Top 12 Photo Lab Technician Skills to Put on Your Resume
Photo labs move fast. To stand out, your resume should spotlight the skills that prove you can handle materials, keep color honest, run equipment smoothly, and deliver prints that make clients nod without hesitation.
Photo Lab Technician Skills
- Photoshop
- Lightroom
- Color Correction
- Darkroom Techniques
- Inkjet Printing
- Film Processing
- Capture One
- Digital Asset Management
- Quality Control
- Image Scanning
- Photographic Restoration
- Chemical Handling
1. Photoshop
Photoshop is industry-standard software for editing, enhancing, and composing images. It’s where color gets fixed, dust disappears, and layouts click into place.
Why It's Important
It enables precise color and tone control, detailed retouching, and consistent output across devices and media. In short, the tool that turns a good frame into a finished photograph.
How to Improve Photoshop Skills
Master core concepts: layers, masks, adjustment layers, blend modes. Know them cold.
Push color and tone: practice white balance, curves, selective color, and skin work until it’s second nature.
Automate repeat work: build actions and presets to keep quality steady and speed high.
Non-destructive mindset: smart objects, layer masks, and live filters so you can always dial back.
Stay current: explore new features and refine your workflow with each update.
Seek critique: share with peers, learn from feedback, iterate fast.
How to Display Photoshop Skills on Your Resume
2. Lightroom
Lightroom (including Lightroom Classic) handles large photo libraries and batch editing with speed. It’s built for organization, consistent looks, and efficient delivery.
Why It's Important
From import to export, it keeps thousands of files searchable, color-consistent, and print-ready. Less time hunting, more time producing.
How to Improve Lightroom Skills
Use shortcuts: quick flags, ratings, and Develop tools save hours.
Tune performance: cache, previews, and GPU settings matched to your hardware.
Build presets: standardize common corrections; batch-apply to keep looks consistent.
Smart organization: collections, smart collections, and keyword hierarchies that actually reflect your jobs.
Dial in color: white balance, HSL, tone curves, and calibration for stable, accurate output.
Retouch efficiently: masking, healing, and local adjustments without hopping to other apps unless needed.
Keep up with updates: new masking tools and noise reduction can change your workflow overnight.
Review with peers: share workflows and presets; borrow what works, ditch what doesn’t.
How to Display Lightroom Skills on Your Resume
3. Color Correction
Color correction is the art and science of making images look accurate and consistent—neutral where they should be, expressive where they need to be.
Why It's Important
Clients expect skin tones that look human, products that match reality, and prints that match screens. Color correction delivers that trust.
How to Improve Color Correction Skills
Study color theory: hue, saturation, luminance, complements, and contrast—know how they play together.
Calibrate everything: monitors, printers, and viewing lights. Use ICC profiles and verify regularly.
Read histograms: balance exposure and contrast without clipping; use scopes when available.
Targeted edits: HSL and local masks for selective, controlled shifts.
Build repeatability: presets and reference targets for matched sessions and reprints.
Practice relentlessly: same scene, different looks—then reverse it back to neutral.
How to Display Color Correction Skills on Your Resume
4. Darkroom Techniques
Darkroom work covers film development, printing, and manipulation in controlled light. Mixing chemistry, timing exposures, dodging, burning, and finishing prints—all by hand, all with intent.
Why It's Important
It provides tactile control and a deep understanding of how images form. Even in a digital shop, that foundation sharpens judgment and quality.
How to Improve Darkroom Techniques Skills
Know your materials: film stocks, papers, developers—how they respond and why.
Control exposure and contrast: test strips, step wedges, and filter choices for predictable results.
Keep chemistry steady: correct dilution, temperature, agitation, and replacement schedules.
Refine dodging and burning: build custom tools; vary distance, shape, and time for subtlety.
Document everything: a detailed darkroom log to repeat wins and diagnose misses.
Practice methodically: one variable at a time—paper, developer, time—so changes are clear.
Learn with others: workshops and forums keep you honest and inspired.
How to Display Darkroom Techniques Skills on Your Resume
5. Inkjet Printing
Inkjet printing sprays microscopic droplets onto paper or specialty media to create continuous-tone images with rich color and fine detail.
Why It's Important
It’s the backbone of modern photo output—flexible, color-faithful, and capable of exhibition-grade prints when set up right.
How to Improve Inkjet Printing Skills
Maintain the printer: regular nozzle checks, cleanings, and firmware updates prevent banding and color drift.
Use matched media and inks: pair papers with their correct profiles and recommended inks.
Color-manage end to end: calibrated monitor, soft proofing, and the right ICC profile for each paper.
Right resolution, right file: size files to print resolution (often ~300 ppi at output size); prefer TIFF or high-quality JPEGs.
Dial in settings: media type, print quality, black point compensation, and driver vs. app-managed color—test and note.
Control the environment: stable humidity and temperature reduce curl and ink drying issues.
How to Display Inkjet Printing Skills on Your Resume
6. Film Processing
Film processing converts latent images into visible negatives or prints through developer, stop, fix, and wash steps—precise chemistry meeting careful timing.
Why It's Important
Everything downstream depends on clean, consistent development. Get this wrong and no amount of editing will fully save the result.
How to Improve Film Processing Skills
Fresh, measured chemistry: track capacity and age; mix accurately; replace before quality slips.
Temperature control: hold temps steady to prevent contrast shifts and uneven development.
Consistent agitation: follow a repeatable pattern to avoid streaks or bromide drag.
Clean gear: tanks, reels, and squeegees spotless to prevent marks and residue.
Light-tight handling: verify bags, loaders, and rooms are truly dark before committing film.
Quality checks: use control strips or reference rolls to monitor process stability.
Practice and log: note film stock, dilution, time, temperature, and results for reliable repetition.
How to Display Film Processing Skills on Your Resume
7. Capture One
Capture One is pro-grade software for RAW processing, tethered capture, and color work, known for precise control and crisp rendering.
Why It's Important
It speeds tethered shoots, refines color with finesse, and keeps batch edits consistent—perfect for demanding studio and lab workflows.
How to Improve Capture One Skills
Learn shortcuts: accelerate culling, masking, and adjustments.
Customize the workspace: put your most-used tools front and center; hide the rest.
Leverage styles: prebuilt and custom styles keep sets and sessions uniform.
Go deep on color: use the Color Editor and skin tone tools for subtle, controlled shifts.
Edit with layers: local, non-destructive corrections that stack cleanly.
Keep it updated: newer versions often bring sizable speed and quality improvements.
Trade tips with peers: forums and groups surface clever tricks you won’t find in menus.
How to Display Capture One Skills on Your Resume
8. Digital Asset Management
Digital Asset Management (DAM) organizes, stores, finds, and preserves your images and related files so work doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.
Why It's Important
It trims search time, protects masters, coordinates teams, and ensures files are where they should be when deadlines loom.
How to Improve Digital Asset Management Skills
Centralize: one authoritative library, mirrored as needed for performance.
Use rich metadata: keywords, rights info, client/job tags, and custom fields for surgical searches.
Pick the right DAM: batch tools, permissions, versioning, and integrations that match your workflow.
Back up with a plan: follow the 3-2-1 rule and test restores, not just backups.
Access controls: role-based permissions to keep masters safe and edits accountable.
Naming and structure: consistent file naming and folder schemes that scale.
Train the team: standards only work if everyone follows them.
How to Display Digital Asset Management Skills on Your Resume
9. Quality Control
Quality Control is the system of checks that keeps prints sharp, colors true, and deliverables consistent from job to job.
Why It's Important
It reduces rework, protects your lab’s reputation, and keeps customers coming back because they trust the output.
How to Improve Quality Control Skills
Standardize SOPs: clear, documented steps from intake to delivery.
Maintain and calibrate: printers, monitors, and scanners on a regular schedule.
Multi-stage checks: preflight, in-process spot checks, and final sign-offs.
Train continuously: new materials, methods, and tools require periodic refreshers.
Gather feedback: customer notes and return data feed back into process tweaks.
Use quality materials: paper, inks, and chemistry that meet archival and color standards.
Track metrics: defects, reprints, turnaround—measure to improve.
How to Display Quality Control Skills on Your Resume
10. Image Scanning
Image scanning converts prints, slides, and negatives into clean, detailed digital files ready for editing, archiving, and printing.
Why It's Important
Digitization preserves originals, unlocks restoration work, and streamlines reprints without risking damage to fragile media.
How to Improve Image Scanning Skills
Scan at suitable DPI: match resolution to output needs; go higher for small originals or large reprints.
Clean everything: glass, carriers, and originals; dust is the enemy.
Nail color and tone: use proper bit depth, neutral settings, and correct after capture as needed.
Choose formats wisely: TIFF for masters and edits; JPEG for delivery and web.
Use proper holders: keep film flat and aligned to avoid softness and Newton rings.
Calibrate your display: accurate monitors make better corrections.
How to Display Image Scanning Skills on Your Resume
11. Photographic Restoration
Photographic restoration repairs age, damage, and color loss—bringing prints and negatives back to life while respecting the original.
Why It's Important
It protects history and memory. Families, museums, and clients count on accurate, careful restoration that lasts.
How to Improve Photographic Restoration Skills
Diagnose first: fading, cracks, stains, silvering—identify the issues before touching pixels.
Scan for headroom: high-resolution, high-bit-depth captures preserve detail for later work.
Retouch with restraint: clone/heal, frequency separation, and careful layering to avoid plastic results.
Rebuild color thoughtfully: neutralize casts, recover contrast, and match era-appropriate tones.
Stay non-destructive: layers, masks, and smart objects for reversible edits.
Document changes: notes and versions to track decisions and provide transparency.
Keep learning: new tools and techniques arrive often—test them on duplicates first.
How to Display Photographic Restoration Skills on Your Resume
12. Chemical Handling
Chemical handling covers the safe, accurate use of photographic chemistry for film and paper processing, with attention to health, environment, and compliance.
Why It's Important
Good handling protects people and prints. It keeps results consistent while minimizing risk and waste.
How to Improve Chemical Handling Skills
Know your SDS: read Safety Data Sheets and understand hazards, storage, and first aid.
Label and store correctly: clear names, dates, and dilutions; keep incompatibles apart; control temperature.
Wear PPE: gloves, eye protection, aprons, and closed-toe shoes every time.
Ventilate well: use proper exhaust and airflow to avoid inhalation risks.
Plan for emergencies: eyewash, spill kits, and posted procedures within arm’s reach.
Dispose responsibly: follow local regulations for silver recovery and chemical waste.
Train and refresh: periodic safety training keeps habits sharp and compliant.
How to Display Chemical Handling Skills on Your Resume
