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Guidelines

Guidelines for Best Practices in Image Processing

Please click on each guideline for further details. Also, see the guidelines demonstrated in Photoshop Videos.

Image Link to Guideline1 Treating Images as Data: Digital scientific images should be treated as data   Image Link to Guideline7 Filters Degrade Data: Use of software filters to improve image quality is usually not recommended for biological images.
Image Link to Guideline2 Saving the Original: Manipulations of digital images should always be done on a copy of the raw image data. The original must be retained. Image Link to Guideline8 Cloning Degrades Data: Cloning objects into an image or from other parts of the image is very questionable.
Image Link to Guideline3 Making Simple Adjustments: Simple adjustments to the entire image are usually acceptable. Image Link to Guideline9 Making Intensity Measurements: Intensity measurements of digital images should be performed on raw data and the data should be calibrated to a known standard.
Image Link to Guideline4 Cropping is usually OK: Cropping an image is usually acceptable. Image Link to Guideline10 Lossy Compression Degrades Data: Avoid the use of lossy compression.
Image Link to Guideline5 Comparing Images: Digital images that will be compared to one another should be acquired under identical conditions. Image Link to Guideline11 Issues With Magnification: Magnification and resolution issues are important.
Image Link to Guideline6 Manipulating the Entire Image: Manipulations that are specific to one area of an image and are not performed on other areas are questionable. Image Link to Guideline12 Issues With Pixels: Be careful when changing the size (in pixels) of a digital image.

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