This is a list of definitions of photo editing terms, with links to articles that include them.
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- Magic wand (1)A selection tool that checks the color values of the image where you click, and then selects neighboring pixels sharing the same or similar values. You can adjust the 'tolerance' setting to control how precise the selection will be. It's useful for selecting areas of equal or similar tone.
- Magnetic Lasso (1)This is a variation of the regular freehand Lasso selection tool, but as you move the mouse pointer, the selection tries to 'stick' to nearby object outlines. It can be an effective way to select objects with clear outlines and tones that contrast against their surroundings, but it's not especially reliable nor very easy to use.
- Managed images (1)Some photo organising applications copy your photos into a dedicated image database which is inaccessible to other programs. It sounds restrictive but does have some advantages, in that images are less easily lost or 'disconnected' from the database.
- Marquee (1)Another name for a selection, though it's usually used only for rectangular or circular selections. It's a way of selecting an area by dragging a 'marquee' around it using either of these shapes.
- Masks (16)Masks are related to selections, but they're a more permanent way of masking out adjustments made to an image. For example, you might make an initial selection in an image-editor and then convert it into a layer mask which can be saved with the file and re-edited later if necessary.
- Matte effect (1)A vintage or 'analog' effect, currently popular, where the darker tones in an image don't fade to a solid black. It goes against the grain from a technical point of view but it does give images a distinctly evocative look. It's quite easy to do with curves or levels adjustments.
- Megapixels (1)The number of pixels captured by the camera’s sensor, so that 24 megapixels, for example, is 24 million pixels. Megapixels used to be a good guide to image quality but now sensor size is more important.
- Merge (panoramas, HDR, focus stacking) (1)HDR (high dynamic range) images are usually created by blending a series of different exposures of the same scene to capture a wider brightness range than the camera could capture with a single exposure which are then blended together by HDR software using a ‘merge’ process. Panoramic images are made by merging a series of overlapping frames. Focus stacking is achieved by merging images of the same subject but with different focus points.
- Metadata (2)Any information embedded in a digital photo. It can include time, date and shooting information (EXIF data) embedded by the camera, keyword, caption and copyright (IPTC data) added by image cataloguing programs and, sometimes, image processing data added by non-destructive image-editing programs.
- Mobile photography (12)Photography based around using a smartphone or tablet to take, edit and share pictures. Many smartphones now have highly sophisticated camera arrays, advanced camera apps which include filters, effects and editing tools to rival those on desktop computers and, of course, the ability to publish images immediately and share them on social media.
- Monitor calibration (1)Monitors rarely display colors with complete accuracy, so some professionals use calibration kits that use a sensor to read the monitor’s colors and then apply a software profile to correct the display.
- Multiple exposure (1)Taking two shots on a single frame. In the days of film this meant locking the film advance when cocking the shutter and taking another picture on a frame of film that’s already been exposed. On a digital camera, the camera stores the first image in its memory and then merges it with the second.