To obtain photo realistic skin, portrait photographers follow various editing techniques like retouching, freqency seperation etc to achieve flawless skin. In this PDF some of the 3 best photo retouching techniques are explained to attain excellent skin tone for the photograph. Read in detail.

1. DRIVETHEBESTRETOUCHINGEFFECTSUSING
THESE3EFFECTIVETECHNIQUES
Mostoftheportraitphotographersstrivehardtoattainexcellentskinontheirphotographs.
However,gettingbeautifulskinemulatingthenaturaltextureofthesamewithoutmakingit
feelreallyartificialisatoughertaskthanmanywouldlikeittobe.Forgettingthingsdonewith
perfection,masteringtheartofretouchingskininPhotoshopisimportant.
Here,webringyouthreeretouchingtechniquesinPhotoshop:
TOUCHUPLAYERTECHNIQUE
WhenyouaretryingtocarryoutPhotoshopportraitretouchingtask,ifyouwantto
effectivelyremovespots,blemishesandmarks,utilizingatouch-uplayeristhemost
effectiveofallways.Itwillalsohelpyougetridofdust,lint,hairstrandandeven
makeupflakesthatyoumightfindannoying.
Thefollowingstepswillhelpyouwiththat;
STEP1:
InInordertoutilizeatouch-uplayerasyouintendwhiletryingtotakeadvantageof
Photoshopfaceretouching,createanemptylayeronyourbackgroundlayerinPho-
toshop.

2. STEP3:
SStartwithyourHealingBrushandzoom intoyournew emptylayerafterselectingthesame.
Youneedtosetyourbrushalittlehigherthanblemish.Youcansampletheskininanareathat
iscleanascloserasyoucantotheblemishthatyouaretryingtoretouch.Paycloseattention
totheflowsoftheskintextureandchangesoftheskintone.Ifyouareabletogetyoursample
assimilaraspossibletotheareawhereretouchingisdone,itwouldbegreat.Gentlyplacethe
brushontheblemishandclick.Makesurethatyoudonotmakemultipleclicks,paintorsweep.
Movearoundthefaceclickingontheblemishes.
STEP2:
Onceyouhavesetyourtools,inordertocarryoutyourtouch-ups,youwillneedtotoggle
betweentheHealingBrushandCloneStamp.AsyouusetheHealingBrushes,itisimperative
thatthe‘SampleAllLayers’optionischecked.Further,makesurethat,whenusingtheClone
Stamp,forSample,thetooloptionissettoCurrent&Below.

3. STEP4:
YoucanalsousetheCloneStamptoolforsometouch-uptoproducethebestresults.Toget
thefinestresultsyouneedtohaveyourcloningtoolsetatthecapacityof20%.Thensample
anareaclosesttotheareayouwanttotouch-up.Thenpaintawayorclickwhatthatneedscor-
rection.
STEP5:
IfIfyouhavesomewrinklestotakecareof,thetouch-uplayercanworkwellforthatalso.This
workseffectivelyifthesubjecthasexcellent,blemish-freeandfineskinandyouonlyneedto
takecareofafew wrinkles.Ifyoutouchthewrinklesupabitmorethanwhatyouwant,you
willsuregetaskintexturethatisnaturallooking.Youcanthenreducetheopacitylevelof
thelayerfortouch-upjustenoughforthewrinklesbelow toshow up.Thiswillbringanatural
textureandlooktotheskineffectively.
STEP6:
TThetouch-uplayertechniqueisreallyflexibleandhasmultipleusesthanyouwouldliketo
thinkof.Ifyouaren’thappywiththeresult,youcanselectthelayeranderasethesame.If
youthinkthatthetouch-upisalittleheavy,usetheeraseratalowercapacityandasoft
brushandswipesomeofthecorrectionsoff.Therearesomephotographerswhowanttogo
alittledeeperwithPhotoshopfaceretouchingtogetthebestresults.Ifyouthinkso,youcan
dothattoo.Whateveryouwanttodo,startingwiththetouch-uplayeristhebestwaytogo
aboutit.

4. FREQUENCYSEPARATIONTECHNIQUE
Ifyouneedtoworkmorethanyoureallywanttogetthebestandbeautifulskin,then
frequencyseparationisoneofthefinestoptions.Companiesprovidingportraitretouching
servicesusuallymakeuseofthistechnique.Thismethodworkswellwithpetiteblemishes,
mottledskin,wrinkles,flakyanddryskinandredandoilypatches.Itcanalsobeeffectively
usedtoremoveorcorrectthedarkcirclesthatappearbelow theeyesofpeople.
Thestepsinvolvedinitare;
STEP1:
Step1:Amergedlayeroftheworkyouhavedonesofarontheportraitmustbecreatedfirst.
Makesurethatbothyourtouch-upandbackgroundlayersarevisible.Now,selectboththe
layersandchoosemergevisiblefrom Options.
STEP2:
OnOncethelayersaremerged,maketwocopies.Labeltheuppercopyas“HighFrequency”
whilethemiddlecopyneedstobelabeled“Low Frequency.”Now selectthelayerlabeled
Low Frequencyanditwillcontainallthedetailspertainingtothecolor.UsingGaussianBlur,
blurthelayerandkeepdoingittilltheporeaspectsat100%gointotheskin.

5. STEP3:
Now,turntheHighFrequencylayerbackon.Now applythenecessarysettingstotheimage
andtheblendingmodeofthelayermustbechangedtoLinearLight.
STEP4:
Inthisstep,anemptylayerontopoftheLow Frequencylayerneedstobeaddedandshift
themergedlayertothetopevenabovetheHighFrequencylayer.Now,themergedlayer
needstobeturnedoff.Itiskepttheretounderstandthechangesyouhavemadefrom time
totimebyturningitonandoffasrequired.
STEP5:
SelecttheCloneSelecttheCloneStamp toolafterclickingontheemptylayerthatliesontopoftheLow
Frequencylayerandutilizeabrushhavinghardnessbetween25to50%havingtheopacity
at15to20%.Beforegoingfurther,makesurethattheCurrent&Below isthesample selec-
tionforthetool.SelectthesampleareaandworklittleareasusingtheCloneStamptoolto
correcttheareaswheretheattentionisneeded.Ifyouhavethehabitofchasingforthe
perfectskin,forgettinghow theactualpersonlookslike,themergedlayerwilltellyouthe
realpicturetokeepyouontrack.
STEP6:
Onceyoubecomehappywiththework,youcangoaheadandstartusingtheHighFrequen-
cylayerwhichhasallthetextualdetails.ItisadvisedthatyoueitherusethePatchtoolorthe
CloneStamptoolonthislayer.Youneedtoselectanareathathaseventextureasthe
sampleforthecloningandimagecorrectionprocess.Alsokeepinmindthat,whenyouare
tryingtodealwithdeepwrinkles,thePatchtooliswaymoreefficient.

6. STEP7:
Beforeyouaredonewiththesame,inordertomakeyourimagealittlemorenaturallooking,
usethefollowingmethodinsteadofsharpening.YoucanreplicatetheHighFrequencylayer
andthewholelayerbemaskedout.Now youcanselectthemaskandmedium softbrush.
Painttheareasusingitwhileonareaswhereyouwanttosharpenanditcancomeextremely
handy;professionalsindulgedinheadshotphotoretouchingservicesfollow thesame.
STEP1:
Atthefirststep,makeanew StampedLayerandduplicatethesame.
THE“BYRO”METHOD
Sometimes,insteadofpartsoftheskin,theentireskinneedstoberetouchedandthatis
wherethiscanbeeffectivelyutilizedalongwiththeothertwotechniquesorinsteadofthe
frequencyseparationtechnique.
Thoughthelayerset-upforthesamemightfeelalittletechnical,theresultswillsurelybe
worththeefforts.Thistechniquecanbeusedforsmootheningpoormakeup,adjustingskin
tonesandcorrectinglargeporesontheskin.

7. STEP2:
Now,selecttheduplicatedlayerandchooseGaussianBlurfrom theblurmenu.Regulatethe
radiusofthedialogueboxoftheGaussianBlurtilldissimilarityinthetoneoftheskinisdone
awaywith.Notetheradiusselectedandcancelthesamewithoutapplyingtheblur.
STEP3:
Selecthighpassfrom thefiltermenuandentertheradiusyounotedpreviouslyontothe
HighPassdialoguebox.ApplytheHighPassfilterontotheimage.

8. STEP4:
Selecthighpassfrom thefiltermenuandentertheradiusyounotedpreviouslyontothe
HighPassdialoguebox.ApplytheHighPassfilterontotheimage.
STEP5:
Onthesamelayer,applytheGaussianBlur ontotheHighPasslayergoingbacktothe Filter
menu.Theradiusnow willbeone-thirdofthesameyouhaveutilizedontheHighPassfilter.
SSTEP6:
Inthisstep,theHighPasslayerneedstobeinverted.Now thelayerblendingmodeneedsto
bechangedLinearLightandlayer’sopacitymustbebroughtdowntobetween40and50.
Step6:Inthisstep,youcanmasktheentirelayeroutandselectasoftbrushofsizesmallto
medium.Choosethecolorwhiteandsettheopacityto50%andstartpaintingtheskin
wherethecorrectionisnecessary.
STEP7:
YYoucankeeppaintinguntilyouhavereachedalevelwhereyouaresatisfiedwiththeresult.
Asyouwouldpaintdifferentareasofskins,youcanreducetheopacityfurther.
Irrespectiveofthetechniquesthatyoumighthaveused,youcanusethefollowingtechniques
tocarryoutthefinaltouchuptomaketheportraitlookallthemoreexceptional.Especially
whenitcomestofashionphotoretouchingservices,professionalcompaniestakeutmostcare.
FINALTOUCHESTO MAKEITIMPECCABLE

9. HueAdjustment:Chancesaretherethattheimagemightbespoiltduetotheredsandover-sat-
uration.Applyingahueadjustmentlayerwilltakecareofthatissuetoacertainextent.
AddGrain:High-resolutionmonitorscanrenderimagesunnaturallysmoothandcleaneven
whenyouhavekepttheskintextureoftheimageduringretouching.Ifyouthinkthatisnot
enough,addalayerofgrainstomakeitmorenaturallooking.
Thesetechniquesifutilizedcarefullywillhelpyoumakeyourportraitexceptionallybeautiful
andhavenatural-lookingskinafterretouching.ThereisnodoubtthattheFrequencySeparation
inPhotoshopwillsurelyhelpyouaddressarangeofissuesallthewhilekeepingtheskinonthe
imagelooknaturalandnotabnormallyflashy.Evenifyouareaprofessionalimageeditingpro-
fessionalofferingphotoeditingservicesadeptinarangeofskinretouchingsoftwareprograms,
expandingyourskillfortebymasteringthesetechniqueswillsurelymakeyouoneofthebest
andmostsought-afterimageeditingprofessionalsintheindustry.