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Skin softener

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jeff pierre

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Hi all,

I'm a new user to this forum but youll learn to know me (i have a lot of questions). First would be to know if anyone of you know how to smoothen skin of a model. I wanna give the same sparks of a cover page of a magazine or make up add... im currently using the median tool and the smdge tool but i was wondering if theres any plugin or any other way that would be more effective?

Thanks
JeffPierre
 
Welcome.

My favorite way to soften focus is using the Edgarian Blur action. It works on a separate layer and you can use a mask to avoid blurring things you want sharp (eyes, teeth, earrings, etc). You can (must) adjust the opacity of the layer.

You can get this action--and many other great ones--at
http://www.atncentral.com/download.htm
--
Kate
 
There's an action on action central call glamblur, gives alot of control to soft focus and such.
 
No action is needed! In photoshop use the select tool with a feather of about 5, draw around the entire face being careful not to select the hairline, eyes, eyebrows, nostrils edge of lips and lips ears and contour of jaw bone. copy and paste into new layer add a gaussian to it. Experiment with different levels. Here is an example.



Another example (not my photograph) just retouched for fun!



--
Mark

http://www.markmicallef.com

 
I've got to give another nod for Edgarian Blur. I've tried the others and it always gives the results I'm looking for without making it look overdone or like a lens blur. It's probably just up to personal taste. The action creates a new layer, then I selectively erase to reveal the sharpened layer below for things like lips, eyes, etc. Here's one I did just the other day.

 
One technique I use on occasion is Filter> Noise> Median and use whatever amount that works (3 - 6 pixels), just don't overdue it. I only have an "after" shot on my website, so I won't embed it, but try it as see how it works for you.

You will have to first dupe the layer, then after appying the effect, create a mask so that you can paint out the eyes, hair, mouth, etc with a soft brush.

David

Good luck
 
thanks al of you but its still not the exact results that im looking for... i guess im gonna have to experiement combining technics. I looking for plastic skin effect but without comprising the shaprness.

here is an example:

 
make a custom healing brush. do this by making a new document 64x64 pixels @ 300 dpi. fill with 50% gray. add noise> 1%, gaussian, mono. select the canvas and define it as a pattern, naming what you want. then set the healing brush to multiply and pattern (using what you just made). use the hb at 100 % hardness. play with spacing and roundness. work on a seperate layer and lower opacity to taste.
 
Try using diffuse glow filter - as long as your original image has some nice highlights and wide tonal range to begin with, this might work quite well.

Set your background color to white

duplicate your background layer

filter-distort-diffuse glow

Play around with the settings - don't be alarmed at the result here, as you can soften the effect by decreasing the opacity of the layer with the effect.

Here's a before & after example to see what I'm talking about:



Here are the steps I took for this one:
background color set to white
background layer duplicated
filter-distort-diffuse glow
settings: graininess 0, glow amount 3, clear amount 17
set layer opacity to 70%
flatten image

lastly - adjusted imput levels for slightly more tonal range - auto levels might have worked fine here as well.

Good luck!
 
jeff pierre said:
thanks al of you but its still not the exact results that im
looking for... i guess im gonna have to experiement combining
technics. I looking for plastic skin effect but without comprising
the shaprness.

here is an example:

Click to expand...
Perhaps Chip's "illustrated" look is more what you're looking for:

illustrated
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=12369718
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=12225827
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=16860729
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=16860784

.... you'd have to tone down the color some for a look like your above example, but the smoothing is right, imo.

You might also try out my 'skin fix' action at:
http://www.atncentral.com/download.htm

...except pump up the settings on the highpass and gbur steps. Use the 'paint smooth skin' action in that set, it is set up with a mask and you paint in the smoothing - that way you avoid smoothing the areas you want to maintain sharpness. I also have a new version of that action that uses CS2's "surface blur" which is better for this look than the gblur. Surface blur maintains sharpness - eyes, lips, etc. - while smoothing. Email me if interested, and if you have CS2. :-)

--
Kent

http://www.pbase.com/kentc
For prior discussions on most questions:
http://porg.4t.com/KentC.html
or d/l 'archives' at:
http://www.atncentral.com
 
If you want to produce that effect, you're looking at months maybe years of practice. Oh, and make sure you have a WACOM graphics tablet or similar.

How is the effect achieved? In short; purely the clone tool. Initially used at a 1 pixel sized brush. As you increase the brush size, you decrease the opacity of the brush. The skill is in keeping all the shadows, highlights and details intact whilst you clone/paint/retouch...

:)
jeff pierre said:
thanks al of you but its still not the exact results that im
looking for... i guess im gonna have to experiement combining
technics. I looking for plastic skin effect but without comprising
the shaprness.

here is an example:

Click to expand...
--
----------------------------------------------------------
Craig H

http://www.craighilton.com
 
A couple of years ago someone posted a method called "70's Glow" or words to that effect that produced a skin softening that I found attractive. It involved multiple layers and automated selections and was said to duplicate a magazine photography approach that was used in the 1970s, particularly for women's skin. I can't remember for sure who posted it (possibly Vikki Hansen). If someone else following this string recalls it and can give us the details, it would be a helpful addition to the other good methods that have been offered.
 
Thanks alot! i i know im gonna need to experiment quite a bit but i think thats precisely what i was looking for...

Have a great day... ill come up with another question pretty soon ;o)
 
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