Advance Portrait Retouch In 1

Advance Portrait Retouching Denny Tang November 20, 2004

Create professional portraits using a combination of techniques we've invented and techniques commonly used in the photo retouching industry.

1

Open the image for editing.

2

First, we will correct the colours and the exposure of the image. Duplicate the current layer (Ctrl+J) and rename the layers to the following: Skin Colour Reduce Shadow Original

3

We will start with correcting the skin colour. With the layer "Skin Colour" selected, use the "Marquee" tool (M) to select areas of the skin.

4

Apply an "Average" filter (Filter> Blur> Average). Use the "Eyedropper" tool (I) to select the colour in the selection.

5

Deselect (Ctrl+D) and fill the layer with the selected colour (Ctrl+Backspace). Invert (Ctrl+I) the current layer.

6

Change the layer's blending mode to "Soft Light" and add a layer mask (Layer> Add Layer Mask> Hide All).

7

With the layer mask selected, use the "Brush" tool (B) to paint over the areas that needs to be corrected. An example of an area would be the skin.

8

Now we will reduce the shadows and brighten the image. Select the layer "Reduce Shadow" and change its blending mode to "Screen" then add a layer mask (Layer> Add Layer Mask> Reveal All).

9

With the layer mask selected, use the "Apply Image" tool (Image> Apply Image) to apply the following properties: Source: filename Layer: Original Channel: RGB Invert: Checkmarked Blending: Multiply Opacity: 100% Click OK.

10

After we've corrected the colours and exposure of the image, we need to work on the finer details. Select the canvas (Ctrl+A), copy merged (Ctrl+Shift+C), create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) and paste (Ctrl+V) into the new layer. Rename the new layer to "Hair".

11

Lets first create more layers for the rest of the steps. Duplicate the current layer (Ctrl+J) five times and rename the layers to the following: Sharp 1 Smooth 2 Smooth 1 Eyes Lips

12

Select the layer "Sharp 1" and apply an "Unsharp Mask" filter. Select a value that will sharpen the image without creating halos then click OK.

13

Now select the layer "Smooth 2". Apply a "Gaussian Blur" filter with a value that will blur all large wrinkles.

14

Select the layer "Smooth 1" and apply the same filter but use a lower radius so that only the finer wrinkles are removed.

15

Add a layer mask (Layer> Add Layer Mask> Hide All) to all of the layers without one.

16

Lets start off with the hair. Earlier, we've reduced the amount of shadows which also decreased the contrast of the hair. To enhance the hair, select the layer "Hair" and change its blending mode to "Overlay". Select the layers layer mask and use the "Brush" tool (B) to paint over the hair.

17

To reduce the strength of the hair, use the "Apply Image" tool (Image> Apply Image) to apply the following properties on the current layer mask: Source: filename Layer: Hair Channel: RGB Invert: Uncheckmarked Blending: Multiply Opacity: 100% Click OK.

18

Now select the layer mask of the layer "Lips". Use the "Brush" tool (B) to paint paint over the areas where the lips are.

19

Use the "Hue/Saturation" tool (Ctrl+U) to correct the colour of the lips. If required, apply a "Medium" filter (Filter> Noise> Medium) to smooth the lips.

20

Now we need to retouch the eyes. Select the layer mask of the layer "Eyes" and paint over the eyes using the "Brush" tool (B). Use the "Healing Brush" tool (J) to reduce the reflection in the eyes then use the "Sponge" tool (O) to desaturate the white areas in the eye.

21

After we've correct the eyes, select the layer mask of layer "Smooth 1" and paint over the the wrinkles on the image. This will remove most wrinkles on the face.

22

If there are larger wrinkles, select the layer mask of layer "Smooth 2" and paint over the larger wrinkles on the image.

23

Select the layer mask of layer "Sharp 1" and paint over the areas you want to be sharpened such as the eyebrows and eyelashes.

24

Creating layers with layer masks gives more freedom than using fewer layers. You may adjust the opacity of each layer to increase or decrease its strength. Consider adding other types of layers such as a layer to whiten teeth used in the "Whitening Teeth" tutorial.

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