to be specified rather than assumed.
What moves the number
- Level of retouching required.
- Time per image at that level.
- Image count and complexity.
- Revision rounds included.
Where this one goes wrong
A client asking for retouching may mean colour and blemish correction or may mean extensive reshaping and compositing, and those differ by a large multiple in time, which makes agreeing the standard with reference examples the single most useful step before quoting. Show examples. Revision rounds then have to be bounded, since subjective work invites iteration and an unlimited obligation on subjective work is the worst arrangement available.
Before you quote
- Agree the standard with reference examples before quoting.
- Limit revision rounds in writing.
- Price by level, not by a single per-image rate.
Questions
About this calculator
What does retouching include?
It depends entirely on the level agreed, which spans basic colour and blemish correction through to extensive reshaping and compositing. Those differ by a large multiple in time, which is why the standard has to be specified rather than assumed.
How should the standard be agreed?
With reference examples, since the words mean different things to different people. Showing what a given level looks like before quoting is the single most useful step and it prevents the dispute that otherwise follows delivery.
Why limit revisions on retouching?
Because the work is subjective and invites iteration. An unlimited revision obligation on subjective work is the worst arrangement available, and bounding it in writing protects both sides from an open-ended process.
The formula
price = direct cost / (1 - overhead% - margin%)
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How to use this calculator
- Labour cost ($). Burdened: wages plus tax, insurance and the vehicle, not the hourly wage.
- Materials cost ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $60.
- Other direct costs ($). Permits, disposal, equipment hire, subcontractors.
- Overhead rate (%). Overhead as a share of revenue. Work it out from last year's accounts.
- Target net margin (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 15%.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to price to quote, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Labour cost | $300 |
| Materials cost | $60 |
| Other direct costs | $0 |
| Overhead rate | 22% |
| Target net margin | 15% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Price to quote main result | $571.43 |
| Direct cost | $360 |
| Overhead recovered | $125.71 |
| Net profit | $85.71 |
| Gross margin | 37.0% |
| Markup on direct cost | 58.7% |
Quote $571.43 to cover $360 of direct cost, recover $125.71 of overhead and leave $85.71 of net profit. That is a 58.7% markup on cost.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only labour cost, this is what happens to price to quote. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Labour cost ($) | Price to quote |
|---|---|
| $150 | $333.33 |
| $225 | $452.38 |
| $300 example above | $571.43 |
| $450 | $809.52 |
| $600 | $1,048 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Labour cost ($)
- Burdened: wages plus tax, insurance and the vehicle, not the hourly wage.
- Materials cost ($)
- A money amount, starting at $60.
- Other direct costs ($)
- Permits, disposal, equipment hire, subcontractors.
- Overhead rate (%)
- Overhead as a share of revenue. Work it out from last year's accounts.
- Target net margin (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 80, starting at 15%.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Price to quote | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Direct cost | A money figure. |
| Overhead recovered | A money figure. |
| Net profit | A money figure. |
| Gross margin | A percentage. |
| Markup on direct cost | A percentage. |
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.