In Touch Germany magazine mistakenly published a photoshop disaster. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are followed by Brad's third leg and a duplicate child thanks to a botched Photoshop job.

No graphic designer would intentionally leave a disembodied giant hand on a table in a magazine advertisement where a couple innocently sits by or show a couple holding hands with a menacing looking extra finger floating nearby. Photoshopdisasters features these often hilarious examples of failed photo fakery in news media, fashion and gossip publications as well as in advertising.

The lesson learned over and again is to not trust what you see in print or on the Internet. Images are fodder for media to twist people and places into what they perceive is an improved reality that will sell products and their message.

Budgetary pressures obviously create a push on designers for speed. However, such hurrying can often translate into both laughable errors and a window for the public to see “truth” through such mistakes. The daily practice of swapping reality with  distortions intended to manipulate us with images is suddenly made visible.

Mainstream media often gets caught on the site too. Photoshopdisasters posted a Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie howler inadvertently published by In Touch Germany magazine. Their designer when composting pictures together, mistakenly duplicated Brad Pitts leg and the child he was holding. Zahara appears in this photoshop disaster both in front AND behind her father as if she were twins. Pitt’s extra leg follows behind the happy family.

The web site acknowledges readers contributions. The Pitt/Jolie image, for example, was sent in by “Sara, Siv and others.” It takes a village to help keep media accountable.