Photoshop trick for smoothing a model’s skin

smoothing a model's skin

This is a quick technique to even out blemishes in a model’s skin. I came across this by accident but I think it’s a really good way to instantly make people pictures look more eye-catching and professional. It also has the effect of brightening and adding contrast.

Very simple. Get the layer you want to work on with the less-than-perfect skin (if it is your locked background layer double-click on it to unlock it). Make a copy of this layer (Cmd/Cntl-J). Set the top layer to Screen blending mode in the layers palette.

You will notice immediately the picture has become brighter and the contrast has increased – maybe too much. If you want to decrease this effect then decrease the opacity of the top layer a little.

Next, with the top (Screen) layer selected, go Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur… I blurred this image by about 9 pixels, I’d go for 25 if it were a high resolution. The more you blur this layer the more the skin smooths out and the more of a “glow” is created. The effects of the glow can be masked off around the face if desired.

I stumbled upon this trick whilst designing some packaging for a music software company.

smoothing a model's skin

Tags: background layer, double click, gaussian blur, high resolution, model, opacity, palette, Photoshop, portrait, smooth skin, software company, technique, trick

This article was posted on Sunday, January 27th, 2008 at 3:33 pm and is filed under Photoshop.
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10 Responses to “Photoshop trick for smoothing a model’s skin”

women bodybuilders, on February 7th, 2008 at 8:13 pm, said:

Thanks for the nice tutorial. I am new to photoshop and this can be helpful for me.
Rob Cubbon, on February 8th, 2008 at 12:05 am, said:

I’ve been using Photoshop for over 15 years and I’ve just discovered it!
Geoff, on February 9th, 2008 at 4:02 pm, said:

Are you sure the middle Luminosity layer is doing anything?
Rob Cubbon, on February 9th, 2008 at 4:34 pm, said:

Whoopse! You’re absolutely right, Geoff. Thank you. I had a Luminosity layer there as the Normal layer beneath had an Opacity as there was a colour layer beneath that oringinally!
Steve O, on February 17th, 2008 at 2:37 pm, said:

Hello Rob. Not a bad way of doing things, certainly quick. I’ve found that using the median blend, setting the layer to soft light (adjusting opacity for preference) and then deleting all but the skin areas works even better.
Rob Cubbon, on February 18th, 2008 at 11:30 am, said:

Thanks, Steve, I’ll give it a go next time!
G.S., on March 17th, 2008 at 8:06 am, said:

That is a nice trick, but the one thing is that the eyes blur out as well. I prefer focused eyes.

Since you are not changing your lower layer, you can simply use the eraser tool to erase the blurred eyes in the upper layer (and lips too if you like) and then you have smoothed skin and sharp eyes. I like it a bit better.
Rob Cubbon, on March 23rd, 2008 at 3:01 am, said:

You’re right, G.S., any areas that don’t need to be smoothed should be masked out to keep the sharpness of the image.
Henry James, on January 13th, 2010 at 4:29 pm, said:

enjoy
Design stylized images with Photoshop and Illustrator | Blog | Graphic and Web Designer London UK, on April 6th, 2010 at 9:47 am, said:

[...] and trickery to get rid of any blemishes, scratches or general untidiness in the photo. I used this technique to smooth the model’s skin. And I also brightened up the teeth, the whites of the eyes and the [...]

Graphic and Web Designer London UK