Retouching 101 This tutorial will have a few basics of retouching a photo. Photo retouching is all about subtle changes. Too much on any one thing can make your subject look alien. Starting image: 1: Blemish reduction 1) After duplicating your background layer, create another blank layer on top. Select the Clone Stamp tool from the side bar.
Along the top bar where the options are, under sample, select Current & Below. Set the opacity of the Clone Stamp to 55%. This allows you to correct the blemish more realistically, and still maintain the skin s texture. By holding the alt key and clicking an area, you decide where the clone stamp will pull from. This doesn t have to be anywhere close to the blemish you are correcting, just be sure that the tones and shades of the skin match what the spot you re covering at so it blends well. Once you ve picked a spot to pull from, just painting like normal will cover the area. It may take a while to get the hang of the Clone Tool if you ve never used it before. 2) Repeat this process until you have removed the blemishes. Here s a before and after:
BEFORE 2: Skin Smoothing 1) Once again, duplicate your background layer if you haven t already. For this step you ll need to select any visible skin. Try to avoid lines that define the face and places like the eyes and mouth.
2) When your selection has been made, press ctrl + j to create a copy of it on a new layer. With your new layer selected, go up to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. In the dialogue box that pops up, make sure that the box is set to something around 4.5 pixels. It should be enough to blur out skin imperfections, but not make the subject unrecognizable.
3) When you have applied the Gaussian Blur, go to the side and turn the opacity down to around 20%. You want the effect to be subtle, and not get rid of all the visible skin texture. Removing all skin texture makes the person look like a plastic doll! You should end up with something like this: BEFORE The difference should be subtle, just enough to help smooth skin out a little and tone down dark circles. You want to be careful not to completely remove shadows and circles under the eyes, as they help give the face definition. 3: Eye Enhancement 1) This step focuses on enhancing the eyes, while still keeping them looking realistic. This includes whitening the whites, and creating more contrast in the iris. The eyes are the window to the soul, so don t ignore them! First, select the eyes and hit ctrl + J to copy them on a new layer. Start by selecting the dodge tool. Set it to an opacity of around 11% and limit the range to Highlights. Use a small, soft brush
to stroke over the iris 2 or 3 times, avoiding the pupil and the edge of the iris. This is to taste, but remember, not too much or the eyes will look overdone. 2) Next, on the burn tool, set the opacity to around 14% and the range to Midtones. Stroke around the edge of the eye and the pupil 2 to 3 times with a small, soft brush. You may want to also brush around the eyelashes once or twice. 3) Next, select the whites of the eyes. With the whites selected, go to Select > Modify > Feather, and set it to 1 to 2 pixels. This will prevent a harsh edge. 4) With this selected, create a new layer then go to Edit > Fill.
When the dialogue box pops up, change the fill color to white and hit ok. 5) When you have the layer filled, change the layer setting to Soft Light and lower the opacity to around 10%. It may vary with the darkness of the eyes in your photo. Here is a comparison of the final result to what I started with. BEFORE As you can see, the effect is subtle, but noticeable. 4: Adjusting levels
1) Add a curves layer to the photo, and adjust the curves until you are satisfied with the result. This is something that you might have to play with to find a setting you like, but curves is a powerful tool for photo adjustment. BEFORE 5: Final Result With all the combined adjustments, here is a comparison between the original image, and the final product.
BEFORE