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Microstock Photography Forum - General => Microstock Services => Topic started by: f9photos on September 23, 2011, 05:57

Title: Online offshore retouching services
Post by: f9photos on September 23, 2011, 05:57
Hello all,
Does anybody have any experience using online service for image retouching (for example, clipping path making)?
Usually these are the offshore companies with production center in India or Bangladesh.

I am trying to find one for me to do object isolation for product shots.

Currently I live in India and several times got phone calls from several such companies (I have absolutely no Idea how the got my phone number).

So far I have contacted one of them - www.clippingpathindia.com (http://www.clippingpathindia.com), (I think they also made several phone calls to me before) and was really dissappointed. This is a small review of how they work with potential clients.

Despite the price of $0.39 for clipping path displayed on their website they quoted me "a little bit" higher price of $3.99. Also they have requested an advanced  payment (again, their website says that invoice is sent only after the client accepts the properly done job). I know very well that in India if you want the job done well do it yourself pay only after the job is finished so I could not agree to this condition.

Of course I have asked why the price is different - for that there was no answer.

But at least I got the answer for my second question "Why you want and advanced payment from me despite the fact that your website says different?" - an the answer was brilliant (I will quote it): "Yes you are right we accept payment after the job is done. But for you its different because you are from India" (though from my name and surname it is absolutely clear that I am not Indian)

So how am I supposed to trust such company that don't trust potential clients from the very beginning? Their attitute to a new client is absolutely unaccpetable and quite rude...

So I am still in search for good retouching offshore company with reasonable prices and good quality of work. I have contacted some other companies and still waiting for quote from them. The problem is that the prices displayed on their websites are "for illustrative purposes only" :) and real prices are higher.

Any suggestions are welcome.
Title: Re: Online offshore retouching services
Post by: Mantis on September 23, 2011, 17:19
Google works well.
Title: Re: Online offshore retouching services
Post by: f9photos on September 23, 2011, 23:38
really? I've never heard about such thing called "google"  :)

Yesterday I have sent some files for free trial to several services - so far only one has answered with quoted price for $1 for image clipping path.
Title: Re: Online offshore retouching services
Post by: RT on September 24, 2011, 06:24
I'd love to find a company that could do decent post editing from RAW files, as yet I've not found one with high enough quality for my needs.

I sent a couple to Indian companies to test their clipping paths, the results were pathetic, the clipping paths weren't drawn using the pen tool they were done using the magic wand and refine, that's not a clipping path it's a selection.

The really annoying thing in all of this is that, apart from iStock, all the microstock sites will quite happily accept a file with clipping path used in the description and keywords without actually checking whether it's a proper clipping path or one of these sub standard "magic wand paths"
Title: Re: Online offshore retouching services
Post by: gbalex on September 24, 2011, 13:23
I'd love to find a company that could do decent post editing from RAW files, as yet I've not found one with high enough quality for my needs.

I sent a couple to Indian companies to test their clipping paths, the results were pathetic, the clipping paths weren't drawn using the pen tool they were done using the magic wand and refine, that's not a clipping path it's a selection.

The really annoying thing in all of this is that, apart from iStock, all the microstock sites will quite happily accept a file with clipping path used in the description and keywords without actually checking whether it's a proper clipping path or one of these sub standard "magic wand paths"

Review results would be very different, if the sites paid reviewers more than a few cent per images to review files and then followed up to make sure that the reviewers were indeed accepting images with the buyers in mind.  However I suspect that the owners are simply more focused on download numbers. With the previous in mind I guess we can not blame the reviewers if they also focus on numbers instead of what we really need as buyers.  To top that off a large portion of photographers are hobbyist with no real experience working in production oriented graphic design fields. 
Title: Re: Online offshore retouching services
Post by: keyindiagraphics on November 17, 2011, 09:13
We at www.keyindiagraphics.com (http://www.keyindiagraphics.com) offer retouching and keywording services. With over 3000 photographers as clients, we dedicate a team for each photographer