Someone put this link in a while back //www.glennferon.com/portfolio1/index.html
It's alittle over the top in most people's opinion, but it is also pretty amazing what this guy does and I am sure it sells.
I have been practising retouching some lately too with some pretty good results. I got my info from others in here. I posted a pic and asked for help, lots of people will give it a try and tell you the steps they used. It's a good learning tool.
Here are some of the steps I have been taking but I don't guarantee the results all the time.
1. Always make a copy and store your original elsewhere for safety. Never work on the original in case you can't reverse the effects.
2. I basically make a new level adjustment layer , generally lighten the entire photo somewhat in my case.
3. Then I make a duplicate layer and apply a gaussian blur filter just enough to give the skin a more even texture and smooth away a few lines.
4. With the blur filter over the background layer, use the eraser tool to erase the blur from the eyes, mouth, nostrils, ears, hair, basically everything but the skin tones you are trying to fix.( Note- at this time if there are stray hairs you want to get rid of, leave them blurred, they will be easier to clone out later.)
5. Use the clone tool to cover any unslightly blemishes that are left(Note-Some people try to keep it real by just taking out things that are temporary like acne and leaving things like permanent moles, but that is up to you and your models.) When cloning, feather or blur edges so it isn't too harsh and obvious.
6. Clone out distracting stray hair same as above.
7. You can use the dodge and burn tools lightly now to darken or lighten certain areas but be careful, it's not always easy to see the full effect on the screen but too much pressure shows up in print ( I advise you to do a test print at home if you use these tools).
8. The final step that I use is to use the Unsharp Mask setting it a 100%, raduis of about .2 and Zero threshold as a starting point. Adjust it to your taste, but again be careful because alittle too much will show up as fake during the printing and possibly on screen too.
Alot of tweaking goes on during this, but maybe this will help you get started.
Here is a link on retouching that might be useful. Good luck.
//www.good-tutorials.com/tutorials/9
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