A Worldwide Consensus

. . . about what kinds of changes do not constitute “doctoring” a photo shaped TTG’s Allowable Changes list.

That list is at the heart of TTG’s definition of “undoctored” and is one of the linchpins of P2, the requirement that determines whether a photograph is “undoctored.”

How was TTG's “Allowable Changes” list developed?

It was developed from what all manufacturers agree on.

In order to make their products appealing to buyers, the manufacturer of any camera or device will want to “bake in” in to the device as many automatic features as possible —

— but they will not want to make automatic any actions (in a device’s away-facing camera) that would be regarded as “doctoring” by users who just want to “take a photo to show what something looks like.”

That balance — embraced by all device manufacturers and billions of users — conveniently creates a list of seven allowable actions.

Those seven actions are #4 through #10 on the Allowable Changes list.

(For background on #1, #2, and #3 on the list, see #1208.)