i've been going through the photo galleries... i noticed some models have seemingly impeccable skin.. and yet some didn't have flawless texture.. i'd like to be able to present not only gorgeous looking models / subjects... but that they should also be presented with beautiful skin texture and tone

could you please guide me as to how i can achieve smooth skin texture and even skin tone through post production (PS)?

reply will be highly appreciated...

i've been going through the photo galleries... i noticed some models have seemingly impeccable skin.. and yet some didn't have flawless texture.. i'd like to be able to present not only gorgeous looking models / subjects... but that they should also be presented with beautiful skin texture and tone

could you please guide me as to how i can achieve smooth skin texture and even skin tone through post production (PS)?

reply will be highly appreciated...

for my workflow, it's actually a combination of healing brush, clone stamp tool, gaussian blur and knowing WHERE to use it. on some occassions, i also use noise ninja to soften up the skin and even it out.

i know it's weird to use noise ninja. but the filter itself is a advanced blur filter to eliminate noise. being such, i've used it to soften skin.

The trend in the fashion magazines now is smoothening without using blur tools or filters. You won't be able to get a job in New York as a fashion retoucher these days if you blur. The trick is to even out the skin tones and leave texture. We are talking editing down to the pixel level here. Look at the imported fashion magazines and you will see what I mean. This is very time consuming work but these guys can take their time because they get paid big bucks for it.

As for others, we have the blur filters. Nino is correct. The key is how much and where to put it. You can blur but it shouldn't look like you blurred.

...any before & after tutorials? :)

will write one by the weekend.. if its ok with you guys.

here's what i usually do.

-open the image you want to "smoothen". select the background layer then duplicate.

-apply a smoothing filter on the top layer like median or despeckle, depending on the severity of the imperfections (despeckle for subtle smoothness, median for big-assed scars).

-apply a layer mask on the top layer (press that little grey circle at the bottom of the layers tab)

-select the layer mask, you will know if the mask if selected if the "eye" at the left of the layer turns to a square with a circle in the middle (different case with cs2 where you could only see a bracket around the mask tab).

-fill the mask with black, you will notice the filtered layer is "gone". but in reality it is just being masked.

-select the paint brush tool, set it to soft brush, lower the opacity a wee bit so that the transition wouldn't be that abrupt, and select white as color

-paint in with your white, feathered, lo-opacity brush where you want your smooth layer to take effect.

*when using masks: black masks the parts you want to hide, and white shows them (grey would slightly mask the image, giving it a subtle transission between the hidden and shown parts). this is why we filled the mask with black so we could "hide" the filtered layer. afterwhich we will use the white brush to show parts of the filtered layer, thus giving more control over which part of the image the smoothing filter applies.

i love using this technique because it gives me alot more control over the filters and adjustments i apply.

healing brush will be your next best friend. you need to sample from areas around the "anomaly". the reason for this is to make the skin texture as natural as possible by blending it around the adjacent area.

another way of making skin smooth and soft is via clone stamp tool. reduce settings of the clone stamp tool to opacity 40, flow 40. works with me. try it!

mmmmm errrrrrr ahhhhh
well i have to read my "PS for dummies book" for all those jargons first lol :Scared:

mmmmm errrrrrr ahhhhh
well i have to read my "PS for dummies book" for all those jargons first lol :Scared:

that's what the adobe help center is for. :Grin:

I've tried different ways doing this and it kinda gives me a headache sometimes. Here goes nothing...

First Method:

you can do what nino does by using healing brush, clone stamp etc and after that what I do is I duplicate the layer and apply gaussian blur to a value around 10 then I reduce the opacity of the blurred layer to around 50% and use the eraser tool to erase parts that I want sharp like the eyes lips etc but at an opacity of only 50%.

Second method:

Same process as before but this time instead of applying gaussian blurr try applying a little noise/median or surface blur. Tweak to the setting that will suite your taste buds. But always becareful and have moderation or it will loose the shadows/highlights and details resulting to an image looking like a mannequin or something .... I hope this helps.

Cheers!

thanks Terence will give those method a try.

No Problem Brother Willy glad to help please extend my regards to Brother Ely :D

hehehehe, errrr sino yun? :RedEye:

No Problem Brother Willy glad to help please extend my regards to Brother Ely :D

hehehehe, errrr sino yun? :RedEye:

kindly use the private messaging feature of the board for your personal discussions.

If there is a rating for the most useful comments / forum here, this will be one of them. What would be the best way to remove or reduce eyebags? liquify? clone stamp?

Hi JR, you can actually rate a thread here on DPP. Just click on Rate Thread on top of this page, see first post above besides Search this Thread

:)

I don't think eye bags should ever be removed completely because it makes the person look totally different. My preference is healing brush on a separate layer. If you overdo it, you can always bring something back by reducing the opacity. As for clone stamp, suggest you use a low opacity brush, maybe at 10% or so and do it gradually. If you inspect carefully, eye bags are usually darker than the rest of the face and usually there is a dark line under the eye. I also like to use an empty layer with a soft light blend. I paint with white using a low opacity brush around 8-10% and gradually dodge the dark under the eye away.

Hi Martin,

Here are some tutorials I recommend:

http://tutorialblog.org/photo-retouching-skin/
http://www.dphotojournal.com/photoshop-tutorial-the-quick-way-to-remove-freckles/
http://www.pslover.com/click/5683
http://www.pslover.com/click/5962

I hope it helps.

Cheers!!!

personally, I prefer to use the dodge tool and shadow range.. make the exposure to maybe 12%, it will give you great control in lessening the eyebags without eliminating them..

a combination of healing brush + clone stamp + gaussian blur will do :D

The trend in the fashion magazines now is smoothening without using blur tools or filters. You won't be able to get a job in New York as a fashion retoucher these days if you blur. The trick is to even out the skin tones and leave texture. We are talking editing down to the pixel level here. Look at the imported fashion magazines and you will see what I mean. This is very time consuming work but these guys can take their time because they get paid big bucks for it.

As for others, we have the blur filters. Nino is correct. The key is how much and where to put it. You can blur but it shouldn't look like you blurred.
amen to this one. blur is a big no no unless you want to have funny looking prints. i used to use the blur tool about 4 years ago and my work was crap and very amateurish. i work as a photo retoucher here in the u.s. for fashion and your best friends are definitely the healing brush, using layers, clone tool, zoom, and a wacom tablet. even though you would want flawless skin for fashion, you still need to make it as "natural" as possible and not look like an alien.

Photoshop CS2 has a surface blur tool. Its neat if you're in a hurry. :D

Sometimes I'd duplicate layer then try to airbrush some of the imperfections. Though this is after i clone, heal and patch. Then I just lessen the opacity so it looks natural :D

mga sir/ma'am, what about using the patch tool to remove blemishes and help smoothen the skin? may disadvantage po ba?

mga sir/ma'am, what about using the patch tool to remove blemishes and help smoothen the skin? may disadvantage po ba?

it's a good tool, but you don't have much control in determining how it looks like in the end. its a quick and easy solution for small blemishes.

the patch tool is good for bringing back the skin texture after terrible burring.

but will have to be careful where you get the original patch it has to be the closest color as possible, or else it might look like a blemish on the skin.

Hi guys! I'm new here.

I personally like using d&b on neutral layer softlight mode to remove blemishes.

hmmm...i've never really smoothened/blurred (just healed and cloned) for lack of a better workflow. :) i should try this!

I just took some portrait shots recently. I'm mixing up some clone stamp, healing brush, blur, and airbrushing :) I love trying to airbrush over skin sometimes... If done right, I think you can get pretty good results.

@Sonny
How long have you been beauty retouching through Photoshop? I ask only because if you ever want to be really good, ditch blurring. The trick here is to follow the post of Roxy above. The best don't blur or airbrush. You will have to develop your skills enough where a model looks flawless and you achieved this with not one blur or airbrush stroke.

Clone, healiing, and micro dodge and burn down to the pixel level are the best methods.

I'm very new to beauty retouching, but back in highschool I used to do some digital art, my style was Macabre and I used lots of blending. With photography though (7 months into the hobby now), I find airbrushing very difficult! I think I'll stick to what you guys suggested.

another very useful thread!

Clone, healiing, and micro dodge and burn down to the pixel level are the best methods.

one method of doing micro dodge and burn down to the pixel level is to use the curves adjustment layers -

http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=272

i think the secret to use this successfully is to know the right set up for the brush -
hardness, opacity, flow, etc.

yes it is very tedious and needs lots of patience and time to finish one close-up portrait.

mga sir/ma'am, what about using the patch tool to remove blemishes and help smoothen the skin? may disadvantage po ba?

I like using the patch tool, as it retaints some texture. but healing brush is commonly used.

rubber stamp and healing for me

I am an aspiring photo retoucher. Blurring the skin is big No No in high fashion image retouching. Though there are times you may use the blur filters in PS but you need to put the texture back on the skin.

I think you can post the before and after post processing of your pictures so we can see if the technique is really effective. :Thinking:

I made my facebook album public for your viewing because i'm having trouble posting the images on DPP. I'm still practicing and average time spent on retouching the face alone is 5 hours. They're still not perfect though.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=109702&id=700850138&l=81df07c3b6


No copyright infringement intended. Rights remain to the original owners of the images in my album.

The approach described here (http://www.radiantpics.com/skin.pdf) is pretty well-known, but there are a few differences in this presentation.

I made my facebook album public for your viewing because i'm having trouble posting the images on DPP. I'm still practicing and average time spent on retouching the face alone is 5 hours. They're still not perfect though.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=109702&id=700850138&l=81df07c3b6


No copyright infringement intended. Rights remain to the original owners of the images in my album.

The results are really good but imagine 5 to 6 hours on a single image IMHO is too much.

my try with some of those online tutorials

http://www.digitalphotographer.com.ph/forum/showthread.php?t=662&highlight=glamour

this seems to be an old thread, but thank you very much for the tips, very informative. and i thought blurring is the way to go.

The results are really good but imagine 5 to 6 hours on a single image IMHO is too much.

right. i just bought a new pen tablet and i can work on the face much faster this time. using a regular mouse is so painful. there's no shortcut to achieve such result. i am focusing my retouching practice on a face as of the moment. it needs time & lots of practice to achieve your desired output.