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Data shows that 71% of people edit their selfies. When it comes to it, more than half of respondents change imperfections on their skin, while 47% say they create a sharper jawline and higher cheekbones.
A similar number of people touch up their arms, whereas 42% are unhappy with their eyes. In addition, a third confessed to altering their bums and lips before posting pictures online.
Concerning gender differences, men are almost as likely to add a filter to their pictures as women, busting the myth that females use more of them than males. Almost half of male respondents have edited their photos to remove wrinkles, brighten their smile, and remove red glare from the eyes.
To learn more about the magic of editing, Bored Panda reached out to a professional photographer Svenja Christina whose photographic style is dreamy, light-infused, and magical - with a strong focus on genuine emotion and connection.
She strives to blur the line where reality meets dreams. That's why she's the perfect person to let us in on the secret of when people on social media use Photoshop to fake images that are far from reality.
She told us that there isn't one trick that could be applicable in all situations and that people should first use their common sense.
"Things that cannot happen in real life are a giveaway that the image has been digitally manipulated. For example, a shark flying through a city. A less obvious example - except to the trained eye - could be a scene with a milky-blurred body of water and a crisp cloudy sky. The blurred body of water is a result of long-exposure photography. Having a detailed cloudy sky in the same image would not work because clouds are moving and the long exposure would likely blur them as well."
It seems that clouds (don't really know what we did to them) are some of the objects that are widely altered in photos. Just take a look at the people who are carrying around their perfectly shaped and ever-the-same cloud everywhere they go.
Christina also agreed to reveal the signs that could indicate that a photo is edited. Therefore, she encourages people to look for incoherent lighting.
Something that can expose an altered picture is objects in the scene that are lit in a way that mismatches the light sources in the image. Shadows falling in separate directions can also be a big giveaway.
Looking at a picture people should ask themselves do the colours match? Do the sizes of different objects match? Things that are further away should look smaller than objects in the foreground.
When asked if is it easy to go overboard with altering tools, she tells us that it depends on the expertise level of the photo editor.
"New photographers often edit with very saturated, intense colors, especially greens or blues. As a result, the photos don't look true to life.
Another common trap in portrait editing is to go overboard with skin editing which may result in skin that looks too smooth, like plastic because the texture of the skin is lost. My rule of thumb here is to have some texture visible, to edit out non-permanent blemishes such as pimples that would not be there in a week or two but to keep things that are permanent at least somewhat visible."
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On the other hand, professionals working with photo manipulations sometimes stop blending the different images together too soon, which often doesn't look right either. Christina says "It's really helpful to take breaks and come back to the artwork with a fresh pair of eyes to spot mistakes or areas that haven't been properly blended yet."
She even has a few test layers to check if she achieved a cohesive result, like a luminosity check to see how dark or bright objects in the photo should be, a hue check to ensure color consistency and a final saturation check to get a cohesive look.
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To avoid ending up in one of the Instagram vs. reality lists, Christina recommended being truthful. "A lot can be achieved by posing in a flattering way, tilting the camera lens a certain angle, and the choice of the lens. But don't claim things as authentic when they're heavily digitally manipulated. Don't use filters that aggressively change the way you look."
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