Professional Retouching Course in Photoshop

Begin the retouching workflow from raw files or JPEG/TIFF, organize images in a folder, and open them in Bridge for raw conversion in Lightroom or Capture One.

Demonstrate the workflow in the newest version of Adobe Camera Raw, and direct students to the next section to apply the same steps with an older version of Camera Raw.

Select and adjust white balance and color profiles to achieve neutral, natural colors across studio images, then synchronize settings for consistent tones in a series.

Apply optics with profile correction to fix distortions and remove vignette, then adjust chromatic aberration and fringing using sliders to refine the correction.

Use the basic light sliders to adjust exposure, contrast, highlights, and shadows, avoiding overexposure to keep a natural image for easier retouching.

Learn how vibrance preserves skin tones while saturation boosts yellows and oranges, and how texture enhances fine skin detail without harsh clarity.

Explore hue-saturation-luminance adjustments to selectively refine each color, balancing skin tones and a blue background with subtle saturation and luminance tweaks for a natural portrait.

Explore the calibration panel in camera to adjust shadows, hue, and saturation across red, green, and blue channels, refining skin tones while moderating the background.

Master match adjustments by synchronizing exposure, color, and calibration across a photo set in Photoshop. Align skin tones and shadows using magenta and the yellow slider for a cohesive look.

Develop retouching skills by exploring basic panels, curve adjustments (parametric and point curves with rgb channels), color mixer and calibration, plus noise reduction, grain, sharpening, and crop decisions.

Save camera raw images for Photoshop by selecting a universal color space and 300 ppi resolution, avoiding resizing; save as TIFF with 16-bit quality, while keeping original names and subfolders.

Explore Lightroom and Camera, which share the same engine and synchronized panels after the latest update; import images, then develop with identical basic, color, and transform tools.

Export Lightroom images to disk and open them in Photoshop, choosing a saved location and subfolder, and configure file name, format, color space Adobe, 16-bit depth, and metadata before exporting.

Learn the basics of Capture One, the industry-standard color engine, by importing images, adjusting white balance, exposure, brightness, and using lens correction and color panels for vivid results.

Explore Capture One color work with advanced color editing, selective color with an eyedropper, and skin tone uniformity to achieve natural, refined portraits.

Capture One serves as a full editing tool with layers, masking, color balance, and color grading for non-destructive edits, and explains why final retouching belongs in Photoshop.

Learn to synchronize adjustments across images by copying single or all settings, aligning exposure, white balance, saturation, and skin tones with the color editor, and exporting the final results.

Export studio images efficiently by selecting from top to bottom, choosing a destination and a 16-bit TIFF for Photoshop, preserving file names and color spaces.

This lecture compares Adobe and Capture One for professional retouching, analyzing color, lighting, skin work, and calibration to achieve richer tones and better background perspective.

Identify all areas to retouch, starting with background dust and dots, then skin work on face and body, tidy hair flyaways and brows, and refine lips using non-destructive Photoshop tools.

Use a Wacom graphic tablet, not a mouse, for professional retouching to gain pen pressure, speed, and precision when painting, dodge and burn skin.

Retouch non-destructively by working on an empty layer above the background using brush and clone stamp with current below sampling, name it clean up, and duplicate the background when needed.

Learn how the healing brush tool works for skin retouching by sampling textures from flat areas to match surrounding color, and compare it with the spot healing brush tool.

Master the clone stamp tool to copy texture and color, compare it with the healing brush, and tackle edges and flat textures for precise retouching.

Master skin cleanup in Photoshop by starting on an empty layer, cleaning the background with spotting and hard-edged brushes, then refine skin with healing, clone stamp, and crown stamp.

Learn advanced and basic lip retouching techniques in Photoshop, using healing brush, clone stamp, and pen tool selections to preserve natural texture while creating a smooth yet authentic lip line.

retouching eyes teaches removing lenses and distracting veins, cleaning the white of the eye, and using healing brush and clone stamp to blend textures for a natural look.

Retouch hair in Photoshop by tidying flyaways and crosshairs, and blend edges with soft brushes. Use healing brush, clone stamp, and masks to preserve natural hair and create smooth transitions.

Learn to retouch hair flyaways using the clone stamp and a soft brush on the active layer, blending naturally with pen pressure for a subtle look.

Learn to fix mismatched eyebrows by selecting and transplanting brow sections, using free transform and perspective, and refining with layer masks and soft light/overlay blends.

Learn to remove facial hair using a non-destructive dust and scratches filter, then refine results with masking and brushwork on a top layer or smart object in Photoshop.

Create a new empty layer and set blending mode to color to fill lipstick color gaps. Sample nearby tones and paint across the lips, ensuring even color while preserving highlights.

Master non-destructive skin texture recovery in Photoshop by extracting texture with a high pass filter, blending with soft light, and masking to restore texture on rough skin and lips.

Explore frequency separation to clean up images by using a low blur color layer and a high texture layer, then blend for natural results.

Master skin retouching using frequency separation, cleaning with a current-layer sample, and hard-edged brushes to preserve texture while addressing hair and background challenges.

Explore using frequency separation to clean hair flyaways and crosshairs, improve edges with soft brushes, and build a non-destructive workflow while clarifying its limits as a learning tool.

Learn nondestructive color and light blending in Photoshop using frequency separation, working on lower layers, soft brush techniques, and layer duplication to perfect highlights and shadows.

Match the model’s eyebrows by using frequency separation, creating a top layer, selecting and repositioning the eyebrow with layer via copy, then blend and refine with masks and healing tools.

Clean up teeth using frequency separation on the top or empty layer. Use healing brush or clone stamp to remove discolorations and edge imperfections for natural results.

Retouch the hair and clean up the background in Photoshop using empty layers, frequency separation (not perfect here), and tools like clone stamp and healing brush.

Explore when to use frequency separation and why non-destructive cleanup on an empty layer matters. Learn to selectively retouch with healing brush and clone stamp to preserve natural skin texture.

Explore dodge and burn retouching in Photoshop by using curves and masks to selectively brighten or darken exposed areas, refine skin, and visualize light with a black-and-white helper layer.

Apply dodge and burn to retouch the face and chest, marking areas on blue for burn and red for dodge, darken highlights carefully and avoid flattening for natural transitions.

Master dodge and burn with a soft, pressure‑sensitive brush tuned by brush settings for diameter, opacity, flow, transfer, and smoothing on a Wacom tablet.

Master dodge and burn techniques in photoshop using soft brushes, subtle flow at five percent, and curves adjustments to brighten shadows and refine skin, makeup, and edges.

Perform dodge and burn retouching to enhance eyes and eyebrows, adjusting lights and shadows with grouped layers, precise brushwork, and adjustment layers for natural transitions.

Learn dodge and burn on a single empty layer with 50% gray and soft light blending to selectively brighten or darken, contrasting the curve adjustment method.

Learn dodge and burn techniques to refine portrait lighting, balancing bright and dark areas by painting on an empty dodge and burn layer to create natural skin tone transitions.

Master the dodge and burn process in Photoshop by applying soft, subtle edits with controlled opacity, frequent checks, and a less-is-more approach to preserve natural light and detail.

Learn to create a natural retouch with dodge and burn, refine eyebrows and eyes on a single layer, avoid overdoing edits, and preserve light reflections for a soft, polished result.

Remind yourself how to fix color shifts by creating an empty layer, setting the brush to color with low opacity, and applying sampled color with blending mode color.

Learn to boost contrast and color using adjustment layers in Photoshop, including brightness, contrast, curves, vibrance, hue-saturation, and color balance, and compare with Lightroom workflows for fast batch edits.

Learn to adjust contrast in Adobe Photoshop using brightness/contrast adjustment layer, levels, and curves, focusing on correct exposure and precise control of shadows and highlights to keep the image natural.

Explore luminosity masks to precisely control highlights and shadows using channel-based selections and adjustment layers, balancing red, green, and blue channels for refined contrast.

Explore advanced luminosity masking in Photoshop to create smooth transitions from highlights to shadows by using narrow highlight masks across channels.

Define highlights with color range and create a mask using the eyedropper. Invert the selection to work on shadows for balanced color with smooth, natural results.

Balance highlights and shadows with simple curves to avoid overcomplicating your retouching workflow. Prefer basic techniques with one layer, and reserve luminosity masks for final touchups in Lightroom.