How To Become A Photograph Retoucher: What It Is and Career Path

What is a photograph retoucher and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a photograph retoucher. For example, did you know that they make an average of $37.49 an hour? That's $77,972 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 11,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScorePhotograph RetoucherUS Average

Salary

6.1

Avg. Salary $77,972

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.5

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 7.06%

Black or African American 6.37%

Hispanic or Latino 15.35%

Unknown 5.70%

White 65.28%

Gender

female 45.27%

male 54.73%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

4.5

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

1.9

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a photograph retoucher

Explore photograph retoucher education requirements

Most common photograph retoucher degrees

Bachelor's

71.5 %

Associate

17.7 %

Master's

5.4 %

Start to develop specific photograph retoucher skills

Skills	Percentages
Product Photography	33.08%
Adobe Photoshop	21.38%
Portrait Photography	5.65%
Adobe Lightroom	4.96%
Art Direction	4.73%

Complete relevant photograph retoucher training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New photograph retouchers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a photograph retoucher based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real photograph retoucher resumes.

Research photograph retoucher duties and responsibilities

Work with Sony sales reps to achieve goals and account management.
Work on projects and build a customer base to increase traffic to the company's new website and Facebook page.
Create PowerPoint presentations and publication quality images using digital input devices, photo-editing and graphic arts software.
Earn commendations for excellence in journalism writing and photojournalism throughout career.

Prepare your photograph retoucher resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your photograph retoucher resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a photograph retoucher resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable photograph retoucher resume templates

Build a professional photograph retoucher resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your photograph retoucher resume.