Photoshop blunder: NZ Woman's Day blasted over heavily edited William and Kate cover

New Zealand women's magazine Woman's Day has come under fire for a heavily Photoshopped cover image of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leaving hospital with their newborn son.

TV presenter Hilary Barry drew attention to the cover, which she posted on Twitter and Facebook with an unedited version of the snap for comparison.

Kate appeared noticeably more tanned in the altered snap, with smoother skin and more voluminous hair, while her husband also had more colour in his cheeks and much whiter teeth, reported the Daily Mail.

"You know the world's gone completely mad when a mag has to Photoshop one of the most photogenic couples in the world. This is mental,' the host of current affairs programme Seven Sharp said.

You know the world’s gone completely mad when a mag has to photoshop one of the most photogenic couples in the world. This is mental. pic.twitter.com/kVmHjhnLuV

— Hilary Barry (@Hilary_Barry) April 26, 2018

Barry also touched on Kate's amazing post-birth appearance, which has been the subject of huge debate in recent days, saying the fact that she'd put in such as huge effort made the decision to edit her picture even worse.

So despite turning up on the hospital steps looking AMAZING hours after birthing that child - she still wasn’t good enough for Woman’s Day.

— Hilary Barry (@Hilary_Barry) April 26, 2018

"I can only imagine the pressure she put on herself to make sure a photo she knew would be seen by millions around the world would be a good one," she said.

"What message is this sending to girls? That despite posing in front of the world's cameras hours after giving birth looking immaculate, elegant and absolutely beautiful, the Duchess of Cambridge was still not quite good enough for the front cover of the mag?" she said.

Followers agreed wholeheartedly and criticised the magazine for its decision to alter the snap.

is it my imagination or have they whitened their teeth and given them tans? Its wrong, she's just given birth, why can we not celebrate and give this couple some respect.

— Tanya (mollys mum) (@molly2910) April 26, 2018

"It's wrong, she's just given birth," one wrote. "Why can we not celebrate and give this couple some respect."

Others were offended by the poor quality of the editing, with one saying it was 'amateur' and another commenting that they looked like animated characters from the computer game Sims.

It's not the first time the magazine title has been at the centre of a Photoshopping controversy involving the royals.

In 2015, the Australian edition of Woman's Day provoked outrage around the world with a heavily altered image of the Duchess Of Cambridge on its front cover.

View this post on Instagram

Hot off the press! Our Royal Baby Special started hitting shelves this morning 👑 See our souvenir issue for all the gorgeous pictures and inside info 👶🏻

A post shared by Woman's Day (@womansdaynz) on Apr 25, 2018 at 5:46pm PDT

Woman's Day was contacted by the Herald and has declined to comment.