How to Retouch a Studio Por tr ait in Photoshop?

Suppose you have t aken some phot os fr om ap r ofessi on al phot o st ud i o that i s i n desper at e need of a photo r etouching technique. Per haps you discover ed some flaw s or damage t o t he phot o you just can’t live wit h and you want t o make t he photos ext r a ordinar y, so what do you do? Today w e ar e going t o l ear n how t o r et ou ch a st u di o por t r ai t i n Phot oshop. I w il l show you st ep by st ep, each photo retouching tips t o give your photo a finished look. It is not as difficult as you may t hi nk, just follow t he st eps and you wi ll be able t o mak e your phot os look almost as good as t he pr ofessi onals, at a fract ion of t he cost. So, guys just follow my t ut orial and r et ouch t h e model i m age i n Phot oshop smoot hly.

Quick Summ ar y So Far :

I’ve enclosed a lot of Photoshop techniques and tools her e about w or ki ng wi th retouching a studio portr ait, so befor e we move on and st art lear ni ng t he whole t ut ori al, let ’s do a quick r eview at bellow shor t list t o know t hat how many t echni ques and t ools w e are going to st udy.

Photoshop r etouching techniques:

1. How t o remove a background fr om a model i mage?2. How t o adjust or corr ect t he color of an image?3. How t o remove spot s, bl emishes and unw ant ed hair from sk in?4. How t o remove r ed eye in Photoshop?5. How t o whit en yellow t eet h in Photoshop?6. How t o cr eat e mult iple cli pping pat hs?7. How t o do beauty r et ouch in Phot oshop?

Photoshop Tools:

Pen tool

Back gr ound er aser t ool

Cl one st amp t ool

Red eye t ool

Magic w and t

ool Br ush t ool

Er aser t ool

1. Retouching the back gr ound:

The fir st t hing you w ant t o do is st ar t w it h t he backgr ound of the photo. So, you ar e going t ol earn how to i solate the photo fr om the back gr ound t o pl ace t he image in differ ent backgr ound or color, using t he Photoshop Pen Tool.

All you need t o do is select t he Pen Tool, t hen go t o t he t op of t he screen and be sur e t hat you have chosen pat h, not the layer checked.

You t hen st art at any point on t he body or hand par t of t he image t hat you wish, except t he hair (I w ill get t o t his lat er ). Then using t he Pen Tool, anchor t he fi rst point , and cont inue t o make more point s, by dr awi ng a pat h ar ound the ent ire edge of your image up t o the ar ea w here t he hair st ar t s (you can dr aw ar ound t he hai r par t , but l eave par t of the backgr ound cl osest t o t he hai r ; you will use a di ffer ent t ool for t hat par t ).

Aft er you have complet ed t he out li ne, you w ould t hen cl ick on make select ion, sel ect an t i -al i as and set t he feat her radius at 0.5-1 p i xel s.

Now you should see t he marchi ng ant s surr ounding t he image.

Now go t o t he t op of t he scr een, click on select , inverse and delet e, now t he back gr ound should disappear .

This is pr obably t he quick est and easiest w ays t o r emove backgr ound from a solid image.

Next , you w ill be using t he Background Er aser Tool t o r emove the back gr ound fr om hai r i m age.Open a new l ayer t o w or k w it h. You should have alr eady removed most of t he back gr ound ar ound t he hair. Select t he Backgr ound Eraser Tool fr om t he t ool bar .

And choose t he size of br ush you wi sh t o use (I w ant t o use 150). Then select Sampling: Back gr oun d Sw at ch, a t oler an ce of abou t 50 and di scont i guous.

Then cli ck your left mouse but t on, and use your Background Er aser Tool to go ar ound the ent ir e object . You w ill not ice a ver y t hin light color line t hat sur r ounds t he hair . How ever if you select a light color ed backgr ound r at her than a dar k er colored one, you won’t even noti ce t hat fine line. You have the opt ion of using a bur n t ool, if you w ant t he fine line gone, but that ’s up t o you.

Now you can add a new backgr ound color if you l ike. See t he image bel low I have used a different backgr ound color wit h a shadow t o make t he image pop.

2. Color Adjustments:

The next st ep is t o adj ust br i gh t ness and cont r ast of your photo. We wil l be using t he adjust ment s panel and focus on some of t he mor e impor t ant adj ust ment s t hat you can use t o enhance and improve your photos.

Many people w ill go t o t he i mage ad j ust ment at t he t op of t he scr een, but t hat is not r ecommended, as t hat makes t he adjust ment onto t he pixels t hemselves. So now you can’t undo it, or modify it aft er t he fact . So t o have mor e flexibilit y you wil l want t o go dir ect ly t o your adj ust ment s panel. You wil l st ar t by using levels to mak e t he br ight ness and cont r ast of t he image, and see how t o customize i t . So click on t he lit tle sunshine icon at t he low er part of t he l ayer , and t henselect t he levels. This anal yzes t he image and modifies t he cont rols t o give a good image.

So you w ill use t he slider bar t o adjust t he cont r ast and br i ght ness. Then check befor e and aft er and you can deci de if you li ke i t or w ant t o do mor e.

Your other opt ion is t o close t hat panel and go t o the opacity. Her e you have a mor e subt le effect , you w ould decr ease t he opacit y and minimi ze t he effect .

If t he pr oper t ies panel closes, al l you need t o do is doubl e click t he icon for t he adjust ment l ayer , and it w ill r eopen w i t h t he cont rols so you can make any fur t her changes.

The neat t hing is that even aft er you mak e t he adj ust ment s you w ant , you can w alk aw ay and come lat er and make diff er ent changes if you don’t like t he previous ones.

3. Remove Spots, Blemishes and Unwanted Hair fr om sk in:

Her e you w ill use a sk in r etouching technique fr om Phot oshop t hat is quit e handy for r emoving bl emishes fr om t he skin and cl eaning up your photos.

Fir st , zoom up on t he image, use Com m and/ Ct r l + h old d ow n t he space bar and it wil l t ur n int o a zoom t ool, so you can zoom t he i mage you wish.

Then w e w ill t ake a layer by cli ck ing on “cr eat e a new l ayer ” icon at t he low er par t of t he layer palate. You w ill be w or king in t his layer r at her t han t he ori ginal so t hat you can alw ays go back.

The fir st t ool we w ant t o use is t he Clone Stamp Tool. Go t o the t ool bar on t he left side of t he scr een, and click on t he lit t le st amp t ool. Basically, what t his does is allow you t o clone par t of t he image and use it someplace else in t he image.

Now go t o t he t op of the t ool bar wher e it says aligned or unaligned.

To use it ali gned, you have t o sample an ar ea on t he image. To do that you would hold down Alt / Opt to t ur n tool i nt o cross hai r s, click once t o sample t hat ar ea.

Now if you have a li ne check, go down t o t he j aw area and click and hold dow n t he space bar , t hen st art t o paint , you wi ll see cross-hair s for m as you duplicat e t hat part of t he image.

Now if you let go of t he mouse but ton, and move t o another par t of t he image, and st ar t t o paint , t he cr oss hair moves w it h i t ( i t i s at a fi xed posi t i on away from t he br ush). You can move anywher e and it w ill alw ays be ali gned wi t h t he cr oss hair s.

I like t o use t he t ool w it h t he al i gned l eft un check ed, as you have more flexibi lity.

So, you hol d Al t / Opt and get cl ose t o a bl emish l i ke a lit t le mole, click once t o sampl e t he ar ea.

Then click over t he top of the blemish and it ’s gone.

When you sampl e an ar ea t hat i s si milar t o your t ar get area, it w ill fade into the other par t of t he image. Remove all spot s and blemishes by this pr ocess. See bellow image w her e I have r emoved all spot s, blemishes, unw ant ed hair s et c.…

4. Remove Red Eye in Photoshop:

This is one of t he si mpl est t asks you w ill ever do. Ther e ar e advanced t echni ques, for most purposes all you have t o do is use t he buil t in Red Eye Removal Tool. Basical ly w hat happens is t hat t he flash i s t oo close t o t he lens and t he pupil of t he eye can’t cl ose fast enough, allow ing t he lightt o ent er t he eye and r eflect off t he inner par t of t he eye.

On t he t oolbar t o t he left , click on t he Spot Healing Tool, a box wil l dr op dow n, and you w ill see t he Red Eye Tool, select it .

And t hen it is just a simple click over t he part of t he eye t hat is red, and poof t he r ed is gone. If you ar e part i cular , you can go t o t he t ool bar at t he t op of t he scr een and adjust t he si ze of t he pupil , as w ell as change how dar k it i s, but t hat is opt ional.

5. Whiten the Teeth:

Many t imes w hen you t ake a phot o of someone, the t eet h w ill appear various shades of yellow . Since most of us find t hat unpleasant and disgust i ng, I w ill be expl aining how to w hi ten the yellow teeth of your subject.

So you t ake your photo and zoom in t o t he t eet h ar ea, w her e you wil l not ice a discolorat ion.

Fir st you w ill need t o select t he t eet h, t here ar e sever al w ays t o do t hi s, using t he Magic Wand Tool or t he Lasso Tool. Here w e wi ll use t he Magic Wand Tool. Select t he t ool fr om t he left t ool bar .

Then set t he t ol er an ce l ev el t o 20, check the An t i -al i as, and Cont i guous boxes.

Then go t o t he t eet h ar ea and cl ick the mouse in a t ooth. You w ill see t hat has made a sel ect ion, but not exact ly w hat you w ant . Now hold down t he shift key and you w ill see a + sign. Now anyt hing you cli ck, w ill be added t o t he cur r ent select ion. So now you just go ar ound t he t eet h and select as much as you can, fill ing in any spot s you may have mi ssed at fi r st . Don’t wor r y if you get int o t he gum ar ea, w e wil l t ake car e of t hat l at er. Cont inue unt il the marchi ng ant s sur r ound t he t eet h. Now t her e ar e a few spot s wher e t he gum was included, and w e w ant t o r emove t hose. Now you w ill hold dow n t he Al t / Opt key inst ead of t he shift . Now you should see a – (minus) si gn. Cli ck on t he gum ar eas you want r emoved and t hey ar e gone.

Now go back t o t he t op and click on select , modify and feat her , I am using a value of 2 in t he feat her r adius. This w ill basically smoot h out and feat her t he edges of our select ion, t hen click OK.

Now we w ill appl y t he color corr ect i ons. We ar e going t o use something called t he hue and sat ur at ion dialog. Nowclick on t he l it tle sunshine icon from t he layer pal at e and select t he hue/ sat ur at ion. The di alog box wil l appear .

We w ill t urn dow n t he sat urat ion, since it cont r ols t he col or . Br ing t he sat ur at i on dow n to –50; you w ill see t he color of the t eet h li ght en. The last st ep is t o incr ease t he light ness t o about +17, and then click OK.

Then deselect by pr essing Ct rl D w e now have t eet h t hat ar e much br ight er .

6. Cr eate Multiple Clipping Paths:

This t ype of t echni que is used w hen you ar e deal ing w it h sk ins, clot hs, or nament s et c. We wi ll look at how t o sel ect each it em separ at ely, and t hen change or cor r ect t he color s t o make model or st udio i mage more at t r act ive.

Fir st you w ill r ight click over t he Pen i con on the t oolbar , and t hen sel ect t he Pen T ool.

Next locat e t he Pat h icon on the t oolbar at t he t op of the screen, and cl ick on it .

Now you w ill dr aw t he fi r st pat h ar ound t he it em you w ish (I am dr awing t he cl ot h of t he model i n t he i mage), and close t he pat h by clicking on t he fir st anchor point you made.

Then choose t he pat h you just finished fr om t he pat h palet t e and dr ag it t o t he “New Pat h” icon at t he bot tom of t he scr een.Now let go of t he mouse t o save your new pat h.

Next , you w ill click on t he Pen Tool agai n and follow t he same st eps t o make each pat h unt i l you have complet ed as many as needed. You may want t o decide how t o or gani ze t he addit i onal pat hs you are cr eat ing.

You can cont inue draw ing t o create multiple sub-paths that Photoshop wil l t hen consolidat e int o a single saved pat h. Anot her opt ion you can use

is t o click t he “Cr eat e a New Pat h” icon ever y t ime befor e you begin dr aw ing t o separ at e each new out li ne i nt o a differ ent pat h. Ther e ar e a few opt ions; it ’s pr et t y much up to you. Let ’s see bellow how I have corr ect ed t he cl ot h’s color using t he multiple clipping path.

7. Beauty Retouch in Photoshop:

The l ast part of t he pr ocess is t o add some color to t he face, a beaut y ret ouch of eye l i n er , eye shadow , l ipst i ck, bl u sh, et c.… t omake t his phot o ext r a ordinar y.

The fir st ar ea i s t o w or k on t he eyes. I t all depends on t he effect you w ish t o achieve, or t he client ’s w i shes. It oft en helps t o st art your adjust ment s at t he ext r eme end of t he scale, and t hen w or k your w ay dow n t o a mor e subt le effect . You may w ant t o st art by cleaning up some of t he r ed veins in t he woman’s eyes, w hi ch I have done i n t echnique “4“ of t hi s t ut or ial.

Once you ar e happy w it h that , you can apply eye makeup. Fi rst go t o layer pal let . You w ill cr eat e a new layer by clicki ng t he new l ay er b ut t on on t he pal let .

And t hen choose your color as t he bl ending mode.I chose 1 00 m agent a, 80y ell ow ,0 on t he cyan and bl ack.

Next , you w ill choose a br ush (pr ess “B” fr om keyboar d t o sel ect br ush)or you can select fr om t he t ool bar .

Choose size what ever you w ish (I l i ke t o sel ect t he si ze 40, hardness 50 and opaci t y 50).

Next , you can st ar t apply the eye shadow to t he new layer .

Then you w ill use t he Eraser Toolfrom t he t ool bar .

And change t he br ush si ze t o 8 1 and use a har dness of 1 0 t o r emove par t of t he color and creat e a soft gr adient .

Next , open a new layer, and t hen change t he blending mode t o mult iply. Now you w ill cr eat e eyeliner of black color w it h a brush of 17 pi xels and t ake out t he over spill wi th an er aser br ush of 12 pixels.

You can also t ouch up t he cheek follow ing t he same t echnique. Using t he Eyedropper Tool click on the l ow er part of eye shadow t o select t he same color. Now choose a lar ge br ush si ze, har dness and opacit y (I chose br ush si ze 200, har dness 0 and opaci t y 15). Next , apply t his br ush in a new layer .

Then, you may also use t he photo retouching technique t o smoot h t he lips, make br ight er and t hen add color if you w ish. To do i t, I would lik e t o select t he lips usi ng Photoshop pen tool. Creat e pat h ar ound t he lips and select , choose feat her i s about 1 and then apply h ue/ sat ur at i on. See t he result i n t he bell ow image.

Tak e a cur sor y to l ook at t he bell ow image t o see t hat how i t is l ook ing aft er applied all t he above t echniques.

In summar y, t hese photo retouchingtechniques should help you ret ouch and impr ove/ enhance your photos or st udio por t r ait s. There ar e many differ ent w ays t o t ouch up phot os, but t he above t ips shoul d get you st ar t ed i n doi ng r et ouchi ng w or k , using t he Photoshop Tools that wi ll save you a lot of money w hen doing it your self. You can spend t housands of dollar s when get t ing phot os done pr ofessi onally. Wit h a lit t le pr act ice, your w or k wi ll look as pr ofessi onal as any exper t w ho does photo r etouchi ng Ser vi ce. Happy dr aw ing and best of luck!

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About the author :RokaiyaYeasminMunniGr aphic Designer , SEO Speciali st and Deput y Manager(Mar ket i ng Di vi sion) At Outsource Experts Ltd, w hich is t he mother company of Cl i ppi n g Pat h Speci al i st