Removing editing from a shopped photo

[leela]

Hello,

I have a (kinds weird) question about shopped images: If I upload a shopped image (basic editing, such as curves and selective colors for instance) on a site which anyone could see (naturally) and download if they like, can a person remove all the edit work to the point where the image returns to its first form?
If yes, then is there a way to prevent this?

I'm using CS5 if that matters.

Thanks a lot!

 

[chrisix]

Okay, if you upload the image, then no
only if you upload the file.

This is, the image information of edits is lost when you save it as image
the info of the replaced pixels is just gone

 

[MikeMc]

Yep, and when you flatten and save nothing can be changed. If you WANT to be able to re edit down the road , save the whole thing as a PSD file, and don't flatten it. Saving as a jpg will flatten and allow compression.

 

[ALB68]

and..just as a matter of information..of you intend to print your original PSD, suggest saving as a Tiff. JPG's are great for online usage, but they lose quality with the compression of every subsequent save. Much bigger file but quality is preserved.

 

[ibclare]

Whether you can get down to the original image depends on a lot of the actions during the making of the psd. Many of us save the base image by copying it and starting work on the copy. But if that is not the case, there are things that need to be taken into consideration.

You can remove all layers above the original, but you might not know if there were filters applied (unless the person was using smart objects); you may have had adjustments applied to the original image that can't be reversed. I used clipped layer adjustments as they are non-destructive so you can always delete the layer and remove the alteration it makes. But even then, someone may have flattened those with the original (once happy with the effects), and again, no turning back unless copies were kept, like in a group folder. Many people flatten layers as they go to keep the doc size smaller. Depends I guess on what is needed.

So the answer to your question is . . . maybe.

 

[IamSam]

How I read the question is...........

If the file you uploaded was a jpeg:
No, unless there is an original version that can be used to compare the downloaded altered version to but that would be redundant if you had the original. You would only be guessing without something to compare it against.

If you uploaded the PSD:
Then it would be as everyone else above has explained.

 

[dv8_fx]

If the person knows how the original looks, obe may be able to approximate the original colors with curve and color tools.

 

[leela]

Thank you all for the quick reply, you helped a lot!