Smooth Skin Tone in Photoshop

Glamour photos are a classic Photoshop touch; after all, who wouldn't improve or change small things about their appearance in photographs if they could? Things like freckles, uneven skin tone, and scars can be completely erased in about 3 steps. What you end up with is something extremely realistic, a professional photo all your own.

To perform this glamour technique, you'll need Adobe Photoshop in any version from 7 through the current CS2. Some other graphic editors will work if they support layers, but you'll have to dig around to find the comparable tools. Then, you'll need a photograph that you want to work with. The photograph I'm working with is from sxc.hu's stock photographer sumeja.

Smoother Skin

One: Grab a photograph that you want to work with. Any portrait will work for this effect, but you'll have the easiest time of it if you use one that doesn't have hands or loose strands of hair in front of the face.

Another tip is to use the highest resolution photos you can get. It's much easier to perform the steps if you have something to zoom in on and easily see. You'll see in Illustration 01 the untouched version of sumeja's photo. There are a lot of freckles and skin discoloration that can be touched right up - but it's important that I'm able to pinpoint specific areas.

Once your photo is opened in Photoshop, make sure that it's in RGB mode (Image, Mode, RGB). Now you're set to perform magic.

Two: To begin our little photo magic trick, we need a new layer that we can erase as much as needed. Right-click the original photograph layer and choose "Duplicate Layer". Then, turn off your original layer by clicking the "eye" icon beside it. This isn't permanent - it temporarily hides that layer from view so that we can really see what we're doing.

Now, grab your eraser tool and start erasing everything that isn't skin. This doesn't need to be perfect - just get it as best as you can. We want to smooth the skin, not make the entire picture look different. Reference Illustration 02.

Three: Here's where we get to pull the rabbit out of a hat. Click Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur and set the amount to about 3.0. What you'll get is a smooth, soft appearing skintone without the imperfections - but it shouldn't make the shape of the nose change or it will ruin the effect. Now, click the "eye" beside your original photo layer again to turn that layer back on. Gorgeous, isn't it?