Is seeing believing? In a world where images matter, trusting what you see is important. Unfortunately, fake photos are now a common occurrence, and learning how to spot them takes a well-trained eye. A photo-con-artist can use Adobe Photoshop or another type of editing app or software to change, add to, or alter an image. This is how to tell if a picture is fake and gain the ability to trust real and accurate images!

How to Tell if a Picture is Fake

 Fake Subjects in Picture

Using editing software, a photo-con-artist can add fake people into a photograph or change how someone looks. This means someone could edit a photograph to make it look like a subject was somewhere they weren’t. Romance scammers do this to trick the people they’re conning.

Blurry

Look for the blurriness, especially on facial features. Blurry parts of an image may indicate that the photograph has been edited to make the subject appear younger than they really are. Apps like FaceTune are readily available and can edit features, smooth lines, whiten teeth, add makeup, and more.

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Distorted Shadows 

Even celebrities get their cover blown when they post photographs with badly edited changes. Photographs can be altered to make someone look thinner than they are and this often distorts the background of the image (which the editor may not catch!).

Distorted shadows are a clear sign the photograph was edited. According to the website Brightside.me, “If the shadow is there, but you still have doubts, draw a line from one point on an object to the corresponding point on its shadow for several objects on the image. All lines should converge on the light source”

Reflections

Editing a photograph takes skill to do it right. See if the reflections around objects, people, and other subjects match the reflection shown. If not, you’re probably dealing with a fake photo. 

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Metadata

The great thing about digital photographs is that information can be attached to them. This can reveal the camera model and make, settings (aperture and exposure time), and GPS locations. This GPS location can prove or disprove the truth by showing you where and when the photograph was taken! 

Identical Patterns

If a photograph shows the same pattern, it might be a faked photo with a stock image added to it.

Don’t trust what you see and end up being conned out of cash. Faked photos may be of people, for sale goods, or even political events (as part of “fake news”). Especially if you’re talking to someone you met online, it is important to know how to tell if a picture is fake. Consider a reverse image search at Social Catfish to verify whether a photo has exact or similar matches to prove or disprove the origin of the photos.

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