What is digital image manipulation?
Digital image manipulation is not confined to files that originate in digital cameras. Today film is usually scanned to create a digital file for printing, and the resulting file is subject to the same manipulations as any other digital image file. Further, many digital manipulations are simply digital versions of darkroom techniques that are nearly as old as photography itself. Digital image manipulations range from simple color balance and level adjustments to the addition of compositional elements that were not present when the photograph was taken. In between are techniques that can improve the quality of nearly any printed image. Their usefulness of each depends on the image in question. For discussion purposes I have grouped the myriad of available digital manipulations into three groups. I call them adjustments, subtractive manipulations, and additive manipulations. I have included techniques like burning, dodging, and contrast masking, in the adjustments group. These are often
