Pixlmob Review: A Possible Answer to Outsourcing Real Estate Photography Editing
Pixlmob has positioned itself as the solution to all of the logistical issues that come with outsourcing editing for real estate photographers. But does it live up to the hype?
I’ve used Pixlmob for the past 2 months in my own real estate photography business and put together this full review of the platform so you can see if Pixlmob is the answer to your outsourcing woes.
Table of Contents
What is Pixlmob?
Pixlmob is a marketplace designed to bring real estate photographers and real estate photo editors together.
It’s a way for you to quickly find an editor, communicate your needs, and deliver and receive the images. In essence, it’s a nearly complete workflow solution for real estate photographers that want to outsource their editing.
For a much deeper explanation and understanding, check out this interview that I conducted with Matty Fisher, one of the Co-Founders of Pixlmob. Matty goes into great detail about what Pixlmob is and what he hopes it can become.
Now, on to the review.
What I Love About Pixlmob
For a real estate photographer looking for a workflow solution to their real estate photography editing needs, there is a lot to love about Pixlmob.
They realized how big of a pain point it is to find a reliable and consistent editor in the real estate photography industry and set off to fix it.
Here’s what I’ve loved most about using Pixlmob over the last couple months.
The Marketplace
The best part of Pixlmob is, in my opinion at least, the marketplace design. I have yet to find an easier way to sort through editors and look for someone who matches with my style and expectations.
Before Pixlmob, finding a quality editor was a game of trail and error, but in the worst way possible. Needing to email, DM, Facebook message, or whatever other ways of communication the individual editor preferred was a nightmare.
The search for editors meant crawling Facebook groups, asking for recommendations, and then getting absolutely bombarded with emails, texts, and messages from people wanting to offer you their editing services.
Not anymore.
With Pixlmob, there is no longer a need to use every channel to sort through and find an editor. Instead, just hop on the marketplace (seen above) they’ve created and start looking.
You can filter by what type of editing you need (HDR, Flash/Ambient, Virtual Staging, etc.) and then see samples from each editor. If that’s not a breath of fresh air, I don’t know what is.
Communication and Delivery Methods
Another great quality of Pixlmob is the delivery and communication systems that they’ve put in place. Forget Instagram DMs and Facebook messenger, just get on the Pixlmob platform and everything you need will be in one place.
For delivery, I’ve been creating one Dropbox folder containing all the RAW images, then another Dropbox folder titled “Finals” which the editor uploads the edited images into. All communication takes place in one thread (seen above) which is specific to the job.
This is a simple and very effective way to communicate and deliver images back and forth. I’ve found it intuitive and effortless.
Timeliness
In my experience to date, every order that I’ve put through on Pixlmob, regardless of which editor I’ve used, has been delivered on time or even well before the agreed upon turn around time.
This could be due to the ability for editors to toggle on/off their current status of whether they’re accepting jobs or not. It could also be due to how the entire delivery system is designed.
Whatever the reason though, timely deliveries are always extremely important and Pixlmob has not disappointed.
Again, if you want to learn more about the finer points of the Pixlmob platform, check out my interview with Co-Founder Matty Fisher that I referenced above.
Where Pixlmob Can Improve
I’ll start this section off by saying that since I started using Pixlmob to outsource my editing, I haven’t stopped and don’t think I will. It really has been a much better solution than anything else I’ve found, and I’ve done a lot of looking.
With that being said, there are a few things that I’d like to see addressed over time.
From my time speaking with Pixlmob Co-Founder Matty Fisher, I am quite confident that as the platform ages and grows, all of the kinks will be ironed out. However, for the time being, there are a few downsides.
Editor Quality
The first and biggest downside in my opinion is one that shouldn’t be too surprising to anyone: the quality of the editors.
I have struggled for years to find an editor that can properly edit the flash/ambient lighting technique that I use, and unfortunately that same struggle has continued even with Pixlmob.
As easy as the Pixlmob marketplace makes it to sort through and find editors, saving most of us hours or even days worth of communication and research, a great marketplace can only do some much.
Editor after editor has the same overly HDR-looking gallery of ‘before-and-after images’ even in their ‘Flash+Ambient’ sections.
I’ve been using Pixlmob for about 2 months now and have been searching for an editor that can really nail my shooting style.
To date, I’ve found one editor that I trust with my lowest-end shoots and one other editor that can handle secondary shots like bathrooms and guest bedrooms for my high-end homes.
I’m guessing that as Pixlmob grows and they onboard more and more editors, there will start to be some truly high quality editors.
With that being said, if you shoot HDR and aren’t particularly worried about the overall quality of your photos, Pixlmob is very likely going to save you a ton of time and frustration.
Repeat Portfolio Images
On several different occasions I’ve found multiple editors with the exact same images in their portfolios. Obviously, this means that one of the editors, or even all the editors in question, weren’t actually the ones doing the editing.
This is disappointing to see since the editors in question are clearly misrepresenting their talents and lying about their portoflio.
We see this happen in photography sometimes and it’s always a gigantic deal and major red flag. If another photographer included your photo in their portfolio, legal action could easily be warranted.
The good news though is that it’s really easy to spot thanks to the marketplace design being so intuitive and clean. When you’re looking for editors, if you see the same image in multiple editors portfolios, then you know who not to hire.
It’s as easy as that.
I’m not sure what Pixlmob can do about this issue unless they’re willing to continuously audit all of the editors in their system. I think this issue is more just on us as photographers to recognize if an editor might be being dishonest, and then simply not hire them.
Eventually, they will leave the platform because they’ll be getting no jobs and the editors that are honest will get the work and stick around.
Recommendations For Using Pixlmob In Your Business
Pixlmob is a great idea and can easily be the solution to the current issues in the real estate photography editing industry. Although it is better for some real estate photographers than others.
Here are 3 examples of who Pixlmob would be ideal for:
- If you simply want to outsource all of your editing and need to find an editor to work with, then Pixmob has the workflow solution for you to do that pretty easily.
- If you have a team of photographers and are looking to have one cohesive editing style and workflow solution, Pixlmob can achieve that.
- If you shoot HDR brackets, want a simple option to upload RAW files and download the final images, and you aren’t looking for super high quality edits, Pixlmob is definitely for you.
Pixlmob might not be the solution for you if you are looking for only the highest quality edits. If you photograph extremely high-end homes and distinguish yourself by only delivering 10/10 images, it could be an uphill battle to find an editor that can deliver.
With that being said, I would argue that outsourcing your editing is not an all-or-nothing type decision.
I’ve successfully cut my editing time in half (at least) by using Pixlmob to handle my lowest end homes and the secondary type photos.
I plan to continue using Pixlmob and fully expect for the platform and marketplace to continue to grow and improve overtime.
If you want to give Pixlmob a try, any new users that sign up though this Aryeo affiliate link will get a $5 credit to try it out.
Additional Resources
If you’re just getting started in real estate photography, check out our Beginners Guide. It’s full of helpful articles and tips that will guide you in the right direction as you begin your real estate photography journey.
You can check out our Gear section as well to see reviews and recommendations on the latest real estate photography gear.
If you’re more interested in other resources that can help your real estate photography business, check out our Business Resources page.
