Learning how to smooth skin in Photoshop can make a significant difference in the quality of your portraits. Here's how to do it in an authentic manner.
Coming to you from Kristina Sherk with SharkPixel, this comprehensive video covers several essential techniques for smoothing skin in Photoshop. Sherk begins by demonstrating how to use a black and white adjustment layer to polarize the reds and yellows in the skin. This creates a contrast that helps to identify problematic areas. By following her precise settings, you can achieve similar results. Sherk emphasizes the importance of setting these adjustments correctly to avoid over-polarizing the skin tones. This method is crucial for anyone looking to refine their skin retouching skills, providing a foundational technique that can be used in various lighting conditions.
The video also introduces the concept of using a smart object to make non-destructive edits. This is particularly important because it allows you to adjust the blur settings later if needed. Sherk explains how to apply a surface blur to enhance skin texture without losing detail. By converting the layer to a smart object, you ensure that any changes remain flexible, which is a key aspect of professional photo editing.
Another critical aspect covered in the video is the use of the healing brush tool. Sherk shows how to remove blemishes effectively, emphasizing the importance of sampling from the correct areas to maintain natural skin texture. She introduces a clever trick using the blend mode of the healing brush tool, which allows you to lighten or darken specific areas without affecting the overall skin tone.
Sherk also addresses the common issue of inconsistent skin saturation. By using a hue/saturation adjustment layer, she demonstrates how to balance the skin tones to ensure a uniform look. This step is especially important when working with varied lighting conditions. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Sherk.
