Manipulation Standards
The rules defining what processing is permissible in a given field of photography.
In depth
News organisations and photojournalism contests permit only global adjustments equivalent to darkroom practice — exposure, contrast, colour balance, modest cropping — and prohibit adding, removing or moving anything. Scientific publishing applies similar rules to micrographs. Elsewhere the standards are conventions rather than prohibitions.
Examples in practice
A major contest disqualifies entries whose raw files show that a background element was removed.