Post processing and publishers?

[Ignacio Yufera]

Hello all,

Seeing all the post-processing procedures many of the photographers in the forums use matter-of-factly (cropping, blurring, cloning, adding...), I was wondering whether publishers, magazines and photo agencies usually accept these procedures without question? I know photo contests are a different matter.

Please don't see a criticism in this, I myself often use those tricks, but I've never submitted anything for publishing yet and I'd really like to know what your experiences are.

Thanks and best,

[Dan Brown]

I think that the requirements for publication are probably going to vary. I haven't submitted a digital image for publication yet but when I do, I will follow the publishers guidelines for submission and be sure to be totally upfront regarding my postprocessing.

[Arthur Morris]

Here is a copy and paste from Ignacio's bee-eater post:


Thanks Arthur and Randy. Actually I kind of like how strikingly indeed the bird is to the perch... Since we're at it, we might as well put an altogether new perch? Interesting to think about how far you can go when altering an original image without it being considered "manipulated"... As Randy says, lots of possibilities; I wonder where's the threshold of what a publisher/ mag/ agency would consider acceptable? I just posted a thread on the Workflow forum regarding this. Thanks again,

Hi Ignacio, You are welcome. I notice that you used the word manipulated in quotes... There is no hard and fast definition that I know of as far as photographic "manipulation." When you adjust color and contrast we would be manipulating the image to some. I always try to be faithful to the natural history of the image, in this case, a bird jumping off a perch.

Once a different perch is added I would feel that you have now created a photographic illustration....

Best policy is to do what only works for you while letting others know what you have done. And that includes letting editors know in the image caption or otherwise.

[Arthur Morris]

In addition, most publishers want the image that meets their needs and do not care much how it was created. Others are quite concerned with everything from capture to processing. Those that best live up to those concerns are National Wildlife and Ranger Rick (and others in that family of magazines).

As far as I know, it was Robert L. Dunne, former photo editor of Ranger Rick who was the first in the industry to want to know exactly what's up when it comes to an image. Many other publishers profess the highest standards but willingly look the other way if an image meets their needs.... And that group includes several (mistakenly) held in high regard.