If you’ve ever worked with Adobe Photoshop – or indeed any image manipulation package, you’ll know how easy it is to make small and big changes to a photograph. But do you know how you can spot if an image has been doctored or not? Do you know the difference between a doctored photograph and the genuine thing?

There’s a knack to spotting if an image has been edited or not. Shadows are usually the first give-away, as is inconsistant lighting. If you suspect a person’s head may have been added to another body, look extremely closely at the skin tones, and gradations. Look at the fringe, and see if the background looks consistent, colour-wise, with the original. Finally, use common sense and don’t believe your own eyes – if something looks unnatural, take a closer look, and see if you can find out why it doesn’t look kosher.

These are but some of the suggestions made in oe magazine’s excellent article on photofakery. Not only does it help you spot edited photos, but if you know what to look for, you will also become a better photo editor and photographer yourself: Concentrate on the pitfalls, and you can eradicate many of them!

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