Clipping

In photo editing, clipping refers to the loss of details in an image due to the image's colors or brightness being pushed beyond the range that can be captured or displayed. It often occurs in two main contexts:

Highlight Clipping: This happens when the bright areas of the image are too bright, resulting in areas that are completely white without any details. This occurs when the exposure is too high, causing parts of the image to "clip" at the brightest possible value (often 255 in 8-bit color). These areas lose detail and texture.

Shadow Clipping: This is the opposite, where the dark areas of the image are too dark, resulting in areas that are completely black, losing any details or texture. It happens when the exposure is too low, and the image data is "clipped" at the lowest possible value (often 0 in 8-bit color).

Clipping can cause loss of important information and reduce the overall quality of the image. In editing, it’s usually ideal to avoid clipping, and adjustments (like exposure, highlights, shadows, and contrast) are made to ensure the image has details in both the dark and light areas.