Post-Processing & Retouching — 60 Terms Defined

Added Grain Post-Processing & Retouching % Synthetic texture introduced into a digital image to imitate film grain or to disguise other artefacts.

Adjustment Layer Post-Processing & Retouching A layer containing a tonal or colour adjustment that affects the layers beneath it without altering their pixels.

AI Denoise Post-Processing & Retouching % Noise reduction driven by a trained neural network that distinguishes noise from real detail using learned image structure.

AI Subject Selection Post-Processing & Retouching Automatic masking that identifies a subject, sky, background or facial feature using a trained model.

Black and White Conversion Post-Processing & Retouching Turning a colour image into monochrome by mapping each colour to a chosen grey value.

Blend If Post-Processing & Retouching levels (0-255) A control that makes a layer's visibility depend on the brightness values of the layer itself or the layers below.

Blend Mode Post-Processing & Retouching A rule determining how a layer's pixels combine mathematically with those beneath it.

Brush Adjustment Post-Processing & Retouching px A local edit painted onto specific areas of an image with an adjustable brush.

Capture Sharpening Post-Processing & Retouching % A modest first stage of sharpening applied to compensate for softening introduced by the sensor, the low-pass filter and demosaicing.

Channel Mixer Post-Processing & Retouching % An adjustment that builds each output channel from a weighted combination of the red, green and blue input channels. Out = aR + bG + cB

Chromatic Aberration Removal Post-Processing & Retouching px Processing that eliminates coloured fringing along high-contrast edges by realigning or desaturating the offending channels.

Clarity Post-Processing & Retouching % A midtone local-contrast control that adds apparent punch and definition without affecting the extreme tones.

Clipping Mask Post-Processing & Retouching A layer restricted so that it only affects the single layer directly beneath it, using that layer's shape as its boundary.

Clone Stamp Post-Processing & Retouching px (brush size) A retouching tool that copies pixels from one part of an image directly onto another.

Colour Noise Reduction Post-Processing & Retouching % Processing that removes the random coloured speckles that appear in shadows and at high sensitivity.

Compositing Post-Processing & Retouching count Combining elements from several photographs into a single image.

Content-aware Fill Post-Processing & Retouching A tool that removes a selected area and synthesises a replacement from surrounding image content.

Contrast Adjustment Post-Processing & Retouching % A control that increases or decreases the difference between light and dark tones across the whole image.

Curves Post-Processing & Retouching levels A tonal adjustment that maps input brightness values to output values along a freely shaped line. Output = f(Input)

Deconvolution Sharpening Post-Processing & Retouching % A sharpening method that models how the image was blurred and mathematically reverses that blur.

Dehaze Post-Processing & Retouching % A control that removes or adds atmospheric haze by estimating and correcting for scattered light.

Digital Dodge and Burn Post-Processing & Retouching % Selectively lightening and darkening small areas to sculpt form, usually on a neutral grey layer in overlay or soft light mode.

Exposure Adjustment Post-Processing & Retouching stops (EV) A processing control that brightens or darkens the whole image in stops, mimicking a change in camera exposure.

Exposure Fusion Post-Processing & Retouching count Blending bracketed frames directly into a normal-range image by selecting the best-exposed pixels, without building an HDR file first.