Photoshop Tutorial- Skin Retouching Technique

Photo retouching tutorial with frequency separation, burn and dodge toolsin Photoshop:

Today we are going to learn how to do a basic skin retouching technique byusing dodging and burning tools, as well as frequency separation. You may findthat when you first try it, it does not look very impressive. Once you get somepractice in, you will find that you can use an image retouching technique toretouch a face in just a few short minutes. Remember though, this is a basicPhotoshop tutorial, not an advanced one, which will come later. You want tocreate a natural look, yet maintain a smooth, natural skin appearance andtexture.

The following sections will explain how to retouching portrait inPhotoshop.

Open the image and the background layer:

In this skin retouching tutorial, the first thing you will do, is the frequencyseparation. In order to do that you will need to open the image and thebackground layer.

Create 2 duplicate layers:

Next, you will need to create 2 duplicate layers of the background by rightclicking on the background layer. The 1st layer will need to be renamed, “tocolor”. The 2nd layer will be called, “to texture”.

Isolating the color on one layer:

What you will be doing is isolating the color on one layer, and the texture isisolated on the other layer. So then on the color layer you would go tofilter/blur/Gaussian and blur.

Now you want to increase the radius until you observe the colors mixingtogether, I am selecting 15 for this image. Next hit “OK,” when you are finished.

Isolating the texture on the other layer:

Next, go to the texture layer, and go to image/apply image. Then you will need toselect your color layer, as you are simply adding the texture back, set your offlimit scale to 2, and offset to 128, and hit OK.

Then select your blending mode set it to linear light.

Applying clone stamp tool in the color layer:

Then in the next part of the Photoshop tutorial, you will begin with the colorlayer. You would start with the clone stamp. Opacity and flow are set roughlyfrom 30-50%.

Select an area underneath the eyes, as that seems to make a huge difference, andclone color from the upper part of the cheekbone as it seems to be lighter there,and bring that up to just under the eyes. Lighten the skin there on both sidesunder the eyes. It is often helpful if you make and extra copy of the backgroundlayer and see the different of before and after image.

Then you would want to lighten a bit on the side of the nose to remove any darkshadows there. Use the tool to lighten at the bottom of the nose, as many peoplehave redness there. So basically you would retouch different parts of the face toremove lines, bumps, shadows and redness, and general lightening of the skin.

Applying clone stamp tool in the texture layer to remove spots:

Next you will move on to the texture layer. Here you want to use the same clonestamp tool. Just simply go over the face, and find the obvious blemishes, selectingthe clear area and dragging them to the spots area of skin. If you find any rednessremaining, just go back to the color clone and remove it as before.

You can also use the clone stamp tool to clean up any stray hairs or eyebrowhairs if you choose. I like to remove any fine lines around the mouth area, orcreases under the lips too.

Dodging and Burning:

This next area of the portrait retouching tutorial covers how to use the dodgingand burning tools.

Open a new layer, click on soft light and fill width, set at 50%.

You will need 2 of those layers. One named “dodge,” and other named “burn.”Here you will be using the dodge tool and the burn tool.

Click on exposure of 50% for each one. With these you can paint with prettymuch any color, white, black, blue, or others.

Applying dodge tool in dodge layer:

Start out around the eye areas, or in the eyes like the iris, under the brows, bythe brow bone. You need to consider areas that a girl would use makeup for,lightening uneven skin tones, remove blemishes, etc. Finish any areas that needbrightened, (nose, cheeks or eyes).

Applying burn tool in burn layer:

Use the burn tool to darken the eyebrows a bit. You can also darken the outercorner of the eye, and give the impression that it is lifted just a bit. This can beuseful if you have someone who is squinting a bit, or has droopy eyes. The burntool can also be used to add definition to the cheekbones. You can also darkenthe eyeliner a little.

Now you can do a new layer, set to soft light. Just use the black paintbrush andcreate extra eyeliner if you wish. If you over do or smudge the lines, you canalways clean it up with the eraser tool. You can even add an eye shadow color, lipand check color if you wish, some people really like that effect.

See the different in the bellow image.

So there you have it, how to do retouching portraits in Photoshop, using thefrequency separation, and the burn and dodge tools. You will find that thesework very well for portraits and photos of faces as well as other areas. Hope youhave enjoyed this portrait retouching tutorial and have a better understandingof basic skin retouching in Photoshop.

This tutorial is published onhttp://www.clippingpathindia.com/blog/2014/05/28/photoshop-tutorial-skin-retouching-technique/

About the author:Rokaiya Yeasmin Munni

Graphic Designer, SEO Specialist and Deputy Manager(Marketing Division)

At Outsource Experts Ltd, which is the mother company ofClipping Path India