Freelance Photo Retoucher

chefman; United States; Remote; USD 33,000 - 34,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote freelance work

International applicants welcome

Paid trial possible

Job summary

chefman is seeking a freelance Photoshop retoucher to create convincing product and lifestyle imagery. You’ll work from assets and references to composite product renders into lifestyle scenes and AI backgrounds, matching lighting, color, and texture while preserving design details.

Responsibilities include adjusting lighting, creating shadows, and refining interactions. Experience with AI-assisted compositing and hands-on Photoshop work is required; remote work is available with international

Qualifications

• Strong Photoshop retouching, masking, precise selections, and nondestructive compositing skills.
• Solid understanding of light and creating plausible reflections, highlights, and shadows from references or visual judgment.
• Practical experience generating or editing realistic image elements with AI tools, then refining them in Photoshop.
• Careful preservation of product shape, branding, controls, components, and material colors; replace AI-generated product elements with approved assets when needed.
• Ability to handle routine technical corrections independently, communicate clearly, and respond quickly to feedback.

Responsibilities

• Work from layered Photoshop files, project assets, visual references, and creative direction.
• Composite product photography or renders into lifestyle scenes and AI-generated backgrounds.
• Match perspective, scale, color, texture, sharpness, and depth of field across image elements.
• Adjust lighting and create realistic shadows, highlights, and reflections so the product fits naturally into its surroundings.
• Retouch or replace hands when needed, maintaining believable anatomy, skin texture, grip, scale, and interaction.
• Find and fix AI artifacts and other realism issues, then deliver organized, editable files with clearly named layers and adjustments.

Skills

Photoshop retouching

Masking

Precise selections

Nondestructive compositing

AI image tool use

Communication

Tools

Adobe Photoshop

AI image tools

Job description

Role overview

Create convincing product and lifestyle imagery by combining approved product assets with supplied scenes, references, and AI-generated elements. This freelance retouching work focuses on making every component look as though it belongs in one photograph while preserving the product’s original design and details.

Responsibilities

• Work from layered Photoshop files, project assets, visual references, and creative direction.
• Composite product photography or renders into lifestyle scenes and AI-generated backgrounds.
• Match perspective, scale, color, texture, sharpness, and depth of field across image elements.
• Adjust lighting and create realistic shadows, highlights, and reflections so the product fits naturally into its surroundings.
• Retouch or replace hands when needed, maintaining believable anatomy, skin texture, grip, scale, and interaction.
• Find and fix AI artifacts and other realism issues, then deliver organized, editable files with clearly named layers and adjustments.

Requirements

• Strong Photoshop retouching, masking, precise selections, and nondestructive compositing skills.
• A solid understanding of light and the ability to create plausible reflections, highlights, and shadows from references or visual judgment.
• Practical experience generating or editing realistic image elements with dedicated AI image tools, then refining them in Photoshop.
• Careful preservation of product shape, proportions, branding, controls, components, and material colors; replace AI-generated product elements with approved assets when needed.
• Ability to handle routine technical corrections independently, communicate clearly, and respond quickly to feedback.

Nice to have

• Experience retouching glass, chrome, stainless steel, glossy plastic, or matte surfaces.
• Before-and-after examples of product compositing, including AI-assisted work, and hand retouching.

Benefits and work setup

• Remote freelance work open to international applicants, with projects assigned as they arise and no fixed weekly commitment.
• Pay is approximately $24–$25 USD per hour, typically booked in eight-hour days. A paid practical trial may be part of selection.