PS Newbie: please explain how to make smooth skin

Hi......I am a newbie when it comes to pp, just basically using Picasa, and sometimes DPP and Lightroom, to play with white balance. I know basics of sharpening. But what I want to know, is how do these pros take a photo of a model that has all kinds of blemishes and pimples, and make the resulting photo universally smooth skin, with exception of sharp eyes. I understand it has to do with unsharp mask somewhat, but what happens to the skin? I shoot my wife and I want to be able to perform the same action on her face for example.

I use photoshop cs4 and its an involved process.
Many vids on youtube demonstrate this technique.
Look up photoshop momma.
Withouth Photoshop, I really have no clue how to do it.

thank you i am watching the photo mama tutorial, it is exactly what i am looking for

Here is a quick take using LR and my limited ability..

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Here is a quick take using LR and my limited ability..

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rooeey wrote in post #7600792
Here is a quick take using LR and my limited ability..

ok would you be nice enough to explain it step by step what you did, because I have Lightroom 1.4

Yes no problem but you do need LR2 for the localised adjustment brush...
What you could do with version 1 is drag the clarity slider to the left it will work OK on some images but will effect the whole image...
I used the brush added some feather to the edges and selected clarity slider dragged it to the left and brushed the skin smooth...
Then i played with the highlights slider to dull the shine on the forehead and then
adjusted the colour sliders saturation levels until i found one that added a bit of a tan....
IMO LR2 is woth it just for the localized adjusment brush....

Oh and the Localized brush is great for teeth whitenning...

rooeey wrote in post #7603781
Oh and the Localized brush is great for teeth whitenning...

ok I will need to upgrade to LR2 then, thank you

absolutic wrote in post #7600687
But what I want to know, is how do these pros take a photo of a model that has all kinds of blemishes and pimples, and make the resulting photo universally smooth skin, with exception of sharp eyes. ....

Don't tell me they go an area after area and specifically target it; is there an uniform solution? Thank you

They do go after specific areas. Some glamour retouchers can spend an hour or two just touching out individual blemishes before applying some global effect.

I don't know what tools Picasa or Lightroom has, but maybe they have some of the same tools as Photoshop. I first touched out the main blemishes using the spot healing brush. Also dulled the shiny areas with a selective color adjustment layer. Then did an overall smoothing using the technique described here, on page 10.

I ordinarly use Imagenomic Portraiture for the overall smoothing, but the freebie method linked above will do just about as good in most cases.

Peano wrote in post #7604437
They do go after specific areas. Some glamour retouchers can spend an hour or two just touching out individual blemishes before applying some global effect.

I don't know what tools Picasa or Lightroom has, but maybe they have some of the same tools as Photoshop. I first touched out the main blemishes using the spot healing brush. Also dulled the shiny areas with a selective color adjustment layer. Then did an overall smoothing using the technique described here, on page 10.

I ordinarly use Imagenomic Portraiture for the overall smoothing, but the freebie method linked above will do just about as good in most cases.

peano, is there any way you can describe a process step by step, what you did, in photoshop? The way you explained it to me is like a rocket science; maybe it it is easy for you, but for a newbie, a step-by-step process would really be beneficial; once i figure it out, i am sure i can repeat it

absolutic wrote in post #7600687
How do these pros ...
Don't tell me they go an area after area and specifically target it.

Funny you should mention it...The real high end magazine work don't do it on a pixal by pixal level, They go over each and every blemish multiple times on a pixal by pixal level.

Peano's method and other simular methods do a very nice job with a LOT less work!

Generally speaking...The less effort and time, the worse the result.

absolutic wrote in post #7604503
peano, is there any way you can describe a process step by step, what you did, in photoshop? The way you explained it to me is like a rocket science; maybe it it is easy for you, but for a newbie, a step-by-step process would really be beneficial; once i figure it out, i am sure i can repeat it

Let's take it one tool at a time. If you have Photoshop, do you have the spot healing brush? If so, read the help file on that and practice with it a little to see how it works. Basically, you touch it on a blemish and it replaces it with smooth skin from the surrounding area. When I use this tool, I always work on a blank layer so I'm not altering image pixels.

Practice with it first, and then we can talk about whatever you don't understand about using that one tool on this one image.

Peano wrote in post #7604536
Let's take it one tool at a time. If you have Photoshop, do you have the spot healing brush? If so, read the help file on that and practice with it a little to see how it works. Basically, you touch it on a blemish and it replaces it with smooth skin from the surrounding area. When I use this tool, I always work on a blank layer so I'm not altering image pixels.

Practice with it first, and then we can talk about whatever you don't understand about using that one tool on this one image.

Thanks I will practice with it first

absolutic wrote in post #7604563
Thanks I will practice with it first

Here's what happens with the spot healing brush. Zoom in about this close when you're working with it. Make the brush diameter about the same as one of the blemishes. Scrub on each one in a little circle, just enough to cover one blemish. And work on a blank layer above the image layer.

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