This page is an entry in the Key.

“adding” and “deleting” are treated equally

(click tabs to open them)

  • 1. “Deleting” or “adding” anything in a photo disqualifies it from TTG

    Adding or deleting things in a photograph — except for the effects of TTG’s Allowable Changes — always disqualifies the photo from TTG (as per P2).

    • “adding” is also called “inserting”
    • “deleting” is also called “subtracting” or “removing”

  • 2. Some photographers say they often delete things from a photograph but would never add things, so why does TTG treat “deleting” the same as “adding”?

    They are treated equally because deleting cannot be done without adding.

    Unless a hole is left in the photograph, “deleting” the depiction of something requires “adding” the depiction of something in its place.

    In other words, if the undesired item is not touching the edge of the photograph (in which case it could be cropped off)...

    . . . then the only way to get rid of the undesired item is to substitute the depiction of something else.

    Examples of this

  • 3. Even if what photographers call “deleting” is actually just “substituting one thing for another,” what’s the problem with substituting something different for what the camera lens actually saw?

    It's not “a problem” for non-TTG photos, but a fundamental principle of TTG — from the very first line of this website on — is showing only what the camera saw.

     Guessing at what the camera lens “might have seen” is never going to result in what viewers consider to be a trustworthy photograph.


Why do news agencies and TTG allow “cropping” but not “deleting” things?