How can I make a rough skin this smooth?
*Step 1: Make A Copy Of The Image*
With the image newly-opened in Photoshop, the Layers panel shows the photo on the Background layer. Before smoothing the skin, start by removing any *unwanted blemishes*. To protect the original image, you'll want to work on a separate layer. *Make a copy* of the Background layer by pressing and holding the *Alt (Win) / Option (Mac)* key on your keyboard, clicking on the Background layer, and dragging it down onto the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers Panel.
Duplicating the Background layer.
In the *Duplicate Layer* dialog box, name the layer "*Spot Healing*" and then click *OK*
*Step 2: Select The Spot Healing Brush*
Select the *Spot Healing Brush* from the Toolbar:
Selecting the *Spot Healing Brush* from the Toolbar in Photoshop
*Step 3: Set The Spot Healing Brush To "Content-Aware"*
Make sure the Type option in the Options Bar is set to Content-Aware
*Step 4: Click On The Skin Blemishes To Remove Them*
Click on any unwanted skin blemishes with the Spot Healing Brush to remove them. Photoshop will instantly "heal" the blemishes by replacing the problem texture with good skin texture from the surrounding area. For best results, make your brush slightly larger than the blemish. To change your brush size, press the right bracket key ( ] ) on your keyboard to make the brush larger or the left bracket key ( [ ) to make it smaller. If the blemish hasn't completely gone away on the first try, undo your click by pressing Ctrl+Z (Win) / Command+Z (Mac) on your keyboard, then resize your brush if needed and click on the same blemish to try again.
*Make Sure You Remove Blemishes, Not Features*
As you're retouching the skin, keep in mind that while it's okay to remove temporary problems like *acne* or other minor skin issues, it's usually not okay to remove *permanent features* like *moles or even certain scars*, as these are part of what makes someone who they are. After all, the goal of image retouching is to help people look their best, not to make them look like someone else. I hope you are getting my point
*Complete The Initial Skin Cleanup*
So keep on working your way around the image/model face to remove any *remaining blemishes.* The initial skin cleanup should take no more than a few minutes
*Step 5: Make A Copy Of The "Spot Healing" Layer*
With the *blemishes removed*, you're ready to *smooth and soften* the skin, and again, it's best to work on a separate layer, are you still with me?
Back in the Layers panel, make a copy of the *"Spot Healing" layer* by pressing and holding the *Alt (Win) / Option (Mac)* key on your keyboard, clicking on the *"Spot Healing" layer*, and dragging it down onto the New Layer icon
At the *Duplicate Layer* dialog box, I use to name the layer *"Smooth Skin"* and then click *OK*
You should now have the *original image on the Background layer,* the initial skin cleanup on the *"Spot Healing" layer,* and a new "Smooth Skin" layer above them
*Step 6: Apply The High Pass Filter*
To *smooth the skin*, we'll use *Photoshop's High Pass filter.* Go up to the *Filter menu* in the Menu Bar, choose *Other,* and then choose *High Pass* you are with me right?
Why The High Pass Filter Is Great For Smoothing Skin
If you're familiar with the High Pass filter, it's most likely because you've used it to sharpen images in Photoshop right. Even though we'll be using High Pass to smooth skin, not sharpen it, many of the steps are the same. The High Pass filter looks for edges in the image and highlights them. An edge is an area where there's a big, sudden change in brightness or color between neighboring pixels. With portrait photos, the edges are usually along the person's hair, around the eyes, the mouth, and so on. Skin texture, on the other hand, has relatively low amounts of detail with much smoother transitions. These areas are not considered an edge, so rather than highlighting them, the High Pass filter fills these areas with neutral gray.
If we were sharpening the image, the High Pass filter would allow us to sharpen the edges (the details) without affecting the skin. But for smoothing skin, we use High Pass for the opposite reason. We'll detect the edges not so we can sharpen them but so we can smooth and soften everything except the edges. Let's see how it works.
So the High Pass filter detects edges and highlights them, and the Radius option at the bottom of the High Pass dialog box controls the "thickness" of the edge highlighting. In other words, once Photoshop has detected an edge, the Radius value tells it how many pixels on either side of it to include as part of the edge. Low Radius values will highlight only the finest details in the image. But to make sure we don't end up softening these important details, we need to highlight the areas around them as well, which means we need a larger Radius value. For a typical portrait shot, a radius of 24 pixels works well
If your subject is further back in the photo, or you're working on a lower resolution image, a smaller Radius value of 18 pixels or even 12 pixels might work better. Why these specific values? It's because it's important for the next step that you choose a Radius value that's easily divisible by 3. For example, 24 divided by 3 is 8, 18 divided by 3 is 6, and 12 divided by 3 is 4. Nice, easy numbers. Again, we'll see why in the next step.
Click OK to close the High Pass dialog box. Your image will turn mostly gray. Solid areas of gray are the non-edge areas with little to no detail, like the skin, while large, high contrast halos highlight the edges.
*It time for Gaussian Blur Filter*
Hope you are following
*Step 7: Apply The Gaussian Blur Filter*
We need to blur the High Pass filter effect. It may seem counterintuitive, but the blurring will actually help to bring out more good texture in the skin. Go up to the Filter menu, choose Blur, and then choose Gaussian Blur:
In the Gaussian Blur dialog box,
set the Radius value to exactly one third of the value you used for the High Pass filter.
Set the Gaussian Blur radius to one third of that, which is 8 pixels. Click OK to close the dialog box:
*With the blurring applied, the High Pass effect now looks softer and less detailed*
Linear
*Step 8: Change The Layer Blend Mode To Linear Light*
In the Layers panel, change the blend mode of the "Smooth Skin" layer from Normal to Linear Light:
It will blend the *High Pass result* in with the image, creating a high contrast, over-sharpened effect. It may look terrible, but don't worry. It will look even worse in a moment.
*Step 9: Invert The Layer*
Go up to the Image menu, choose Adjustments, and then choose Invert.
With the layer *inverted,* the image goes from being over-sharpened to looking like a weird, blurry mess with big ugly halos around everything.
*Step 10: Open The Blending Options*
To reduce the *halo effect*, click the Layer *Styles icon* (fx) at the bottom of the Layers panel.
*Choose Blending Options*
from the top of the list
*Step 11: Drag The "Blend If" Sliders*
In the Layer Style dialog box, look for the Blend If sliders at the bottom. There are two sets of sliders, one labeled "This Layer" and one below it labeled *"Underlying Layer".* We need the top sliders *(the ones labeled "This Layer")*
You should notice the slider below each end of the gradient bar. These sliders control how the *"Smooth Skin"* layer blends with the image below it based on the brightness levels of the layer. The slider on the left is used to blend the darker areas of the layer and the slider on the right blends the lighter areas.👍 You doing well
Am sure you are make notes and discovering and trying alot of thing there...😄, So reduce the *Light Halos*
Start by reducing the lighter halos. Press and hold the Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key on your keyboard, click the slider on the right and begin dragging it towards the left. Holding the Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key tells Photoshop to split the slider in half so that as you're dragging, only the left side of the slider moves while the right side stays in place. Watch your image as you drag the slider and you'll see the lighter halos fading away. Drag the slider almost all the way to the left to reduce them as much as possible:
Most of the lighter halos are now gone right? Or at least, they're much less noticeable. Only the darker halos remain
Now you will redue the *Dark Halos*
To reduce the darker halos, press and hold your Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key, click the slider on the left and drag the right half of it towards the right. Again, you'll need to drag almost all the way to the right for most of the dark halos to disappear. *Click OK* when you're done to close the Layer Style dialog box
The skin should be looking very smooth, but so is everything else in the image. We'll fix that next *Ok* ✌️
*Step 12: Add A Layer Mask*
To limit the smoothing effect to just the skin, add a layer mask. Back in the Layers panel, press and hold the Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key on your keyboard and click the Add Layer Mask icon:
A black-filled layer mask thumbnail appears on the *"Smooth Skin"* layer. This hides the smoothing effect from view so we can paint it back in only where we need it:
*Step 13: Select The Brush Tool*
Select the Brush Tool from the Toolbar:
*Step 14: Set Your Brush Color To White*
Make sure your Foreground color (the brush color) is set to white. You can see your current Foreground and Background colors in the color swatches near the bottom of the Toolbar. The swatch in the upper left is the Foreground color. If it's not set to white, press the letter D on your keyboard to quickly reset the colors to their defaults.
*Step 15: Paint Over The Skin*
Before you begin painting, check your brush options in the Options Bar. Make sure that Mode (short for Blend Mode) is set to Normal, Opacity is at 100% and Flow is also at 100%.... Sweet Right?
Then paint over the skin to reveal the smoothing effect. A soft-edge brush will work best.
We already know that we can change the brush size from the keyboard *using the left and right bracket keys.* Add the Shift key to change the brush hardness. Press Shift and the left bracket key to make the brush softer, or Shift and the right bracket key to make the brush harder.
*Example:* Painting To Reveal The Smooth Skin
I'll start by painting over her forehead. Since we're painting on the layer mask, not on the layer itself, we don't see the brush color as we paint. Instead, we reveal the smoothing effect in the areas where we've painted..
Next, paint over the image nose, cheeks, and around eyes to reveal the *skin smoothing* in those areas. Adjust your brush size as you go to avoid painting over details that should remain sharp. You get....?
If you do slip and paint over the wrong area, *press the letter X* on your keyboard to set your brush color to black, and then paint over the mistake to hide the smoothing effect. Press X again to set your brush color back to white and continue painting to smooth and soften the skin.
Finally, Finally, Finally
Paint around the mouth and over the chin to smooth and soften those areas, while at the same time being careful to avoid her *lips*
*Step 16: Lower The Layer Opacity*
At this point, we've smoothed and softened the skin, but the effect is too intense Right?. If yes reduce it, how? lower the *opacity* of the "Smooth Skin" layer. In general, an opacity value of between 40% and 60% works best, but it will depend on your image. I'll set mine to 50%.
Awwwwwn.
And with that, we're done! after lowering the layer opacity, the final result with image skin should now looking great. Abi? 😄
Photoshop CC
but is fully compatible with Photoshop CS6 and earlier.
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