Editing Thin, Veiny Infant Skin

Hey guys. This'll be my first post on this forum. I've never been that into photography and image editing until I got my hands on PS and realized how amazing the process is and how many changes you can make. I actually spend quite a bit of time messing with pics in my spare time now. That said, I'm still a beginner when it comes to this program, so I need help on a couple things.

The current picture I need advice on deals with the old "sun in the background" problem. Its a picture of myself riding a horse, but a noob mistake made me forget that you need the sun facing you in order to not have your skin appear dark. I know to correct this in the future, but I'd like to know if there's a way that PS can make this look a bit better.

I'm not uploading the actual image, but a really good comparison looks like this:



How could I get the skin tone looking normal?

hey everyone

i built myself a jukebox a couple of years ago and about the same time after trialling nearly every juke free or commercial around i come across touchjams , ive used it ever since and now im looking into making a interface skin that looks more realistic , ive never had a go at designing things using photoshop yet and any advice would be great , and if anyone wants a bit of fun id love to see some examples of what can be done

im looking at a more realistic button , definitely a 3d look , here is the interface skin i tweaked from thier website , i done the four album view the commercial one has smaller album covers but the programmer has added my skin to his website which was cool

heres a link to my build project which was a lot of fun , ive also added a picture of my skin , im
looking to replace the buttons on the left hand side for a start and also the play pause etc buttons

here are the juke pics if anyone is interested, you have to go down near the end of the thread page to see the finished project . http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/inde...,105231.0.html

I have some questions about a new layer vs. a layer copy. Let's say I am retouching a head shot. First I copy the Background layer (Ctrl-J) and clear up blemishes with the Spot healing brush. Next I want to soften some skin shine with the Patch tool and I want that on it's own layer. As I have tried various ways of doing this, it appears that I have copy either the Blemish layer or the Background. If I copy the Background layer, the the stacking order is critical: it has to be below the Blemish layer for the blemish fix to show. Copying the Blemish layer, then the Blemish fix is part of the Shine layer which defeats the purpose of a separate layer. New layer does not work for using the Patch tool, or I may be doing some completely wrong.

Then add another skin fix like soften the skin (Gaussian blur) and I'm really tied up with stacking order, etc.

Can someone help me with the correct order/procedure for creating layers that would be used like above.

Mixed up...

Todd

Hello, I was wondering if someone can do a couple quick and easy retouches for me. I am horrible at editing..
Im looking to lighten my eyes, and hair and whiten my teeth. I also want to make my skin look less pale if possible
Thanks in advance!

This won't be news to a lot of you, but it may be eye opening for some. Sometimes to get a better idea of what direction to go in, it helps to know what not to do. I thought I'd take a minute to celebrate (lament) the garish eyesores that some "experts" recommend others produce when retouching.

While there is subjectivity in art, a retoucher's job is more constrained, and there is a standard as it applies to commercial work. I'm getting a handle on those standards myself reading books and watching tutorials by people like Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski, Julia Kuzmenko McKim, and Michael Woloszynowicz. My background as an Illustration major turned Graphic Designer helped me have an idea, but photography has its own standards. If you're retouching or compositing for someone other than yourself, they generally need you to enhance their work, not leave signs of your influence there. There's a reason only a handful of people are entrusted to do retouch jobs that many photographers don't have the time for. Subtlety is key, and non-destructive workflow is essential. Now stepping off my soapbox, on with the show.

This visual belly flop, while obviously not commercial, was used to advertise someone's custom brushes at DeviantArt, and meant to imply the good effects of their use.





I'm reminded of that armchair Rembrandt who showcased her skills on that Ecce Homo fresco when I look at this. The hair detail was crudely smudged into oblivion with indelicate childlike strokes, and the white point clipping quickly got rid of any evidence there was human skin .This is stating the obvious to anyone with a cursory understanding of image treatment standards, but rarely is using the contrast slider considered a job well done. Even in the most liberal definition of artistic license, deliberately overexposing an image in post, and blowing out the details with white isn't a good idea. I'm afraid of hue and contrast that isn't used minimally, and most people should be. It's a highly destructive way of retouching, as you're generally adding information that isn't there, or taking away information that is, but to an extreme degree. This may look good to someone whose life entails solely playing RPG games, but not in the commercial world.

This next one hurts me even more, because it was used in a tutorial. The thought that it may contribute to an army of people who think they're helping the world by doing things the wrong way makes my last meal move north. I won't name names (fortunately it wasn't here) but this image was supposed to demonstrae techniques for how to make skin look better in Photoshop.



This is what happens when you try to retouch someone's face without using frequency separation layers. It's also what happens when you look at someone while under the influence of mushrooms, but that's anther topic. Making someone look like they needed a skin retoucher so bad that they got a t-shirt airbrusher from the mall to render them inhuman isn't saying the best about your skills. I've seen countless variations of similar tutorials on Photoshop, often to high praise from an unwitting audience. But listening to professional retouchers, photographers and digital artists, they seem to be painfully aware of this phenomenon, and the bad habits it cultivates. If this area is of interest to you, I highly recommend looking up frequency adjustment+skin tutorials, preferably with "high-end" or "professional" somewhere in the title.

This last one is just redundant, but I thought I would include it to show just how pervasive bad Photoshop tips are, as this was on a quasi-professional site, titled to demonstrate skin retouching techniques.



This is bad for all of the aforementioned reasons, but I just hope the follow up tutorial is about how to find clues as to what exactly is in the images that have undergone these techniques. Now if you'll all excuse me, I have to go get some sunglasses. There's a lot of tutorials out here.

So I have to do some begging and pleading on behalf of my sister...she had a very unfortunate situation where the photographer for her bridal portraits became very ill and failed to find a replacement. I have shot landscape photography pretty well for years and done some portraits so I got her phone call. She asked if I would shoot some urgent bridal portraits, which I did.

The pictures turned out decently. However, despite knowing how to use a camera, I am lost when it comes to editing. I am hoping there is a kind soul who is willing to help me with editing 2 or 3 photos. I have RAW images and there are no major changes--just altering sharpness, contrast, tones, etc. There is not cutting, blending, or anything involved necessary. I could just process the images and print "as is" and they would be decent, but I know someone who knows what they are doing could make them so much better.

Would anyone be willing to help me help her? She has a wedding photographer lined up now but really wants a decent bridal portrait for the reception. Her wedding is this coming Saturday. If anyone is kind enough to help me out editing some shots, please PM me. Thanks in advance for your kind consideration!

It might be that I am tired and something just isn't sticking in the tutorials that I have watched but I have tried like crazy to mask out the hair in the attached pic. The client wants to change the color of the hair in this pic to a dark green and the skin tone to be more pail with a very slight green tint. The area on the shirt is giving me the biggest issues, any suggestions on making this work? I have watched a couple youtube tutorials on doing this quick but just cant get the desired result.

Thanks!

Hey guys! Love this photo, but can someone make my back look more appealing, like smooth the bump out? Any PRO help would be awesome and appreciated!

Hi guys!
I enjoy editing character artworks eventually with Paint.net by manipulating pixels but there is only so much I can do. I did the left guy by only copy/pasting in multiple layers and by realocating and cleaning pixels.



I usually get stuck when I need to recolor something. I'd like to know how you guys would


1. recolor the forearm so it matches the face skin color
2. change the brown portion of the crotch area so it matches the gray paint of the pants


I suppose 1 is easier, Lasso Select+Hue/Saturation? I would still like to know how you guys would do it.
2 is trickier, I have no idea how to do it


Thanks!

I want to add skin that will look like his face on that big balloon on his head.
I want to make it look real.
any suggestions how?

thanks