The influence of AI in improving the visuals of e-commerce sites isn’t an upcoming phenomenon anymore, rather, a very present one. Even so, a significant number of photo editing jobs AI can’t replace continue to challenge this.
Let me be very clear – the question here is not about creating the photo from scratch, but about editing and retouching what was already there.
You can have high hopes for quality results when you create images with AI. But when it comes to flawed image editing, you can’t be completely confident with AI.
And so some jobs are still reluctant to let go of human editors. Stay tuned for this article. Here, we will go into detail about 5 of the most critical ones, which are still worth hiring manual editors for.
1. High-end Jewelry Retouching
If it were just ‘retouching’, there would be nothing else to talk about here. The word ‘high-end’ has basically added to the whole gravity here.
When you’re trying to make your jewelry reflect like real, it also raises a demand for taking its views from multiple angles into account. But AI cannot go far enough to do this care like you.
| You may be able to remove 100% of the stubborn dirt on a metal surface, but you can’t guarantee that the AI will be able to recognize the fingerprints on it the way you can. |
And what about fixing up the uneven elements of your precious gemstone? When you see it take on a strange shape, you’ll find that AI isn’t smart enough to understand what the symmetrical nature is.
And so here you will miss the human touch because even though it is time-consuming, it will give you reliable quality.
2. Complex Apparel Ghost Mannequin
If apparel photo editing was all about just removing the background, AI would be enough to handle e-commerce platforms. Automated tools these days are even good at removing mannequins.
But the thing is, it leaves your clothing photo flat – no natural folds, no 3D look. You can somehow achieve the floating look. But just think how awkward it would look without the natural drapes?
Now add 360 degree views to it. Regardless of what type of AI tools you use, it won’t take long to get overwhelmed. You can’t expect image editing for every angle view from something that has trouble taking care of the front view only.
On the other hand, if you leave this heavy lifting to professional invisible mannequin editors, they will ensure symmetrical alignment as well as clean up all blemishes and wrinkles left after dummy removal.
3. Texture and Color Correction
The biggest reason why manual retouching is still relevant is the ability of retouchers to grasp brand recognition.
| If you show AI a few images that represent a brand, it can take colors and design types from all of those in its memory. But the problem is that when it comes time to show the results accordingly, it cannot outperform human professionals all the way. |
When correcting a product’s material, an editor focuses on how it would be in the real world. But AI can’t grasp why the product has to match its real version, instead, what it does is polish it.
What happens is that the craftsmanship becomes too polished, resulting in the product losing its originality. This artificiality also extends to colors.
If it’s very basic, it’s not a problem. But in the case of gradients or when trying to restore a poor shade, the AI goes astray.
4. Typography Editing
By far the biggest weakness of AI is the melting text. This typography is the area where retouchers easily outsmart AI.
| If you ask AI to create such an image out of nowhere, you can’t be sure that it will listen to you without any wrong improvisation. Let alone fix the already flawed text image. |
Even for symbols that are often close to letters, AI cannot help but give poor results. We gave our logos with minor flaws to AI to fix, and we felt sorry for this.
You can try at most online image editors that have the scope to work manually. But don’t blindly leave your photo assets at the mercy of AI image generators.
This is why professional e-commerce sellers these days rely on manual editing for their volume projects.
5. Bulk Photo Fixing
If the editing pressure is on a couple of images or a maximum of 7-8, then you can give AI a place above human editors. You can spend hours on AI to fix a few such images for your own learning.
But the reality is – even very narrow product categories demand a nonstop supply of photos, and like other eCommerce businessmen, you constantly feel it as well.
No one can confidently say that out of 100 images, AI did not make a mistake in 25-32 or 56-64 images. Unfortunately, this is true even for very basic-level editing.
What more? You didn’t do any editing inside the images, and you left them as they are. All you are up to is modifying their size. For this, a few years-old photo resizers come in handy more than AI image generators you find nowadays.
If you want to avoid going through the stress of trying many things for your large project, you would better turn to seasoned human image editors.
Frequently Asked Questions About Photo Editing Jobs AI Can’t Replace
1. Which photo edits are unlikely to make mistakes for AI?
You can get good results from AI when doing a very basic level of photo work like removing background, adding simple shadows, or getting rid of simple dust. Unless you have a quite fat photo asset, you will rarely have AI flaws here.
2. What kinds of mistakes does AI make in e-commerce product photos?
The most common errors you’ll see in AI-generated images are as follows:
- Unrealistic elements
- Incorrect lighting and reflections
- Distorted text
3. Which online photo editors are best for getting enough flexibility in editing?
The best photo editors across the internet are Canva, Pixlr, Adobe Express, and Photopea, where you can freely drag-and-drop to do your necessary editing.
4. Can I upload AI-generated product photos to eCommerce platforms?
No, this will put you at risk of being rejected by that particular eCommerce platform. Because the images you get from AI mostly do not match the real version of the product.
5. What things should I keep in mind when resorting to human photo editing?
You need to look for whether they are capable of doing the things you want them to do in your photos. Besides, also find out how long it may take them to give you quality results. These two combined can tell you if it would be profitable to hire them instead of using AI.
Wrapping Up
E-commerce sellers now opt for bringing the real look of their products in the images by all means. And this uncompromising attitude toward the quality is what makes the above photo editing jobs AI can’t replace even more relevant.
The point is – how much you maintain your image quality is way more important than whether you use AI or not.
Most brand owners are opting for a hybrid process of both AI and manual, with a large portion of it being manual. If you want to follow their lead, now is the time to hire a skilled image editor to fix AI errors.
Here, introducing Retouching Zone, who have been providing this service with unmatched expertise. Check out this free trial now to see how quickly they get your product photos ready for upload.
