I can't figure out this skin smoothing thing!

[Tamster]

I have wasted the last hour trying to figure out how to soften the skin here. Either I have totally forgot what the tutorials said or I'm missing a step! I tried numerous times to make changes and nothing made it look smooth. All blotchy! Does anyone have basic dummy steps to help me accomplish this? I have elements 9. If its possible, feel free to show me how easy it is and how it would look. Maybe its not possible? I don't know! I feel defeated! lol Thanks!


Picasa Web Albums - Tammy Petry - Kim keepers

[Murtasma]

http://dressitupphoto.com/2010/02/sk...shop-elements/

Doesn't seem that difficult which step in the process are you not seeing the desired results? Make sure you have the correct layer selected when doing the blur. I have never used Elements 9 personally so I probably won't be much help but you may need to increase the blur depending on the resolution of your image.

[Tamster]

Originally Posted by Murtasma

http://dressitupphoto.com/2010/02/sk...shop-elements/

Doesn't seem that difficult which step in the process are you not seeing the desired results? Make sure you have the correct layer selected when doing the blur. I have never used Elements 9 personally so I probably won't be much help but you may need to increase the blur depending on the resolution of your image.

Thank you! You're right it doesn't seem to be difficult but i don't know what happen to mine! lol I will try these steps as they are different then the crazy ones that was giving me a uneven blotchy mess!

[SusanH1970]

The CoffeeShop Blog

Do a search for skin smoothing actions, she's got a couple. I think one is called Powder Room.

[Tamster]

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

The CoffeeShop Blog

Do a search for skin smoothing actions, she's got a couple. I think one is called Powder Room.

Thanks Susan i will try that! I tried the prev. thread all was going good then per the directions she still had blue all over her face and i didn't know what to do next. It just left me hanging! lol

[teaking]

For blotchy skin have you tried dodging and burning its a great way to even out skin tones, and if you are going to blur skin it can help by meaning you can reduce the amount of blur you use so you can keep alot of the skin texture.

Here a quick tutorial for simple dodging and burning:
Take Out Photo: Photoshop Dodge and Burn Tutorial

May come in handy for something

[SusanH1970]

Tammy, I hope you don't mind, I had a play. I'll take it right down if you want.

I just ran it through Imagenomic's Portraiture at a low opacity (warmed it up a touch within that program as well). I masked back in her eyes, lips and hair, then just resized and sharpened the image a bit for web. I'm attaching the before and after so you can compare. Again, please let me know if you'd rather I didn't and I'll take it down right away.

[Tamster]

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

Tammy, I hope you don't mind, I had a play. I'll take it right down if you want.

I just ran it through Imagenomic's Portraiture at a low opacity (warmed it up a touch within that program as well). I masked back in her eyes, lips and hair, then just resized and sharpened the image a bit for web. I'm attaching the before and after so you can compare. Again, please let me know if you'd rather I didn't and I'll take it down right away.

Oh wow, that looks great Susan! ALL of her skin looks so smooth! So you did the whole picture versus where i was just trying to get the face, looks awesome! I did't realize you could do that, maybe i'm just thinging of the trial of Professional Portraiture (or whatever its called) Do you think I can do this is Photoshop elements
January can't come quick enough for my class!
Thanks!

[Tamster]

Originally Posted by teaking

For blotchy skin have you tried dodging and burning its a great way to even out skin tones, and if you are going to blur skin it can help by meaning you can reduce the amount of blur you use so you can keep alot of the skin texture.

Here a quick tutorial for simple dodging and burning:
Take Out Photo: Photoshop Dodge and Burn Tutorial

May come in handy for something

Thank you! I did read yesterday that someone useed the "dodge and burn" and embarrassed to say I had to look it up and see what it actually was! Soon enough i will know this stuff inside and out! I will check out the tutorial! Thanks!

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by Tamster

Oh wow, that looks great Susan! ALL of her skin looks so smooth! So you did the whole picture versus where i was just trying to get the face, looks awesome! I did't realize you could do that, maybe i'm just thinging of the trial of Professional Portraiture (or whatever its called) Do you think I can do this is Photoshop elements
January can't come quick enough for my class!
Thanks!

So glad you liked it.

Here's the link, you can download the free two-week trial. It is compatible with Elements.

Portraiture - Retouching Plugin for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple Aperture

I tried Portrait Professional and hated it. I do know some folks here have it and love it, but I just did not like how it worked and made my photos look. Portraiture is a fantastic program for my needs, though.

It's very simple to use. I opened the photo in CS2, then clicked on Filter -> Imagenomic, and the Portraiture program opened. I usually run it on the default setting at a super low threshold (around 4) for most of my own photos and then lower the opacity of the Portraiture layer, but for yours I ran it on Normal, which is more aggressive. I also added some warmth. I added a layer mask and erased back the eyes, lips and hair, then flattened the image. It was literally a 20 second edit.