Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-09-06)

36 31 August 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

PRO SKIN SMOOTHING WITH FREQUENCY SEPARATION

1 Maketwolayers
Thishigh-endskintechniqueletsuscreatetwo
versionsof ourimage– a high-frequency
versionthatcontainsallof thefinedetailand
texture,anda low-frequencyversionthatholds
colourandskintone.Eachcanberetouched
individuallyfornaturalresults.Firstmaketwo
duplicate layers by pressing Cmd/Ctrl+J twice.

2 Blurthedetails

NamethetoplayerDetailthenhideit. Name

theonebelowColourandTone.Weneedto

blurthislayertoremovethefinedetail.Goto

Filter>Blur>GaussianBlur.Settheradiusto

anamountthatonlyjustblursthetextureand

detailin theskin.In this example here, 4.5

pixels works for us.

3 UseApplyImage

Highlightandrevealthetoplayerthengoto

Image>ApplyImage.SetLayer:Colourand

Tone,thenforan8-bitimageuseBlending:

Subtract,Scale2,Offset128.Fora 16-bit

imageuseBlending:Add,Scale2,Offset 0

andcheckInvert.HitOK,thenchangethe

Blend Mode of the layer to Linear Light.

Technique PORTRAIT RETOUCHING

Liquifyfaces

TheLiquifycommandletsyoupushandpullpixelsintodifferentshapes,
soit canbeusedforbodyshaping– perhapstosubtlyshrinka double
chin,ortoreinin bouffanthair.Beginbymakinga mergedcopyof all
yourlayerswithCmd/Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E,thenright-clickthelayerand
‘ConverttoSmartObject’(thiskeepsthefilternon-destructiveand
editable).ThengotoFilter>Liquifytoenterthecommand.Foundat the
topleftof thedialog,theForwardWarptoolis usuallythemosteffective
forreshapingobjects.It’sbesttousea fairlylargebrushtipandmake
shortmovementswiththetooltograduallypushpixelsintonewshapes.
Anotherinterestingfeatureof theLiquifycommandis theFace-aware
controls.Thisemploysartificialintelligencetoanalyseyourportraitand
targetdifferentpartsof theface.If thereareseveralfaces,theyare
eachassigneda numbersoyoucaneditthemindividually (use the
Select Face dropdown to switch between faces).

Asthenamesuggests,theTexturecommand

• whichwasrecentlyintroducedtoLightroom
  andCameraRaw– is a toolthatis usedfor
  enhancingtexturesanddetailsin yourphotos.
  Interestingly,it wasoriginallydesignedto
  doexactlytheopposite.Assuch,it canbevery
  effectiveforsmoothingskin.Todoso,grab
  the Adjustment Brush, load it with negative

Texture(startat -50),thenpaintovertheskin

tosmoothoutthetones.Oncedone,turnon

themaskoverlaytocheckthattheeffect

doesn’tcoverimportantdetailliketheeyes

andlips(if so,Alt-painttoerase).Then

fine-tunetheTexturesettinguntilyouhit

upontherightstrength(a touch of negative

Clarity can work too).

TheTexturecommandworksovermid-range

frequenciesin theimage,soit ignoresthefiner

frequenciesthatincludeskintexturesandpores.

Thereareother,more-refinedskinsmoothing

techniquessuchasHighPassandFrequency

Separationthataresuperior,butthesecan

taketime.If youwanta quickeffectthen

negative Texture can do a job for you.

The Texturecommand

BEFORE AFTER

You can alter the size and shape of any facial feature using this tool

UsetheTexture

commandto

smoothskin,to

getflawless

results