“Exposing digitally doctored photos”

The Boston Globe, December 5, 2011

“Start-up company Fourandsix Technologies, cofounded by Dartmouth College computer scientist Hany Farid, is developing software that will determine whether a photo has been altered since it was first taken - and if so, how.”

“Exposed: Software reveals how much photos have been retouched”

The Guardian, November 29, 2011

“There is a better way. Computer image specialists Hany Farid and Eric Kee at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, US, have come up with a technique that measures how much a digital picture has been manipulated. It ignores trivial tweaks that improve the picture quality and focuses on changes that most alter a person’s appearance.”

“I'm ready for my touch-up...the secrets of Photoshop unmasked”

The Independent, November 29, 2011

“Their system scores a ‘1’ when there is little retouching and ‘5’ when there are significant changes. The computer programme they have developed looks at the image in terms of geometric changes, which include slimming the legs, hips and arms, the elongating of the neck or the enlarging of the eyes. It also assesses the photometric alterations, which affect skin tone and texture and are used to eradicate wrinkles, cellulite, blemishes, freckles, and dark circles under the eyes.”

“New tool to answer if it's real or Photoshopped”

Toronto Star, November 29, 2011

“Farid, along with a Ph.D. student Eric Kee, invented the novel five-point metric measurement, and their research will be published this week in the American academic journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He said they’re now considering developing a tool for Photoshop through his software company, Fourandsix (a play on forensics).”

“Computer model spots image fraud”

Nature, November 28, 2011

“The resulting system is able to rate the extent of manipulation in new pairs of images with an accuracy of about 80%, says Farid. Although the technique is currently specifically tuned to images of people, Farid sayst that the unerlying algorithms could easily be adapted to analyse scientific images, using journal editors and scientists during the training process.”

“Physical implausibility”

The Economist, November 28, 2011

“Dr. Farid’s position is in computer science, but his interest is social change. He proposes that magazines voluntarily adopt a code in which his algorithm’s result would be shown alongside modified photographs, possibly with explanatory text that details the sorts of changes found. Dr. Farid says an objective (though subjectively tuned) reference point removes the heat from the topic, and might give magazines a goal to reduce retouching if the extent of their efforts is numerically revealed.”

“Photoshopped or not? A tool to tell”

The New York Times, November 28, 2011

“The Dartmouth research, said Seth Matlins, a former talent agent and marketing executive, could be ‘hugely important’ as a tool for objectively measuring the degree to which photos have been altered.”

“Automating the hunt for child pornographers”

New Scientist, April 6, 2011

"More recently, Microsoft teamed up with Hany Farid, a specialist in digital imagery at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, to develop a system called PhotoDNA. This can scan through millions of images being stored and viewed online, flagging those that match images held in NCMEC's database. That's useful because child pornographers repeatedly circulate old images as well as new ones. The idea is that PhotoDNA will help companies that unknowingly host illegal material to detect and purge it - and pass information to the police for investigation."

“Hany Farid vs. Photoshop”

Bloomberg Businessweek, December 29, 2010

"A warning to anyone trying to pass off faked photos as real: Hany Farid is on to you. The Dartmouth College computer scientist is developing digital forensics software that can instantly tell whether an image has been manipulated, and what make and model of camera captured it."

“Can you believe your eyes in the digital world?”

BBC News, August 2, 2010

"His team uses scientific equations and mathematical algorithms to analyse photos looking for statistical anomalies in their composition."

“Tech Watch: Solo Act”

Popular Mechanics, April 1, 2010

"Digital forensic tools have added to the evidence that Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone gunman rather than part of a conspiracy to kill President John F Kennedy."

Related video:

“Nova | Profile: Hany Farid”

Nova Science Now, PBS, June 25, 2008

"This self-proclaimed 'accidental scientist' is a digital detective inventing new ways to tell if photos have been faked."

“Proving that Seeing Shouldn't Always Be Believing”

The New York Times, October 2, 2007

"Dr. Farid, a 41-year-old engineer, is a founder of a subdiscipline within computer science: digital forensics."