I recently developed a very advanced photoshop action for professional skin retouching and would like some feedback on the results.
The best way to describe it is you keep the appearance of the skin texture and color but smooth out the sub-dermal layers. For example, if the model has shiny skin, it will still look shiny, just cleaner and smoother deeper into the skin. The action only takes a few minutes to apply and tweak to get the results you see below. Zero paint burshes required
Examples:
If you have raw files you'd like to see processed using the action, shoot me an email and we can make arrangements (dropbox or similar preferably) and I'll post the results.
The first two examples feature women wearing makeup that is beginning to fail. The action cleans the deeper layers of skin, but leaves the shine and skin texture alone.
The first example features an olive / medium tone model. There is a black and white high contrast version of each.
Color:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_...n_demo_002.jpg
Color 100% cropped detail:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_..._002_close.jpg
B&W:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_...emo_bw_002.jpg
B&W 100% cropped detail:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_..._002_close.jpg
This example features a lighter skin tone model. For this example, I had to crop into a wider angle photo. Both versions are 100% crops, but the detail is cropped much closer. Both have black and white high contrast versions to show more detail.
Color 100%:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_...n_demo_001.jpg
Color 100% cropped detail:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_..._001_close.jpg
B&W 100%:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_...emo_bw_001.jpg
B&W 100% cropped detail:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_..._001_close.jpg
In this third example, we have a Dark skin tone East Indian woman. She has on some makeup, in this shot, but not too shiny looking. I used the action to punch up her skin highlights a bit, smooth the sub-dermal layers, and giving her dimples some more definition. You can of course maintain original highlight / shadow levels and just smooth out the sub-dermal issues.
Color 100%:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_...n_demo_003.jpg
Color 100% cropped detail:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_..._003_close.jpg
B&W 100%:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_...emo_bw_003.jpg
B&W 100% cropped detail:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_..._003_close.jpg
These are pretty mild examples of what this action can do in only a few minutes per shot. I originally used high res images of various skin conditions while creating the action. That should give you an idea of what it can handle.
Here's the run down of features:
Smooths out skin while retaining all skin texture, or only the texture level you desire.
Maintains overall contrast of the skin (unlike other techniques that aim to mimic makeup by dulling highlights and lightening shadows).
100% non-destructive.
100% customizable during use and after you've run the action. There's several parameters you can tweak: contrast, skin texture, color, smoothing, and blending with original source photo.
Integrates into your layers work flow very easily as it's own group.
Capable of significantly reducing wrinkles and large dark skin patches.
You can dull shiny skin or exaggerate it.
You can target shadow and highlight areas.
No hard edge blending issues.
Start to finish, the action typically only takes a few minutes to use.
The best way to describe it is you keep the appearance of the skin texture and color but smooth out the sub-dermal layers. For example, if the model has shiny skin, it will still look shiny, just cleaner and smoother deeper into the skin. The action only takes a few minutes to apply and tweak to get the results you see below. Zero paint burshes required

Examples:
If you have raw files you'd like to see processed using the action, shoot me an email and we can make arrangements (dropbox or similar preferably) and I'll post the results.
The first two examples feature women wearing makeup that is beginning to fail. The action cleans the deeper layers of skin, but leaves the shine and skin texture alone.
The first example features an olive / medium tone model. There is a black and white high contrast version of each.
Color:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_...n_demo_002.jpg
Color 100% cropped detail:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_..._002_close.jpg
B&W:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_...emo_bw_002.jpg
B&W 100% cropped detail:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_..._002_close.jpg
This example features a lighter skin tone model. For this example, I had to crop into a wider angle photo. Both versions are 100% crops, but the detail is cropped much closer. Both have black and white high contrast versions to show more detail.
Color 100%:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_...n_demo_001.jpg
Color 100% cropped detail:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_..._001_close.jpg
B&W 100%:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_...emo_bw_001.jpg
B&W 100% cropped detail:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_..._001_close.jpg
In this third example, we have a Dark skin tone East Indian woman. She has on some makeup, in this shot, but not too shiny looking. I used the action to punch up her skin highlights a bit, smooth the sub-dermal layers, and giving her dimples some more definition. You can of course maintain original highlight / shadow levels and just smooth out the sub-dermal issues.
Color 100%:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_...n_demo_003.jpg
Color 100% cropped detail:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_..._003_close.jpg
B&W 100%:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_...emo_bw_003.jpg
B&W 100% cropped detail:
http://chrisnuzzaco.com/skin_action_..._003_close.jpg
These are pretty mild examples of what this action can do in only a few minutes per shot. I originally used high res images of various skin conditions while creating the action. That should give you an idea of what it can handle.
Here's the run down of features:
Smooths out skin while retaining all skin texture, or only the texture level you desire.
Maintains overall contrast of the skin (unlike other techniques that aim to mimic makeup by dulling highlights and lightening shadows).
100% non-destructive.
100% customizable during use and after you've run the action. There's several parameters you can tweak: contrast, skin texture, color, smoothing, and blending with original source photo.
Integrates into your layers work flow very easily as it's own group.
Capable of significantly reducing wrinkles and large dark skin patches.
You can dull shiny skin or exaggerate it.
You can target shadow and highlight areas.
No hard edge blending issues.
Start to finish, the action typically only takes a few minutes to use.
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