This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at KU chapter.
The presence of social media in our lives has made it clear by now that a lot of the photos we see out there have been edited in some way, but how can you tell the difference? Here are a few tips to help you spot them!
- Airbrushing.
- Is the skin too perfect? No wrinkles, acne marks, bumps, birthmarks? Then it’s very likely the photo has been doctored in some way. We all want to present our best version of ourselves when posting a selfie, but sometimes less is more, embrace your body!
- Repetition.
- Are there areas in the image you’re seeing that look too similar to one another? This can be done in landscape pics a lot! Suddenly there’s two Ursa Majors up in the sky a few feet away from each other! That’s when you know the photo is likely to have been edited to appear fuller, nicer, etc.
- Check Those Shadows!
- Is the person’s shadow not matching up with their pose? The angle feels off? Or maybe there isn’t a defined shadow where you know for sure there should be? That’s right! The photo has been edited, and they might have cropped the person into a new background, etc.
- Blurry Areas.
- Sometimes you can see in the corners of an image that there are some low definition/blurry areas. Often times, that’s a sign of an edited image.
- Reverse Image Search.
- Here’s one of my favorite ways of finding out the photo is either stolen from another account, is in the public domain or has been edited: simply reverse image search it by dropping it into a Google image search. Done and done! Now you’ll be able to see who’s really living the life or just faking it.
Of course, a little editing to touch up makeup or wrinkles, etc., is not really bad, as long as you’re transparent about it. Don’t just post an image without making it clear it’s been edited! Someone might be looking at your photo and think “Wow, how can I look like that too?!” They can’t because it’s not real. It’s always better to be true to yourself!