At its most basic, photo retouching entails the enhancement of certain elements in a picture, making persons or objects appear better or clearer. Photo retouching could also entail enhancing the quality of a picture, resolving issues with a picture’s Gamma levels being too dark, or the overall picture simply being too light. The process is one which as been around even in the days before Adobe Photoshop was around, even preceding the days when the x86 computer systems came to be. 

Before you read on, clear your mind of the pictures you see featured in your Myspace or Friendster account. Forget about the snapshots which your gallery of friends post on their social network accounts. In order to understand the history of photo retouching, we must first delve into the nature of what photographs were before the common occurrence of snapshots came to be.

Of Photography and Photographs
In the days of the old, photographs weren’t seen as how we see them today. Though the basis as to their existence remains the same, the endearing reason as to how they were held by society was very much different from today.

Historically, the first of photography equipment was made by Ibn al-Haytham, who lived from 965 to 1014. His camera is known as the pinhole camera and the camera obscura. Come 1826, Nicephore Niepce, a French inventor, first developed chemical photography result images. Eventually, in 1884, film technology was utilized in camera equipment, made possible through the efforts of George Eastman. The film system eventually became the standard where photography was concerned, and is now being rapidly replaced with the digital camera system option, as the digital camera variety is known to boast more impressive features for users, professional, amateur or recreational photographers.

Before the mass marketing of cameras, photographs were seen as serious “events”, where people then would actually prepare for. Clothes were specifically chosen, hairdos were particularly setup, and appointments with photographers were officially made. Pictures were viewed, in a value sense, very much differently then because of this simple fact: cameras were hard to come by. From family pictures to yearbook photos, these pictures were viewed to be quite important, and are still known to hold the same value they held.

As the technology came to grow, the potentials of image quality became much more enhanced, allowing for more detailed photographs to be. Though this came to be an advantage for many, it came as an area of concern for those with facial issues.

Here, photo retouching came to the rescue. With photo retouching, the need for having to take another picture was negated. Considering the fact that it was quite costly to have pictures taken then, photo retouching stood as a solution for many, who somehow didn’t feel quite satisfied with the end-result pictures they come with.

Today, though the base point of photo retouching remains to be the same, the whole process is easier and faster, utilizing computer systems in manipulating digital images. Depending on the purpose of why such pictures were taken, users could easily retouch areas or easily take new pictures, should there be some degrees of unsatisfaction. Software, like the world famous Adobe Photoshop line, for computer systems could easily make blemishes or pimples disappear. Low light pictures could easily be made brighter. Cropping pictures is made faster, without any color losses or quality losses, bottom line, maximizing the “beauty factor” in photographs.

As pictures came out, then and now, those/these will not always be perfect. Photo retouching comes into the rescue, should taking another picture be not an option. Back then, it was seen as the only option. Today, it could be the way to go, or taking another picture. It all depends on what the photo in question is for.