High End Skin Retouching and Color Grading In Photoshop

Hello in this video I'll walk you through retouching and color grading your photos in Photoshop from start to finish Remember color grading begins the moment you import the raw image into Photoshop So basically color grading starts with color correction especially if you want to get the most out of your photo in Photoshop As you can see we have a raw image right here in Photoshop and it's opened in Camera Raw as shown In Camera Raw we need to correct the lighting and contrast problems in this particular image So I'll just focus on the key areas capture those highlights and do the same for the whites You can see the skin was slightly overexposed That's why we need to make these adjustments more gradually to eliminate that whitish cast on the skin as well as the white So depending on the image you're working on if there are no overly bright areas you don't need to push this all the way So I'm just going to bring down the blacks open up the shadows in this image add a bit of contrast and slightly increase the exposure Once I've finished that I'll simply scroll down to my Color Mixer and make a small adjustment to the colors which is the first step in my color grading process For this we have Hue Saturation and Luminance Luminance refers to the brightness intensity of a specific color To do this since we want to modify or adjust the colors in this image we'll first examine the colors already present within it So for the first step you're just going to come over and examine the green So click on the greens and make sure you're in the Hue section then experiment with the slider to find what works best for you So I'm just going to adjust mine toward the aqua side and keep targeting the yellows to see how this affects the image I just want the greens to stand out in the background so I'll shift the yellows even more toward the green side Depending on the colors your subject is wearing you'll need to adjust these sliders accordingly Once I've finished adjusting them you can see the greens are now oversaturated Then I'll move on to saturation Remember saturation refers to the intensity of a color So I'll just go to greens and bring down the saturation and I'll do basically the same thing with my yellows to reduce the intensity of the color saturation Then I'll return to the shades once more and experiment with the blue tones in this case—the pants or the jeans After that I'll go back to these adjustments and slightly boost the saturation of the blues to make the pants stand out a bit more Then I'll move on to the brightness and adjust the pants' brightness You can see the before after before after so far Once we're done making these basic adjustments we'll simply come back and open the image in Photoshop In Photoshop we'll start by retouching the skin then finish with the color grading Right now we're in Photoshop where we'll be performing skin retouching using frequency separation Remember frequency separation splits the image into color and texture layers So you'll basically go to the background image and just create two layers or duplicate the background layer twice Simply drag and drop onto the new layer icon to create two duplicates from the background image Then rename this one to color and we'll rename the other to texture Now that we've renamed these layers we want to keep the information consistent with how we've named them For the color layer we mainly want to keep the colors and for the texture layer we mainly want to keep the texture So go to the color layer select it and turn off the texture layer Then go to Filter Blur and choose Gaussian Blur Lower the radial slider and click on a spot on the skin that appears to have more texture The key here is to blur out the noticeable skin details Stop at the point where you're just beginning to lose the skin textures or fine details on the model's skin So click on the radial slider and move it upward until you just begin to lose the skin textures So around three that's when I start losing detail in the skin I'll click OK Now go to the texture layer and turn it on again Then click on the image select Apply Image and the Apply Image window will open The source is the name of the photo you're trying to edit Under color select the color layer The channel must be set to RGB and ensure blending is properly adjusted since you're working with a 16-bit image It will add or exceed 100% Set the scale to 2 offset to 0 and enable the invert option And as soon as you do that you'll notice the image turn gray So if you're editing an 8-bit image these are the settings you need to use Under blend mode make sure you select subtract and ensure that invert is not enabled The scale is 2 with an offset of 128 yielding the same result Our image is a 16-bit file so I'll reset the settings back to 16-bit Click OK Go to the blend mode change it from normal and adjust it all the way down to linear light Then I'll select both layers by holding down CTRL or CMD Select both layers drag them into a folder I'll open the folder select the color layer and turn off the texture layer And I'll go to the brushes and select the mixer brush tool So I've selected the mixer brush tool So after selecting the mixer brush tool you can see this is the mixer brush tool Make sure the hardness is set to 0 percent and the soft brush is selected Then go to the option labeled clean brush and ensure it is selected Click the dropdown arrow and confirm that clean brush is chosen Then the second option which involves cleaning the brush after each stroke is selected The weight is 9% load 75% mix is 90% flow is 100% Ensure that sampling all layers is not enabled or selected Once you've completed these basic settings for the mixer brush tool the next step is to begin painting over the subject's skin So to paint with the selected color layer while having turned off the texture layer you'll simply begin applying the smoothing effect to the model's skin Slightly zoom in using Ctrl plus on the keyboard To blend the skin tones simply click and hold then drag the brush Make sure the brush size is small enough to blend the chosen color within the designated area Basically adjust the midtones separately the highlights separately on the skin and the shadows separately on the model's skin And as these colors shift from one to another gently blend the area using an extremely small brush to achieve a smooth natural transition across the model's skin So I'm just going to go ahead and do this As you can see right now the subject's skin has been smoothed out Take your time as you blend it that way And another thing to keep in mind is that you must follow the contours of the model's face You can see the nose moving from up to down That's why I need to guide the mixer brush tool in that particular direction to preserve and maintain the model's original facial shape So I'll just apply this to the remaining areas that have skin tone So when it comes to the fingers I'll just take a small brush and blend each one individually like that to soften those darker knuckle areas I'll do the same for the other areas that have skin color or tone I'll just blend it like this on the hand You can see the hand moving in this direction I'll blend By the way you can use the open and close square bracket keys on your keyboard to increase or decrease the size of the mixer brush tool Once you've finished blending the skin tone turn on the texture or high-frequency layer You can now see the before-and-after effect alternating seamlessly Next go ahead and choose the texture layer then select the clone stamp tool and ensure your settings include a soft round brush The mode is normal opacity at 100% Ensure the sample is set to the current layer After that just zoom in by pressing Control plus on the keyboard Press the plus key on your keyboard to open this command and zoom in fully since at this point we need to remove the blemishes or imperfections from the model's skin To remove pimples ensure the clone stamp tool's size is slightly larger than the blemish you're targeting To remove a pimple for instance this one you can adjust the size of the clone stamp tool by using the open and close square bracket keys on the keyboard To remove a pimple press and hold the Option key on your keyboard then click on a clean area near the blemish For the Windows alternative option click on a blank area release the Option key on the keyboard then click once more on the blemish or pimple to remove it For a line just draw over it sample and redraw to erase it You can eliminate smile lines or neck wrinkles by simply drawing or painting over them in a specific area of the model's skin So I'll move to the forehead area refine the settings and keep removing all these tiny skin imperfections from our subject's face I hope you're learning and getting value from this If you find this type of content helpful please like this video—it helps boost its reach and encourages you to share it with others So command minus to zoom out Right now we're finished with the skin retouching and I'll just show you the overall before and after Having completed that we can now move on to the next step in color grading: refining skin tones to achieve smooth consistent and natural-looking skin color To do that we'll start by creating a visible layer or merging the layers To create that merged layer press Shift+Option+Command+E on the keyboard or Shift+Alt+Control+E to create a stamped visible layer After creating the visible stamp layer we’ll first select the subject so we can outline its edges in this case Once you've selected the subject's edges Photoshop does an exceptionally accurate job refining them Go to the new layer icon create a new empty layer change its blend mode from normal all the way down to Color Then go to the brushes select the standard brush tool and make sure the soft round brush is chosen with hardness set to zero The mode is set to normal opacity at 100% and flat at 100% We'll simply zoom in on the image using Control plus on the keyboard or Command plus on a Mac and sample a region of your choice or preference from the model skin to guide the appearance of the rest of the skin So for this I'll press and hold the Option key on the keyboard Press and hold the Option key on your keyboard then click or sample the area you want and click again to pick your desired color Then begin painting: select the brush tool choose a color you like from the palette and apply it to the rest of the model's skin So I'm just going to go ahead and do this—I've already sampled the color and now I'm applying it to the rest of the subject's skin And as you can see it's removing the reddish orange tones from our model's skin I'll just get through this quickly since I don't want the tutorial or video to be too long So I'll apply this to the rest of the model's skin tone and as you can see we now have a more natural and visually appealing skin color So if you make a mistake during this step or process just use the eraser tool to remove or wipe away the color from areas you don’t want So I'm just going to quickly demonstrate that—simply painting over and making sure I've covered most of the areas in the image that have or contain skin tones or skin color For this step we're aiming to achieve an even and consistent skin tone for our subject So I'll paint that way I hope you can see the result right now Right now our subject in this tutorial has even uniform skin tone Once you've finished painting and feel confident about the results covering the skin zoom out and take a look at the overall image So I'm just going to zoom in right now For this step we simply want to fine-tune or perfect the areas where we may have made mistakes during the painting process Once you've completed all the adjustments related to this it's time to further enhance the image particularly the skin tone I'll press Ctrl+D or Command+D on a Mac to deselect the current selection Come and make sure you pick the reds then adjust the hue values to suit your preference If you'd like to remove greens or magentas experiment with the hues until you find a color that’s just right for you