Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Last time, we showed you that there's more to retouching than just a blurred mask. This was something we highlighted before in 'basic skin softening'.
A blurred mask is simple and effective, but limits the ultimate size of the print, because the blurred skin quickly looks, er, blurry. Because of this, the pros don't rely on blurring, although it does have its uses, because it can give a pseudo-wide aperture effect.
However, the masking process is pivotal to Photoshop retouching.
The masking symbol is highlighted above (the grey rectangle with the little circle inside). If you have a layer selected, clicking the 'mask' button will automatically apply a mask to that layer. Then hit the 'Channels' tab (found at the top of the layers box) and click the little eye icon box next to your layer mask to view it.
Masks work on a positive and negative basis. When your mask is white (i.e. “on”), black will be the opposite (i.e. “off”). So, if you have a white mask to blur your image, you can use a black brush to undo the mask in specific areas. Not that you are not 'damaging' the image itself - you are simply adjusting the mask over that image.
Now, if you hit the letter 'D' on your keyboard, the available palette in your tool bar (to the left of your image as standard) will automatically select black and white. You can also click the letter 'X' on your keyboard to toggle between black and white as active selection. When you are brushing subtle masked effects on, you can simply be brushing with your tablet or mouse, with your spare hand selecting the relevant positive or negative as required. To help you see where you have applied your mask, Photoshop has a pinky-orangy-reddy overlay on screen as standard.
Always remember the positive and the negative - for example here's the reversed mask (viewed in the “Layer” part of the layers tab). This way you can visualise what has been revealed by the mask and that the negative space will be occupied by all layers that follow below. Experiment by switching between the layers and channels tab, toggling things on and off to see how this affects what you see.
Ramped Curves and Seeing 'Patches'
If you look at a face, you will see there are all kinds of patches, dips, wrinkles and curves. By 'smoothing' these out, you change the appearance to be much 'flatter' and more flattering - but first you need see what you are looking for.
Go to the add adjustment layer button (the light/dark circle) and select 'curves'. This adds a layer at the top of the layer stack. Although this layer will never be applied, it's useful to assist in seeing those 'patches' that may not be immediately visible:
'Curves' opens a window where you can click a graph and pull the levels of exposure up or down. By 'ramping' this unusually hard (see above), the image will bleed all the similar levels to the point of destruction - but you will get some rather graphic shapes of areas that are noticeably different. You wont want it on all of the time - but it's useful to be able to turn it on and off as when retouching - always keep it at the top of your layers stack so it rules the roost:
Dodging and Burning
Here's the major 'secret' then - the key to retouching skin is dodging and burning. These terms come from darkroom photography where you would physically use your hands or other devices to blot areas in or out of an exposure. Burning is the process of 'exposing' for longer, therefore 'darkening' an area. Dodging is the opposite - 'exposing' for lesser time, therefore 'lightening' an area.
Subtlety is the key. We can't convey that enough. It's not a press-button instant fix; instead this is a slow, painstaking process of working your way through an image, and this can take a very long time.
Here's a step-by-step example to show you what you how it can work, applied to a little 'dip' in the skin:
Here's the original; we're heavily zoomed in here, hence the softness.
Dodge using a moderate sized brush. It is essential to have the pressure set low - 4% is good to work with.
Move to a smaller brush, but with pressure still at 4%. This is to catch any smaller, darker areas.
Next we turn on the ramped-up curve, to see if there are any patches emphasised - all that is noticeable is the 'white ring' edge, so we burn that edge in to match.
The end result with the curves off. Now move to the next blemish!
We could have used the healing brush instead, but you run the risk of rendering this area 'soft' or even producing an 'edge' that might become more apparent in print.
You can still see the sharp 'grain' in the finished example - it is tonally 'equal' and does not look as though anything has been retouched. You can only tell when you compare the original to the final result - if your results are convincing then you're on the right track!
Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
