Photoshop Photography: Is It Okay to Photoshop Your Photos?

In the age of social media and powerful technology, one question tends to come up often around photographers; is it okay to Photoshop your photos?

In general, it is okay to Photoshop your images as long as the context and integrity of your photo remain the same. Many professional photographers use Photoshop to refine their images as it is industry-standard software.

Though it is generally okay to Photoshop your images, there are unethical ways that Photoshop is used, some of which are outlined below and some helpful guidelines for using Photoshop responsibly.

What is Photoshop?

Photoshop is a powerful software that edits and manipulates images and creates graphics. It is an industry-standard for creatives and is often used in tandem with other Adobe Creative Cloud software such as Lightroom and Illustrator.

Photographers use Photoshop to manipulate existing elements of a photo or to add new details. One of the main elements of Photoshop is that you can work in layers; this means you can change one element of a photo without affecting others. Photographers can also use Photoshop to remove unwanted parts of an image using features such as “Clone Stamp” and “Content-Aware.”

Graphic designers use Photoshop to create and manipulate illustrations. Photoshop is powerful enough for graphic designers to use as a digital canvas to paint art. Many graphic designers create images in Adobe Illustrator and refine and edit them in Photoshop.

Want to learn about Photoshop’s new AI features? Check out my article teaching you how to set up and use Photoshop’s Generative Fill.

Why is Photoshop Controversial?

What does it mean when you hear “that’s photoshopped”? Often this means someone manipulated a photo of themself to look, in their eyes, better. This is where the controversy comes into play, though it is more about how the software is used than the software itself.

In general, people’s main issue with Photoshop comes from its use to deceive on social media. Although we often only hear about unethical Photoshop usage related to celebrities and influencers, many everyday people doctor their photos.

An example of this application might be an influencer using Photoshop to change the structure of their face, slimming it down because that is what they see as ideal. Photoshop is a hot topic in the fitness community as many influencers continuously get called out for editing themselves to look bigger; this is often referred to as “Photoshop gains.”

General Photoshop Guidelines

Consider the context of your picture. Who is going to see your photo? Will changing your image change their opinion of your subject? Will it change their behaviour? These are just a few questions when considering the context. It is essential to assess whether or not your edits will change the context behind your picture.

Don’t change anything your subject cannot change themself. By this, I mean don’t edit a subject’s nose to be smaller, don’t edit out a mole on your subject’s neck, etc. Not only is this deceptive to your audience, but it is disrespectful to your subject.

Don’t change anything without the subject’s permission. Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t edit out a pimple on your subject’s face; it just means you need their permission to do so. Blindly making a lot of edits to a subject may make them self-conscious.

Be Transparent. If you do end up doing touch-ups, don’t hide it. If someone asks if you “Photoshopped” your image, be honest and tell them the scope of your editing. Again, Photoshop is not inherently controversial; how you use it may be.

Do Beginner Photographers Need Photoshop?

Beginner Photographers generally won’t need Photoshop immediately; basic editing can be done in software such as Lightroom, which is explicitly designed for photo editing. Lightroom has features such as “Clone Stamp” and “Object Removal” that will do just fine.

This doesn’t mean beginners shouldn’t use Photoshop; you can capture and edit great photos without it. I recommend focusing on nailing the basics of shooting and sticking to one photo editing software. Then, as you progress, your editing ability and taste will require more features from different software.

In the end, photography is about creating content that makes you happy. Whether you use Photoshop or not, if you’re satisfied with your images, that’s all that matters!

Looking to learn how photographers edit their photos? Check out my article breaking down my editing process as a professional photographer.