Myth #8: “The manipulations being done now are no different from what has been done since photography was invented.”

Those who agree with this can try a simple test:

1. Take a photo of a bird or plane flying in a blue sky. Have someone with a state-of-the-art smartphone erase the bird or plane from the photo without cropping it, timing how long that manipulation takes them to perform.

With many smartphones, it should take a couple of seconds.

2. Ask someone who believes Myth #8 to execute the same bird/plane removal using non-digital tools, for example physically retouching a print or a negative using a brush and paint.

You can be generous and allow them twice as much time as #1 took to execute.

3. Compare the results of #1 vs. #2.

Is one manipulation easier to detect than the other?