here is my attempt at retouching! I have firts dodge and burned large areas in the face! But I can't seem to get a nice finak result, the pores is too visable, so I tried to use the de grunge tool! I think that worked out great!

But is there any other tips/tricks on getting really smooth skin???

Please try it out and leave also som explenation on how you did it! want to learn!!!!

Gerry

is also on the retouched picture that it's not finished yet, but ....ehehe....

Hi Gerry
I think you did a realy good job.
here is my version. Mostly I added some adjustment layers to give it some more depth.
Saturation, Select color, and a levels adjustment layer.
and for the fun I moved some of her features in the liquifier.

Hi, Gerry!

.... so I tried to use the de grunge tool! I think that worked out great!
Glad you liked the deGrunge trick, but be careful - it seems that you've got a bit too close to the edges on the cheeks.

Rô

Only slightly different, I think, but please give me suggestions!

Sally

you need to do all retouching on a new layer so that you can lower the opacity and reduce the effect a bit. Watch out under the eyes because it looks a little bit like the eyes are stuck on - so lower the effect of the retouch under the eyes.

I could study your website for hours. Amazing work.

Sally

I can never resist a pretty face, Here's my try.

Hope you don't mind the liberties taken with the facial expression.

Stosh

Model-like look using most of the 'tricks in the book'. i.e. balanced skin color tones and lighting/contrast with Paint with Light II action and apply channels in various blend modes, healing brush for blemishes, soften and a touch of sharpen.

Model-like look using most of the 'tricks in the book'. i.e. balanced skin color tones and lighting/contrast with Paint with Light II action and apply channels in various blend modes, healing brush for blemishes, soften and a touch of sharpen.

I think yours is perfect but for one wee detail--the kink in the chain round her neck, which I straightened up. I wish I could do half as good as yourself.

Maureen

I think yours is perfect but for one wee detail--the kink in the chain round her neck, which I straightened up. I wish I could do half as good as yourself.

Maureen

Thanks Maureen! Good eye re 'the kink'. Keep experimenting, have fun and yu'll soon have the results that yu want.

Cheers!

Right now I'm wishing I'd left this alone around half an hour or so ago. This dodge and burn stuff would be a great substitute for those looking for an alternate hobby to watching grass grow :)

Anyway, this is probably a really stupid question, but here goes...apart from using the dodge and burn on imperfections, what is the ideal outcome? Meaning, are you looking to smooth the range of tonal changes in not only the skin but in the blending of the shadows and highlights too?

Also, what do you use if the colour skews?

Herer's my attempt ... it could more better if I am able to get hi resoulution image ...

To fix the color skews caused by D/B try the following.

Create a blank layer above D/B and set mode to Color.

Neutralize: Set brush to Hue and color white. Opacity: try 10-20%. This removes color from brush area. When D/B turns area into flourecent orange, which is common, go over area with brush which will reduce color and blend it with non affected areas. Do not use a large brush stroke over entire area especially if it contains dark and light areas. Dark and light areas require different amounts of treatment so use a small brush and work each area seperately. Work slow, look away from the monitor occasionally and then back to judge the color change. The change is very subtle and easy to over do which you can correct with the eraser. It seems that this process is slow to redraw on the screen so that it is easy for you to overstroke before you see the result. I find that I can bring the color pretty close to surrounding areas.

When D/B-ing an area which discolors it is difficult to to get the density correct. After neutralizing you will probably have to go back and adjust the density.

Neutralize is also useful when you have a fairly strong color that you want to change using the colorize technique discussed next. If the colors are dissimilar you will not get the effect you want with colorize alone. First neutralize the color and then colorize it.

Colorize: Brush set to Color and pick the color desired. Opacity 10-20%. Brush over the discolored area, same cautions as above. Often used, after D/B-ing the area, to fix eye bags which are purplish or off color. Pick a good medium tone from the cheek and tint the eye bag are to a more healtful color.

Note that these color changes are subtle and not used to add a lot of color, basically a tint in the right direction.

Also when darkening an area with D/B, instead of using black, pick a deep shadow area of the skin and use that. This will warm up the darkening which often looks like it has a grey viel over it if black is used. The skin shadow has a red content which does the trick.

Larry

Akbar is right .. it would be better if the picture was a higher resolution.

with such a small image, the workflow is actually harder, and everything ends up looking really proccessed. sure you can make it PERFECT, but that would take a lot of time. more time than if it was a raw image in my opinion.

everyone that took a shot at it did a ok job, and its definitely noticable that the image has been retouched vs. a natural capture.

jpgs are a pain to work on, and a small jpg is even worse. again, you can definitely make the image look flawless and natural, but it will just take a good amount of time ..

if you rush the work and dont get deep in the pixels, you will just end up with a real pastey, orange peel look which is what i see with most of the attemps here ..

aaronology: people can't expect that we would put out full resolution pictures here everytime we post some advice/help?!

Last time I did that I got like 10 qeustions from people asking to use the picture for retouching websites.

I think that working with a samll file is probably better way to train your retouching eye...

Gerry

Gerry requested:is there any other tips/tricks on getting really smooth skin???

Please try it out and leave also som explenation on how you did it! want to learn!!!!

and
My retouch! Please help me!

Aaron, with all respect, how is your post helpful?

Gerry, had a go at this on the weekend and didn't quite finish it off until today. It is all D&B with a little sharpening and a Levels Adjustment. I also Merged Visible and set the Blend Mode to Soft Light (then turned down the opacity to 20%) just to add a touch of contrast and to deepen the colors a bit.

Sincerely Syd

aaronology: people can't expect that we would put out full resolution pictures here everytime we post some advice/help?!

Last time I did that I got like 10 qeustions from people asking to use the picture for retouching websites.

I think that working with a samll file is probably better way to train your retouching eye...

Gerry


i understand what it is you are saying. and im only stating what i feel and see. workin on a jpg is just something i dont do, or feel worth doing. if people still want to take a shot, then its all on them.

im just saying that its a harder retouch to do, tahts all. and most of the time the picture will come out looking very obvious.

Gary, I love what you did! Amazing. I especially like the eyes...they are the soul. Could you please share how you intensified the eyes.
Thanks, Sandy

Gary, I love what you did! Amazing. I especially like the eyes...they are the soul. Could you please share how you intensified the eyes.
Thanks, Sandy

Thanks Sandy!
If I am remembering correctly, I placed a duplicate layer overtop and tried various blend modes ( Overlay, Soft light and Hard light) to see which added the best color and contrast. In this case, it was Hard light. I then masked out all but the eye itself, merged down & added a touch of reverse sharpen (Unsharp Mask with settings of A = 20, R = 40 & T = 0).

HTH


Gary

Hello guys :rambo:

here's my go:

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/3037/kristine31fd8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)