How do you make your skin look smooth using photoshop CS3?

Question:how do you make your skin look smooth like perfect
example http://i31.tinypic.com/33c2c5c.jpg
whats an easy way to do it?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: how do you make your skin look smooth like perfect
example http://i31.tinypic.com/33c2c5c.jpg
whats an easy way to do it?

If you mean removing blemishes and the like, don't ever use blur, it's obvious that it's been toyed with and there is a way more realistic tool. Pull up your picture and select the bandaid/healing brush tool. Hold down the alt key and select a smooth section of skin from the picture. Let go of Alt and then use the tool over blemishes. As long as there isn't any massive shadows and everything is relatively the same color it should smooth over easily. You might want to switch up source points every now and then though.

Select the skin and use the blur tool or Gaussian blur, smart blur or median cut.

But be aware that skin-smoothing almost always looks hokey.

V

The best way to do what you are wanting is to use a controlled amount of gaussian blur. Here is a way to do it:

Be sure you have your HISTORY STATES palette open.

When you have your photo opened in PS, go to Filter, Blur, Gaussian blur. Drag the slider until the photo is quite blurred, but still recognizable.

Then, over in your history palette, you will click back up one state to just before your gaussian blur state.

Your photo will no longer be blurred

Look back at the now faintly showing gaussian blur state in your history palette. You will see a little box to the left of the state. Place a check mark in the box, (just click your mouse in the box). Placing the check mark in the box now gives you the ability to use the history brush.

So now go over to your tool bar and click on the history brush. Select a SOFT brush. Look at the top of your screen and you will see the OPACITY options. Set the opacity of the history brush to about 15%.

Now "paint" onto the skin with the low opacity gaussian blur, (which is what you are now applying with the history brush). It is a additive state, in other words, each time you click your mouse you will add more blur. This gives you the ability to add more blur, (smoothing), where needed.

Of course, do not brush over the eyes. You might want to brush once or twice on the eyebrows to softern them. I also often brush into the hair to give it a nice, soft, flowing look instead of the stiff, hard, digital look from the original capture.

Be careful when applying the blur to the person's skin. Knowing when to stop is just as important as knowing when to start. I do not like skin that looks like plastic and totally un-natural... but some people do... to each his own I suppose. The real art to retouching, however, is to make someone look better, but still look real and as if the photo had never been retouched.

Hope this helps you.

steve