Visual Plastic Surgery Editing Portraits with Photoshop

Open File  In Photoshop open one of your portraits that you would like to edit for this journal.  Save your file as lastname_firstname_before.jpg

Removing Skin Blemishes Using the Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop

Copy Your Layer  Command J  Add a new layer called “spot healing”.

Select the Spot Healing Brush

Check the Select all Layers Box

Removing the Blemish  Now all we need to do is use the bracket keys to size our brush a little bit larger than the area we want to edit.  [ = smaller ] = larger  Click on the area and the blemish will disappear.  You can also change the brush mode to lighten if necessary.

Before and After

Smooth Skin Using Blending Modes in Photoshop

Merge Layers  Before we get started on softening the skin select the spot healing layer and press Option E to merge your edits into the image.  After you complete this step you should have two layers. One is the original image and the other layer is our copy of the original.  Turn off the eye icon next to the background layer and duplicate layer one by pressing Command J.

Add a Blending Mode  Select your top layer and change the blending mode to overlay.

Apply the High Pass Filter

Set the Radius to 6 Pixels and Click OK

Invert the Image

Reduce Opacity to 60%

Use Layer Mask to Bring Out Details  Add a layer mask to the image.  Use the paint brush tool, with a black fill, to paint over the detailed areas on the face.  Look on next slide to see example image.

Use Layer Mask to Bring Out Details Add Layer Mask Select a Soft Brush to Paint Over Face Details. This eye has been painted.

Before Mask and After Mask

Lighten and Brighten Eyes Using Levels and Blending Modes in Photoshop

Add an Adjustment Layer  With your top layer selected add an adjustment layer for levels.  Click OK if the dialog box pops up because we will not be editing the levels.

Fill the Layer Mask with Black

Paint the Whites of the Eyes  Use the brush tool, with the white fill selected, to paint the eyes. This area is painted. This area needs to be painted.

Lower the Layer Opacity to 65%

Original Image and Final Image

You Are Finished! Save file into the Dropbox: lastname_firstname_after.jpg