Rob Clymo: Columnist - Tech & Gadgets
The Clymo Brief: Faking it
Read more from columnist Rob Clymo here
Y’know what? It’s easy to be a bit sniffy about those digital photography fakes that often drop into our inboxes but, hell, it’s difficult to resist looking at ‘em. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve seen that enormous cat picture over the years and the noble home-grown attempt at fakery never fails to raise a titter.
Yes, we all know it’s not real but it’s a bit of fun while you’re dunking a HobNob or munching on a ham and egg bap, right? A picture really does say a thousand words.
And it got me to thinking.
I wondered just how easy it would be to concoct my own photographic fakes with the help of some tools off the web and a selection of carefully assembled snaps. It’s actually surprisingly simple to create passable attempts. I doubt they’d stand up to professional scrutiny, but for emailing around to your friends they work just fine.
High endGraphics professionals who use high-end software like Photoshop love to think they’re one step above everyone else when it comes to image manipulation. But with a bit of imagination and patience it’s surprising what you can produce off your own back and all in the space of just a few mouse clicks. Take a look at what I've come up with and see what you reckon.
Oh, and see if you can spot which ones aren’t fakes before you read the text!
I used Paint Shop Pro Photo X2, a software program that can be used as a free trial and has many of the same tools found inside the likes of Photoshop. It can also be used for carrying out everyday editing chores on your digital photography images, so it’s worth a look. Mind you, there are oodles of other image-editing tools to be found online too.
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