PROFESSIONAL Frequency Separation Secrets: No More Plastic Looking Skin

Frequency separation usually looks...not that great, yet professional retouchers use these techniques literally all the time. So what gives? What are you missing?
In this video I'm walking through 5 tips that will help take your Frequency Separation edits in Photoshop to the next level.
00:00 Intro
01:00 What this video is NOT
01:51 TIP 1 - Median Radius
04:53 TIP 2 - Texture First Workflow
09:48 TIP 3 - Color Low Layer Edits
14:17 TIP 4 - Work Non-destructively
16:40 TIP 5 - How to Run FS Multiple Times
Want a copy of my free hair brushes? Sign up for the newsletter here (we respect your privacy):
tinyurl.com/mr...
My creative agency: www.rawbarcrea...
My personal travel photography blog: www.justinperr...
Follow me: / rawbarcreative

[@beombas_tic]

10 years of photoshop and still learning something new! Thank you for super informative tips and you just earned my sub sir :)

[@RetoucherJustin]

Thanks that means a ton! I'm glad it was helpful and I appreciate the sub! 🙌

[@JohnShyloski]

I use the same FS action from a pro edu course. Median FS is the way to go. Thanks for the tip of making a smart object and then running the action again for different parts of the image, then separating out the layers again. I would relabel the FS layers by hand but this way is so much faster. Great tips on not being too heavy handed on the color layer. It can be easy to push it too far!

[@RetoucherJustin]

It's such a great action I use it every day, media really is the way. I'm glad the smart object tip was helpful!

[@felm.974]

Thanks man! That was great, time consuming, but great tips.

[@RetoucherJustin]

Thanks! Yeah I know haha it's so hard to explain this stuff without running long...keeping it under 20 mins is tough! Thanks for watching!

[@felm.974]

Thanks, no, it is great, lol, I meant, your technique seems more time consuming but it seems to produce a more realistic look... never seen this approach before, thank you.. also, with how fast clients wants their photos sent to them, this can be a tough approach to take... let's see, I def like the look, it is just kinda tricky w/ how desperate clients are lol@@RetoucherJustin

[@onlyfriendyeah]

never found a practical application for brush blend modes until seeing this, good tip ty for sharing + subbed

[@RetoucherJustin]

that's so awesome I'm glad it helped! And thank you for the sub!

[@dasha_fedorova]

Good job! 😍 I really love frequency separation with mediana. It’s so natural and convenient)

[@RetoucherJustin]

Thank you Dasha! It really is the best! What do you use to clean your color layer? I feel like that is what people struggle with the most

[@dasha_fedorova]

@@RetoucherJustin I use only Capture One for color 🥇😁

[@demacf6805]

Just learning about FS - definitely a step up from what I was doing. Learned so much from your video. Thanks, and I'll look for more videos because I can tell you know so much more that I will benefit form.

[@RetoucherJustin]

Oh thank you that's great to hear! If you ever have any questions feel free to ask and I'll try to make a video about it if I know something that might help! If not I can maybe send you to some other good teachers on this stuff

[@davidcolephoto]

Great stuff, Justin. The smart object back to layers workflow is a great tip, and texture before color makes a lot of sense.

[@CorporalDavis]

thanks so much for the info

[@RetoucherJustin]

Glad it helped! If you have any questions let me know!

[@waky123]

thanx man .. good informations🤞

[@RetoucherJustin]

thanks I'm glad it helped! Got any questions about it? I need more video content ideas so let me know and I'm happy to answer if I know how!

[@Mckinneystunts]

Do you have a download link to that action you use 👀?

[@trevorpsy]

Hi Justine. From whom did you buy your frequency-separation software?

[@RetoucherJustin]

Hey! I got mine from PRO Edu! It's been a few years but I think it came with their commercial retouching workflow course proedu.com/collections/retouching-course-collection

[@trevorpsy]

I just checked. You're right. Thanks for the info. @@RetoucherJustin

[@000CloudStrife]

You are still losing frequencies. So no not highest end you can go. It’s pointless. Well not pointless but if you want absolutely the best end results you are better off not using fs at all.

[@RetoucherJustin]

Really, why do you say that? Do you mind explaining how you suggest to not lose frequencies? I might not have made it clear but I use frequency separation as just one tool in a long process for editing a file, it's never the only step. Do you skip it altogether? Thanks for the comment!

[@000CloudStrife]

@@RetoucherJustin just don’t use frequency separation. Study maximiliano riccioti.(did I spell his name correctly? lol) Also after preparing the file in raw development color comes first. Always. Once color is done you do everything else and move color up top of the workflow once you have done all the retouching. Don’t sharpen in raw ever Clone higher contrast areas Heal lower contrast areas You can create more detail with curves and lum maps Channels is an editors/retouchers best friend for making selections. When earth Oliver taught fs 2.0 it still had the same issue of losing detail/data Patrick naik(I think I spelled that right) Also created a fs2.0 you still lose data. It’s hard to explain everything in text. So yes. The best advice is if you want to be .1% of best retouchers in the world like my mentor(female retoucher top 10 every year) Skip frequency separation

[@RetoucherJustin]

Yo thanks for the response! Youre right and this is all spot on, and definitely all parts of a good workflow, we are in agreement! The reality is frequency separation is a tool that can save a significant amount of time depending on the job, and if you're going to use it it's best to use it right. I'd rather teach people good techniques to get a better result with it than use the other bad info on KZbin lol. But yes it should not be the only technique used, maybe I didnt make that clear in the video. Just one piece of the puzzle depending on the job. But I've never had a client complain yet and thats what matters most to me lol

[@000CloudStrife]

@@RetoucherJustin you c an still do quick work without fs. I can’t get into detail about it due to privacy concerns. But I do agree fs place in the industry is due to mostly budget/time. However dnb should take an image to in store boards quality in 6 minutes. So multiple images for commercial without fs is possible. It just becomes about the individual practicing to get to that point. When I’m talking about commercial I’m talking the retoucher(if you aren’t doing it in house) getting paid 5 figures per project.

[@RetoucherJustin]

Haha dude we are saying the same thing I promise, I run a retouch agency we charge in that arena for some campaigns, theres unfortunately some stuff I cant talk about in a KZbin video for the same reasons but I'm trying to share what I can. This was mainly for the folks struggling to understand why their FS might not look as good as they expect it to (well really why most FS looks bad, I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about thats why you don't use it lol). FS can definitely help in a pinch, and I admit I use it on almost every shot in some small way or another, but definitely not on the whole thing! Too much to cover in one vid haha. I'm so curious to know who you have worked with but I know you can't say rofl. Thanks for engaging!