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Fractal: Fractal Explorer (left)
manipulated in Paint Shop Pro (right)

(http://tinypic.com/2pt877b)

Amazing work! It looks perfectly "natural." Such a lovely, delicate thing...mmm :)

wow.  I like how you fixed the image.  Not just how you fixed it - but the idea to make that kind of correction at all.

How much manipulation do you think a fractal can take before it's not really a fractal anymore?  That wasn't worded the best way - and is a question slightly off-topic.  Your post made me think about that question.  And, I'm only curious of your opinion - it's unsimilar to the "are fractals art" question posted recently elsewhere on this forum; manipulation is what many art froms are made from.  Part of what makes fractal so astonishing is the fact they are generated by a ridiclously small amount of code (the core fractal pattern generating math).  I tend to almost feel guilty by just adjusting color values in photoshop.  (If I could manipulate them with similar results, I'm sure that sentiment would evaporate)

later

In my opinion.....

You have basically answered your own question.  In this instance, it takes mathematical instructions performed by computer code to create a true fractal.  Once it has been manipulated by hand with a graphic editor, it still has areas that are fractal in nature, they have fractal aspects, but the total image can NOT be created by a mathematical formula and parameter settings.

At this point, it becomes "fractal art".  Something that was modified to create a more interesting image that the person wanted to express.  The image can be very nice and wonderful to view, as this one, but it is not totally a fractal, only portions of it.  Whether 99.9% is fractal or 1% is fractal, the whole image is not a fractal, if it can not be reproduced exactly with a formula.
 

Yes Paul, I agree with you. A pure fractal is not post-processed in any way....although: what do you think about anti-aliasing?

Titia
(http://excalibur.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/media/folder_84/thumb_831360.jpg)

Many "fractal artists" have been told the best way for their images to be viewed is to have a specific method applied to the rendered fractal:  Make it at least twice as large as the finished image will be shown as, and then reduce it with a graphic editor to half it's size, which basically creates an anti-aliased image.  (Another step that is often used afterward reduction/anti-aliasing is to use a "sharpening" filter on it.)

The altering of the fractal after it has been initially rendered (whether the function has been built into the fractal generator or done in a graphic editor) is still post processing.  "Post" meaning after the fact, and "Processing" meaning to treat, prepare, or put through the steps of a prescribed procedure.

I am not opposed to post-processing nor using anti-aliasing, I have used them myself on many images.  But I do not call them "pure fractals" after they have been modified even slightly.  They have a fractal nature about them, and reflect fractal aspects, but they are no longer the original fractal.
 

Dear Paul and Titia,

What do you think of patterns in nature, like rivers and lungs. In my opinion they have a fractal structure.

Do you want to limit the world fractal for pure mathematical constructed images and objects?

Jules.

Fractal  (Generalized Newton IV) + Paint Shop Pro + own pencildrawing of a horse of my daughter.

(http://tinypic.com/47njomp)

Very interesting how they fit together. Makes me want to crank up the GIMP and play. :)

Wow that is an amazing image! It needs blowing up to poster size.

Very well done, and good composition of layers.