Why calculate cost per image?

Cost per image reveals your true profitability. A £500 job delivering 50 images costs £10 per image. If each image takes 7 minutes to edit, your editing alone costs £5-8 per image at typical hourly rates. Understanding this helps price packages, set delivery expectations, and identify efficiency improvements.

What is a good cost per image?

It varies by genre. Wedding photographers typically deliver 400-800 images at £3-8 each. Portrait photographers deliver 10-30 images at £15-50+ each. Commercial photographers may deliver 5-20 images at £50-500+ each. Higher cost per image generally means more value and editing per image.

How does cull rate affect profitability?

Shooting more images than needed increases culling time without adding value. A 90% cull rate (deliver 10% of shots) means 90% of your shooting was "wasted" from a delivery perspective. Aim for 70-85% cull rate — shoot intentionally and deliver a higher percentage of your shots.

Should I include travel time in cost calculations?

Yes. Travel time is time you cannot bill elsewhere. Include travel, setup, consultation, invoicing, and file delivery in your total hours. The true cost per image should reflect all time invested, not just shooting and editing.

Cost Per Image Calculator — True Cost Per Delivered Photo

Calculate the true cost per delivered image including shooting, editing and admin time.

Total Charge

What you charge the client

Shoot Hours

On-location time including setup and pack-down

Edit Hours

Culling, retouching and export time

Admin Hours

Travel, comms, invoicing and delivery

Images Delivered

Final edited photos handed to the client

Total Images Shot

Frames captured before culling (drives cull rate)

How We Calculate This

Cost Per Image

Cost per image = total charge ÷ delivered images

This is the price you earn for each delivered photo (gross, before your own equipment and overhead costs). Set the Business Overhead Deduction in Advanced Options to see a figure net of overheads.

Effective Hourly Rate

Hourly = total charge ÷ (shoot + edit + admin hours)

What every hour invested in the job actually earns, not just your shooting hours.

Cull Rate

Cull rate = (total shot − delivered) ÷ total shot × 100

Edit Time Per Image

Edit per image = total edit hours × 60 ÷ delivered images

Frequently Asked Questions

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Last updated: February 2026

All calculations are estimates based on standard optical and photographic formulas. Results may vary with specific equipment.