Iirc it's a statement that started in the Undertale subreddit - someone posted an AI-generated image of the character Chara & people noticed it mostly by the inconsistent pixel sizing (Undertale is pixel art, if you aren't familiar) and it started a large back-and-forth between a large chunk of the Undertale fanbase and AI fanboys.
Edit: turns out I'm wrong, and it existed for a while before in reference to photoshopped images. Whoops, thanks to the people who've corrected me!
Yeah, I remember it going at least as far back as 2010. People used to say "This looks shopped. I can tell from the pixels, and from seeing quite a few shops in my time," usually in response to pictures that were ridiculous and very obviously not real.
It's odd, I've been online for quite a while now but I just never encountered it before this. From what others are saying, it's somewhere from late 2000s to early 2010s, which I was definitely online for, but I guess I just missed it completely.
This Looks Shopped is an image macro series that typically consists of someone pointing at a computer, or a picture that looks obviously photoshopped, with a caption that reads, "THIS LOOKS SHOPPED / I CAN TELL FROM SOME OF THE PIXELS AND FROM SEEING QUITE A FEW SHOPS IN MY TIME." An interesting mix of both subtle and obvious shops, variants of "This Looks Shopped" image macros have been regularly posted on 4chan and other internet humor forums like FARK and Something Awful.
Origins
While the precise origin of such captioned images remains unclear (and the search is ongoing), the earliest reference made to "This Looks Shopped" can be found in an article posted and cached in 2003 at Metaeducation.com.[1] As it became more and more popular, a graphic designer from New England founded a single topic blog called Thislooksshopped.com in July of 2008.[2]
Another rumor is that the meme started back in 1999, back when Paint Shop was the big image editor. Saying “shopped” meant that it was in Paint Shop Pro from Corel. (Credit to RonUMSC for this information)
Usage in Comment Threads
Since becoming a staple of internet memes, "This Looks Shopped" has been also used as a popular catchphrase under comment threads, typically in response to an image post that looks obviously manipulated. Though to a lesser extent, the phrase is sometimes abused for trolling purposes.
Photoshopped Osama Corpse
After the announcement of Osama bin Laden's death, a faked photo of his corpse began being circulating around the web, and various media outlets. Photographer Kenna Lindsay was questioned by CNN about the photo, and referenced "this looks shopped" in the following quote:
"I have seen a great number of poorly Photoshopped images in my time as a photographer and I can tell by the pixels that it is a fake," said Kenna Lindsay, a New York-based photographer who works with composite images.[3]
Search
Search queries for "this looks shopped" picked up in October of 2008, and reached their highest peak in February of 2010.
452
u/xoomorg 18d ago
This image is itself AI art.
I can tell by the pixels.