Pixiq

Portrait Retouching / Removing Spots from Skin 

Jane Conner-ziser

Retouching Skin isn’t a global operation. Some things need to be removed, other things should be softened and reshaped, but other things should be left alone. Take wrinkles, for instance. Some wrinkles are so deep in contrast that they draw attention away from the eyes and will look more graceful if they are lightened a bit. Other wrinkles are an integral part of the subject’s expression and character and should remain as photographed. Wrinkles that make the subject look old might be shortened to bring a feeling of youthfulness to the portrait and the lines that make a person look stressed might be completely (or nearly) removed.

Spots are another item that requires different treatments according to what they are. Blemishes and other temporary items on the skin should be completely removed. Other spots that should be completely removed are stray whiskers, stubble from plucking eyebrows, burst capillaries, blackheads, flecks of dry skin, unimportant moles, “invisible” scars, camera dust and insect bites. Freckles should not be removed at all. A good retouching artist will break up clumps of them and lighten only the darkest ones. Prominent moles should also remain on the face. Only lighten them if they are so dark that they draw attention away from the subject’s eyes.

Upon examining this subject’s face closely, you can make a note of the spots that need to be addressed in retouching and make decisions on how you want to handle them. I can see definite spots on the chest that should be removed. She has natural freckles that we will leave alone, but also evidence of sun poisoning, not uncommon for fair skinned people who live in sunny areas. We will want to remove the sun poisoning.

She has exaggerated pores in the specular highlight areas of the face. I think we can remove some of the most prominent ones and avoid having to turn her skin texture to “mush” with too heavy a softening filter. The rest of her skin texture is beautiful but there are some spidery capillaries to be removed and the small highlights that run in a diagonal up from the far side of her nose represent a highlight on a scar that is so minute it can not be seen in life. We will remove that highlight as well.

The peach fuzz is another issue but it covers a large enough portion of the subject’s face that we will use a different process to retouch it. This is why it’s important to know how to use ALL of the retouching tools!

The best retouching tools for removing spots are:

Spot Healing Brush – for quick removal of small spots like camera dust, blackheads and stray whiskers.

Patch Tool – for general spot removal of blemishes, stray hairs and other temporary items.

Content Aware Fill – for starting acne work and as an alternative to the Patch Tool for some general spot removal purposes.

(The Healing Brush is not missing; I just don’t use it for spot removal because I find the results are too soft.)

Let’s start with the Spot Healing Brush. For most spot removal you will want the options set to Mode / Normal, proximity match and Sample / All Layers. Make a new empty layer over the Background Copy. (Tap the new layer icon at the bottom of the Layers window. It is the second icon from the right, next to the trash can. It looks like two pieces of paper with the bottom left corner turned up.) We’re going to use it to minimize the biggest pores in her specular highlights so use the Brush Size slider bar at the top left of the option bar or the keyboard shortcuts (brackets) to create a brush size that is slightly larger than the spots.

Then, just color over them, one by one. The Spot Healing Brush will choose the pore structure of the surrounding area to fill in. The pores will not disappear but the texture will be modified – if we need to do more later, we can, but we will use a different process.

The benefit of working on the layer is that you can adjust the layer opacity when the work has been completed to make it more delicate on the original image. Also, if you make mistakes you can use the Eraser Tool to erase them. Layers are definitely your friend!

One little tip: when a subject has oily skin, like this one, using the Spot Healing Brush at the edges of the highlights will diffuse the edges slightly and the skin will not look as oily.

I’ve turned layer visibility off on the Background and Background copy so you can see where I’ve applied the Spot Healing Brush.

Adjust the layer opacity until you see the diffusion you like (mine went to 81%) and merge the Spot Healing layer onto the Background Copy (Command (Control) e or Layer / Merge Down).

Now let’s play with the Patch Tool. I love it because it removes spots like magic and leaves great texture behind! We can use it to remove the sun poisoning on the subject’s chest.

The Patch Tool cannot be applied to an empty layer so you will be working directly upon the Background Copy. If you are shy, duplicate it and merge down again after the Patch work has been completed.

The Patch Tool is easy to use, too. Set the options for Source and circle the spot you wish to remove. When complete you will see a selection. Press inside the selection and while pressing, drag it to another area of the skin that doesn’t have a spot. When you release the pen, Photoshop will automatically replace the spot you selected with the new skin, carefully matching the color and value. Then, circle the next spot and repeat as needed to remove the spots one by one.

Shortcut? Yes! If there are several spots in proximity and there is good skin to “drag” to, circle the first spot and then hold down the Shift Key while you circle the others. Release the Shift Key, press inside one of the selections and drag them all to better skin. When you release the pen, all of the selected areas will fill at the same time. Yay!

I also used the Patch Tool to remove the little highlight from the scar next to her nose. 

FYI with the Patch Tool: we are working with Source selected in the options bar. This means that we circle the Source and choose what we fill it with. If there is very little “good” area to drag into, as in severe acne, you might try selecting Destination to get started. When this is selected, you circle the good area and then drag it over the part you want to cover with good skin. It’s not the best option because it transfers the exact same spot wherever you drag it and texture changes in different areas of the face, but it can help in some cases.

FYI with the Patch Tool: yes you can get into trouble with it! It is a texture transferal tool which means that it works best if you can find a nearby area to drag into as the texture will match the best. You can also use, say, the texture of a sweater to make pore structure on a face if need be and the color will match perfectly as long as the contrast is similar. BUT if you select a spot in a highly textured area, like the specular highlight in this case, and drag it into an area with no texture, it won’t look good. So be conscious of what you are doing even though this is an incredibly simple tool to use. Remember to Select / Deselect (Command / Control d) when finished.

My last favorite option for spot removal is Content Aware Fill. I use it instead of the Patch Tool when there are a lot of spots to remove and I would rather Photoshop look around each selected area and fill instead of me doing it in sections. We can use it on this image to remove the capillaries on our subject’s cheeks and chin.

This process is also applied directly to the Background Copy. Use the Lasso Tool to circle the spots you wish to remove. It’s not an exact selection, but take a moment to select what you need and just a tiny bit more. I circled the veins and added a few other spots I missed in the previous steps.

Now, from the Main Menu Bar, choose Edit / Fill / Content Aware using Blending Mode / Normal at 100% opacity. Done. Remember to Deselect.

So far we’ve analyzed the face, planned our retouching, formed the body and removed unwanted spots from the subject’s face. The actual retouching begins! Next up is removing the peach fuzz from the subject’s jaw. Until then,

Happy Retouching! And Thank You!

Jane

Jane Conner-ziser is one of the world’s top retouching artists and instructors with over 35 years of professional experience. She is an innovator in digital retouching and fine arts whose techniques of facial retouching and enhancement are emulated by artists, trainers and photographers throughout the world through her live, online and dvd training. When she is not teaching (schedule online at janeconner-ziser.com) you will find her exploring, photographing and learning about the incredible world we live in.

If you would like to follow along with this series of articles, please email Jane for the original file at janecz@mac.com  A companion DVD is also available, Digital MakeUp, produced by Photoshop Cafe. You can purchase the DVD at www.janeconner-ziser.com.