Pixel Analysis Workstation

Welcome to the digital light table. An image's metadata tells you its history, but the pixels tell its story. This workstation provides a suite of forensic tools to analyze the content of an image, helping you detect digital manipulation, reveal hidden details, and assess the credibility of visual evidence with a scientific approach.

How to Use the Workstation

1. Load Image: Click "Upload Image File" to select a photo from your device. The image will appear in the main analysis window.
2. Apply Filters: Use the filter buttons to change the image's appearance. You can apply multiple filters. "Reset Original" will always revert to the untouched image.
3. Activate Digital Loupe: Check the "Show Digital Loupe" box. As you move your cursor over the main image, a highly magnified view will appear in the top right, allowing you to inspect individual pixels.

Investigative Use Cases: What to Look For

This tool is designed to help you spot the tell-tale signs of digital forgery and to uncover details hidden in poor-quality photos.

Detecting Digital Manipulation

• Edge Detection Filter: This is your most powerful tool. It reduces the image to just its outlines. A real photo will have complex, noisy edges. A photoshopped object often has unnaturally smooth, clean, or "cut-out" looking edges that stand out immediately under this filter.
• Digital Loupe: Use the loupe to examine the borders between a suspicious object and its background. Look for a "smudge" or blur effect, mismatched pixel noise (grain), or a hard, sharp line where there should be a soft transition. These are classic signs of a pasted object.
• Contrast+ Filter: This filter blows out the light and dark levels. It is excellent for revealing compression artifacts. A low-quality JPEG that has been edited and re-saved will often show blocky squares or halos around an inserted object.

Enhancing Poor-Quality Evidence

• Grayscale Filter: By removing color information, the grayscale filter forces you to focus on shape, shadow, and texture. This can help you better identify the form of a blurry creature or a distant, dark object in the sky.
• Invert Filter: Inverting the colors can sometimes make details in deep shadows or bright highlights more visible. A dark shape against a bright sky might reveal more of its form when viewed as a bright shape against a dark sky.