Photoshopping an image may seem like a modern phenomenon, but the idea of making quick edits to images dates all the way back to the 1940s.

Created 68 years ago, a contraption known as Adam’s Retouching Machine was the precursor to current photo-editing tools and involves a retouching pencil and a magnifying glass.

It weighs two-and-a-half stone (16kg) and was invented and patented in 1946 to give photographers the opportunity to perfect their pictures with relative ease.

The Adam's Retouching Machine (pictured) was invented and patented by Colorado-based Harry LeRoy Adams in 1946. It is used to retouch negatives prior to developing the photograph. The negative is placed on top of the green cloth in the centre of the device and pictures are backlit by a fluorescent tube inside the machine

Instead of uploading images to a computer, photographers would place their negative under the magnifying glass.

Blemishes in the picture could then be smoothed out by using the retouching pencil, assisted by gentle vibrations of the machine.

HOW DOES ADAM’S RETOUCHING MACHINE WORK? The Adam's Retouching Machine was used to retouch negatives before developing the photograph. The negative is placed on top of the green cloth in the centre of the device, and the is backlit by a fluorescent tube. With the aid of an in-built magnifying glass, the photographer can examine the negative and smooth out skin blemishes or alter any imperfections with a special pencil. The machine slowly vibrates to make the pencil work as smooth as possible. The high-end equipment would have sold for $2,300 (£1,435) in today's money. Advertisement

Created by inventor LeRoy Adams, of Denver, Colorado, an example device was recently restored by American photographer and vintage camera store owner John Sargent Barnard.

The 27-year-old, from San Francisco, California, purchased the retouching machine for $5 (£3) on an online auction site.

He said: ‘I had never seen anything like it and when I researched the machine, not much came up.

‘As a professional photo retoucher myself, I was fascinated by it.’

The Adam's Retouching Machine was used to retouch negatives prior to developing the photograph.

The negative is placed on top of the green cloth in the centre of the device, and the picture is backlit by a fluorescent tube inside the machine.

With the aid of an in-built magnifying glass, the photographer can examine the negative and smooth out skin blemishes or alter any imperfections with a pencil.

With the aid of an in-built magnifying glass (pictured) it lets a photographer examine the negative and smooth out skin blemishes, or alter any imperfections using a specially-designed pencil. The 68-year-old equipment would have sold for $2,300 (£1,435) in modern money

The device was restored by American photographer and vintage camera store owner John Sargent Barnard. The 27-year-old, from San Francisco, California, purchased the retouching machine for $5 (£3) on an online auction site and only had to replace the light (dimmer switch pictured) in order to get the gadget working again

Mr Adams' patent (pictured) was filed in March 1946 and was it awarded in June 1947

The machine slowly vibrates to make the pencil work as smooth as possible.

The high-end equipment would have sold for $2,300 (£1,435) in modern-day money.

Mr Adams filed a patent for the device in March 1946 and it was awarded in June 1947.

The filing said: 'This invention relates to a device for use in retouching photographs.

'Photographic retouching is done by highly skilled operators who work over the blemish spots on a negative with a retouching pencil.

'[This] consists of a plurality of microscopic, overlapping check marks or loops which must be so small and so uniform that they will not become apparent on an enlarged print from the negative.

'The principal object of this invention is to provide means for automatically forming these small, microscopic check marks so that retouching will require less skill and less time.'

Mr Sargent Barnard said: ‘The hardest part when restoring the machine was the amount of dirt and filth.

‘I spent a few hours just removing crud from all over.

'Although afterwards, it still looked like it had been in someone's basement for 50 years.

‘The wiring was all really well done and fired up right away.

'The only thing was the light was busted, and so I had to buy a new one.'

Mr Sargent Barnard attempted to use the machine, but admitted he was unable to master the technique required to produce a picture perfect photo. After restoring the Adam's Retouching Machine, Mr Sargent Barnard sold the device (pictured) to a collector in New York for an undisclosed fee

Photoshop (iOS app pictured) is a software used to make edits and add filters to digital photographs

‘Only speciality retouchers had this machine, and photographers would often outsource this because the process could take up to six hours.

‘I am not sure how popular it was because only retouchers would have it, hence the lack of information that we have to this day.’

Mr Sargent Barnard attempted to use the machine, but admitted he was unable to master the technique required to produce a picture perfect photo.

‘I tried to use the machine myself but I just ended up ruining the negatives and scratching them.

‘I did not have the right pencil to do the job, plus my hands aren't steady enough for it, it seems like you have to be quite surgical with this machine.’

After restoring the Adam's Retouching Machine, Mr Sargent Barnard decided to sell the device, a a collector in New York for an undisclosed fee.

‘Everyone thought I was a bit crazy when I bought the device.

'People said that it looked like a giant paperweight,’ continued Mr Sargent Barnard.

‘I thought it would be a great collector's item for someone's photography studio.

'In the end, a gentleman in New York City bought the piece.