First, a reminder: the discounted rate on the Photoshop Skin Retouching Actions ends at midnight (Atlantic) tonight!
Photoshop Elements Users, after I slept on it… and tossed and turned, LOL. I decided that I wanted to share the tutorial I wrote on how to smooth skin using Photoshop Elements 8 (these steps also work in Elements 6).
The workshop will go more into depth, and you would get the benefit of talking to me directly about it. This tutorial (including the extra steps for workshop attendees only) will be the included pdf if you purchase the workshop. Go sign up for the workshop today!
Skin Retouching in Photoshop Elements 8
A Dress It Up: Photo Retouching Tutorial
1. Open your image in Elements.
2. Add a blank layer. Layer – New Layer.
3. Using the paint bucket, fill that new layer in with a solid color. It doesn’t matter what color, it will just help you see where you’ve erased. We will delete this layer in a later step.
4. Click on the background layer, then go to layers – duplicate layer. Move the “blue” layer below your copy.
5. Blur the background copy layer. Make sure you are on the background copy layer. Go to Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur. Set the blur radius low, I used 2.0 px.
6. Add noise. This will make the skin look more real and less plasticky. Go to Filter – Noise – Add Noise. Check Gaussian and make it 1% then click ok.
7. Erase all areas EXCEPT the skin you want to correct. Choose the eraser tool and go to town erasing. In photoshop, you would use a mask and paint back in only the areas where you wanted the skin smoothed, but since elements doesn’t allow for masks, we’re doing it with the changes “exposed”.
8. Click on the blue layer and delete it.
9. Lower the opacity of the skin layer to suit your image. Then flatten. And voila, smoothed skin in Photoshop Elements in 9 easy steps!
As I wanted to leave something extra for those who choose to join the workshop, there are more steps that will perfect the skin and give it a glow, but I’m stopping here as this will give you a nice basic skin smoothing.
This technique also easily works in photoshop, but this is not the technique I used for the skin retouching action set or for that workshop. There is another method, one that I like MUCH better, but sadly the options are not available on Elements.
Are you looking for the Photoshop Workshop Information? I’m so excited that the first workshop only has 1 space left! And just a reminder: the discounted rate on the Photoshop Skin Retouching Actions ends at midnight (Atlantic) tonight!
