How to use Adobe Photoshop to Smoothen Skin

Step 23

Click the “Add layer mask” icon that you see in the layers palette.Next make the foreground color white and the background color black by pressing the “D” key.

Figure 23.

Step 24

Next, switch the fore and the background between them by pressing the “X” key.Next select the “Brush Tool” and set the following settings: size 50 pixels, set the hardness to 100%. When using the brush you must check to see that your mask is active. All you have to do next is to “paint” the areas that are blurred and that must remain sharp. In the “Layer Mask Display options bar” you can select the color you will paint the areas with and the transparency of the mask.

Step 25

There are several things you must take into consideration when creating a clean mask. First, change the brush’s size frequently (use the “[” and the “]” keys to decrease or to increase the brush’s size).

Step 26

When using a clean mask on large area, use a large brush at maximum hardness (and when masking a smaller area, set the hardness to 0% and use a smaller brush). Always zoom in to see exactly what you are doing and to make sure you do not miss a spot or over-edit the image.

Figure 24.

Step 27

When using Photoshop to smooth a person’s skin, one of the most important things is not to forget to mask the areas that must remain sharp (the person’s mouth, eyes, hair, eyebrows and eyelashes, the contour of the nose). When masking these areas, always use a smaller brush, with a low opacity level.

Figure 25.

Step 28

You are now finished. If you have followed carefully the steps, you should see the differences between the initial and the resulting image. Every problem of the skin should have disappeared and it should have a beautiful, smooth appearance.

Step 29

You can play around with different values for different settings, as you may need to change some of the above presented values when working with pictures in which the face occupies a larger or a smaller part of the screen.

Figure 26.

Step 30

When you are satisfied with the results, you can save the final image. Go to the File menu > “Save As…” and enter the file’s desired name and file format (.jpeg if you are done with it, or .PSD if you want to save an editable version of it that Photoshop can later open).

Figure 27.