One set of originals.
Five photos went to two professional retouchers on Fiverr. Both said they would use AI tools in their workflow, according to our conversations.
A project by David Fridshtand · Photography × AI
PhotoLab.01—05
Good editing.
A different price.
05The same original photographs
02Paid professional retouchers
$0.14–0.25Calculated Gemini API cost / selected request
3 daysReported turnaround / five-photo commission ↗
The comparison
05 photographsSame starting point. Different results.
Explore the collectionAOriginal
BPhotoLab
01 / 05Photograph 01
Drag to compare · Use ← → when focused
Take a closer look.
Download each version at its uploaded resolution.
The idea
01 brief / 02 approachesWhat changes when
editing costs cents?
Professional editing can cost tens of dollars per photograph. I wanted to build a more accessible workflow, then put its results next to work I actually commissioned.
A reference. A transfer.
PhotoLab uses a Gemini image reference, then transfers the edit onto the original-size photo. The versions here were selected from our AI Editor 2 experiments.
The result is the evidence.
Move the divider, inspect the same detail, and download the files. AI can alter fine details; judge the photographs yourself.
The evidence
Real files. Real orders.What the experiment cost.
Two professional commissions. Five photographs in each.
Below are the totals shown in the Fiverr orders.
Retoucher 1 / Order 01Completed
Diana Wolters
$135.38order total
$27.08 / photo
$27.08 / photo
Five-photo total ÷ 5. The current comparison uses the delivered preview files.
Retoucher 2 / Order 02Completed
Angga F.
$98.45order total
$19.69 / photo
$19.69 / photo
Five-photo total ÷ 5. Original delivery files are available in the comparison.
$15–20 / photoRetouching price range reported for the project. The order totals above show the full recorded payment; the screenshots do not itemize fees or extras.
3 days / 5 photosTurnaround reported for the commission. The order screenshots show delivery dates, not the time spent editing.
PhotoLab / Gemini API
Cents for a reference.
Full-size results.
$0.81calculated API cost of the five selected requests
| Photograph | AI reference | API cost | PhotoLab output |
|---|
How the API cost is calculated
Recorded token usage × Google's standard Gemini 3 Pro Image rates: $2 per million input tokens, $120 per million image-output tokens, and $12 per million text/thinking tokens. A 2K image uses 1,120 output tokens; 4K uses 2,000.
This is a calculation for one selected request per photo, not a billing invoice or the total cost of development, previous attempts, local processing or hosting. Rates checked October 27, 2026.
This is a small, curated experiment, not a blind benchmark. Professional services also include communication and revisions. Retoucher 1 is shown at preview resolution; source files and image sizes are disclosed throughout.
Look closely.
Make up your own mind.