How to Retouch and Color Grade a Portrait Using Photoshop

Taking a great portrait is only half of what is required for a fully finished image: you need to have strong post-processing skills as well. This fantastic video will show you how to retouch skin, remove hair, and color grade a studio portrait using Photoshop.

Coming to you from Eli Infante, this great video will show you how to retouch skin, remove stray hairs, and color grade a studio portrait using Photoshop, along with topics like layer masks, selective color, and levels. Color grading is an important step in retouching that often gets a bit overlooked, but it is a great way to add a personal touch to your images and develop a more recognizable style. That being said, with both color grading and skin retouching in particular, it is very easy to go overboard, often without even noticing, so be sure to keep an eye on things while you are working on the photo. In particular, I like to zoom out every few minutes, as you are often zoomed in quite a bit during retouching, and it can be difficult to see how the overall photo is coming together. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Infante.

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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2 Comments

It would be easier to follow if we knew what his actions were doing. Several times it is let me run my action for X, and I have no idea what just happened. I understand actions are useful for saving time, but its helpful to at least explain the shortcuts.

Agree. I'm a fairly experienced Photoshop user, but could not follow this because of all the "behind-the-curtain" steps. Gave up and closed it down after about 7 or 8 minutes.