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Some social media images you see posted on Twitter or Facebook look absolutely amazing. They’re captivating, compelling, and inspiring. Others, though? They could use a bit of help! If that post is associated with your company, you may be wondering if you need professional photography to improve image quality and create a polished look.

Social media images abound these days, some good, some bad, some ugly! But when it represents your company, you want it to look fantastic. Aside from only posting professional photography to your accounts, though, is there something you can do in terms of editing to clean things up a bit? Absolutely! Take a look.

7 Tips for Editing Social Media Images

1. Dump the Filters: It seems that filters are the single most important addition to social media of the last decade, but for your brand images, it's really best to leave them out. They degrade the image quality and create effects that you could do better on your own in photo editing software.
2. Shoot RAW: Many people import their images as JPG files. Stop it. RAW files contain unprocessed, full data images. If you're going to do some editing, it's really best to work with this file format over any other, as it means additional flexibility.
3. Always Have a Backup: If you're going to edit an image, make sure you edit a copy of that image instead of the original. You may go too far while you're editing, or you may simply want to start over. You can't always do that unless you have a backup copy of that file.
4. Software Choices: There are lots of software choices available today from Lightroom to Photoshop to cheaper (and free) options you can download to your phone. It's not essential that you have the more expensive software option. Pre-installed smartphone image editing software is as fine as those editors that come with your PC or laptop. Unless you're planning a professional photography career, you just need a basic editor.
5. Dial It Back: Whether you're editing contrast, warmth, or any other aspect, you'll have the option of how far you want to go. Many make the mistake of pushing that slider all the way to 100%. Stop. Go a little ways forward, then a little more, stopping to evaluate as much as possible. Remember, you're looking for gentle image improvement, not an unnatural photo that should never appear in your social media stream.
6. The Proper Order: The most effective edits have a bit of a science to them. Start with contrast, then move to brightness. From there, work with shadows, ambiance, details, and finally structure.
7. Fresh Eyes: Make sure to run your edited photos past a fresh pair of eyes (or more!) to evaluate quality and effect.

Ready to learn more about how the right social media images can enhance your company's brand? Contact THAT Agency today! And don't forget to download our free social media ROI calculator so you can keep an eye on how your social media efforts are performing: