How can you retouch photos of people to look natural and not fake?

2 Start with global adjustments

Before you dive into the details of retouching, you should start with some global adjustments that affect the overall tone, color, and contrast of your photo. These adjustments can make a big difference in enhancing the mood and atmosphere of your photo, as well as correcting any exposure or white balance issues. You can use tools like curves, levels, exposure, white balance, and vibrance to adjust the brightness, contrast, and saturation of your photo. You can also use tools like crop, rotate, and perspective to fix any alignment or distortion problems.

4 Use a soft and small brush

Another key technique to retouch photos of people is to use a soft and small brush for your edits. A soft brush has a low hardness and a high feathering, which means that it creates a smooth and gradual transition between your edits and the original image. A small brush has a low size and a high spacing, which means that it creates a fine and precise stroke that follows the contours and details of your subject. You can use a soft and small brush to apply edits like skin smoothing, blemish removal, eye enhancement, and teeth whitening, without losing the texture and realism of your photo.

5 Adjust the opacity and blend mode

The final technique to retouch photos of people is to adjust the opacity and blend mode of your layers. The opacity controls how transparent or opaque your layer is, while the blend mode controls how your layer interacts with the layers below it. You can use these settings to fine-tune the intensity and effect of your edits, and to create a natural and harmonious look for your photo. You can lower the opacity of your layers to reduce the strength of your edits, and choose a blend mode that matches the tone and color of your photo. For example, you can use a soft light or overlay blend mode for skin smoothing, a lighten or screen blend mode for eye enhancement, and a color or hue blend mode for color correction.

Retouching photos of people can be a fun and rewarding process, but it can also be a challenging one. You need to balance between improving and preserving the natural beauty of your photos, and avoid overdoing or underdoing your edits. By following these tips and techniques, you can retouch photos of people in a subtle and natural way, and create stunning portraits that showcase your subjects and your skills.