JPEGsnoop Unravels Image Modification and Enhancements

On 18 Mar 2009

We get to see quite a few pics these days that have been modified and enhanced by skilful people using all sorts of software applications (most likely Adobe Photoshop). Most of the times it is pretty easy to determine if someone tweaked the image in order to make it better looking; other times, it is not so easy to pinpoint these enhancements. For those of you that want to see if an image has been tampered with, there is a free piece of software that you can take advantage of: JPEGsnoop.

JPEGsnoop not only comes free of charge, but it also comes with no installation need. Simply download the software, and start using it without installing it on your machine. Of course, this also means that you can put it on a portable storage device and take it with your wherever you go – might come in handy when you are visiting a friend and he wants to show you a picture that he claims is the genuine article, but your trained eye tells you otherwise.

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“Every digital photo contains a wealth of hidden information -- JPEGsnoop was written to expose these details to those who are curious. One of the latest features in JPEGsnoop is an internal database that compares an image against a large number of compression signatures. JPEGsnoop reports what digital camera or software was likely used to generate the image. This is extremely useful in determining whether or not a photo has been edited / tampered in any way. If the compression signature matches Photoshop, then you can be pretty sure that the photo is no longer an original! This type of feature one of several sometimes referred to as Digital Image Ballistics / Forensics,” explains Calvin Hass.

After an image file is analyzed by JPEGsnoop, it will be given an assessment class (one of four); if the image is given a “Class 1” assessment, then you can be sure the image has been tampered with.

If you would like to get JPEGSnoop, a download location is available here.

Tags: JPEGsnoop, Image Editing, Adobe Photoshop

About the author: George Norman

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