Now there's a question that's long been the subject of so many interpretations-how could we possibly have a definitive answer? The short answer is: There really is no right answer. The reason? Retouching, like many forms of art, is subject to interpretation. Interpretation by who? Usually the person paying the bill! Or, as many experts have said over and over, "beauty is in the eye of the checkbook holder." That being said, for those of us doing retouching, we need guidelines to go by to help keep us from going too far. A late mentor of mine, referring to traditional retouching, often said, "Retouching should be invisible, to the point that anyone looking at the finished image can't tell it was retouched." That was the best piece of advice I ever received, and I've been guided by that mantra for all the years I've been doing retouching, whether traditional or digital.
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