Traditional retouching, where you make the body of a female model in a magazine thinner, has been common for a long time and is well known. Several studies indicates that showing ultra-thin images of female bodies in media can lower the body satisfaction of “ordinary” women which in some cases can lead to dangerous eating disorders. But in 2010 Swedish female magazine VeckoRevyn introduced a new type of retouching: Making some catwalk models bodies bigger instead, which we decided to call opposite retouching. This kind of retouching is aiming to widen the ideal picture that is sent out of how the female body should look like, and therefore having the readers reach a higher body satisfaction and becoming more at peace with the own body. This according to the magazine’s editor in chief, Linda Öhrn Lernstrom. In this attitude study we are looking to widen the knowledge about opposite retouching as a phenomenon by doing qualitative interviews with a number of young women in age 15 – 25 about their outlook on this new retouching. We later present as extensively as we can all these different outlooks, as well as by using Festinger’s social comparison theory, the social responsibility theory presented by Peterson and finally Hall’s representation theory, analyse these outlooks at a deeper level. Opposite retouching showed to be a controversial phenomenon among our respondents: Some of the women meant that the magazine takes their social responsibility and that this initiative is admirable, while some thought that it just makes some women’s body dissatisfaction even worse since even the thin catwalk models bodies weren’t “good enough”. The women in this study belong to the same age group and live in the same culture, which accordning to Hall is crucial for how one perceives media content, and had still such great differences of opinion when it came to the subject of opposite retouching. This indicates that this new retouching needs further investigation, and this attitude study strives to be a contribution to the research field.

by Wai Leung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 148-150). / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1. --- Image Selection/Segmentation --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2. --- Background Image Generation --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3. --- Thesis Organisation --- p.6 / Chapter 2. --- Fundamentals of Digital Image Segmentation --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1. --- Edge-based Segmentation methods --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.1. --- Edge detection --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.1.1. --- Gradient operators --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1.1.2. --- Compass operators --- p.10 / Chapter 2.1.1.3. --- Laplace operators and zero crossings --- p.10 / Chapter 2.1.1.4. --- Stochastic gradients --- p.11 / Chapter 2.1.1.5. --- Optimal edge detectors --- p.12 / Chapter 2.1.2. --- Boundary extraction --- p.13 / Chapter 2.1.2.1. --- Contour following --- p.13 / Chapter 2.1.2.2. --- Heuristic graph searching --- p.14 / Chapter 2.1.2.3. --- Dynamic programming --- p.14 / Chapter 2.2. --- Region-based Segmentation Methods --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2.1. --- Thresholding --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2.2. --- Region growing --- p.16 / Chapter 2.2.3. --- Region splitting and merging --- p.17 / Chapter 2.2.4. --- Texture segmentation --- p.19 / Chapter 2.2.4.1. --- Spectral approaches --- p.19 / Chapter 2.2.4.2. --- Statistical methods --- p.21 / Chapter 2.3. --- Works on Colour Image Segmentation --- p.23 / Chapter 3. --- Current Selection Tools for Image Retouching --- p.24 / Chapter 3.1. --- Selection by Region Growing --- p.24 / Chapter 3.2. --- Selection by Edge Finding --- p.26 / Chapter 3.3. --- Some Conclusions --- p.27 / Chapter 4. --- A New Segmentation Tool for Image Retouching --- p.28 / Chapter 4.1. --- Requirement and Development Strategy of the Selection Tool --- p.28 / Chapter 4.2. --- Basic Assumptions --- p.29 / Chapter 4.3. --- Algorithm of the Image Selector --- p.30 / Chapter 4.3.1. --- Boundary representation --- p.30 / Chapter 4.3.2. --- Colour edge detection --- p.31 / Chapter 4.3.2.1. --- Colour gradient --- p.31 / Chapter 4.3.2.2. --- Edge detector --- p.32 / Chapter 4.4. --- Boundary Searching --- p.34 / Chapter 4.4.1. --- The searching algorithm - A* --- p.35 / Chapter 4.4.2. --- The cost function and heuristic for A* algorithm --- p.37 / Chapter 4.4.2.1. --- Pixel cost formulation --- p.38 / Chapter A. --- The reference dependent function y --- p.39 / Chapter 1. --- The three similarity functions --- p.42 / Chapter 2. --- The similarity thresholds --- p.44 / Chapter 3. --- The n-reference dependent function --- p.45 / Chapter B. --- The reference independent function f --- p.46 / Chapter C. --- The actual pixel cost function W --- p.46 / Chapter 4.4.2.2. --- The heuristic function h --- p.47 / Chapter 4.5. --- Implementation --- p.48 / Chapter 4.5.1. --- Work-flow of the image selection tool --- p.48 / Chapter 4.5.2. --- Implementation of the user-input stage --- p.51 / Chapter 4.5.3. --- Implementation of the boundary searching phase --- p.54 / Chapter 4.5.3.1. --- OPEN and CLOSE lists --- p.56 / Chapter 4.5.3.2. --- Tracing back searching path --- p.57 / Chapter 4.5.3.3. --- Edge map --- p.58 / Chapter 4.5.3.4. --- Cost calculation --- p.59 / Chapter 4.5.4. --- Implementation of the boundary connection phase --- p.61 / Chapter 4.6. --- Experiments and Results --- p.63 / Chapter 4.6.1. --- Features exploration --- p.63 / Chapter 4.6.1.1. --- Cost function of the boundary tracer --- p.63 / Chapter 4.6.1.2. --- Reference sensitivity --- p.73 / Chapter 4.6.1.3. --- Boundary connection --- p.75 / Chapter 4.6.2. --- Comparison with current image selection tools --- p.76 / Chapter 4.7. --- Discussion --- p.87 / Chapter 4.8. --- Further Improvement --- p.91 / Chapter 4.8.1. --- A* algorithm --- p.91 / Chapter 4.8.2. --- Colour space --- p.92 / Chapter 4.8.3. --- Improvement in processing speed and quality --- p.93 / Chapter 5. --- Background Image Generation by Image Interpolation --- p.95 / Chapter 5.1. --- Current Filling Tools for Background Image Generation --- p.96 / Chapter 5.1.1. --- The Stamp tool --- p.96 / Chapter 5.1.2. --- The Gradient Fill tool --- p.96 / Chapter 5.2. --- Possible Approaches --- p.98 / Chapter 5.2.1. --- Surface Approximation --- p.98 / Chapter 5.2.2. --- Region Growing and Filling --- p.99 / Chapter 5.3. --- A New Image Interpolation Tool --- p.101 / Chapter 5.3.1. --- Problem analysis and requirement specifications --- p.101 / Chapter 5.3.2. --- The interpolation strategy --- p.103 / Chapter 5.3.3. --- Process overview of the image interpolation --- p.107 / Chapter 5.3.4. --- Data representation --- p.108 / Chapter 5.3.5. --- Implementation --- p.110 / Chapter 5.3.5.1. --- User-input - the first stage --- p.110 / Chapter 5.3.5.2. --- Interpolation preparation - the second stage --- p.112 / Chapter A. --- Boundary list rearrangement --- p.113 / Chapter B. --- Boundary parameterisation --- p.114 / Chapter C. --- Area marking --- p.114 / Chapter D. --- Colour pattern preparation --- p.115 / Chapter 5.3.5.3. --- Interpolation - the third stage --- p.118 / Chapter A. --- Filling curve generation --- p.119 / Chapter 1. --- Linear filling curve generation --- p.119 / Chapter 2. --- Non-linear filling curve generation --- p.120 / Chapter B. --- Colour pattern interpolation --- p.125 / Chapter 5.3.5.4. --- Post-filling - the fourth stage --- p.127 / Chapter 5.3.5.5. --- A working example --- p.128 / Chapter 5.3.6. --- Results --- p.130 / Chapter 5.3.7. --- Discussion --- p.140 / Chapter 5.3.8. --- Limitations and future improvement --- p.141 / Chapter 6. --- Conclusions --- p.144 / Appendix --- p.147 / References --- p.148

Social media has become an integral part of the lives of many young people around the world, and has also brought new technical tools, partly in terms of the communication that takes place when publishing images. Researchers have recently become concerned about the potential negative impact that social media use can cause.This is based, among other things, on the fact that social media and its technology enable people to use applications that show a falseself-presentation. The technical means of socialmedia are mentioned to be increasingly accessible and attractive to use, as people want to show a more idealized version of them selves, which also communicate sa self-chosen "image". This is the basis of our willingness to carry out this study. The purpose of this study is to examine young adults's alientemotions, motivations, and relationship to socialmedia's impactonpeople's appearance, specifically through the use of beauty filters and beauty retouching on digital platforms. The results are drawn from three focusgroups with four participants in each focusgroup and three semistructured interviews with users of these social media tools. The focus groups and interviews have been recorded and transcribed and the material has then been analyzed to answer our researchquestions. The study's theoretical framework consists of impression management, gender, uses and gratification social comparison theory and cultivation theory. The results of this study shows that young adults' relation ship to different resources to modify appearance onlinec ould be analyzed based on their prominent emotions towards the use, the ideal that subsistson social media and their general thoughts and opinions about gender and digital beauty tools. The results also indicated that the motivation for using these digital beauty tools is based on satisfaction, belonging, entertainment and availability. Finally, the results showed that participating respondents who use or have used beauty filters and beauty retouching feel that these digital beauty tools had an impact on their ownself image and impression. Furthermore, did participants of the focusgroups perceive that these resources for modifying the appearance on social media contribute with an impact on an individual's self-image.

The main theme of this essay was; How does Instagram affect their users when it comes to everyday retouching and today’s ideal of beauty, and are there any differences between age and gender? To answer this question, the everyday retouching of the Instagram users selfies (self-portrait) was investigated and charted, to see how it affecting today’s ideal of beauty.   We used a quantitative method and conducted an empirical study that was rooted in the Encoding/Decoding-model of Stuart Hall, Gidden’s theory of structuration, Cooley’s ”looking-glass self”, Lippman’s triangle, together with previous research and a web survey that was targeted to a random selection of Instagram users. The study contained a total of 194 self-recruiting respondents. We deemed it necessary to conduct this study, as it addressed an important topic that might be linked to the current fixation on appearance and today's ideal of beauty.   The results showed that Instagram has a particular impact on its users when it comes to everyday retouching. The majority of respondents used Instagram’s built-in tools for their editing/retouching process. Our results also showed that half of the women edited/retouched their selfies. About half of the men who responded to the web survey edited/retouched their selfies. The clearest result of the study was that younger individuals had a tendency to edit/retouch their selfies more frequently. / Temat för uppsatsen var; Hur påverkar Instagram sina användare när det gäller vardagsretuschering och dagens skönhetsideal, samt finns det några skillnader mellan ålder och kön? Syftet var att undersöka och kartlägga Instagram användarnas vardagsretuschering och hur det påverkar dagens skönhetsideal, med fokus på användarnas selfies.   Vi använde oss av en kvantitativ metod och utförde en empirisk studie som utgick från Encoding/Decoding- modellen av Stuart Hall, Giddens strukturering teori, Cooleys ”spegeljaget”, Lippmans triangel, tillsammans med tidigare forskning och en webbenkätundersökning som riktade sig till ett slumpmässigt urval av Instagrams användare. Studien hade sammanlagt 194 självrekryterande respondenter. Vi tyckte att det var viktigt att genomföra denna studie, då den innehöll ett relevant ämne som möjligtvis kan ha koppling till rådande utseendefixering och dagens skönhetsideal.   Undersökningens resultat visade att Instagram har en viss påverkan på sina användare när det gäller vardagsretuschering. En majoritet av respondenterna använde Instagrams inbyggda verktyg i sin redigerings/retuscherings process. Vårt resultat visade även att hälften av kvinnorna redigerade/retuscherade sina selfies. Av de män som svarade redigerade/retuscherade cirka hälften sina selfies. Det tydligaste resultatet av studien var att de yngre har en tendens att redigera/retuschera sina selfies oftare.

Under bearbetning av bilder idag förekommer ofta stora filer. Med den effektiva teknologiska utvecklingen har efterfrågan på kvalitet växt allt mer. I en värld där fotografens kamera har blivit mer högupplöst har även bilders filstorlek blivit större. Målet med detta examensarbete har varit att komma fram med en rekommendation för hur man arbetar mot en liten filstorlek. Rekommendationen är till för retuschörer som arbetar inom modebranschen och med bilder ämnade för print. Arbetet har försökt åskådliggöra vad under retuscheringens arbetsgång som orsakar en större filstorlek. Detta genom att kontakta retuschörer som ofta arbetar med modebilder. Fokus har legat på lager i Photoshop samt editeringsalternativ för retuschören. Det framkom att retuschörer gjorde liknande åtgärder för att få en liten filstorlek, och att en viss likhet kan urskiljas i deras arbetssätt kring vad som ökade filstorlek. Det framkom även att filstorleken påverkas mest av hur pixellager och masker ser ut, till skillnad från justeringslager. / During the processing of pictures today the file size often becomes large. An effective technological development has made the demand for quality higher. In a world where the photographer's camera has gotten a higher resolution, the image's file size has also increased. The aim of this thesis has been to come up with a recommendation for how to work towards getting a smaller file size. The recommendation was intended for retouchers who work in the fashion industry and with pictures meant for print. The work has dealt with file sizes associated with retouching and have tried to illustrate what during the retouch procedure that causes a larger file size. This has been done by contacting retouchers who often work with fashion images. The focus has been on the layers in Photoshop and editing options for the retoucher. The results showed that the retouchers had similar ways of working towards a small file size, and a certain similarity is apparent in their way of retouching which caused a bigger file size. What also showed was that the file size is the most affected by how layers consisting of pixels and masks look compared to adjustment layers.

Etik kring bilder i annonser har diskuterats mycket, speciellt modell-, ochproduktbilder har kritiserats. Det tycks dock saknas forskning om acceptanskring efterbehandling av landskapsfotografier som ofta används vidmarknadsföring av turistmål. En webbenkätundersökning genomfördes medbildexempel för att undersöka vilken nivå av efterbehandling som ansågsverklighetstrogen, tilltalande och accepterbar i sådana annonser. Slutsatsenblev att fotografier där exponeringen korrigerats för att skapa en tydligare bildvar det mest accepterade. Skillnader i åsikter mellan åldrar, kön, de som haroch inte har tidigare erfarenhet av fotografi och retuschering diskuterades ochdet visade sig att kvinnor och de utan tidigare erfarenhet var lite mer kritiskatill efterbehandling. Det framkom att en del betraktare kan accepteraytterligare efterbehandling om den genomförs för att sälja en specifik känslaoch så länge inte betraktaren kan känna sig vilseledd. / The ethics on pictures in advertising have been widely discussed, especiallymodel, and product photographs have been criticized. There seems to be ashortage of research on acceptance of image processing of landscapephotographs that are often used in advertisements for tourist destinations. Aweb survey with example pictures was conducted to examine what level ofimage processing was deemed life like, appealing and acceptable in those kindsof advertisements. The conclusion was that photographs where the exposurehad been corrected to create a clearer picture was the most acceptable.Differences in opinions between ages, genders and those with or withoutprevious experience about image processing were discussed and it showedthat women were slightly more critical to image processing. Those withprevious experience were generally more okay with image processing. Someviewers accept further processing if it is done to sell a specific feeling and doesnot make the viewer feel mislead.

Morphable guidelines are a 3D structure that helps users achieve better face warping on 2D portrait images. Faces can be difficult to warp accurately because the rotation of the head affects the shape of the facial features. I bypass the problem by utilizing the popular Loomis ‘ball and plane’ head drawing guideline as a proxy structure. The resulting ‘morphable guidelines’ consist of a simple 3D head model that can be reshaped by the user and aligned to their input image. The vertices of the model go on to act as deformation points for a 2D image deformation algorithm. Thus, the user can seamlessly transform the face proportions in the 2D image by transforming the proportions of the morphable guidelines. This system can be used for both retouching and caricature warping purposes, as it is well-suited for both subtle and extreme modifications. This system is advantageous over previous work in face warping because our morphable guidelines can be used on a wide range of head orientations and do not require the generation of a full 3D model. / Graduate / 0984 / syugao@gmail.com

Diploma thesis deals with the manipulation of the photography, especially journalism. To bring the reader into context work starts with the first creation and the history of photography, early examples of manipulation of analog photography and its techniques. The main part focuses on the specifics and characteristics of the digital era in relation to the photographs, handling technology in digital photography and the possibilities of detection. Thesis reflects manipulation of photographs on social networks and the prestigious photographic competitions and the question of objectivity. Considering how it is in the background handling adjustments with confidence in the photo and that picture can be adjusted to detect and effectively to defend against them. Due to the nature of the digital society and a number of factors that the creation and publishing of photographs accompanying the photo we have to think critically and understand its truth value as intersubjective.

This thesis deals with the manipulation of a photograph. The first part is the theoretical framework, which is used in subsequent chapters by analyzing selected examples primarily reflecting concepts such as authenticity, objectivity, truth value or manipulation. Outside the theoretical framework is mentioned in the introductory parts of the historical evolution of analogue photography which flows into the history of digital photography. In the analytical part of the study we work with selected manipulative techniques (arrangements, retouching, photomontage, digital cloning, exchange heads, manipulation accompanying text or photos without referents) which are applied to individual examples using the theoretical framework from the first part. The study answers to our research questions, namely is it still possible to understand photography as an objective and trustworthy visual medium and is it possible to defend against the visual manipulation? The analysis shows that in the context of industrial practices in the photo and their availability has truth value of photographs as its objective quality not by its nature possible, while research and methods in detecting manipulation are crucial, but the amount of video material is still essential defense against manipulation of critical thinking. Key...

For a long period, the fashion- and advertising industry have contributed to unattainable beauty ideals among young women and retouching is not a new phenomenon. However, the rise of social media has led to easy access to free retouching applications and beautifying camera filters. The beauty ideals are maintained in today's society through camera filters' allusion to female beauty ideals. Young women can easily transform their appearance to fit within societal norms. Due to this, the study aims to investigate young women’s experiences of image manipulation tools. The study also aims to analyze whether image manipulation is important for young women's self-image and whether self-presentation on social media is adapted to the expectations of the individuals in the environment. The results of this qualitative study are based on six semi-structured interviews with women between the ages of 18 - 25, who continuously use image manipulation tools on social media. Furthermore, the study's theoretical framework is based on Goffman's dramaturgical perspective, Hirdman's gender system and West and Zimmerman's concepts of 'doing gender'. The results of this study clearly illustrate an ambivalence in young women's reasoning concerning camera filters and retouching. On the one hand, a positive attitude to the possibility of changing one's appearance is emphasized. On the other hand, negative consequences and their damage are clarified. Consequently, a prominent conclusion is that image manipulation tools have an impact on young women's self-image, which results in a normalized approach to beauty procedures. The results also show that individuals in the environment are important for female self-presentation on social media. Preparation of self-portraits and feedback in terms of likes and comments is an important part of self-presentation. / Reklam- och modebranschen har sedan länge bidragit till utseendefixering bland unga kvinnor och retuschering är därmed inget nytt fenomen. Framväxten av sociala medier har dock skapat en lättillgänglighet av retuscherande gratis-applikationer och förskönande kamerafilter. Detta har medfört att utseendenormer upprätthålls genom kamerafilters anspelan på kvinnligt skönhetsideal. Unga kvinnor kan genom endast en knapptryckning förvandla utseendet för att passa in i samhällsnormerna. Syftet med studien är därmed att få en djupare förståelse för unga kvinnors upplevelser av bildmanipulationsverktyg. Studien syftar även till att undersöka om bildmanipulation har betydelse för unga kvinnors självbild och om självpresentationen på sociala medier anpassas efter omgivningens förväntningar. Resultatet av den kvalitativa studien baseras på sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med kvinnor i åldrarna 18 till 25 år, som kontinuerligt använder bildmanipulationsverktyg på sociala medier. Vidare utgår studiens teoretiska ramverk från Goffmans dramaturgiska perspektiv, Hirdmans genussystem samt West och Zimmermans begrepp “doing gender”. Studiens resultat betonar en ambivalens i unga kvinnors resonemang om kamerafilter och retuschering. Å ena sidan poängteras en positiv inställning till möjligheten att förändra det egna utseendet. Å andra sidan tydliggörs negativa konsekvenser och dess skada. Ytterligare en framträdande slutsats är att bildmanipulationsverktyg har betydelse för unga kvinnors självbild, vilket i sin tur innebär ett normaliserat förhållningssätt till skönhetsingrepp. Resultatet belyser ytterligare att individer i omgivningen har en avgörande betydelse för unga kvinnors självpresentation på sociala medier. Förberedelser av självporträtt och feedback i form av likes och kommentarer utgör en viktig del av självpresentationen.