Difficult to distinguish defects

[kulakovfoto]

Hi,

Some defects are very difficult to distinguish. For example when you're retouching skin. After hours of retouching your eyes are just bleeding...

What "help layers" do you use in your work? How do you reveal those hard-to-see details in images?

Thanks a lot!

[klev]

Re: Difficult to distinguish defects

Some people use solar curves. The point isn't so that you retouch more. They tend to reveal areas where you already messed up or sometimes difficult to spot dust motes, acne, etc.

Back to what you were saying though, you shouldn't feel like that. It's a good sign that you're doing a lot of things wrong before that point and making extra work for yourself. The typical problems are cursor accuracy, overdoing it in general, zooming in too far (you should almost never be closer than 100%). While I only edit images for myself now (typically landscapes) and therefore no longer have to concern myself with deadlines, I still don't like spending more time for worse results.

Just be sure that you're correcting the right problem here. Also if your display is too bright or your eyeglass prescription is too strong or you wear contacts in front of a computer, your eyes will feel dry or tired a lot faster.

[skoobey]

Re: Difficult to distinguish defects

I do it like a machine now, there is no more "tired eyes". You don't need solar curves(in my experience), regular curve will do just fine in increasing contrast.

If your eyes are getting tired, make sure you blink regularly and work in an environment with good monitor to surroundings brightness ratio. Also, take a break once in a while. I'll become a routine.

[kulakovfoto]

Re: Difficult to distinguish defects

klev, skoobey,

Thanks for you reply!