1) QUALITY skin retouching takes TIME. No quick software filters or 4-step technique
applies to everything. Please reread this sentence for as long as it takes to sink in.
2) TEXTURE is about how the LIGHT affects the surface. Understand what that means
and you can understand the techniques behind pros and amateurs alike.
ZOOM in close. For every bump, or pimple....there is DARK side of it and a LIGHT
side of it. For every large pore, the same holds true.
The direction of the light determines which side is which. The "softness" of the light
we use in photography determines the contrast between the DARK and LIGHT. This is
why softboxes placed close to the model produces a more pleasing skin texture.
Those of you who shoot with strobes or hard light will see skin texture more
pronounced.
now....
The professional retoucher's technique is to "Lighten" the DARK sides and to "Darken"
the LIGHT sides -- which produces and more consistent skin texture. Often they work
at the pixel level with a 2px brush. VERY Meticulous, VERY time consuming. For most
of us, a 4px or 5px brush would suffice.
Method 1:
1) Fill a NEW layer with 50% Gray.
2) Change this Layer's Mode to SOFT LIGHT.
3) With a paint brush (3-5px, 80% Hardness) Paint the Dark pixels with WHITE.
1) Fill a NEW layer with 50% Gray.
2) Change this Layer's Mode to SOFT LIGHT.
3) With a small paint brush (3-5px, 80% Hardness) Paint the Light pixels with Black.
When you are done, adjust the Opacity levels to suit your taste.... Or you can set the
Opacity of your brush to begin with (No less than 40%).
Method 2:
1) Create new layer, lock the layer positioning so it doesn't move.
2) Create a clone brush (3px, 75% Hardness, Opacity = 8% "Sample All Layers =
ON") brush that is set to LIGHTEN.
3) Paint Dark pixels to lighten them. Multiple strokes will lighten it with each pass.
1) Create new layer, lock the layer positioning so it doesn't move.
2) Create a clone brush (3px, 75% Hardness, Opacity = 8% "Sample All Layers =
ON") brush that is set to DARKEN.
3) Paint Light pixels to darken them. Multiple strokes will lighten it with each pass.
Method 3:
Use low Exposure Dodge & Burn brushes to directly affect the pixels. This is not
recommended as it is destructive to the pixels.
These are VERY GENERAL techniques, but it outlines the foundation for evening out
the texture in the skins surface.
The reason why pros DO NOT BLUR is because it affects pixels beyond the scope of
the area you wish to fix, and eliminates the chaotic patterns of real skin texture.
What about skin tone?
Most skin has some sort of tonal imbalance. Red spots, Dark Spots, Scars, etc. For
the most part these can be clone over with a clone brush at 90% opacity and then
corrected at the pixel layer to blend in with surrounding skin texture.
If a person has large colored spots or sunburn, these can be adjusted more globally
using the Hue/Saturation filter and adjusting the RED channel. This technique is found
in the book SKIN by Lee Varis.
Tips:
1) Always use a MUA for portrait work, the 20 minutes she spends can save you
countless hours of retouching.
2) Use hard or soft lighting and know the advantages and disavantages of each as it
pertains to how it affects skin texture.
3) Invest in a Wacom Pen Tablet or something similar. For those who have always
used a mouse it will take about 2 days to get used to, but the change will pay off in
ways you can't yet imagine.
4) Know your audience.... a 40 year old woman is not made to look like an 18 year
old, so retouch accordingly.
1) Copy the entire image on a new layer then turn the layer off. (This is your Backup!
...and will be used later.)
2) Use Surface Blur at a low setting to even out the skin tones and splotches in your
SPECIFIED area (not Globally). Using a layer mask to affect just the part you want.
Now that you have used Blur you need to put some texture into that affected area.
Using your Backup Layer....
1) Turn on Backup Layer and place above your final composition
1) Use Filter/Other/HighPass at 1 pixel.
2) Change the layer to Soft Light.
You may need to repeat this process if the texture you put back into the image is not
strong enough. Repeat at 1 pixel.