The background is cluttered with a toolbox, pegboard, and chairs. A tag hangs from one of the drawers. The flat lighting of the on-camera flash does not show details well. The picture could be retaken with studio lighting and backdrops, but this takes time and money. In the old days, a darkroom worker could clean up the picture with cropping, spotting, dodging, and burn-in.
Today there is computer software that has more tricks and works faster than the old darkroom artist.
Be aware that computer image editing is a tool for both good and evil. The software that removes extraneous objects and sharpens details can also be used to hide defects or add things that are not really there. Using the example picture shown in figure 1, we will describe painting out the tag and cloning one of the brasses to replace the one hidden by the tag. It depends on the circumstance and the intent. Many publications have guidelines specifying what darkroom manipulations are allowable.