Is using Photoshop on digital pictures acceptable?

Is photoshopping for image enhancement ( levels, saturation, etc.) a normal or acceptable practice for today's photographers?





I'm quite new to digital photography, and I wonder if photographers ( amateur or pro ) normally use Photoshop or other photo enhancing software to create those stunning photos.





Do you enhance your photos?





Thanks!Is using Photoshop on digital pictures acceptable?
Generally, yes. It is perfectly acceptable. However, if you are entering competitions for photographers, make sure to read all the rules carefully, because some of them are very picky about digital manipulation.





Good use of Photoshop (and note Photoshop is a trademarked product from Adobe, so technically you don't want to say ';photoshopping'; but rather ';image editing'; or ';image manipulation';) is similar to what used to be done in the darkroom. In fact, some of the terminology and tools in Photoshop and other such programs comes directly out of the terminology and tools of the darkroom.





There is a rule, however, that pro photographers will tell you. It's ';get it right in the camera.'; The idea is to always place emphasis on taking good photos to begin with. Get the image in the camera. Learn your equipment, understand the settings and how your camera functions, when to do what for the particular type of photo, lighting conditions and so on. Take lots of pictures. Remember that with digital cameras, you aren't worried about wasting film (which was expensive). Bits are cheap! If you take a lousy shot, delete it and retake! And don't make the mistake of worrying about ';how many shots can I get on my memory card?'; Whatever camera you are using, always use the best quality and largest file settings possible. You can always delete info from an image, you can't add it. Consider shooting in RAW if your camera lets you do so (RAW is the completely uncompressed image information, all the data the camera sensor can record for an image).





The best idea for using photo editors is to start out with as good an image as possible. Do minimal editing: don't take the attitude of taking any old shot and assuming that you can ';fix it'; in your image editor.





Hope that helps!Is using Photoshop on digital pictures acceptable?
Yes, it's industry standard and completely normal for art designers to adjust a photo (as you say, levels and contrast etc) to ensure that when published it achieves its full potential. They're also crop it if necessary (as long as it doesn't change the narrative/story of the content).





Anything more than that and it's dangerous territory. If it's a fashion/lifestyle magazine then it's probably par for the course to touch-up a model (I should be so lucky), but in my experience, adjusting a photographer's image to a large degree usually meant a lengthy discussion over editorial credibility and us having to request permission from the photographer.





Personally, I always adjust my photos to account for poor light or perhaps if a camera produces images that are somewhat inaccurate (I had a Nikon Coolpix once thats photos were very red-heavy, for example). After that, guiltily, I crop and touch up and swap ugly friends for celebrities, and always, always airbrush out my third chin and beer belly.
I do my absolute best to get the photo right at the time that I take it. Yet, often I will put them into Photoshop and touch them up where needed. I believe that it is not only acceptable, but often necessary.


Quality is important in your results.





Playing wih Photoshop for your own intertainment is a lot of fun too! The only objections are when an altered image is presented as the truth when it's not.



it's pretty much accepted as the norm - most people would find it pretty strange if someone didn't use it