Which technique is used to alter an image's colors and shading?

The technique that is used to alter an image's colors and shading is filters or effects. This method allows artists and designers to manipulate an image in various ways, enhancing its colors, adjusting brightness and contrast, changing hues, and adding creative effects such as blurring or sharpening details. Filters can be applied to transform the visual aesthetics of an image, enabling the creation of a desired mood or style that aligns with a specific artistic vision.

Filters operate by applying mathematical algorithms to the pixels of the image, resulting in various changes that affect how the image is perceived color-wise and in terms of shading. Other techniques, such as clipping, masking, and distortions, serve different functions in the editing process. Clipping generally involves isolating parts of an image, masking is used to hide or reveal specific areas of an image without deleting them, and distortions manipulate shapes and sizes, rather than focusing specifically on color and shading alterations.