Author: Rachelle Moore

When it comes to home staging, there is a specific style that designers follow. This is true, even if virtual staging is not the traditional home staging that involves physical furniture and fixtures.

Every realtor knows this, giving homeowners a new option to stage properties without spending much.

However, you need to know one thing: virtual staging still needs a theme of furniture style. It is an integral part that you should not overlook.

So, unless you are a professional interior designer, you need to have a working knowledge about the styles you can integrate into your virtual staging images.

Here are some of the best interior design styles you can check.

Classic Style

The classic interior design is inspired by the art of ancient Greece and Rome. It comes from the idea of classicism that originated in France in the 17th century.

This style has a long history, but it never goes out of fashion. It is mostly preferred by wealthy people and those who prefer age-old values ​​and traditions instead of modern style.

Among its key features are the following:

Color

Most classic furniture has dark and neutral colors such as mahogany and beige. If you want other colors, you can try cherry, hazelnut, gold, or black but make sure that it is complemented with the rest of the design.

Interior Light

It is common for the lighting to see crystal chandeliers, lamps with transparent stones, or expensive glass.

Usually, a chandelier is in the middle of the ceiling to give a more finished and striking look, together with other room’s fixtures.

Classic Furniture

Classical furniture is mostly made of precious woods garnered with expensive upholstery fabrics or natural leather.

Often, it is varnished to make it look more attractive. It is also common to see gold carvings as decorations. If you plan to use the classic style, you need to have a unique and artistic composition in mind so everything can be done harmoniously.

Contemporary Style

Contemporary, also known as the modern style, brings users a simple yet elegant design. It is mostly associated with minimalism, wherein “less is more” is the usual mantra.

Among its key features are the following:

• Clean lines and smooth surfaces without intricate details
• Metals and glass are often used for designs and furniture.
• Furniture and appliances are mostly metals with sleek designs.

Casual Style

You can easily distinguish a casual style by plainly looking in the interior. If you can sense that the space, comfort, and beauty of the area radiates casual elegance, it is indeed a casually styled house.

Many homeowners prefer it because it is virtually appealing, easy, and comfortable enough for the people living there to maintain.

Key features:

• The most common material used for furniture is a light wood, such as oak and pine.
• Fabrics and textiles are often textured.
• A casual home is universal with a simple and elegant design too.

Scandinavian Style

Scandinavian is inspired by the snow and mountains of the Nordic countries. The usual palettes used are minimalist with cozy accents and unique modern furniture.

The standard features of a Scandinavian style are the following:

• High contrast colors are visible.
• Always have fireplaces and uses warm wood tones.
• Neutral colors are standard such as white, blue, and yellow.

So, what do you think? Which style suits your taste better?

If you have not decided yet, it is best to evaluate your preferences and choose which one is perfect for your home.

In the real estate industry, photographers and editors matter.

Do you know why? Well, without them, your real estate images are dull and unappealing – something that you do not want to have as a realtor or property owner.

While it is right to treat photographers with the utmost respect, you should do the same with your photo editor. After all, they hold the key to those picture-perfect listing images that can give you the deal you are aiming for.

As real estate photo editors, they deal with different editing techniques to create stunning photos. One of these techniques is noise reduction.

But what is noise, and why do editors need to get rid of it?

What is noise in photo editing?

Noise is usually a common topic in photography that is necessary to maximize photo quality.

Contrary to the noise that you know, noise in photography refers to the grainy spots in photos.

These spots make the photos look unpleasant and disturbing. Moreover, they are so evident that you can easily see the unwanted pixels by merely adjusting the images’ brightness by using Lightroom or Photoshop.

Kinds of Noises

Noises come in two types.

The first one is the shot noise. This is the kind of random noise due to the photons in the scene. On the other hand, the second one is known as a digital noise and is caused by the camera’s sensor and internal electronics.

Digital noise is often caused by using high ISO when there is no enough light. It is a common problem for indoor photography that is done during the night time.

Here is one more critical point: you can fix a digital noise using post-processing software but not the shot noise.

Hence, the best way to avoid them is by minimizing your images’ potential exposure to them. Here is how you can do a professional noise reduction using the widely used noise reduction software by photo editors today.

Adobe Lightroom

Lightroom is the best tool that can denoise almost all images. It has a straightforward interface with valuable editing solutions such as the noise reduction tool. You can find it easily inside the Detail tab.

Noise Ninja

This software promotes workflow quality and productivity. It can be mainly used for reducing noise in your images.

There are the luminance sliders that will eliminate the noise brought on by color and light. Plus, you can also adjust the images’ Smoothing, Residual noise, and Detail.

Noise Reducer Pro

Noise Reducer Pro is an all-software for smoothing out your photo. It has a slider that you can use to adjust the amount of noise at varied noise reduction levels from medium, light, and custom.

Adobe Camera Raw

Adobe Camera RAW or ACR is somehow similar to Lightroom. It works manually via a slider found on the Detail tab.

The Luminance slider can make the digital noise less visible by blurring them together. The typical setting should be between 20 and 40 to get a realistic and natural look.

Topaz Denoise

This software can be integrated into Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. It is focused on minimizing digital noise in your images.

The program works by collecting image data to remove noise and yields the perfect-looking images after.

Topaz Denoise has more controls, such as shadow-tone restoration and color casts. However, you should convert RAW files to 16-bit TIFF files first before using this software to process the photos and perform well.

So, what do you think about these kinds of software? Have you been using any of them now?

If yes, then that is wonderful! You are so close to producing those stunning real estate images. But if you have not yet tried any of them, then do not waste any minute! Check out which one suits your photo editing needs.

Are you trying to add fire to your real estate images?

Well, it sounds a bit odd but not impossible. With some properties with a built-in fireplace, it is never an issue to have a real fire in photos.

But what if it is not the case?

Do not worry! Your expert real estate photo editors can definitely help you add that specific detail in your images.

Why should you make use of the fireplace?

For sure, your real estate photos should convey the warmth and coziness of the place.

Your clients should get this feeling at a glance. Many home sellers want to light up the fireplace because it makes the images look real and appeal to a buyer’s decision.

In this case, it is best to seek the help of your trusted real estate photo editor and photoshop fire in your real estate photos.

Here are three proven and tested steps that work well when modifying images to add that iconic fire beneath a chimney.

Step 1: Prepare the Materials

The very first thing you need to secure is a high quality image of the fireplace.

You need this picture so that your real estate photo editor will not have a hard time polishing pixelated parts of the photo.

Moreover, you need to secure a high-resolution image of flames that you can easily get online on stock photos website.

It is best to choose a fire image that looks natural and not photoshopped.

Step 2: Open Adobe Photoshop

When it comes to photo manipulation, Photoshop is a known tool.

However, you can use any software you like. There is no rule of thumb that it should be Photoshop all the time.

Then, open both photos in Photoshop. On the photo with the fireplace, start creating an outline for the fire by using the Pen Tool.

Then, copy the fire flame photo you want to add in the existing picture by using the shortcuts Ctrl +A and Ctrl + C.

On the interior photo, use Alt + Shift + Ctrl V or choose Paste Special to place the image in the frame.

Now, your fireplace has a visible fire already! All you need to do is to resize it properly so it will appear natural.

Here is a quick way to fir the flame in the fireplace: use Ctrl + T, right mouse, and then choose Distort.

It will drag the flame to fit the fireplace.

Step 3: Use Screen Effect

At this point, he flame should be visible in the fireplace already.

The next thing you need to do is create screen effect by changing the blending mode.

You should choose Normal to Screen and have an 80% capacity.

If you want to make the flame more natural, get rid of the fire’s sharp edges by utilizing the Brush Tool.

Are you able to follow everything?

If yes, great! You should now have an enticing fireplace image.

Bonus Tip

Here is one more photo manipulation tip for you – replacing a TV’s LCD.

You may think that this is a tedious work to follow but it is similar to the process mentioned in this article with the exceptions of the kind of images to use.

It is quite simple and easy. Just continue to practice the skills everyday.

So, what do you think?

Is this something that you can pull off? If yes, then go ahead and start creating that wonderful fireplace image.

Remember to include a fireplace photo in your listing, especially if the property you are trying to sell or advertise has one.

Doing this can help you attract more buyers and close a deal successfully.

As a real estate photo editor, you have to learn many tricks and editing techniques just to perfect an image.

With different available editing software, you need to become a versatile editor. You should be able to edit images regardless of what software you have.

So, how do you do it?

You just need to master the practical editing skills.

There are so many editing tools present in a single software, but in this article, we will focus on clipping path and masking, what they use for, and how they differ from one another.

Let us discuss first the similarity of these two.

Clipping path and masking are all photoshop techniques. Both are used to cut out the subject from the background.

However, using the clipping path and masking is an essential strategy to maximize these techniques’ benefit in photo editing.

We’ll tackle the steps on how to use them, but let us define each first.

What is a clipping path, and how to use it?

Clipping Path is a photoshop technique mostly used in photo retouching, color correction, and background removal.

Using this editing option starts with utilizing the pen tool to cut hard and sharp images or patterns. This requires real estate photo editors to be extremely precise and careful.

If you have hand tremors, it is likely to have cropped images that look unnatural. It is best to practice a steady hand-work to avoid this kind of unwanted result.

Here is a pro tip.

Try cropping the photo out as best as possible by getting close to the edges and cutting the straight lines.

What is masking, and how to use it?

Now, what about image masking?

Image Masking or Layer Masking is used for retouching more intricate details of images. For example, those photos with smoke, fur, human hair, lighting, and flames need a professional editor who masters the masking process.

Remember, this is an intricate process. It involves different editing tools combined just to make sure you do this correctly.

Among these tools are the background eraser, magic eraser, and color separation technique. If combined well, expect to have well-done masked images.

Given its complexity, image masking offers good quality images than what the clipping path does. This is one reason why editors who know masking are more preferred, especially when editing materials intended for real estate or commercial purposes.

How do they differ?

At the beginning of this article, we discussed the similarity between these two techniques.

From the definitions and explanations above, you can immediately spot the difference as well. Yet, as part of the recap, let us highlight it this time.

• Clipping Path uses the pen tool to remove the background.
• It is best for editing small and straightforward shapes and patterns.
• Image Layer requires various tools and is mainly applied for complex images.
• They can be interchangeable with each other.

Then again, you should remember that using a clipping path for images with many turns and curves can yield unrealistic images compared to image masking.

Still, both of these techniques are helpful in photo editing, especially in real estate photo editing. Make sure to secure compelling property images that generate leads and create conversions.

Remember that listings without any accompanying visuals are dull. Furthermore, they are more likely not to be performing at all.

If you need professional photo editors to help you in real estate photo editing, get in touch with Phixer’s team of expert editors, anytime and anywhere.

We’ve made everything easy for you, too! Try Phixer today and discover the endless possibilities you can have without spending much time and money.