A new digital editing tool allows users to turn and flip objects in a photograph, exposing areas not even captured in the original image — turning a chair or flipping a car, for example, to reveal hidden backsides and undersides.

The software relies on 3-D models of everyday objects that are easily available online to “imagine what is not visible,” said Yaser Sheikh, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University and a member of the team that developed it.

Using numerical data from the 3-D model, the software tries to guess what the selected object might look like if moved.

The software also uses the pixels in the image and the 3-D model to estimate the color, textures and lighting of the object when it is moved.