How to find out if an image has been photoshopped

The process of Photoshop has become so easy and favorable that even an average computer user can do it in a flick of a second. It has become next to impossible to know whether it is authentic or had some improvements done. The growing capabilities of computer and mobile devices have made editing a common and fun tool. Today's kids can also expertly Photoshop at a very young age.

Thankfully, there are few tools and a close observation that can detect real from fake or vice versa. So, let’s get started.

Visual Inspection

Looking closely to the photoshopped image is the first and foremost way to find out if it has tampered. One should simply know the basic Inspection like

• Curved or bending surface – inspect the background carefully and look out for those tiny lines, straight edges, wood grains, corners or tiles. It becomes difficult to get the right prospect in Photoshop.

• Light shifting – this is also an interesting way to spot an edited image. The light effect and shadow will interfere in the picture. For instance, if an object is added or removed the shadow or highlight will come from a different direction compared to the light in the photo.

• Loss in quality – when the quality in technique is reduced, it clearly speaks loud in the picture. One will clearly notice that a single picture will not be uniform and that areas in a picture will be low.

• Common sense – sometimes using a little sense will do no harm. Missing hand or leg, too many fingers or an added limb, or a ghost hand will speak loud that it is photoshopped. The digital artist will miss out the basic error or oversee it.

Web Apps

There are many apps, that can easily detect the photoshopped image. The powerful cameras not only the perfect image but also stores great information about the picture. Few of the popular Web apps to detect the modified pics are

• Fotoforensics – it is a free and simple app that uses a method known as Error Level Analysis. The best thing about the app is that it does not depend on raw images and solely works on its technique.

• Izitru – This data passes the image to test on six different levels. This app depends on Metadata and gives a certificate of authentication at the final stage.

Google search

A simple, easy and a common way is to just check out in the google app. This may not help out in the expert level, but one may find the original one who had stolen or posted of their own.