Use Multiple Images to Bring Your Vision to Life

In photo retouching, compositing means retouching the best parts of multiple images into one seamless final photo. Sometimes it’s difficult for a photographer to capture everything in a single frame—expression, product detail, drape, or shape—so a retoucher pulls the strongest elements from other shots and retouches them together for a more impactful image.

Plates are extra photos a photographer captures specifically for retouching and compositing. When it’s hard to capture every detail perfectly in a single frame, the photographer will shoot separate plates to achieve sharper focus, cleaner lighting, or to capture tricky elements like reflections or liquid drips. VisionOns retouchers use those plates to create a seamless final image.

Yes. You can send retouching markups or visual examples showing how you want plates edited into the composite. Most often, the photographer sends selected plates with notes based on what was discussed on set. For more complex imagery, direction typically comes from the Art Director as a marked-up PDF/JPEG or PSD.

There’s no set number. An image can require as little as one plate (like a simple head swap) or many more, depending on what you’re trying to achieve. We often composite several plates, and we’ve retouched images with 20+ plates when the details, lighting, or elements are complex.

Compositing costs vary with complexity—number of plates, required masking/blending precision, level of art direction, and any additional retouching after the composite has been built. A simple swap is typically quick; multi-plate composites take more time. Share your plates and a reference/markup, and we’ll provide a quote for retouching per image.