Advanced skin smoothing / Eye enhancement / Diffuse Glow Tutorial....

gmonkeh

I've been requested to write up a tutorial regarding my portrait processing workflow from this thread:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=52561

This tutorial is a part of my usual Retouching workflow. It's a combination of different techniques I've picked up through the years. But of course what works for one doesn't necessarily mean it would work for another but just keep experimenting till you find something that suits you.

Skin Smoothing + Diffuse glow w/ advanced blending Tutorial:

I mostly work in LAB mode when I do my processing.

1. First, always duplicate the original into it's new layer. (For reference)

2. Do all the necessary levels/curves adjustments and blemish removal.

3. I usually mask and copy the eyes (eyeballs) to a new layer and do a preliminary sharpening using USM at this point then merge down to the previous layer.

4. Next step is to create a dodge and burn layer by holding down ALT + click on new layer icon in the layers palette. In the prompt that pops up, select "overlay" as the blending mode and click on the box saying "fill with overlay-neutral color 50% gray"

(Enhancing the eyes)
5. Now with the dodge and burn layer selected, choose a soft brush @ 15% opacity (I use 0% hardness) and white as your foreground color and first paint on the sclera (white part of the eyes) to lighten it, then do a few passes on the Iris (colored part of the eyes) 2 or 3 passes @ 15% opacity should be enough. Then switch to a dark brush and trace around the iris to enhance the outline.

(Dodge and Burn)
6. Set the brush opacity to 5% and do any necessary dodging and burning to bring out the shadow and highlight details in the face and hair.

remember: When it comes to retouching less is more. Subtle changes are better than overdoing it.

(Skin Smoothing)7. Hold down CTRL+ALT+SHIFT then N+E, this will create a new layer with all the changes you have done to this point.

7a. With the new layer selected go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Give it an amount that just blurs out the facial details (usually 10-20 pixels)

Don't press ok but keep note of the blur amount. Cancel the gaussian blur.

7b. Now go to Filter > Other > High Pass. And put in the blur amount from the previous step. Press ok.

7c. Now go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Divide the amount from step 7b by 3 and use the resulting number in this step then press ok. (ie. if you used 10/3=3.33 - 3.33 would be the resulting number.)

7d. Use shortcut CTRL + I to invert the current layer then set the layer mode to "Linear Light", then create a layer mask and invert it as well.

7e. With the layer mask active choose a soft white brush @ 10% and do a couple of passes over the skin areas you want smooth/even.

Merge all but the background layer.

(Diffuse Glow)
8. Duplicate the image to a new layer. Aplly a Gaussian Blur Filter @ about 10-20 pixels, then set layer blending mode to "Soft Light"

9. Access the advanced blending mode by double clicking on a blank area of the current layer in the layer properties box. (to the right of the layer name)

10. Bring back some shadow detail by adjusting the blend if slider (black slider) to the right (take alook at the image until you get the right amount.)
Then split the slider by holding down ALT then drag the other half of the black slider to the right until you get a good amount of blend. Press ok.

11. In some cases this will bring out too much tone in the skin. To fix this you can go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and set the Saturation to around -70. Adjust to taste.

(Sharpening)
12. Last step is always sharpening. There's a lot of options/techniques out there (Nik Sharpener, USM, High Pass Sharpening) One I use the most is an action called JB's Smart Sharpeners. (Google for more info.)

(Overview)
Just experiment on the values used in the above techniques. It's really all about what you think looks good.

BEFORE:



AFTER

Nikolai

GMonkeh,
Thank you so much for posting your original pictures and this tutorial!
I'm going to play with it today, I was looking for something like that for a long time...

You definitely have a great eye, solid taste and an awesome set of skills in lighting, shooting, postprocessing and writing about all that. I'm very glad you've joined Dgrin!
Oh, and did I say that your wife makes a beautiful model?

PS
It looks like Yuri got himself a serious competitor

Stustaff

Yeh this is nice work, its not overdone which a lot of people seem to do with this sort of PS work.

only thing that im not keen on personally is the diffuse glow/blur around the outside , looks unnatural to my eye and unneccesary.

now the other three shots from your other thread look much better. I love the third black and white! did you do anything differently in your workflow on that(apart from the BW conversion naturally)?

gmonkeh

Thanks guys, same workflow just different gaussian blur amounts. Sometimes my eyes just get a little tired after working on a few photos and I cant seem to tell what looks good and what doesn't

Alex