Select OK to apply the Surface Blur filter and then hold down the Alt key (PC) or Option key (Mac) and click on the Add layer mask icon at the base of the Layers palette.
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Try to make the surface as smooth as possible at this stage as we will reintroduce the texture of the skin in a later step. If you continue to move the slider lower, after the haloes have disappeared, you will start to re-introduce the finer detail that was removed the by the Radius slider. Back the slider off to a point where all of the haloes disappear. Now drag the Threshold slider higher until you see haloes appear around the edges of your subject. Finding the minimum radius that renders the surface smooth is your goal here. Now move the Radius slider lower until you detect the surface tone becoming ‘mottled’ or ‘blotchy’ and then move it higher again until the surface appears very smooth. To get a feel for what these two sliders do, set them both to a value between 20 and 25. It is important to get the balance right between the Radius and the Threshold slider settings for each and every image (there is no one ‘perfect recipe’ that suits every image). This will ensure there are no nasty haloes around the edges of your subject as a result of the blurring process. This filter, unlike the Gaussian Blur filter has a ‘Threshold’ slider that, if used correctly, will leave edges crisp and sharp whilst blurring the surfaces inside the edges. Start the process of smoothing the skin by duplicating your background layer using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + J (PC) or Command + J (Mac) and then go to Filter > Blur > Surface Blur.
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The technique in this tutorial can be used at full throttle to render the skin suitable for use in a skin care advertisement, or toned down a little to return the skin to something approaching normal (rather than how the camera lens captured it). A 12-megapixel DSLR with a professional grade lens at point blank range and a generous amount of in-camera sharpening is a very cruel combination for showing every minor imperfection in the skin’s surface (check out the nose).
The image used in the project is a section of a larger image from (image number 05009631). The craft of professional skin retouching is the ability to render perfect skin without giving your model the appearance of a plastic-fantastic shop window mannequin. Most people would prefer their skin to appear smooth, but not featureless, and will thank the photographer when they can reveal a skin texture that does not shout its detail to the viewer. Most women who look at photographs of themselves would agree that crunchy detail is just not a good look.Ī digital camera can be a very cruel tool that can capture way too much information. The images had a certain attraction.Īlthough the images had some pretty shocking vignetting and heavy distortion he was drawn to the beautiful liquid smooth tones that the plastic lens was offering up.
Get Photoshop CS5 now at the Adobe Store.īy Mark Galer, author of Photoshop CS4 Essential Skills.Ī fellow photographer was showing me some images the other day that he had captured with a camera that uses a plastic lens.
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See our Photoshop CS4 Tutorials Page for free Photoshop 11 video clips.īuy. Download any Adobe product for a free 30 day trial.