How much do we store photos on the computer that we don't really like because of poor lighting, background, or just because of pimples on the face. I propose to talk today about the latter and make perfect skin in Photoshop: with a beautiful color, even tone, without flaws! But here's another problem... what will be the beauty if the image becomes not natural, like a puppet. And with these today we will learn to fight.

Photoshop: how to make perfect skin

As it has already become clear, we will work with the Photoshop program. If it is installed on your PC, you can safely open it and insert a photo there. If there is no program, then you can make perfect skin in Photoshop online here (editor.0lik.ru), and very quickly!

Method 1 - how to make perfect skin in Photoshop

1. Open the image in Photoshop. File - open (open). In online Photoshop - upload an image from a computer.
2. In the layers menu (on the right), right-click on the layer icon and duplicate our only layer (Duplicate layer).
3. Now make sure that you are exactly on the duplicated layer, and then in the filters select "Gaussian Blur" (Blur - Gaussin blur).
4. In the window that appears, set the radius (number of pixels). It will be different for different photos. Choose the number of pixels so that no flaws are visible on the face, do not worry, everything except the skin will then be as before.
5. After that, right-click on the blurred layer icon and select "add layer mask".
6. From the tools we take a brush, in its parameters at the top we set the softness more and the required diameter. Let the color be white. We draw over the skin and enjoy the result of perfect skin in Photoshop.
7. Don't forget to flatten (merge) the layers. And only now you can save the finished photo.

Method 2 - how to make perfect skin in Photoshop

This method is useful in order to remove individual defects without leveling the entire skin of the face. For example, it is necessary, a wart, a mole.

1. Similarly, open the image in Photoshop.
2. Select the "Healing brush tools" tool. This healing brush can be found in the patch tools submenu, red eye tool.
3. Define the brush options by clicking "brush" at the top. Select the required diameter and a soft brush (spacing).
4. Hover over the area near the nasty detail where the skin is perfect. Hold down the alt key and click the left mouse button.
5. Now, without the alt key, point to a pimple (mole) and click on it. Thus, all skin imperfections can be removed. To make the result look natural, it is better to make the brush softer and choose areas of beautiful skin as close as possible in tone to what is to be corrected.

Method 3 - how to make perfect skin in Photoshop

With gaussian blur, you can make perfect skin in Photoshop in a faster way, but here be careful not to overdo it with artificiality in photography.

1. We also open the photo to be edited.
2. Duplicate the layer in the Layers menu on the right side.
3. Apply a Gaussian Blur filter to the new layer.
4. From the tools, select the eraser (eraser tool).
5. We need again the softest brush. Determine the diameter depending on the image.
6. Now we erase everything in the photo except the skin of the face and neck.
7. Let's make the image more natural. To do this, set the transparency (opacity) smaller. It is difficult to say the exact percentage without seeing your photo. Focus on results.
8. And finally merge the layers, the perfect skin in Photoshop is in front of you!

After you achieve the result, we advise you to play with the levels (ctrl + L). Let's drag the sliders towards each other, observing the changes in the image.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to make your skin matte and smooth, like models on the covers of glossy magazines.

Here is a photo of a young girl who really wants to be on the cover of a magazine. But with such irregularities on the skin, no one will let her in there.

The only one who can help her is Photoshop.

Open the image in Photoshop and duplicate it.

Once you're done with the tool, duplicate the layer again and apply Filter - Noise - Dust and scratches(Filter > Noise > Dust & Scratches)

For my example, I used the following settings:
radius 5 px and threshold 0 .

But be aware that the settings depend on the quality of the photo.
As a result, we should get a soft blur of the image, something like this:

The next filter we will be using is Gaussian blur(Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur)

And again, the settings are up to you, I have radius = 2.

And the final step in creating a new matte skin is adding another filter. Noise - Add Noise(Filter > Noise > Add Noise).

We all know perfectly well that human skin cannot be perfectly smooth. Thanks to this filter, the skin will take on the desired texture and will look more realistic.

I used 0.7% monochrome noise.

New skin for the model is ready!

At the bottom of the layers palette, click on the Add a layer mask button. A white square will appear next to the layer.

Take , set the color to black and click on the document.
If it doesn't work, then make sure that the foreground color is black, then press Alt + Backspace
What will happen? The "cloudy" layer will hide and the bottom "clear" layer will appear.

And now the most interesting part begins! Now we will apply perfectly smooth skin to the model. To do everything right, listen to the following recommendations:

Grab the Brush Tool, make sure the color is white. Set the hardness of the brush to 0. You can also reduce its opacity. (It will be better if you return to the settings in the process and adjust them as needed)

So we are on the layer mask.

Your task is to paint with a white brush in those places where the skin needs to be updated, but do not affect the eyes, eyebrows, lips, hair, so that they do not lose their sharpness.

If you accidentally painted over too much, then switch to a black brush and fix everything.

Here's what you should get at the end of the plastic work:

Layers palette:

The girl's skin is a pleasant color, so we will not apply any color settings.

But if you have a different situation, then remember that there are parameters such as Hue / Saturation, Photo Filter, Color Balance, which will always be happy to help you.

And now we will add some sharpness to our image.

Duplicate the middle layer, I call it "leak brush". Change its blending mode to Overlap (Overlay).
Apply Filter - Others - Color Contrast(Filter > Other > High Pass)

Set the radius to your liking, remember that you can always reduce the transparency of this layer.

I'm sure you noticed how clear the eyes have become!

Here's what we ended up with:

If you want to add even more chic, then go ahead.

Merge all layers except the last one (so that it would be interesting to see how it was and how it became)

Duplicate the top layer, change the blending mode to Overlap (Overlay). It will be something like this:

Add a Gaussian Blur filter:

Add a layer mask and use a black brush to remove the blur from the hair to leave it shining.

Let's add some sharpness. Apply Filter - Sharpness - Unsharpness(Sharp - Unsharp mask) 2 times.

The result is such an oriental beauty:

My favorite is the final comparison:

Publication date: 11.01.2017

An important part of retouching photographs, especially portraits, is detail and skin color. One of the most convenient processing methods popular today is the frequency decomposition method. It is very convenient and simple, if you work with it clearly according to the instructions.

Before and after:

For me, the frequency decomposition method is like a proven recipe. Works flawlessly. Even in the most difficult situations, when you don't know where to start.

The photos used in this tutorial were taken with a Nikon D810 camera. This is one of Nikon's newest models, a versatile 36.3 MP high resolution camera. It allows you to create detailed images with the smallest textures. For retouching images of such high resolution, it is quite important (and at the same time difficult) to preserve fine details. Therefore, it is better to use the frequency decomposition method than processing with smart tools.

PREPARATION

To begin with, we will carry out a number of preliminary mandatory procedures with the image. Let's divide it into those same frequencies, component parts. Below is a detailed step by step guide.

1. First of all, we create 2 layers of a copy of the original image. You can do this in many ways (for example, as in the screenshots), but the fastest is the Ctrl + J keys. To make it easier to navigate, it is better to immediately give the layers names. Without thinking twice, let's call them low and hi, later these will be our low and high frequencies.

Making copies is a very simple and useful habit, especially when retouching. You will always have the opportunity to refer to the source if something goes wrong.

2. Turn off the visibility of the top layer with the copy, we'll deal with it later. Go to the low layer, i.e. to the first copy.

3. This layer needs to be blurred with the Gaussian Blur filter. Here, as in any recipe, the first creative moment comes. You need to select a blur radius. We need to remove skin roughness, fine wrinkles, dust and the like. But we will most likely want to leave the eyes, nose and eyebrows. Therefore, starting to increase the radius, we carefully watch how the picture changes.

The result is very dependent on the size of the source (our example is a little more than 20 MP), as well as on how much space a person takes in the frame. For this image, let's stop at 13px for the blur radius. It is important to remember the selected value, this number will come in handy in the next step.

Over time, you will learn to determine the appropriate radius right away and appreciate how convenient it is to have a set of prepared scripts for decomposition with different radii.

4. The bottom half of the image is done, now move on to the top hi layer. We need to compensate the image in such a way that when applied to our blurred low layer, we get the original image as a result. For this, a filter is used, which, combined with the appropriate blending mode, will give the opposite effect of the Gaussian Blur that we used earlier. And the name of this filter is High Pass.

In the High Pass window that opens, there is only one adjustable parameter, and this is again the radius. Here you need to set the value from the previous step. Set it to 13px, that's how much we blurred the low layer.

5. Set the hi layer to Linear Light blend mode. This mode works in such a way that the gray color becomes transparent, and any deviation from gray dramatically increases the brightness and contrast. The result after overlaying on a blurred layer is exactly twice as high in contrast as the original image.

6. You can reduce the contrast in many ways, I prefer to use adjustment layers, i.e. layers with settings (for example, a layer with curves). This method easily allows you to turn off contrast reduction for a while. It is very convenient to work with the contrast version during retouching, all the bumps and details that you can accidentally miss when looking at the original version are immediately highlighted.

So, create an adjustment layer: New Adjustment Layer > Curves.

7. In order to apply the contrast reduction only to our top layer, we create a Clipping Mask. The entire effect of the curves layer will only work on the layer below it. This can be done via the menu or, holding Alt, click on the junction between the layers for which we want to create a Clipping Mask. At this point, the cursor will change the icon to an arrow with a square, and after clicking in front of the layer, only the arrow will remain. This means that everything went well.

1. Now about the curve itself. Go to the adjustment layer settings (they appear by double-clicking on the curve image in the layers palette). Here we are interested in the extreme points, they are responsible for the boundaries of the brightness of the image: the lower left is the blackest, the upper right is the whitest. To decrease the contrast, drag the bottom one up and the top one down. To accurately hit the value and reduce the contrast by half (and not 2.02), you need to tighten these points by exactly a quarter from the top and bottom, respectively. You can also set the coordinates manually by activating the fields by clicking on the curve point. In the fields for the top point, set Input 255, Output 192, for the bottom - Input 0, Output 64.

Everything came together, the picture on the screen looks exactly the same as the original original. Our image is split into two parts and is ready to go.

The high frequency layer, which we call hi, contains the texture of the skin, fine details of clothing and hair. But the hair color and skin color are in the low layer. Thus, it is convenient to correct skin irregularities and defects in a layer with a high hi frequency.

HIGH FREQUENCIES

There are several ways to work with the high layer. With the help of blending modes, you can switch and work with both a gray image and a normal one. It may be convenient for someone to edit the original hi layer, but I would recommend making a copy to keep the original.

The first way, retouching a gray image

Turn off the visibility of the curves adjustment layer and change the blending mode of the gray hi layer back to Normal. Create a new layer on top of the hi and it will automatically go to the Clipping Mask. This layer will be our retouching.

Choose a stamp. Tool settings:

Required 100% opacity and 100% hardness of the brush (adjusted along with the size of the brush on the right click) so that blurry areas do not appear. We are ignoring the color at this stage, so all textures fit perfectly with the hard stamp settings. If you're using a tablet (which actually speeds things up), don't forget to turn off the stylus-press opacity adjustment (grid circle icon with a pencil).

The second way, retouching a full color image

Hi layer in Linear Light mode. Duplicate it and translate it into a Clipping Mask. In this new layer we will do retouching. Turn off the visibility of the curves adjustment layer.

Stamp settings are almost the same, with the exception of Sample - you need to change it to Current Layer.

Finally, we move on to the skin retouching itself. And this is the usual work with a stamp: we take an area with a texture we like and replace what is required.

Here are some tips from personal experience on using a stamp:

• the time spent on retouching is synonymous with the quality of retouching, tune in to monotonous work with a stamp for 40-60 minutes;
• with a tablet, work will go a hundred times faster;
• no need to take a very large brush, it is better to make more strokes. For our format, the ideal brush size is 15–25px;
• it is not necessary to change the source for the stamp after each click, but try to do it as often as possible to avoid artifacts;
• Moles are not skin defects, but don't forget the less obvious parts of the body. Lips, nose, protruding hair, exposed parts of the arms and body also need your attention.

Let's evaluate the result after working on the upper frequency. We have worked on the skin in detail with just one layer, and now it looks very smooth. But at the same time, sharpness was preserved, there is no this soapy effect on the skin, which usually gives out poor-quality retouching.

LOW FREQUENCIES

Sometimes you can do with what has already happened and not touch the bottom layer. But for the educational effect, let's still try to do something else. It is very easy to work with the lower frequency. You can use a stamp or regular brushes with a suitable color, but be sure to use only the softest hardness settings and opacity at the level of 20-30%.

Here are a few tricks that the blurry low layer gives us access to:

• even out the tone of the face, get rid of light / dark / color spots;
• work locally with the background, remove unnecessary shadows;
• remove the waves on the background, make the background more uniform.

To work with stains, a regular brush is perfect (the softest, opacity 20-30%). Create a new layer above the low layer. Using a color sampler or holding down the Alt key, select a color near the area you want to paint over, and apply it with gentle brush movements to this area. You can change the color of the brush in order to achieve optimal correction.

When photographing people in dimly lit rooms, many use a flash. At the same time, even from an external flash, ugly highlights can remain on the face, usually on the forehead and tip of the nose and shadows under the eyes. There is a very simple way, using Photoshop, if you do not solve this problem entirely, then significantly smooth out the unwanted play of chiaroscuro. In addition, using the same technique, you can improve the overall appearance of the skin in the photo, hiding fine wrinkles and small defects. So, let's try to fix the flash action and achieve perfect skin in Photoshop. I advise you to also read about how to use Photoshop.

I'll use the photo on the right as a base. The photo was taken, as they say, on the go, and even with a flash, so highlights and shadows are very noticeable, in addition to this, there are two moles on the face, which should also be removed to get perfect skin. But first, in my opinion, it is worth slightly sharpening the photo in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe hair, eyes and lips. To do this, as usual, we create with a copy of the image. Then apply the filter "" (" unsharp mask") with the following parameters: "Amount"- 89%, " Radius"- 1.2," Treshold«- 0.

We got a sharper image, there was a beautiful shine on the hair and in the eyes, but at the same time the whole image became sharper, which is absolutely not necessary. Therefore, add to the layer from the menu " layer» (« Layer«) — « layer mask» (« Layer mask"), but not as in the previous lessons, but in the mode" hide all» (« Hide all“) and, taking a soft brush, carefully circle the girl with white, leaving the background “under the mask”. As a result, we have increased the sharpness of the portrait, while the background remains the same as it was at the beginning.

Now we need to remove skin defects on the face, namely 2 moles on the cheek and under the eyebrow. To correct the image, we need to go on the top layer from the mask directly to the picture, for this we click on the preview to the left of the mask in the layers panel. Now select the tool Clone Stamp Tool» (« Stamp"). At the top, you can select the properties of the tool, as for a brush. We choose a hardness of 50% and a diameter slightly larger than the size of the mole in the photo. Then move the mouse over the area next to the defect on the cheek and while pressing the " alt»Click on this place with the left mouse button. Thus, we have chosen the source for cloning, now we just carefully paint over the mole. Repeat for the mole under the eyebrow. We will talk about the Stamp tool in more detail in another article, but here it works just as an auxiliary tool.

There are no more large natural defects on the skin of the face, and it's time to remove the excessive play of chiaroscuro. To do this we need another layer. Copy it from the bottom one, and it will appear below the layer on which we sharpened. Now take the left mouse button on the top layer with the mask and move it under our new one.

Select the top layer (the one without the mask). And blur with the filter Gaussian Blur» (« Gaussian blur") with radius 3. Parameter " Radius» (« Radius“) we choose in such a way that all unnecessary defects on the skin, in this case, shadows, highlights and wrinkles from the nose to the lips, are very blurred.

The last action left is to apply a mask on the blurred layer in the “ hide all» (« Hide all“) and again, taking a soft brush, we begin to sketch the skin on the mask. In this case, we need to leave the eyes, lips, and nose hidden, with the exception of the glare at the tip. If this is not done, then the face will turn out flat and unnatural.

To make it more clear, I got such a mask. Now let's relax a little Opacity» (« Visibility") of our blur layer, the slider is at the top right in the layers panel. I chose a value of 75%.

As a result, after applying the blur, we get a photo with an almost perfect, even skin tone, and with the help of the right mask we save volume. At the same time, highlights and shadows from the flash are softened, of course, you can remove them completely, but again, this can lead to an excessive flattening of the image.

If this article did not quite help you, I can suggest reading about how in Photoshop.

When you mention retouching, people often think of the impossibly flawless haute couture models and cover girls they see in magazines. In photographs of this kind, there is no need to achieve realism. Instead, photographers try to make the impossible possible. Flawless leather is allowed, but at the same time, it should not look like plastic. Often the task is to create a similar effect to a person who is not even close to the ideal. You must know how to completely restore the skin, if the task at hand calls you to do so. Of course, today nothing is impossible.
In this example, we'll be working with a snapshot of this attractive woman in her fifties.

It's no wonder that in our youth-obsessed culture, photographers are being asked to strip three decades of writers, musicians, actors, and actresses off their faces. Because movies and television are still low-definition, people often can't tell how old their favorite idols are. I'm not going to expose anyone here, so we're just going to completely reconstruct this woman's skin.

Result:

Step 1. As usual, we start by creating a new layer. In this case, we will duplicate the background image by dragging it onto the thumbnail. creating a new layer (createnewlayer) in the layers palette. Our task is to blur this copy as the basis for the new skin, so let's rename the layer (double click on the name of the copy of the layer) and name it Blur on the surface (Surface Blur).

Select Filter - Blur - Surface Blur (filter- Blur- Surface Blur).

Filter Surface blur (surfaceblur) appears in the version of Photoshop CS2, it is especially often used in such operations. This blur preserves the transitional edges, but at the same time controls the creation of a very smooth blur. Slider Radius (Radius) controls the intensity of the blur, and the slider Threshold (Threshold) sets how sharp the image should remain. Unlike other blur filters, high setting Threshold (Threshold) gives a greater blur effect. You need to adjust the sliders so that absolutely all wrinkles and skin texture are smoothed out, leaving the main elements untouched.

Note: users of CS versions can use the filter Median (Median) (Filter - Noise - Median (filter - noise - Median). This filter only has one slider, but you can get a similar result, although not as good a smoothing effect.

Step 2 We need to hide this blurry layer. layer mask (layermask). Press and hold the Option/Alt key and click on the icon Layer mask (layermask) at the bottom of the layers palette.

This action will create a black layer mask and hide the blurry layer, revealing the original image.
Now just paint layer mask (layermask) white to cover those areas of the skin that you want to smooth out.

The area you are working on may be barely visible if you paint over everything. You can turn off the visibility of the background layer to see if there are any gaps left. To do this, click on the eye icon next to the thumbnail of the background (background) layer in the layers palette.

Carefully bypass those areas that need to be preserved while painting over "bad" skin - eyes, lips, etc. At this point, you should have something that looks like the image below:

Step 3 Skin will be smooth, but colors and tones may appear patchy. To fix this, create a new layer, but to do this, hold down the Option / Alt key and click on the create icon new layer (newlayer), to bring up a dialog box with options new layer (newlayer).

Note. translator: if after the perfect manipulations you did not open a window, like the author, try to go the following way: Layer - New - Layer ( layer - New - layer )

Check the box next to Use the previous layer to create a clipping mask (Use Previous Layer To Create Clipping Mask).

This will allow the previous layer's mask to control the new layer being painted.
Take a big soft brush and swatch the colors from the blurred skin (Option/Alt + click to turn the cursor into Pipette (eye dropper) and take a color sample) and paint very low opacity (opacity), to gradually smooth out colors and tones.

At this stage, you need to restore some hints of the old skin. Select the blurred layer by clicking on its thumbnail in the layers palette. Move Slider opacity (opacity) slightly to the left to reveal the old skin.

Step 4 Now we need to create layers Lightening (Dodge) and Darkening (Burn) and highlight any unattractive wrinkles on the left. Option/Alt + click on create icon new layer (newlayer) at the bottom of the layers palette. This action will open the create dialog new layer (newlayer).

Note. translator: if after the perfect manipulations you have not opened a window, like the author, try to go the following way: Layer - New - Layer ( layer - New - layer ) , now the necessary window should open in front of you.

Change mode (mode) on the Soft light (Softlight), and then mark Fill with a neutral color mode “Soft light” (Fill With Soft-Light-Neutral Color). This action will fill the new layer with 50% gray (50% gray). You must save the mask you created for the blurred layer. Use the tool Clarifier (Dodge) to lighten wrinkles. In the picture you can see how the highlight layer will look like if you change the mode from soft light (Softlight) on the Normal/Normal (Normal).

In this case, the woman's skin appeared to be very smooth with little bits of texture from the original skin. To save the image from the plastic effect, you need to add even more texture to the skin. I experimented with all kinds of different approaches. Although I'm not entirely happy with the technique presented, for the moment it worked for me to mimic the texture of the skin. I will keep experimenting until I find the best texture.

Step 5 So again create a new gray layer overlap (overlay). Option/Alt + click on create icon new layer (newlayer) at the bottom of the Layers Palette to open the New Layer dialog box. Check the box next to Use Previous Layer To Create Clipping Mask, select overlap (overlay) from the drop down menu modes (mode) and mark Fill with a neutral color mode "Overlap" (Fill Withoverlay-Neutral Color)(50% gray (gray)).

The layers palette should look like the image below:

The last three layers have been adjusted opacity (opacity) and masklayer (layermask) blur layer. To have a clearer idea of ​​how the Texture layer will affect some things, temporarily increase opacity (opacity) blurred layer at 100%. You won't see the original texture, but you will see the texture you are about to create. You will also see lightened lines where wrinkles have been lightened; you can temporarily turn off the visibility of this layer if it will distract you.

Step 6 Select layer Texture (Texture) in mode Overlap (Overlay) and go to the filter Noise (noise) (Filter - Noise - Add Noise (filter - noise - addnoise). Check boxes Uniform (uniform) and Monochrome (Monochromatic) and add enough noise to make it look like a 3D movie frame.

The ideal value for this filter depends on the size and resolution of the file. Basically, there are no hard and fast rules that apply to all images. Rely on your own judgment and occasionally test print to see subtle effects such as noise.
Many photographers would settle for this effect, but this noise is too harsh for our purposes. With the Texture layer selected in Overlay mode, go to the filter Blur (Blur) (Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur (filter - Blur - GaussianBlur)), use just a little blur to soften the noisy edges without completely smoothing them out.

Step 7 Sometimes this is enough to do what you need, but usually I create a more complex set of textures to mimic real skin. So go to filter Embossing (Emboss) (Filter - Styling - Embossing (filter - Style - Emboss)).

The texture still looks unattractive, so we need to tone it down a bit. You can correctly transform any filter after using the command Let loose (Fade). Go to menu Editing (Edit) (immediately after applying the filter) and select Editing - Loosen Emboss (Edit - FadeEmboss).

Go back to the blurry layer and scale it down opacity (opacity) up to about 70%. You should have something similar to the image below:

Compare it to skin that has not been retouched.

Step 8 For the final retouched work, I brightened up the eyes, applied some light eye shadow and darkened the edges a bit.

Since the entire retouching process was done on the layers controlled by the blur layer, you can reduce it a bit if you wish. opacity (opacity), to get a more realistic rendering.