How To Smooth Skin with Photoshop

Who hasn’t had a pimple show up in the early hours of a big day? No, it’s not a commercial for face cream. Even if the model had a pimple that day, it is a way to remove any flaws from a portrait photograph. How To Smooth Skin with Photoshop Since nobody is perfect, if you shoot weddings or any other type of portrait, you’ve probably had to use Photoshop to smooth a subject’s complexion.

Your shots will look more professional if you use this Photoshop trick, and your clients won’t have to worry about anything on the day of the photo shoot. Retouching a model’s skin or model photo editing is a common task for portrait photographers. This is something that needs to be done to professional models after a fashion photo shoot as well as for brides in their wedding images unless your photography style is raw and unprocessed.

Whatever the genre, it’s crucial that the outcome is believable. Your subject shouldn’t resemble a plastic mannequin. The ethical ramifications of this type of job must also be taken into account. Don’t push yourself too much. Because it’s simple to perform and you can use as much or as little retouching as necessary, the ways that will help you with skin smoothing photo editing using Photoshop are discussed below.

Using the Quick High-End Skin Retouching Technique

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to use Photoshop to smooth skin without losing the subject’s distinctive facial features.

1. Create a Duplicate Layer

To create a duplicate layer, first right-click on the Background layer and select Duplicate from the drop-down menu. To avoid any misunderstanding, we advise renaming the duplicate layer.

2. Invert the Image

To completely invert the image, go to Image, Adjustment, and then click Invert. The keyboard keys Ctrl+I for Windows and Cmd+I for Mac are also available.

3. Change the Blend Options

Once finished, right-click the duplicate layer to reveal the Blending Options Dialog Box. Vivid Light should now be the Blend Mode. You can also modify the blend mode straight from the layer panels drop-down if you are experienced with Photoshop editing.

4. Apply the High Pass Filter

To apply it to the image’s flat surfaces, go to the Menu Bar and choose Filter then Other and then High Pass Filter. You can often use a high pass filter to sharpen slightly blurry photographs and to help you identify details. Select a radius at this time.

While a conventional portrait photo performs best with a radius of 24 pixels, low-resolution sites like the one below perform better with a radius of 15-20 pixels. Once the filter is applied, the image will turn grey and the borders of the subject’s face will be highlighted, making the contour more distinct.

5. Add Gaussian Blur

Given that all options for skin smoothing photo editing use the Blur filter, the Blur tool is appropriately referred to as the smoothing tool. The Gaussian Blur is however applied for the High Pass Filter technique by selecting Filter, Blur, and Gaussian Blur. Again, a radius must be selected here. This time, for optimal results, select a radius value between three and four pixels and press OK. We advise you to enlarge the image while experimenting with the radius value and selecting the one that complements your image the best.

6. Add a Layer Mask so that you can Limit the Blur to the Skin

Press and hold Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) and click the Layer Mask icon to add a layer mask that only blurs the skin and applies it properly. This produces a negative mask that blocks out the smoothing effect so that we can paint it back in only the necessary places. Our duplicate layer is accompanied by a thumbnail with a black background.

7. Select the Skin Brush Photoshop

The skin brush tool should now be selected from the toolbar. Make sure that the brush color is set to white. You can restore the default colors by pressing D on your keyboard if it isn’t already set to white. You can adjust the brush flow to suit your tastes. We advise moving forward at 100 for quicker results if you are skilled with Photoshop.

8. Paint Over the Face

Make sure your Blend Mode is set to Normal, that the Opacity is 100%, and that the Flow Percent is set to the desired value before you start painting. Using a soft-edge brush to paint over the face is the best alternative.

To soften or harden your brush, press the Shift+left bracket key and the Shift+right bracket key, respectively. Using the left and right bracket keys on the keyboard, you may also alter the brush size.

You’ll observe that the smoothing effect only manifests itself in the areas you paint once you start painting. For a more natural appearance, we advise omitting features like the subject’s eyes, mouth, and the spots just below their nostrils. Remember to avoid highlighting and just paint over areas that need to be softened.

Pro Tip: Remove Blemishes Before Smoothening Skin

Before smoothing skin, get rid of imperfections, complete the basic cleanup, and complete the retouching for the best results. We say that because removing blemishes and defects from the skin will give your subject’s skin an odd and unnatural texture.

Final Words

As you know, Photoshop makes it incredibly simple to smooth skin. But caution must be taken while performing this and other “beauty” retouching. Determine the balance between the amount the client wants and the amount you feel comfortable doing before exceeding it. Always keep the subject and the environment in mind while applying skin retouching. Retouching for fashion or models is different from retouching for a family portrait, therefore if you want the results you want, you should work with experts like Retouching Visuals.