When doing photo editing, or if working in digital photo imaging training, photographs are normally taken with a digital camera and then loaded directly into a computer. If however a digital camera is not available, another option is that a printed photograph may be digitized using a scanner. Note that a variety of photos can as well be obtained from photography databases which takes the hassle out of taking your own photo.

Now that we have computers, graphics tablets, and digital photo imaging training at our disposal, the term photo editing brings together everything that can be done to a photo in a darkroom for traditional photos taken on film cameras or on a computer which is obviously used for digital cameras. Photo editing can be used to make very minor alterations, for example adjustments to coloring, contrast, and so on, but major alterations can also be adopted, like overlaying a head onto a different body, or, changing a sign\'s text or background images etc.

From time to time, with the effect of imaging editing you will notice that some pictures have little or no resemblance to the photo from which it started. At this point, some image editing software is then often used to apply a whole range of effects and warp the image in whatever way possible until the desired result is achieved.

Imaging history

Before PCs came along, photo editing was a much longer process, performed by retouching with ink, utilising double-exposure, piercing photos or negatives together in the darkroom, or scratching the polaroid. Photo editing is indeed as old as photography itself. Some people may argue that pre PCs photo editing was more widely used to dramatic effect, as the technology of the cameras in the past was significantly inferior compared to todays technology, however bear in mind some people do make this argument, but today imaging editing is also apparent everywhere we go, retouching photos seems to be prerequisite now and seems to be unavoidable.

Present Image editing

Specialized software programs called vector graphics editors or digital photo imaging training are the main tools with which a person may opt to manipulate, enhance, and alter images. These specific editors are more than capable of altering pictures in many different ways. Images are stored in a computer in the form of a grid of picture elements called pixels. These pixels contain your pictures color and brightness information.

Image editors can change the pixels so dramatically, that a total alteration of the image is possible in many ways. The pixels can be altered as a group, or individually, by the sophisticated techniques adopted within the image editors. There are two main types of editors, one is the bitmap graphic editor, which is used to alter photographs and other graphics. However there is also vector-based software, such as Adobe Illustrator which can be used to alter or build other types of image, which are of course based upon vectors. Adobe Photoshop is the most ordinary application commercially used for digitally manipulating images today.