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ZZUNO

Guide / Photo manipulation

Has this photo been edited?

Look closer at the details that can change what a photo shows.

Check a photo
Lounge with a champagne bucket on a round table, velvet seats and a wall lamp
Velvet lounge, warm evening light.

Before and after

Spot the change

Before: lounge with an empty velvet seat at lower left
After: the same lounge with a coral handbag on the lower-left seat

Drag the handle, or focus it and use the arrow keys. A handbag was added to the second version with AI. This is a comparison of two files, not a ZUNO finding.

Lounge photograph by cottonbro studio on Pexels (Pexels License).

Visual clues

Where to look closer

A clue is a lead, not proof.

Close view of the lower-left velvet seat
Added or removed objectsCompare the same spot across versions. Is something there in one and not the other?
Close view of where an object meets the seat
Object edgesTrace outlines for halos, hard cuts or soft blur.
Close view of the champagne bucket on the table
ReflectionsMetal and glass should echo the room around them.
Wall lamp and lit area of the lounge
Lighting and shadowsCheck that light and shadow agree with the visible source.
Close view of velvet texture
Texture and grainGrain and blur should feel consistent across the frame.
Background walls and furniture lines
BackgroundsFollow walls and lines behind objects. Do they continue?

Ordinary edits are fine.

Cropping, colour correction, retouching, resizing and compression do not make a photograph deceptive on their own. What matters is whether a change alters what the picture claims to show. Metadata can help, but missing metadata proves nothing.

Questions people ask

Does edited mean fake?

No. Cropping, colour correction and retouching are common. What matters is whether a change misrepresents the scene.

Does compression or missing metadata prove an edit?

No. Sharing compresses images and often strips metadata. Neither proves manipulation or an untouched original.

Does comparing versions help?

Yes. It can reveal what changed, though you still need to judge why the versions differ and whether that matters.

Can a real photograph contain AI edits?

Yes. Generative tools can add, remove or replace parts of a camera photograph.

Something doesn’t look right?

Investigate the image instead of guessing.

Check a photo