The Badge Archive

Image Manipulation Lesson

Fulfills Step 4 of GSUSA Outside the Mirror badge requirements.

Info Needed: Media images often use lighting, makeup, angles, and editing to change how someone looks, sometimes dramatically.

Items Needed:

  • Computers, smartphones, or tablets with internet access.
  • Image editing software or apps (e.g., Photoshop, Canva, FaceApp).
  • Before-and-after image pairs showing manipulation.
  • (Optional) Projector or large screen to show examples.

Instructions (Estimated Total Time: 25–30 min):

  1. Introduce the concept of image manipulation. (Estimated Time: 5 min)
    • Explain how lighting, makeup, angles, and editing software can change how someone or something looks.
      • “People use lighting, camera angles, makeup, and photo apps to make faces and bodies look a certain way, often smoother, slimmer, or more polished. Editing software can change things even more by removing blemishes, reshaping features, or adding filters. These tools create images that might look real but aren’t always honest. That’s why it’s important to know that what we see online or in ads isn’t always what people really look like.”
    • Mention that these edits may make people appear to fit certain beauty standards.
  2. Show examples of manipulated images. (Estimated Time: 5 min)
    • Use before-and-after image pairs to highlight common changes like skin smoothing, body reshaping, or filter effects.
    • (Optional) Ask scouts to identify differences between the two images.
  3. Watch or host a short demonstration of image editing tools. (Estimated Time: 10 min)
    • Invite a guest with editing skills or show a short video that demonstrates basic tools (e.g., airbrush, reshape, filters).
    • (Optional) Let scouts ask questions about the process.
  4. Let scouts experiment with simple editing tools. (Estimated Time: 5–8 min)
    • If technology is available, have scouts use an app to try basic image edits like changing background, smoothing skin, or adjusting brightness.
    • Remind them that small changes can have a big effect on how others perceive images.
  5. Reflect as a group. (Estimated Time: 3–5 min)
    • Discuss how edited images might impact confidence or expectations.
    • Emphasize that what’s shown in media isn’t always true or fair.

Image Resources

Before and After Images

Here are a few sources where leaders can find before-and-after image manipulation examples without needing to create them from scratch:

Other Photo Images

Explain how editing software can change how someone or something looks.

Retouching Labs – Before and After Transformations
Offers clear explanation of different photo manipulations.

Video Resources

Here’s a list of short, beginner-friendly videos that demonstrate a range of basic photo editing tools, like airbrush, reshape, filters, and lighting adjustments:

Tia Kennard