Beauty retouching is by no means an easy process. It takes a lot of work, but more importantly a lot of patience. This video post is a sped up playback of essentially the entire process from start to finish.
The video can be broken down into a couple of sections. It starts off with the basic adjustments like any other photograph, levels and curves are adjusted, and some sharpening is applied. Once that is completed, a duplicate layer is created. The duplicate layer name is usually changed to “clone”.
This following is by far the most tedious and time consuming of the entire process. It involves knowledge of the clone stamp tool as well as the healing brush. Zooming in and out is essential during this process, as well as changing the size and sometimes the opacity of the brush. Remember that when using either the clone tool or spot healing brush, it is recommended to use a brush size equal to the area you are trying to replace. It is also important to sample from an area relatively close to the one you are trying to remove. This process can be used from anything like stray hairs, to pores, and zits, and anything else one may consider “distracting”.
After the cloning is completed a new layer is created and filled with a 50% gray. This layer will be used to do any dodging and burning that may be necessary. This method is preferred since it is non-destructive and can easily be adjusted with the opacity and flow of the brushes.
Last but not least are the “minor” details that need focusing on. For this particular image that included enhancing both eyes as well as replacing the background with a solid gray color. A B&W adjustment layer was also added, and the opacity was dropped to around 50%. This is a good method to use to bring down some colors, while still allowing you to have a fair amount of control.
This project took approximately 3 hours to complete from start to finish. The completely finished results can be seen above. Hope you enjoyed the posts.
4 Comments
wow fantastic work and good music! seemed very time consuming but all worth it in the end! you got to know the clone stamp tool.
DEFINITELY INCREDIBLE WORK DONE HERE! GOTTA LOVE PHOTOSHOP, BUT IT ALSO MUST BE A VERY WELL TAKEN PHOTO IN THE BEGINNING WHICH IS DEFINITELY APPARENT – GOOD WORK AND GREAT TUTORIAL, A+++ WAITING TO SEE MORE!
Really good sharing this.
nice to be here…. thanks for share