AIRBRUSHED

Scientists Scrutinize Digital Retouching

Propose software to rate extent of photo alteration.

In popular fashion and beauty magazines, photographs of celebrities and models constantly retouched with Photoshop to make lips look fuller and hips smaller— but readers, feminists, and scientists are eager to reverse the trend. Computer scientists at Dartmouth are proposing a software tool that will measure how drastically photos are altered. The research is being published this week and intends to address concerns about how airbrushing can contribute to body-image anxiety and eating disorders, particularly among young women. Lesley Jane Seymour, editor in chief of More magazine, says readers have developed a keen eye for Photoshopped images and would prefer celebrities to look “real.”