Step by step Skin Retouching Tutorial - Frequency Separation in Photoshop

[@koertvanrooijen8186]

finally had time to sit down and follow this tutorial! Thanks for making it not too complex yet super effective!!

[@nicocastillo2099]

Been using a similar method of FS for years now. The only difference is that I still use a brush tool on the color layer instead of a stamp tool. It works for me but I might give the stamp tool another go after seeing this. Thanks Julia!

[@juliatrotti]

I used to use the brush tool before as well! For me personally I like the stamp tool as it blends the colours a lot easier/better. With the brush tool you have to select what colour to use a lot more often, the stamp tool follows the sample area to where you are brushing.

[@mackenziemendez8748]

this was so clear and helpful! thank you!!!

[@spreaddbykentashimada6716]

after clicking “apply image”, you can select “invert” and blending mode “add” and offset “0”. when i retouching color, i use patch tool for correcting relatively large shades, then use healing tool for smoothing skin tone and use brush tool for creating highlights and shades. anyway thanks for sharing nice natural-looking editing!

[@tapiwanashe201]

For anyone wondering why the clone stamp tool isn't working at 03:00 when you create a new blank layer (Control + Shift + N), It's probably because you have "Sample from Current layer" selected at the top instead of "Sample from all layers"

[@felicitycook2327]

Thank youuuuuu!!!!!

[@marathongranny]

This was a great video! I do retouching for a volunteer organization called "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep". We gently retouch babies who were born sleeping or who passed away in the NICU. I think this will be an asset for my work. You mentioned there is an action for the FS. But I didn't see it when I clicked on the link. Not sure where to get this. Thank you for a great video!

[@IQRAAlfurqan]

After so many days I watched your video, helpful and advanced in information.

[@juliatrotti]

Thank you, glad you liked it

[@IQRAAlfurqan]

@@juliatrotti what thanks you deserve this you work very hard.

[@nicks231988]

Absolutely loved the video. Gives me motivation to start portrait shoots. I'd love to see another detailed video of skin retouching please on another photo with a more difficult subject and a more detailed video please 🙏🙏🙏🙏 from Making layers to the actions taken. Thanks so much.

[@Eye-V.]

You're the best! Thanks for this video 👌👍

[@pamo1166]

You’re an expert at editing! You do such a great job and I love your presets! If I remember correctly from watching one of your videos I think you said you had editing jobs before you became a professional photographer.

[@juliatrotti]

Thank you so much!! Yes I first started experimenting with Photoshop creating photo stitches and things like that before ever touching a camera. It was my photo editing that made me want to take my own photos, since I used to edit stock images and other photographer's work.

[@Athbiqattan]

saved as a reference! and subscribed .. a really great tutorial!

[@therealcinnimo]

4k 🥰🙋🏻‍♀️ so happy about this video

[@juliatrotti]

Thank you!

[@starskysaber]

This is just a personal opinion. Dodge and burning for lightening or darkening faces is something a prefer more, but thanks for the tutorial cause i'll try both and see what is the pros and cons of each technique. 😃

[@kefkapalazzo1]

I stopped using this because I like to use dodge and burn more, but I might start using this again on the limbs on my subjects to save time.

[@Goldmangun]

Very nice, subtle job!

[@juliatrotti]

Thank you!

[@FranAndtheJourneytoBaby]

Hi Julia 👋🏻 I hope it’s okay to ask this question. I currently shoot with an a7iii and love my camera but recently started having some issues. Of course, out of warranty so I am just wanting to upgrade. I’m debating between the 7iv and the 7riv. I watched all your videos, but didn’t see those two models being compared directly to each other. I shoot mostly portraits and equines. The 7riv is on sale quite a bit right now, which means the price difference isn’t too huge. It feels weird not to want to jump on such a great camera, but I guess I’m scared of the MP being too much to handle. Any advice would be amazing 🥰

[@MattSteez]

great tutorial!

[@srdjandedic8051]

At the top level (fashion photography for magazines like Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire), only dodge and burn technique using one curve layer for dodge and the other for burn is industry standard. FS tends to make skin look digital, overretouched and unnatural. Not a single high end magazine would publish any portrait of a model which skin is retouched by frequency separation

[@YimiiO]

So beautiful

[@juliatrotti]

Thank you :)

[@Shiba_habichlieber]

I'm soo happy that we use AI today for these kind of works instead frequency separation 😅😅

[@harveroque3434]

tysm🤗

[@bananro93]

Please do a review-comparison of sigma 28 1.4 vs sigma 35 1.4. It is very interesting to look at 28 1.4 on Sony!

[@gilles2nice]

Great job ! How do you do to have such sharp photos in exterior ?? !!

[@swamipillai6944]

You can use mixer brush tool. Instead if these tools . I think its easy.

[@nicocastillo2099]

Not really. Mixer brush tends to destroy the tones and makes the skin looks fake. This is for amateurs. For pro retouchers who want to go down to the very last details, Frequency Separation is still the king.

[@WildlifeWächter]

When i place a new layer on "texture" and use the spot healing it simply does nothing. Any help?

[@monetkhuth]

same here

[@dyceinshades]

Very helpful

[@juliatrotti]

Thank you, glad you liked it :D

[@AlirezaS]

00:26 > I didn't find the bts link in the description!!! Where is it?

[@robertoryuk]

🙌

[@JosekuttyKL06]

😍

[@bernardosinski5004]

Hi everyone :) I have used some other FS methods but I am always free to try new things and I tried the one offered by Julia. It's good as the others but one detail seems to be very uncomfortable. When I take a source probe from any part of the skin and I stamp a little bit too large areas there is a huge chance that the source will copy pixels from totally out of skin/face area. It might not be visible on spot because it's a subtle method anyway and the source is not that obvious but can happen. Am I right? That's why a brush seems to be more reliable. What do you guys think about it?

[@andreas.farsch]

Actually that is not possible. The whole idea of Frequency Separation is that you divide your editing between these two layers, which have a clear and distinct purpose, and are specifically prepared for that, and are shielded from each other. Julia worked with the Clone Stamp Tool and the Spot Healing Brush only on the COLOR Layer. Not only did she name that layer "Color", she created this layer so that only the color can be modified. To make it short: it is not possible to modify the Texture on the Color Layer. You cannot clone actual "skin pixels" on the Color Layer, only color and tone (brightness) values. (Please note that while technically new layers were created while working with the clone tools, these layers still "belong" to the Color Layer, because the Texture Layer is above and therefore covers and protects all the skin pixels, preventing them from being modified by the cloning adjustments, so only the color is being copied by the clone tools.)

[@bernardosinski5004]

@@andreas.farsch Hi. It makes sense. Thank you for explanation. I must check it to assure myself but I got it.

[@smellgoodphotography7722]

If I download one of the actions like the frequency separation how do I add it to my photoshop to use?

[@parayt3230]

where I can find raw files to practice my editing skills? I dont have any camera yet but I enjoy editing a lot and I would like to become a better editor! Any help is welcome and would be appreciated

[@SneakyPeteBike]

i do the same as u but my layers don't match exactly over the other.. but why I done get it who can help me

[@CanadianH0b0]

How do you get such crisp clear photos? I use a t7i and i feel like my camera can never get that crisp of photos

[@juliatrotti]

My last video is about how to capture sharp images in case you haven't seen that yet!

[@Ro_zar_ka]

i have been trying follow your tutorial but i cant pass throught new "layer 1" in my photoshop layer 1 thumbnail is grey-white checkered not only white and im not able to use stamp tool at all... like nothing happends because it is blank layer for me.. do you know what i am doing wrong?

[@juliatrotti]

Make sure you have the stamp tool set to “sample all layers” then it will work on a blank layer like I did in this video :)

[@Blackmind0]

l am little bit confused now, working on shadows or with healing tool is frequenzy separation?

[@juliatrotti]

The working with shadows retouching is called dodge and burn retouching - I personally don't like using this method as it is very time consuming. It looks great BUT takes way too much time for me personally. Frequency separation is quick but still natural looking!

[@Blackmind0]

@@juliatrotti ..thank you :)

[@JifferRiffic]

I think you should take it a step more, Frequency separation layers are only half the step. Make a Black and white channel, then you want to make a light mask curve and dark mask curve layer for blending the highs and lows using brush tool. This way your not actually taking away from the image or adjusting pixels only levels of light and since its a mask your not actually damaging anything. Cool video though.

[@SeanNeale]

I prefer Julia’s approach in comparison to the overzealous use of retouching that others encourage. You see it all over Instagram and TikTok where people are severely overdoing retouching. We stan subtlety. But of course, to each their own.

[@MrBennyrick77]

Is doing that the same as adjusting highlights and shadows?

[@JifferRiffic]

@@MrBennyrick77 Most professionals use Frequency separation as that 20% extra step, and most of them use a combination of the stamp tool but mainly just a color picker tool and brush with a few strokes to fill in the small imperfections. The first steps that where missed was basically dodging and burning of your darks and highlights. You want to get to 80% of your image using the dodge and burn method (NOT TOOL) first then if you need to fix more complicated areas you go that 20% extra with this frequency separation. If you do too much of the frequency separation or if your values of the texture layer is off your going to get color spill into the frequency layer.

[@MrBennyrick77]

@@JifferRiffic what do you mean 80% if doge and burn but then say not the tool? If your not using the dodge and burn tool what are you using? . Fantastic answer by the way.

[@juliatrotti]

I think what you are referring to is dodge and burn retouching, which is another fantastic method for retouching skin with natural looking results. For me personally, this method is very time consuming + its also not second nature for me to retouch this way as I have already been using FS for many years and I am not used to D&B. I personally like only using FS as I can create natural results such as in this video + it is quite fast to retouch like this. Of course there are many different ways you can do retouching in Photoshop including what you said about dodge and burning. I am just sharing my technique, this is what I do for all my photos beginning to end.

[@shayrealestatephotography]

Thanks, great. Can I ask about your accent? I see that you're Aussie, but I swear I'm hearing something else mixed in as well? Maybe your parents are from 2 different places? Sounds very unique to me. Or maybe I'm just a weirdo? ;)

[@nickorafael3887]

Sony a6400 + sigma 56mm f1.4 vs Sony a7 IV+ Sigma 85mm comparison

[@Ro_zar_ka]

Hi, why are the First steps important? What will happend without them?

[@juliatrotti]

The first steps separate colour and texture. So if you don't do them, you will retouch with the stamp tool and it will just make the skin look soft and unrealistic!

[@andreigere]

The whole point of the Texture layer, otherwise known as the High Frequency layer is to work ON it, since it is the layer that contains the texture. Creating a new regular layer above the texture layer and using a healing brush on the blank layer simply samples the entire image, which means you're no longer using a frequency separation method. It is the equivalent of flattening all layers and creating a new blank layer on which you use a healing brush. You may want to give this some thought and revise your method and maybe even update the video or this will be teaching a lot of people a bad way of going about frequency separation.

[@juliatrotti]

I used to use the texture layer as intended, but over the years I learnt I prefer to make new layers instead for texture. I also rarely use texture at all tbh - most of my work is done underneath the texture and that’s usually enough.

[@andreigere]

@@juliatrotti I understand that's your preference, and it's fine. But for "Step by step teaching" purposes, I think those who are new to frequency separation should understand that this approach is effectively no longer frequency separation. What is actually shown in the video is color separation and then some healing brush work that doesn't actually use the texture separation portion. You can see this by hiding all layers except the ones above the Texture layer in your video, and you'll see that what you're "healing" is not texture, but the whole thing. It may be less misleading if once you're done with the color retouch, you either flatten all layers or merge them all into a new layer (Stamp Visible) using Cmd+Shift+Option+E (Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E on PC) and then create your new layers for using the healing brush.

[@hassaninali1894]

🥰🥰🥰🥰

[@travelnewsbeneficialknowle3020]

🙏🙏👍

[@haker1990]

شرح حلو

[@taslimakhatun6624]

Please share same image download link

[@sarahha6523]

I have no clue why the clone tool isn't working in a blank layer...

[@markflorian23]

Hi ! Can I know if Heidi has an Instagram or a model Website? Thanks so much

[@heatherjohnson4185]

this method does not work very well with someone who does not already have perfect skin, definitely not older women. the clone stamp seems to pick up all the textures you don't want the brush tool works much better in my opinion.

[@AlejandraCerda]

Focus on her eye bags, made me laugh cause she didn't have any ☺

[@juliatrotti]

lol yes they were very minor tbh, it's hard to have every example to share within one image! But even with darker or more prominent eye bags I still do the same thing :)

[@OwenIverson]

Pro tip: never photograph an open mouth unless it's THE point of the shot.

[@alexanderktn]

Tbh I find it sad that we need to retouch a beautiful model at all.

[@juliatrotti]

It’s not that you NEED to retouch a portrait. For me personally it’s a handy skill to know as a portrait photographer as you never know what a client might request. Another reason is that a lot of cameras are so high res and lenses are very sharp that it emphasises things you can’t even really see with your own eyes lol like stray hairs, even pimples. I also only ever remove anything that’s not permanent. I leave beauty marks, scars, etc.

[@stevenphelps8625]

Already a problem, please don’t do something and not say how! So annoying! How do you duplicate a layer? You’re just doing stuff without saying how. Watch your videos all the time and I need help but these videos on here are not explaining how and that’s what we are here for.

[@tannerfamily4152]

Yeah, why bother letting the girl looks like she actually looks.

[@MrBennyrick77]

Why bother watching a video just to comment on that.

[@juliatrotti]

I don't always retouch photos, it depends on the job/client/style of work that I'm doing. My skin retouching is also very natural, I only ever remove things that are not permanent on someone's face that a high resolution camera and super sharp lenses really emphasise in a photo.

[@ManchmalGaming]

I would call it digital makeup. So, why makeup?

[@derekmadge]

I personally lean towards gritty, "as it is", photos. But these techniques are not making the woman look plastic like some do. And much of it is dealing with, as Julia Trotti mentions, the impermanent- that is things that are not really part of her. Shadows, overly bright highlights, stray hairs, that sort of thing. She specifically mentions that she tends to leave in beauty marks.

[@ramspencer5492]

It's also not natural for a person to be frozen in a pose. A photo is not hype someone actually looks. There is a poetry to motion. And ....That's actually the point of this method.... To retain as much of how the subject actually looks..... Rather than making it look plastic or overly blurring everything out. Light often make more difference than this style of retouching... Should people only be allowed to be photographed in hard light or some particular light conditions? How far do you want to take that strange attitude? First off.... are you saying do away with makeup? Even if a woman likes the way it makes her look and feel? How about haircuts or bathing as well? 🤪