1. An automated, computerized method for processing an image, comprising the steps of: providing an image file depicting an image, in a computer memory; performing an image segregation operation on the image file to generate a set of intrinsic images corresponding to the image, wherein the step of performing an image segregation operation on the image file to generate a set of intrinsic images corresponding to the image is carried out according to a spatio-spectral operator/constraint/solver model, and wherein each one of the set of intrinsic images comprises a representation of one of material or illumination, expressed as a separate, multi-band representation for the one of material or illumination, independent of the other of the material or illumination, wherein each band corresponds to a segment of the electro-magnetic spectrum; modifying a preselected one of the set of intrinsic images according to a set of preselected operations, wherein the set of preselected operations includes one of an intensity adjustment, a color change, shadow manipulation, geometric editing, cut and paste editing and combinations thereof; and merging the modified one of the set of intrinsic images relative to the set of intrinsic images to provide a modified output image.