The dos and don’ts of Photoshop retouching part 1

Transform your home photography into professional-looking shots with our essential Photoshop retouching tips.

A photograph of a stunning model is sitting before you that has serious potential but several flaws.

The shade of the female model’s hair is dull, her eye colour just isn’t doing it for you, and she has several pimples across her otherwise flawless face.

What do you do? Touch up the photo using Photoshop, of course!

The number of options available for enhancement is now sky-high, but what’s the best way to clean the photo up?

To simplify the retouching process, we have highlighted the best and worst ways to create a clean, professional-looking photo in Photoshop.

DON’T rely solely on the Clone Stamp tool for your dirty work
The Clone Stamp tool is commonly used to retouch photos, but overusing it can yield horrific results.

Using a high opacity and hardness can give target areas a lumpy feel, especially if the region you’re sampling isn’t a close enough match in colour. Opt for a lower opacity and softer brush in most cases.

If you can’t avoid using the Clone Stamp tool or are just plain attached to it, don’t turn your back on other tools that could smooth out the kinks. A quick swipe of the Blur tool can make a world of difference.

DO use the History Brush
Over-blurring a subject is a common mistake. To fix it, use the history brush. It never hurts to take incremental snapshots in the history palette as you work. Doing so saves time and a lot of ‘undo’s’.

The history brush goes hand in hand with the history palette. You need to set the source of the history brush to know where it will sample from.

DON’T expect Gaussian Blur to do all the work or even a clean job
Gaussian Blur is overrated. Not only does it blur background colours with the subject, but it gives a mannequin-like feel if used incorrectly. Median is a happy medium for the blur filter technique. It keeps colours clean and intact. Never tried it? By all means, do (noise? median).

Blur is generally used to clean up blemished skin, not for clone stamping or healing. In general, put the picture through a blur filter, keeping a copy of the original directly above in the layers palette, and erase the features (such as eyes and hair) on the duplicate layer that you want to keep sharp.

DO give the Pen Tool some love
The pen tool is as precise as you can get. When it comes to selecting a small area, such as teeth or eyes, or any odd-shaped area, it is by far your best bet.

Simply outline the object, go to the Path tab, right-click on the work path and then choose “Make Selection.”

You could also press the “Load path as selection” button while the working path layer is active under the Path tab.

DO experiment with other tools you wouldn’t normally use
This tip may sound absurd when you’re racing to get a project done, but finding a newer, faster way to perform a task will help in the long run.

DON’T neglect the many selection tools at your disposal
Although the pen tool does wonders, tracing around a subject can be slow. Use your judgment when choosing a tool for each selection.

The Elliptical Marquee tool is great for beginners. The Quick Selection tool set at a small size is great for large elements such as lips, hair and clothes.

Hitting the “Refine edge” button always helps if you need something extra.

The Magnetic Lasso tool is especially good for outlining, and its slower cousin, the Lasso tool, is excellent if you have a steady hand.

Lastly, the Magic Wand tool set at a low tolerance is great for clothes, especially when paired with the Quick Selection tool. Overall, the sheer number of selection tools available opens many avenues to you. The lesson is, don’t limit yourself to a small selection of tools.

• When using a selection tool, hold “Alt” to subtract from the selection or “Shift” to add to it.
• Hold Shift to create a perfect circle with the Elliptical Marquee tool. You can also hold Shift + Alt to expand from the centre of your mouse.
• Selecting the object you’re trying to isolate rather than the background is often easier when you want to remove it. Simply select the object cleanly and press Alt + Shift + I to invert the selection.
• When switching between selection tools, make sure to hold Shift before continuing your selection. Let’s say you have selected half of your goal with the Magic Wand tool. Then, you decide to switch to the Quick Selection tool to finish it up. To add to what you’ve selected previously, hold Shift before selecting the rest of the area, or else you’ll start a new selection.

Next article find out about….the liquify filter, quick mask, healing brush and a few other Photoshop tips. Read Part 2

Author Melissa Toms is a graphic designer and registered business on ServiceSeeking.com.au