Robert BrownFixing flaws in images is pretty common among people who post daily on social media. Whether it’s for a serious task or personal taste, a lot of folks do this using image retouching tips.
To retouch an image, you’ll need to use opacity and blending modes, fix the texture, play with colors or lights, set the mood, and so on.
If you are a newbie in this field, know that you’ll need a Photoshop app to retouch an image properly.
Here, I’ll break down ten easy and effective tricks that will help you out for getting an amazing photo. But always remember good photography skills can make the editing next level.
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10 Image Retouching Tips and Tricks!
By using simple tricks on image post-production, you can make your pictures look even better. Follow the tips given below and see the difference:
Tip 1: Opacity and Blending Modes
Opacity is like a soft layer of image, while the blending is more like magic filters. The higher the opacity, the less you can see through it. Then again, blending decides how a layer mixes with the ones below it, creating cool effects.
For instance, if a layer is set to Dissolve mode at 50% opacity, and you paint on it with a brush at 100% opacity, the paint will look like it’s at 50% opacity.
Similarly, only half of the paint will disappear if a layer is in Normal mode at 100% opacity, and you use the Eraser tool at 50% opacity.
By using these two modes, you can retouch the image to draw or hide spots and make the image sharper.
Tip 2: Fixing Texture and Freckles
If you want to make your skin look smoother and highlight freckles in photos, try using special layers in Photoshop. This trick is great for making portraits look even better, especially for beauty shots.
The tonal range in a picture is all about how much contrast or detail it has. It goes from the darkest parts (black) to the lightest parts (white). To make your picture look better, we’ll use the Levels command to fix the contrast.
Firstly, go to the Layers menu and pick “black and white” in the Photoshop app. This makes the picture look less colorful, which is what you want. Then, change the setting to “luminosity” to keep the colors.
Now, you can adjust the sliders to tweak the skin’s look. You can mess with any shade including Reds and Yellows, because they are important for the skin. When you play around with the colors, be sure the image looks natural, or else it will turn out bad.
This simple trick can make a big difference in your image, making the skin look more textured and highlighting any freckles.
Tip 3: Brightening and Darkening
One of the cool photo retouching tips is to brighten and darken parts of the picture. This helps make the subject stand out more, making the image look aesthetic.
To do that, you’ll need to copy the picture and fix any small blemishes. This helps a lot if you want to get rid of a spot or marks on your image.
After that, you’ll need to make two new layers for brightening and darkening the areas. You can do this by adjusting the curves.
Next, use a soft brush to paint over the areas you want to change. Just be sure to lighten up the good parts and darken the not-so-good parts. It’s a neat way to make your subject look even better.
Tip 4: Removing Stray Hairs
A lot of times people struggle with bad shots due to the stray hairs that ruin the image. You can easily retouch it to get rid of the hairs.
Start by using the Spot Healing Brush tool in your Photoshop app. It works similarly to a magic eraser for small imperfections. Then, just copy the picture and select the Spot Healing Brush tool.
Next, paint over the stray hairs, and watch them disappear. It’s super easy and makes your pictures look cleaner.
Tip 5: Adjusting Colors and Lights
By changing the current shades and lights of the image, you can easily retouch it. With luminosity masks, you can do it quickly.
To start with, you’ll need to pick the parts of the picture you want to adjust, like highlights or shadows.
Then, play around with the settings to get the look you want. It’s like having a magic wand for editing pictures.
Tip 6: Setting the Mood
Now, if you want to make your image look a little more warm or cool, it’s possible by retouching the image. To do that, you’ll need to use photo filters.
Just pick a filter from the menu, like warm or cool. And then, this can help set the mood for your picture before you make any other changes.
Tip 7: Getting Rid of Stuff You Don’t Want
With any Photoshop app, you can easily delete things you don’t want in a picture. You only need to use the rubber stamp tool to do this magic.
It’s like cloning one part of the picture and pasting it over the part you want to get rid of. That way the image stays the same while the things get removed.
For example, if there’s a flower in the middle of the picture that you don’t like, you can paint it with water from another part of the picture.
Tip 8: Changing the Background
If the background of the image is fairly dull and cloudy in this picture, you’ll change it with more interesting things from another file.
To do that, you’ll need to begin by selecting the current background of the image. This is easy with the magic wand tool in the Photoshop app.
After that, open a beautiful background image from the file and paste it into the selected part. Then, you can move it to adjust the view.
Tip 9: Using Garnishing Blurs
If you want to disappear all the marks on your skin on an image, it can be done using garnishing blurs. You can make the parts of your picture look nicer by using the blur tools in the Photoshop app.
To do that, just use the magic wand tool to select the part of the image that you want to blur. Then, pick the filter option, and there you’ll find the blur option.
After that, select the garnishing blurs under the option, and then you can increase the pixels to make it look natural.
Tip 10: Adjust the Layers
To make your image look realistic or vibrant, you can adjust the layers in the Photoshop app. With the adjustment layers, you can change how colors and brightness look in your picture.
Firstly, you’ll need to click the part you want to use. Then, clip it using the Create Clipping Mask with the help of right-click.
Next, adjust the length of the brush to add some color or brighten out the part. You can also adjust the intensity of it to make the image look realistic.
Basic Steps for Photo Retouching!
No matter what kind of tool you are using, it requires skill to perfectly retouch the image. However, if you master the basics of image editing, it will be easy for you to do the retouching stuff.
You can easily find and fix the errors in composition and sharpen the focus of the image. Follow the given steps to do it yourself:
- Check the Scan Quality: To begin with, you’ll need to make sure your picture looks clear and sharp. Check if the resolution is good enough for what you want to do with it. If it’s not clear, try scanning it again or adjusting the settings.
- Crop the Picture: Next, you’ll need to cut out any extra parts of the picture that you don’t need. This helps focus on the main subject and makes the picture look cleaner.
- Adjust Contrast and Tones: Now, let’s tweak the contrast and tones of the picture. This means making the bright parts brighter and the dark parts darker. It gives the picture more depth and makes it pop.
- Remove Color Casts: After that, you’ll need to cut out the color casts. Sometimes, pictures can have weird colors because of the lighting. If you can fix that by getting rid of any strange color casts, this will make the picture look more natural.
- Fine-Tune Colors and Tones: Then, you’ll need to focus on specific parts of the picture. In that case, just make the highlights brighter, the midtones more balanced, and the shadows deeper. You can also make some colors less intense if they’re too bright.
- Sharpen the Focus: Finally, you’ll need to make sure the whole picture looks nice and clear. Just try to sharpen the focus so the details stand out more. This makes the picture look crisp and professional.
Ending Notes
Now that you know all the image retouching tips using Photoshop, it’s time to do it yourself. It may take time for you to understand it properly but trust the process and keep on doing it.
I hope you liked learning about how you can edit or retouch your photos in the proper way using the life hacks. Good Luck with Retouching Pictures!