Photography business · Workflow
Photo editing time calculator.
Turn photos shot and minutes per edit into hours, cost and the turnaround time you can promise.
Inputs
Result
Enter your numbers.
How this is calculated
Culling hours = photos shot x seconds per photo / 3,600. Editing hours = photos delivered x minutes per photo / 60. Add the two for total post-production time, then divide by the editing hours you work per day for turnaround.
Worked example. 800 photos shot and 400 delivered. Culling at 3 seconds each: 800 x 3 / 3,600 = 0.7 hours. Editing at 1.5 minutes each: 400 x 1.5 / 60 = 10.0 hours. Total: 10.7 hours. At $35 an hour that is $373.33, and at 5 editing hours a day it is 2.1 working days. Time one real batch of your own to replace the guess for minutes per photo.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to edit a wedding?
It depends on your workflow, the number of photos and how heavily you edit, so there is no single figure. Time a sample batch of 20 photos, divide by 20, and enter that as minutes per photo.
What is a keep rate?
Photos delivered divided by photos shot, as a percent. Tracking it over several shoots shows how many frames you usually cull.
Does batch editing change the minutes per photo?
Yes. Syncing settings across a batch lowers the average, so use an average over the whole shoot, not the time for one hero image.
Should I quote turnaround in working days?
Yes, and add buffer for other bookings. The working-days figure assumes only editing hours you set per day.
Sources
Checked
No published standard sets editing times, so this page cites none. Every figure is arithmetic on the numbers you enter.
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Estimate
Estimate based on the numbers you enter. It is not financial, tax or legal advice.