Soften and Sharpen a Face in a Portrait

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So you have taken a series of photos for a client or a friend, a family member or partner, but because of a few facial flaws you want to soften the glow. How do you do that? Certainly you must have a piece of photo editing software/ I use Photoshop (PS). So I'll assume you have CS or better.

Open your image in PS, . Duplicate by dragging down to Create a new layer,then make sure your file is in 8 bit Mode by selecting Image> Mode> 8 bits per channel. This allows for manipulating a file with many more parameters. Next apply a Gaussian Blur within the Filter Tab to a Radius setting of 15. You should adjust as you feel but it should be a higher setting that appears acceptable as you will correct in the next Layer Adjustment.

Drop back the Opacity in the Layers Palette to say, 40%. Now pick a soft Brush, with a Hardness setting of Zero. Make sure before you begin painting, that you have pressed the 'D' key to select a black foreground & a white background so your brush is removing the blur with the black foreground. Begin painting around the eyes & lips so the brush size is in proportion to the area you are drawing back the sharp detail. You'll see the black appear in the Layer Mask.

Once you've painted around the eyes & the lips & anywhere else you want to appear sharper, then switch back to 16 bits, by going back to Image > Mode > 16 bits & Save As under File Tab.

Let me know if you have any questions.

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