Basic Portrait Retouching in Photoshop
In this tutorial, I’ll show you several quick and easy techniques for retouching portraits using Adobe Photoshop.
There are entire books written on retouching portraits—many books in fact. This tutorial does not aim to substitute all that information. Rather than spending a lot of time on many individual steps in retouching photos, this tutorial aims to provide a quick overview of several techniques.
We’ll be working with this photograph:
We won’t focus on theory so much as applying different tools from here on out.
Arrange your workspace
For the most efficient workflow, it may be worth your while to get in the habit of arranging your workspace. Photoshop has many palettes, but we are only going to use the toolbar palette, Layers and the history palette.
You can save your workspace as a preset for quick editing in future jobs.
History log
Go to Edit->Preferences-> Performance and set the history states to 50.This will give you more flexibility as you can go back and see your progress and/or improve any of the techniques you have used.
If you find Photoshop running much slower, revert to your default setting.
Molding Features with Liquify
The Liquify tools are incredibly useful in molding features without destroying too much information. Watch how I apply it do several areas of the model below:
First I open the Liquify panel ( Filter->Liquify ), choose the Forward Warp Tool
and use it to push the jaw a bit inward. I repeat this process with the neck. For areas of the models face I want to enlarge, I can use the bloat tool
and if I want to reduce the size of something, I can use the pucker tool
.
These are the settings I’ve used for the Forward Warp Tool. The brush size can vary of course depending on the region you want to modify.For the jaw region I’ve used a brush size of 238 and for the lips somewhere around 130.However,don’t take these values for granted.
Each photo, and each part of a photo will need careful consideration in tool settings. Since this is a larger photo, we use larger brush sizes.
Cleaning Up Skin with the Clone Stamp
There are many ways to clean skin in Photoshop. Here is a super easy way using the Clone Stamp Tool.
Zoom in to a level where you are comfortable and you can see the details. Now look for a region of skin with a similar color range to the one you want to fix. Usually I choose an area which is close to the part I want to fix ( fig2 ) . Choose the Clone Stamp tool and select the source region (hold alt to select it ) and set the opacity to somewhere around 30%. The key is to use low opacity values but many , many strokes rather than few strokes and a high opacity value. By using this technique , you will preserve the details and not wash out the skin.
I have used the Clone Stamp tool to get rid of the wrinkles , especially those near the corner of the lips and the ones around the bottom part of the eyes. Be careful not to overuse the Clone Stamp tool or else you will lose the skin texture and create flat planes on your face. Fake looking skin is a common error in the practice of retouching photos.
Tip: create snapshots to keep track of your progress and also zoom out often to have an overview of what you have done so far.
Get rid of Wrinkles with the Healing brush
Use the Healing Spot Brush to correct small skin issues like independent blisters or wrinkles. Set the type brush to proximity match for more accurate results.
We’re not going to dive into any theory or arguments over best practices here, but be sure to keep in mind that wrinkles are natural in skin. Don’t get rid of too much.
Quick Tips for Eyes & lips
The Dodge and Burn tools are useful in emphasizing the eyes and lips in a portrait. I Select the Dodge tool, set the exposure to 12% and “dodge” the areas indicated in Fig4. This will lighten the colors. To create contrast ( thus we’ll create emphasis on the eyes) we need to use the Burn tool with an exposure of 12%. "Burn" the pupil, the outer part of the iris, the eyelashes and the area under the eyebrows.
Also, I use the Dodge tool to accentuate the highlights from the lips (Fig5.)
Hair Styling
Taking care of rebellious hairs can be achieved with the Clone Stamp Tool once more.
I use the Clone Stamp Tool in this portrait to get rid of forehead hair and some of the hair near the model’s ear.
Adding a Touch of Contrast with Levels
Sometimes, you may wish to add just a bit more contrast to your portrait shot. This can be done very quickly with Levels.
Go to Image->Adjustments-> Levels ( CTRL + L ) and set the values as seen in the pic above. This darkens the shadows and boosts the highlights.
For more details on basic lighting and color adjustments, you may wish to read Tutorial9′s posts on Curves in Photoshop and the Basics of Color Correction, both by Owen James.
Before & After
You can take a closer look yourself from the source files if you wish. Good luck!
56 Comments
nice tuts easy too learn.thanks
Flag as inappropriatePhotoshop tutorials, from beginner to advanced. photo manipulation, icon design, text effects, interface, layout, painting, photo effects, psd tuts, maxon cinema 4d, designing.
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This is a great tutorial. Thanks for sharing.
Flag as inappropriateA nice use full one. Thank you
Flag as inappropriatevist for basic training of photoshop
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thank you so much for this woonderful tutorial it has helped me so much!
Flag as inappropriateplease make more !
A very good tutorial to start with dear. Send more of such work.
Flag as inappropriatethis looks great, good job
Flag as inappropriateHi Luisa,
My Name is Suraj from India. your above work is very fantastic. i want your help for retouching my photograph. can you help me.
Suraj
Flag as inappropriateHi Uraj,
I can help in retouching your photograph. Send it to me at jrduprat@gmail.com and I’ll send the retouched one to you in 24 hours.
Have a nice day,
Jean-Robert
Flag as inappropriateGreat Tute …….;-) thanks ….00009
Flag as inappropriateReally entertaining features! does any one has tutorial about making poster particularly scientific one.
Flag as inappropriateLove it. Now , what if is a black and white photo that is over 40 yrs. old and now has a sepia coloring.
Flag as inappropriateIn this photoshop tutorial we will learn to design a clean website layout. … This photoshop tutorial show you how to design a very beautiful and shining …
Flag as inappropriatethanks.. find more best tutorials here http://newsclub1.com
simple and easy to learn .. thanks miss.Lusia :) well done …
Flag as inappropriateHola desde España,
Muchas gracias por el tutorial, me parece muy importante conocer el uso de las herramientas basicas de retoque en photoshop.
Flag as inappropriatenice your tutorials,
Flag as inappropriatethz.
This is why we can’t have nice things.
Flag as inappropriateDownload60s.com is a graphic designing website. photoshop tutorials.
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Good tutorial :D!
Flag as inappropriateImbratisari din Romania ;))
Download60s.com is a graphic designing website. photoshop tutorials.
Flag as inappropriatehttp://download60s.com
A good and nicely delivered tutorial covering just what it said. Always good to spark some interesting comment ‘conversation’ too. Thanks Luisa.
Flag as inappropriateNice tutorial to get people using the dodge, burn and clone stamps. I might also take a shot at the redness in the model’s eyes… that and teeth color are at the top of the list for portrait touchups. Regards – Mal
Flag as inappropriateWonderful tutorial. Thanks for the tips and advice. Subtle editing fixes definitely make a difference in a photo.
Flag as inappropriateThe non-destructive editing is a good point, best to get into good habits early :)
Flag as inappropriateI followed the tutorial and I was not able to get the smooth skin which is showed in the final picture.
Flag as inappropriateLuisa, please understand you did a great tutorial. All the tools you’re illustrating here are incredibly valuable when teaching how to retouch a portrait.
Like Methiew said, it’s all just my opinion. And I even agree with him. Everyone should have their own style.
To me though, this does not look like the same woman in the original photo. Her jaw line is different. Her eyes are even brighter than the available light would allow. She has a new skin tone.
The only reason I’m writing these comments is because the title of the tutorial says basic portrait retouching. So I gave my opinion to people who are new to photoshop or those in search of the basics. I’d be worried that packing on these techniques too heavily might be encouraging this almost surreal look on every portrait a person worked on.
But hey, again, I’ll go with him on this. It’s subjective. When I’m paid to retouch a photo, I’m being hired for my personal style.
So whatever works for you, I guess.
Flag as inappropriateHola, me gustaría saber donde puedo ver tutoriales de retoque no destructivo ¿ tu tienes alguno que me puedas indicar?
Flag as inappropriateYeah, the part about the magazine was sarcasm. What I was trying to point out was that it is professional to make skin look super smooth and have white eyes.
What happens if you wanted destructive editing? Maybe I don’t want my photo I’m retouching to look like it wasn’t Photoshoped. She said she wants to work on ‘tool’s’ and ‘not so much theory’. Maybe we can have both styles. I don’t think you should rule out a certain technique because you don’t like it. The idea of ‘overdoing it’ is very subjective.
Flag as inappropriateI’m sorry if she looks “fake” or “plastic”.I had another photo with better lighning and made in a studio that was retouched better but we couldn’t use because I didn’t own it.
Flag as inappropriateNot a great argument there buddy.
The magazines you mention are under a lot of criticism lately for completely over doing it and destroying the idea of body image on the whole.
The LAST thing you want to do when people are in search of “basic” training is to teach them to over do it.
Good retouching is not trying to emulate. Good retouching is making a person look fresh and at their best.
Luisa did a great job. I agree with that. And I’m sure they’ll work non-destructive editing techniques into future tutorials.
But don’t tell people we should make people look plastic and fake because you saw it in a magazine.
Flag as inappropriateIt’s called ‘Basic’ for a reason.
Also, If you’ve looked at a magazine cover in the past 15 years, you may see that humans really do have eyeballs that white. Some humans have skins that plastic.
She can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think she was trying to teach us some techniques. There should be tutorials for people who really don’t know Photoshop that well. If there is a huge tutorial about photo retouching, it may be information overload for new users, and therefore, a turnoff.
I think this tutorial was named correctly, does a great job of teaching users techniques and how to use some aspects of Photoshop.
Flag as inappropriateThanks for another helpful tut.
Compared to other liquify-tuts on the web, these changes are very subtle, and I dont think it’s “over done”.
Looks like most girls do, after applying too much concealer + foundation.
Tina
Flag as inappropriateI will try to learn some new non-destructive techniques…
Flag as inappropriateThanks for all the feedback , it really helps.
Definitely need to get on the non-destructive track when you teach this stuff.
And while I do appreciate you helping by creating these tutorials you’re really over doing it.
Human beings don’t have eye balls that are that bright white nor skin that plastic.
Again, what you’re doing is great…just learn to dial down the opacity.
Flag as inappropriateThanks for the input Peter. We’ll be posting a slightly more advanced case study later this week that you might appreciate, and are seeking a professional that can teach more non-destructive editing techniques in detail.
Flag as inappropriateDidn’t mean for that to come off as too harsh a criticism.
But non-destructive editing and opacity to taste are some of the most important Photoshop fundamentals.
Looking forward to future content.
Flag as inappropriateOf course not :) Like I said, we appreciate the feedback. It definitely helps us deliver the right kind of content in the future. Thanks again.
Couldn’t agree more with you — non-destructive editing is very useful in projects.
Flag as inappropriatethank you for sharing ~~~!
Flag as inappropriateGreat tutorial, thank you!!!
Flag as inappropriateIs it me or both photos looks photoshoped ? And I agree with Janos, end result looks plastic.
Flag as inappropriateHowever, nice tips, thanks :)
amazing retouch! very helpful. yeah! ;D
Flag as inappropriateThis is a great resource for beginner who just start to learn Photoshop. However, it will be better if you also cover non-destructive editing technique, like working on duplicated Background and using Levels as an Adjustment Layer.
Flag as inappropriateWhy did You make her a flat forehead with a Jacko-style fake hair? The tutorial is ok, but the end result is too plastic looking.
Flag as inappropriateNice touch, brotha. I like this kind of tutorial, very useful and easy to do.
Flag as inappropriatenice, easy and helpful tutorial.thanks a lot
Flag as inappropriateVery nice article, thanks :)
Flag as inappropriatenice tutorial, very helpful :)
Flag as inappropriateI would of reduced a little that lower lip too
Flag as inappropriatenevrtheless great tutorial