Hey darlings!
Another Photoshop Tutorial! Finally! I have to say it’s SO REWARDING to hear from you guys that these tutorials are helping you, so YAY.
This one is made especially for those of you who want to learn a bit more about editing a “beauty shot”.
Want a step by step walk through?
00:00 - Welcome!
00:35 - Camera Raw slight editing.
01:06 - Point out distractions for future referral.
02:35 - Duplicate the background layer by using Command+J. Clear up skin using the Patch Tool.
03:44 – Clear up stray hairs using the Patch Tool.
04:27 - Lighten darker areas of her skin: Create a new layer by using Shift+Command+N. Choose the brush tool by clicking the “B” key. Hold down the “alt” key to select the lightest colour under her eye, bringing the brush opacity down to 10% and draw over all of the darkness on her skin – under her eyes, by her nose etc…
05:59 – Another way to lighten under her eyes. Merge all layers and then use the clone stamp tool at a lower opacity.
06:48 – The importance of going back and forth from your edited file to your original file to make sure that it doesn’t look too photoshopped.
07:00 – Contour the skin using my CONTOUR action. Use the brush tool in the colour black. Change the opacity to 20% using this shortcut. Brush over any areas that are naturally darker. Her cheek bones, her eyeliner, the shadows around her arms etc… Change the colour to white and brush over any areas that already have a highlight; her forehead, her cheeks, her nose,etc… Use Gaussian Blur of the CONTOUR layer to make it less defined.
09:23 - Brightening her eyes. Add a curves layer. Play around with curves to make the photo brighter, but note that this will only affect the eyes. Add a layer mask, invert it so that it’s black. Use your brush tool at white, with opacity of 100%, to brush over just the eye area. Play with the opacity of the layer if it’s too strong.
10:45- Merge all layers (control alt shift e). Zoom into her eyes. Use Filter > Sharpen > Unsharpen Mask. I used an amount of 188% and the radius at 2.9%. This will change depending on the size of the image and on what you want. I added a layer mask. I inverted the layer mask (command+I). I take my brush tool at 100% on colour white and brushed over her eyes to add a bit of sharpness. Play with the opacity of the layer if it’s too strong.
12:31 – The lips! Merge all layers. Use Filter > Sharpen > Unsharpen Mask to your liking. Then try a Surface Blur to your liking. I used a radius of 19 and a threshold of 14. As you can see it’s applied it to the whole image, obviously we are going to use a layer mask to apply it to only the lips. Add a layer mask. Invert it. Take the brush tool at 100% with a white brush and brush over the lips.
15:13 – I decided to add more CONTOUR to her arm. Use the brush tool in the colour black. Change the opacity to 20% using this shortcut. Brush over any areas that are naturally darker. Change the colour to white and brush over any areas that already have a highlight.
15:33 – Dealing with the imperfect background. Merge all layers (command+alt+shift+e). Using the clone stamp tool at 100% opacity I’m going to go over all of the places that need replacing. Don’t worry with being too careful because we are going to fix any errors with a layer mask as we’ve done countless times already.
16:57 – Clone stamp tool overview.
17:29 - Add a layer mask to perfect the replacement of the distractions that we just did. This time, we don’t need inverting. Wherever you use your brush tool in the colour black it will make the layer beneath visible. When using black tool it will show the layer underneath. And when it’s white it will show the layer on top.
18:00 – I talk about my number one photoshop secret love affair with layer masks. If there’s one thing you should dedicate yourself to mastering from this tutorial – it’s layer masks!
19:00 – Seeing the before and after before playing with the colouring.
19:15 – We start to experiment with the colouring using my Photoshop actions at a variety of opacities.
19:38 – Using Summer Princess. 20:18 - Using Juxtaposition. 20:31 – Using Maracas. 20:39 – Using Pepper and Salt.
20:50 – My friend’s dogs start barking and going crazy in the background. Apologies :)
20:58 – Using Niagara Blue. 21:19 – Using Autumnal Beauty. 21:26 – Using Sweet and Dreamy. 21:40 – Using She’s so lucky. 22:00 – Using Silver Direction. 22:16 – Using Stylish. 23:02 – Use Alex’s Sharpy. If it’s too sharp, play with the opacity and layer masks! 24:15 – Use Brighten My Shadows.
24:44 – Choosing my favourite actions to apply to the photo.
25:50 – Using Summer Princess with opacity and layer masks to just apply it to her hair. (FYI I used Summer Princess, Juxtaposition and Sweet and Dreamy!)
26:55 – Working on the hair. 1) Add Volume to the hair by selecting the hair and then using: Filter > Liquify.
28:50 – Covering your tracks after using liquify by using a soft brush along with a layer mask to get rid of any errors.
29:05 - Continue perfecting the hair: Merge all layers. Zoom in. Use a mixture of the patch tool, stamp tool and the burn tool (make sure opacity is at 100% and that it’s selected on shadows).
30:13 – Final conclusion.
31:15 – Buy my actions here!
Practice makes perfect, my friends! I love you guys and I really hope you enjoy this tutorial!
xxx
All Photoshop Actions used in the video above are available for purchase in my awesome online shop:
CONTOUR, Sweet and Dreamy, Juxtaposition, Summer Princess and Alex’s Sharpy.
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