How an individual creates an image for their own use, and what source material is coopted for image creation, is entirely at the individual's discretion. But when an image is submitted into a competition, or exhibition, each participant needs to be assured that all participants are using only their own original work.
Only the author can know how much input they had, and how much control they maintained, while taking and editing any image. This definition aims to guide authors in what can be considered Acceptable and Unacceptable Image Editing Techniques.
For the purpose of this definition, Image Editing Techniques include edits applied in camera as part of the process of capturing the original image(s) as well as those applied in post-processing.
The difference between Acceptable and Unacceptable image editing techniques depends, in general, on whether they only include elements from (or based entirely on) the author's own image(s), and the scene(s) represented, or they introduce new, original, content or detail that does not come directly from the author's own image(s) and the scene(s) or subject(s) represented.
There are an increasing number of tools which draw on, or have been trained on, large banks of images. In so much as these tools are used to facilitate edits—without generating new derivative works based on the images they have been trained on—their use may be considered Acceptable Image Editing Techniques.
Any introduction of content which includes, or has been developed from, the work of others means that the resulting image content is not entirely the work of the author. The resulting image would be considered to have used Unacceptable Image Editing Techniques.
Note: Some otherwise Acceptable Image Editing Techniques may not be acceptable if other definitions (e.g. the Definition of Monochrome, or the Definition of Wildlife Photography) restrict their use.
Acceptable Image Editing Techniques
Techniques that change or improve the content of images without adding elements that were not present in (or based entirely on) the author's own image(s), and without adding elements or detail that was not present in the scene(s) or subject(s) represented, are always acceptable.
The following techniques are considered part of the traditional digital darkroom workflow, and their use is generally acceptable provided they do not use, or result in, anything that would be categorised as Unacceptable Image Editing Techniques:
- Adding Borders
- Adding Simulated Grain
- Adding Textures
- Adding Vignettes (incl. reverse vignettes)
- Background Removal (preparing elements for Compositing)
- Blurring (incl. Depth Blur and other techniques that introduce Bokeh)
- Cropping
- Global Adjustments * (e.g. colour and exposure)
- Local Adjustments * † (e.g. colour and exposure)
- Merging Images for Technical Purposes (e.g. Focus Stacking, HDR, and Panoramas)
- Noise Reduction
- Resizing (for end use)
- Retouching ‡
- Sharpening
- Transformations (e.g. lens and perspective corrections, and localised scaling and warps)
- Compositing (using the author's images and non-photographic content, as below)
*Some of the most common adjustments include those to White Balance; Brightness, Exposure, Contrast; Highlight, Shadow, White, and Black level (incl. using curves); Texture and Clarity; Dehaze; Vibrance; Hue, Saturation, Luminance, and Colour (incl. the use of Colour Mixer and Colour Grading tools).
†Including adjustments applied to a layer, restricted by a mask, or using brush style tools, e.g. Dodge and Burn.
‡Warning: Some retouching tools offer a variety of modes of operation, where some are based entirely on the author's own image(s), e.g. Content Aware, but others use (or may use) AI.
The use of preset adjustments for consistency, or convenience, is an extension of the traditional digital darkroom workflow and acceptable provided they do not use, or result in, anything that would be categorised as Unacceptable Image Editing Techniques. This includes the use of any presets built into software, obtained from a Third-Party, or created by the author.
The use of AI powered tools to perform tasks that would be tedious or difficult to do manually—but that do not introduce new, original, content—is an extension of the traditional digital darkroom workflow and acceptable provided they do not use, or result in, anything that would be categorised as Unacceptable Image Editing Techniques. This includes the use of tools that assist in creating masks or selections for Acceptable Image Editing Techniques, or that suggest edits to improve the image, e.g. cropping suggestions to improve composition.
Inclusion of non-photographic content (incl. backgrounds, borders, textures, or other digital art or computer-generated elements) is acceptable where it is the author's own work (i.e. not from, or based on, Stock or Third-Party sources) and not AI generated. Where non-photographic content is introduced, the main subject (or significant elements) should still be from photographic processes.
Borders from, or based on, Stock or Third-Party sources or tools may be acceptable as long as they are not AI generated and do not dominate the image.
The use of creative filters may be acceptable provided they do not use, or result in, anything that would be categorised as Unacceptable Image Editing Techniques.
Monochrome conversions of part, or the whole, of an image are generally acceptable. This includes those through any combination of Global Adjustments, Local Adjustments, filters, and dedicated tools.
Unacceptable Image Editing Techniques
Techniques that add new, original, content that is not present in (or based entirely on) the author's own image(s) and therefore not present in the scene(s) or subject(s) represented, are not acceptable—unless the content added is digital art or computer-generated elements that is the author's own work (i.e. not from Stock or Third-Party sources) and not AI generated.
Inclusion of elements from, or are based on, Stock or Third-Party sources is unacceptable, regardless of any usage agreement or licence involved.
The use of AI powered tools—drawing from, or trained on, the work of others—for any of the following purposes is not acceptable:
- To blend images (other than assisting stitching of images for Focus Stacking, HDR, and Panoramas), e.g. mixing two or more images to create a landscape that does not exist.
- To change a subject's shape or features, e.g. changing a person's appearance or a face's expression.
- To extend content that was present in the author's original image(s).
- To introduce detail that was not present in any form, or to any degree, in the author's image(s), or the scene(s) and subject(s) represented, e.g. adding eyelashes where none were visible in the original image. This includes some in camera AI scene optimisers, which may use subject recognition and apply detail from a library of images, e.g. producing a realistic image of the Moon even though the camera captured little more than a mottled white disc.
- To remove distractions and objects, see ‘Techniques that add new, original, content' above.
- Any other manipulation of the content of images, unless the role of AI is limited to facilitating the manipulation and the resulting content is based entirely on the author's own image(s).
Note: The preceding restrictions on the use of AI powered tools applies whether the tools are supplied a Text Prompt, or it is left for AI to determine the new content or detail required based on the content of the author's image(s).
Complying with this Definition
Only the author can know how much input they had, and how much control they maintained, and absent of any indications or suggestions of the use of Unacceptable Image Editing Techniques the Competition Secretary and Judge(s) shall normally assume images comply with this definition.
Some applications report AI features that have been used, e.g. Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom's AI Edit Status. Care must however be taken over reliance on such reports as they are not present in all applications, or all versions, and may in fact report the use of AI features that would be considered Acceptable Image Editing Techniques.
Content Credentials (metadata about the actions taken on an image) may be included to provide transparency over what edits were made, but their inclusion is not universally supported nor, where supported, mandatory or always reliable, and may be lost during subsequent processing.
