Frequency Separation MADE EASY for Skin Retouching in Photoshop

Skin retouching can be kind of scary, but it doesn't have to be. I've created a fast and easy tutorial to show you how to do frequency separation in Photoshop in no time.
You'll be able to create professional-looking skin retouching in no time!
Enjoy my course "How to Retouch a Portrait" FOR FREE here:
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[@bala1000mina]

Thanks a lot Joel! God bless you!

[@rickredfern2647]

Hi joel watching one your old video excellent technique mate cheers all the best from Australia

[@snowredsnow666]

omgg I used to do the entire face with low frequency, just all the skin... this is great, thank you!!!! and sooo much faster too

[@wooddog321]

I studied Photoshop for 3 years, I've always known how to clone etc but this is the most valuable lesson I have ever learned. Thanks Joel. You're the best.

[@abrahamchisanga2785]

Thank you sir...this was a very good beginners tutorial

[@joelgrimes]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rickredfern2647]

Very good mate your so great to listen too and learn….

[@joelgrimes]

wow, thanks!

[@palladiumvisuals]

Precision.. amazing

[@munkeedo]

thanks you sharing connent MADE EASY for Skin Retouching in Photoshop so coollll i like ittt

[@joelgrimes]

you're welcome!

[@arthur3038]

found your video today. just great. I love the idea of using dust &scratches for the low frequency.. i am under the (first) impression that the picture remains more precise that way..

[@joelgrimes]

Thanks, Arthur! It’s one of those unexplainable things. Everyone has their ways. I can’t fully describe why I prefer it 🤷

[@ReinhardBiller]

I know from some landscape photographer that with dodge and burn they enhance brighter areas and make them brighter and darken dark areas. Here you make it different and flatten out the look. Maybe this is how you do it in portraits, I don't know..

[@tonysempertegui5786]

Great explanation, thanks Joel!

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@milootje007]

I watched a LOT of FS techniques/video's trying to figure out what works best. I'm not sure yet, but this might be the best/ easiest one.. result-effort wise.

[@conservovirtus5796]

Beautiful. Perhaps the most useful tutorial I've ever seen. God bless you, Joel.

[@joelgrimes]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@davesmulders3931]

As far as I know, protect tones on the dodge and burn tools only protect the tones on the 50% gray layer itself. The overlay mode will apply the offset to the colour layer, and there the tones will not be protected. Maybe you can copy the original image once more, set the blend mode to colour, and blur it a little to actually protect the tones. Good explanation of the freq separation. That's really valuable.

[@JohnDawson]

I plan to use this technique to retouch surfaces in my product shots. Skin retouching... it's not just for skin. 😁

[@honeypeadigital]

Perfect! Thank you so much!

[@FlesPect]

this is amazing💫

[@Rachyatteau]

HOLY SMOKES! That was fast and GOOD! How the heck did that work so quickly?! thank you!! Love your teaching style!

[@joelgrimes]

Thanks for watching Rachel!

[@liz2959]

Awesome

[@kristaellis9099]

Hiya, I really enjoy your tutorials - you have an excellent natural teaching style that works for me. I'm late to the game here but, why do you use midtones for the dodge and burn portion as opposed to shadows or highlights? I think I understand why by trial and error but just curious. Thanks so much!

[@h.darrenhackney6331]

I've watched other tutorials that didn't use the healing brush and couldn't understand why not. I'm glad you are showing that technique, it makes best sense to me. Great job! Maybe one day I'll be able to attend another workshop!

[@omarello666]

Joel the Best like usually

[@DiviPhotos]

Great video nice job thanks you for sharing

[@rigsby1970]

Best technique I found so far...cheers Joel..

[@joehurly4687]

Excellent work

[@ogonzilla]

Thanks for sharing. Awesome.

[@colinweir5807]

I was following your tutorial on an exercise and had trouble with the healing brush. Then I noticed you had yours set to current layer. Worked fine then. Just a little info.

[@lyndonsantiago8262]

Thanks for the Video I learned new things again.

[@markledingham4942]

Fantastic workflow and technique! Thanks, Joel.

[@Mr31formula]

Great tutorial. Thank you.

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@black-and-light]

Excellent!

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@goldfinch2283]

Nice, straight to the point video. Thanks!

[@wilbmoore]

Joel this exceptional.

[@edihego]

Man, this is simple and great! I was struggeling with other techniques and definitely, your is the best! Thanks my friend!

[@joelgrimes]

Great to hear!

[@idconceptmedia5200]

Beautiful

[@joelgrimes]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@George602]

I Love ALL your videos. I have learned much from you. FYI: Your website link above isn't working for me...

[@vitabuonavita2565]

this was way over my head, I will have to save it and Look at it a few ten times . Thanks

[@joelgrimes]

I understant, Vita! Always best to try and do the same steps at the same time in an image of your own and pause the video so you can learn to apply these techniques

[@zurairkhan]

amazing

[@Batteristafoto]

Hi Joel! I really liked the method you use! Thank you. very much appreciated. All the best.

[@artplasma3538]

To see more interesting videos you can visit our channel where we provide very useful tutorial. Thankyou.

[@Batteristafoto]

@@artplasma3538 I am not interested in tutorials dude. I like Joe's work. Period. You should research who you spam.

[@nenolima5595]

I saw you worked so great in colorimetry... could you show us how to achieve any collor harmony we want following any pallete?

[@carlosgalindo3760]

Many Thanks from Barcelona (Spain). Awesome

[@StephenTilmon]

Love your videos. Do you have a video on helping with getting correct skin tones?

[@StephenTilmon]

Joel Grimes thank you for your reply. Some subjects end up with red, the white people, and sometimes desaturation make them look sickly. I’m sure it’s an operator error. Does the frequency separation help correct this issue?

[@Luciano_mp]

É um bom resultado, obrigado.

[@audiobrainiac]

Excellent work as usual sir.

[@luissalazar2021]

You are a artist bro 😎

[@harrymartinunderwater1496]

Great job a real time saver from frequency sep I've been using - do you have an action for this that's downloadable?

[@mariuscpeter]

Great! Thanks Joel. Much appreciated!

[@dbj1113]

hi joel,another very good video,thank you.just a small point.when you set the apply image option,your off set is at 2 and 128.there are 2 different setting for 8-bit and 16-bit images in using this method,which would require the invert option in the dialog box.might be an option to mention which bit depth you are using,and stating which the alternative will be?

[@michellestudios9593]

love this and all your creative live tutorials. You are my fav... this is a great one, thanks. how do you flip from the dodge to the burn. not working for me so must be a custom function. :)

[@ColinCambridge]

Michelle Studios - Hold the Alt key down to flip to burn from dodge.

[@JJ-ok2sm]

Hi Joel you picture look beautiful I need more help. I take picture family ,but is ok I need look more.like you picture . I had canon Eso79D ,but went take photo look ok I'm not sure if I buy other camara or no.I want look more professional.

[@DetoxSince87]

How to avoid the color shift? That is a problem as you know. Great video Joel

[@FastAkira]

Instead of using a 50% gray layer, you just create two curve layers. In one of them you increase the light by one stop or so, or whatever lightness you need. On the other curve you decrease the light, by one stop or so, same. Then you invert both marks and with a 2%flow or opacity soft brush, you pain over the areas that need a fix.

[@mattsweadner8318]

Excellent

[@DmitriMironov]

No BULLSHIT blah blah blah, this was simple fast and informative. Thank you sir :-))

[@Mixxerxd1]

thank you!!!👍 awesome

[@Photocatchthemoment]

Thanks Joe ! This is what I was waiting for years :-)

[@artplasma3538]

To see more interesting videos you can visit our channel where we provide very useful tutorial. Thankyou.

[@rezashehni8244]

very good

[@joelgrimes]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@leiwandesounds]

joe, i was looking for an easy tutorial do learn that technique - found yours - watched it over and over again and applied it to my Image in Photoshop - works awesome - Thank you very much !!!

[@obum101]

Best tutorial I have watched on frequency separation, you made it very easy and straight to the point .. I used it to edit my sister’s wedding picture and it came out lovely .. you are a star Joel ❤️

[@joelgrimes]

Great to hear I could help! That's my goal!

[@hashimk6738]

Thanks for the video!!!

[@arbull7264]

you do the same for an 8bit image?

[@CRESTROY]

Genius!!!! thanks

[@seanstacey73]

Hey Joel! I often use your FS action and I love it. I have a question about freckles. What is your thought process of removing or leaving freckles so not to make the subject look unnatural, but keeping the skin clean. Thanks for all you do for educating photographers and editors! Much love!

[@joelgrimes]

great question. I think it's really important to preserve what is natural on the person. Sometimes in tutorials I'll work fast to prioritize teaching and remove a person's natural look. But like I said, keep what is there, just accentuate it

[@jasonholt9171]

Thanks so much Joel! I have struggled with this A LOT. Your method is so simple. Can I ask when would you perform hair clean up and other small tasks where you'd need the spot healing brush. For example after fixing the skin on a headshot, I may want to remove lights from a background or remove hair flyaways etc. In both cases I need to work on a copy layer. In the past I have been frustrated because (obviously) once you create a merge stamp visible layer, you can't go back to do any final D&B or skin fixes. And, also I'd like to know when you do any liquify if required. Again this needs a copy layer. I get confused to know the best/correct/simplest order for my retouching process. I hope this all makes sense and look forward to your comments. Thanks SO SO Much!

[@tomwerges1284]

Hi Joel (or anyone else who can help) - I followed all the steps to the tee. Like Luca, when I get to the step where I'm supposed to paint with the "Healing Brush Tool" to smooth the skin, I get a colored circle for the brush. Once I hit the "alt/opton key" I get the bullseye as shown in the video. But when I paint with the healing brush and the color set to black, I get a white transparency looking finish where I paint, not the blended image shown in the video? It ruins the image. Can anyone explain what I need to do to fix this? Thank you!

[@NiniRockX]

Happened the same to me. (I left that out) Nevertheless, I continued to follow the video and the editing didn't make my picture any better. That's what I like about all the videos on You tube. There is still a great lack of information. check out Piximperfect Unmesh Dinda

[@sofiaoropesa]

i am lost at "shift command" 3:20. it is not doing anything when i do that on mac

[@kevdc]

Try shift-command-N or shift-command-option-N

[@siegfriedliberia2696]

Is there a differece betweeb 8bjt an 16bit?

[@SidneyPratt]

Thanks.

[@franciscoortega2829]

Why use Dust and Scratches as opposed to Gaussian Blur? Is there a benefit?

[@vernonr7404]

What I still don't understand about Frequency Separation is, What do I when I'm all done blurring/blending my top and bottoms layers? Where is my Final Image? Do I save the top layer? the Bottom? Or do I merge or recombine the two before Saving? Do I "Save As" to keep the image I want, my final product?

[@kolossimike]

What you see on screen is your final image, provided all layers are active. What you do from that point is up to you. You don't need to merge if you don't want to, and you can save/export however you wish. Personally, I would resize and/or export the image in the required output format (without merging), and then save it as a psd to preserve all the layers, just in case I need to go back and make changes.

[@amandaq5439]

Hey im having a problem and i followed all the steps except the command shift to create a new layer because i dont have that option on my photoshop. When im doing the healing brush its making dark blotches. and i was on the high layer when editing im very confused but i really like this technique

[@ArijitBiswasdotcom]

are you using a wacom tablet?

[@iftekharshifat9577]

Thank you for the information. Can you make a video on the AI-powered photo editing platform autoRetouch? The work of skin retouching is so easy on this platform. Furthermore, it is offering a one month free trial.

[@hananayoub2552]

thank you 👍😊😊

[@juanstout]

Having a problem on the texture layer with the healing brush. It is not working on the texture layer but works on a normal layer... any suggestions

[@joelgrimes]

You may not have "sample all layers" checked in the settings at the top of your screen

[@HV71851]

Joel, can you tell me why I am not able on the high image, under Image, open the the Apply image option? In other words, it is not highlighted. Thank you!

[@Frimpeezzy]

Thanks for this information. My question is, if I want to make an action for this, where do I start it?

[@Frimpeezzy]

Joel Grimes at what point do I hit action button. Before I start duplicate the pictures?

[@Frimpeezzy]

Joel Grimes thank you 🙏

[@IvanBoden]

Joel - Will that technique work for both 8-bit and 16-bit images?

[@lucavigan4874]

A little problem, i followed all the points but after using healing brush there are black points that appear on the skin. I can't understand why :(

[@gomboayushborsbold7814]

me too... did find out fixing method?

[@taslimakhatun6624]

Please share image download link.

[@qwsnote]

Any chance you can share your actions from this video for download

[@SPACENINJAYT]

Your the man

[@no-ee]

I’m not against this, I just find it amazing how much fixation we have on perfecting beauty. I find nothing wrong with the original shot. Thanks for demoing this technique.

[@joelgrimes]

Thanks for the feedback. the goal is to teach obviously. Personal preference and ethics are up to you of course!

[@AndreasKemalis]

Thanks!

[@sofiaoropesa]

how do you create an "action button"?

[@FastAkira]

Why dust and scratches instead of gausian blur or median? Is it better?

[@FastAkira]

@@joelgrimes yes sir, absolutely. Thank you

[@dhirajrai5817]

GOOD

[@joelgrimes]

thanks!

[@amykluttz4206]

thanks so much! but i am doing something wrong, and can't figure it out! When i use the Healing brush on the High Frequency image, the result on the blemish is a black mark.... Can you please help?

[@amandaq5439]

im having the same problem.... i was on the high layer when i was trying to edit to please help....

[@auditeconsulting2335]

@@amandaq5439 Set the sample to "Current Layer" when using the Healing Brush. If you use "Current and Below" you'll get a blemish. Mine were red!

[@tonysempertegui5786]

@@auditeconsulting2335 Thanks a lot! I had the same problem and I was breaking my head trying to figure out what was I doing wrong. Thanks!

[@behanna413]

It's Bella!

[@sarimner]

set the B&W layer to color blend mode! 👍😁

[@fib7632]

why?

[@sarimner]

@@fib7632 why not! Have you try it?

[@kuldeepsharma6967]

How we can get advance retouching ?

[@joelgrimes]

www.joelgrimes.com/portrait-photography-mega-bundle-deal

[@john3Lee]

Thank you :)

[@nenolima5595]

If you have a photoshoot with 20 photos to give the client, do you do all this for all?

[@1AMSPLIFF]

pretty much thats why actions cut down time but working on each photo goes a long way there are less time consuming ways to retouch but to get that quality you have to put in the time

[@tigerthomsan4936]

Thanks Sir VVVVVVVVV GGGGGGGGGGood Classssssssssssss

[@joelgrimes]

Awesome, thanks tiger

[@jyotikantarout1410]

wow

[@ohsnaptutorials5409]

When I enter " common F" it brings up a search bar inside of Photoshop .

[@DanTuber]

How can you dodge and burn an empty layer? I also don't agree with using gausian blur on skin cos you lose the texture of skin.

[@FastAkira]

Well, you dont lose the texture of the skin because the texture is on another separate layer (frequency SEPARATION). So maybe you wanted to point out something else. What method do you use instead of gausean blur?

[@MyLittleUnboxing]

Thanks.. (Y)

[@rockin5428]

Couldn't get good results, back to Kelby One

[@HURPSYYEMRAY1]

10 K U

[@RotterStudios]

You're showing steps and adding layers but I don't know why you're doing it. Should start out with the how and why and then go to details on how to do it. First 3 minutes was spent wondering why you're doing what you're doing.