My Top Tool for Fast Editing

When my business grew from 2 to 14 clients in one year, I knew there this year would require some fast editing on my part. In February, I got a wedding count for the year from all of my clients. April, September, and October were going to be pretty hectic, but nothing was going to compare to May.

You see, back in January, I booked a seat to attend a retreat AND scheduled a trip to the beach. It wasn’t exactly the smartest thing I’ve ever done, but this is the first year I’ve had more than 2 clients, so I didn’t know what to expect. When I found out I was scheduled to take on 24 catalogs in May alone, I warned my husband that I would be spending a lot of time in my office when we weren’t out of town.

My Busiest Month to Date

In the 3 years I’ve been in business, this past May was my busiest month I’ve ever had as a private photo editor. Despite the fact that I spent almost two full weeks out of town, I was able to edit all of the catalogs I received, which ended up being 17 weddings and 3 engagement sessions! That’s a grand total of 14,487 images (which doesn’t even include retouching work I do for the Kate Max Stock)!!

The best part was that I still delivered most of them within my 3-5 business day turnaround time, which means my client’s clients were still able to get their wedding catalogs back quickly even though I was out of town. Now that’s some fast editing!

So How Did I Do It?

Over the last few months, I have been getting a lot of questions asking how I am able to edit and turnaround catalogs so quickly, so today, I’m sharing my number one secret to how I’m able to do this! You ready? Here we go!

The Wacom Pen Tablet

My secret weapon is my Wacom pen tablet, and it has been a total game changer for my business! This tablet makes it SO easy to get through weddings quickly – I never work without it! I keep the pen in my writing hand and use it as a mouse. The other hand stays on my keyboard, where I use keyboard shortcut commands. You can use it whether you are right-handed OR left-handed! Yes lefties – this WILL work for you, and you can trust me on this because I’m a lefty myself!

One of my favorite features of the tablet is that it formats itself to the size of your screen. I get so annoyed with the computer mouse because on my iMac, I end up having to pick it up and set it back down over and over again just to get across my large screen. Since the tablet formats itself to whatever screen size you are working with, it allows you to move your mouse from corner to corner without having to pick it up and drag it over, which saves time! You can also click and right-click with your pen, so you never had to bother with that pesky mouse, again!

I’m going to be honest with you…

When I first got my tablet, I HATED it. I was used to editing with a mouse, and I had a difficult time converting to the tablet. It was difficult to maneuver and I gave up on it after 20 minutes or so. When I got a job in Oregon as a retoucher, I HAD to learn how to use my tablet. I can not tell you how glad I am that I was forced to give it another try. After working with it for an hour or so, I started getting the hang of it. Now, I hate using a computer without it! Although it takes some time to get used to, once you spend some time on it you won’t want to go back! I guarantee it!

If you’re convinced that you need a tablet, I’d recommend the Wacom Intuos Pro in size medium. This size works well whether you’re working on a 13-inch laptop or on a 27” iMac. Unless you’re using a dual monitor screens that are both very large, you won’t need a large tablet size. The small is fine, but if you’re using anything bigger than a laptop, you definitely want the medium.

So what are you waiting for? Get one of these tablets and speed up your editing exponentially! Trust me, this investment into your business will pay itself off in no time!

If You like This post, then you may also be interested in:

Master SEO With a Single WordPress Plugin

5 Things Nobody Tells You About Being a Small Business Owner

The Importance of Having a Workspace

Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. If you decide to purchase any of these resources, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. I only share products I love and fully support.