The ability to make changes in shape is an essential part of the image-manipulation armoury. However, in the early days of image manipulation, there wasn't a lot that could be done to improve body shapes. The image processing needed for distorting shapes calls for awesome computing power in addition to clever programming. While computers now have all the power we need, the software still has some way to go to give us easy-to-use tools.
One problem is that changing body shape is not a simple, one-click process. It's a technique that'll be familiar to typographers: the overall look of 'rightness' of type depends on the balance between the size and weight of all the details. It's the same with the human body: you can't turn a large, corpulent body into a slim one simply by squeezing the entire image - you have to leave some parts the same size, while others can be reduced much more.
