First photo alteration ever!

[niv0070]

This is absolutley the first time I ever touch photoshop.. I'll be happy to get the most honest feedback and what to change!

the picture is of Ciri from The Witcher 3 game.


This is the edited:



And this is original:

 

[IamSam]

Hello and welcome to PSG.

You've done a great job on this edit for your first time!

What tools did you use?

There are still some refinements that you might need.

 

[niv0070]

Hello and welcome to PSG.

You've done a great job on this edit for your first time!

What tools did you use?

There are still some refinements that you might need.
View attachment 56115

Hey Sam, I actually used only the brush and pencil tool.
Thank you for the feedback, how do you suggest to fix what's in your image?

 

[IamSam]

Very nice, this tells me that you understand subtlety with the Brush Tool.

On these types of edits, the Clone Stamp Tool and the Brush Tool would be the main tools I would use. I suggest you start from scratch, but you could clone over the work you have done, it's up to you.

The trick with the Clone Stamp Tool is to sample often and use low settings. Set your flow somewhere between 20% and 70% when using it. The image will dictate the setting.

Always work on a new layer.

After you have the Clone work done, then use the Brush Tool with low settings (flows between 1% and 30%) and sample local colors. You may even have to add back some lost texture using light and dark 'dots'.

This was done very fast so it's not perfect...


Here is the clone stamp/brush tool layer.

 

[niv0070]

Very nice, this tells me that you understand subtlety with the Brush Tool.

On these types of edits, the Clone Stamp Tool and the Brush Tool would be the main tools I would use. I suggest you start from scratch, but you could clone over the work you have done, it's up to you.

The trick with the Clone Stamp Tool is to sample often and use low settings. Set your flow somewhere between 20% and 70% when using it. The image will dictate the setting.

Always work on a new layer.

After you have the Clone work done, then use the Brush Tool with low settings (flows between 1% and 30%) and sample local colors. You may even have to add back some lost texture using light and dark 'dots'.

This was done very fast so it's not perfect...


Here is the clone stamp/brush tool layer.

Thank you very much for the time!! I'll work on this and post it when im finished (using your tips of course!).

 

[IamSam]

You definitely have the skill set. The devil is in the details. Subtlety is the key. Sample often. Match the color, tone, and texture.

I'm looking forward to seeing your results!

 

[niv0070]

You defiantly have the skill set. The devil is in the details. Subtlety is the key. Sample often. Match the color, tone, and texture.

I'm looking forward to seeing your results!

Well it took a few moments to get used to the clone stamp tool.. but this is what I managed to do!

 

[IamSam]

Excellent! Much better results.

Just one minor issue.....

You have a repetitive pattern as seen below and pointed out by the arrows.



PS. I neglected to mention that you need to zoom in on the image when your working.

 

[niv0070]

Excellent! Much better results.

Just one minor issue.....

You have a repetitive pattern as seen below and pointed out by the arrows.


PS. I neglected to mention that you need to zoom in on the image when your working.

Exactly what I wanted to prevent :sad:
Thank you very much for your help!!
do you have ideas for more stuff like that to practice on that? because as I said, it was my first use of photoshop now.

And again.. Thank you very much!!

 

[IamSam]

You can avoid these repeats, just work zoomed in and with a smaller brush on the clone stamp tool.

You could seek out some tutorials on the Clone stamp tool, content aware move tool, etc.

As for practice, Just look up some old damaged photos. and get to work!

 

[Rich54]

I would add one more tip for doing these types of alterations. There is a fairly easy technique for creating your own simulated skin texture. If you do this over too large an area it can look too uniform and not realistic, but for small, oddly shaped areas it can work well when the Clone Stamp is too difficult or tedious.

1. On a new layer, fill or paint over the area you want to retouch with 50% Gray. (It needs to be specifically that color.)
2. Change the layer blend mode to Overlay. The gray disappears and it looks like you've done nothing at all.
3. Go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise. The amount of noise depends on the size of the image, but usually 5% to 10% works well. Be sure to check the box that says Monochromatic.
4. Give the noise layer a slight Gaussian Blur to smooth the hard edges... perhaps 0.5 pixels.
5. Reduce the layer opacity until your new texture matches the rest of the image without being noticeable. Start with a 50% reduction and adjust from there.

There are many variations of this basic technique:
- Instead of Overlay, try using Hard Light.
- Instead of 50% Gray, paint with pure white and set the layer blend mode to Multiply. Or paint with pure black and set the blend mode to Screen.
- Sometimes the skin tones contain a lot of subtle reds, greens, blues and yellows. You can mimic this by following the same steps above, but un-checking the Monochromatic box.
- If you're interested in a much more advanced technique that works wonders for this kind of thing, search Google and YouTube for "Photoshop Split Frequency Technique".

 

[niv0070]

I would add one more tip for doing these types of alterations. There is a fairly easy technique for creating your own simulated skin texture. If you do this over too large an area it can look too uniform and not realistic, but for small, oddly shaped areas it can work well when the Clone Stamp is too difficult or tedious.

1. On a new layer, fill or paint over the area you want to retouch with 50% Gray. (It needs to be specifically that color.)
2. Change the layer blend mode to Overlay. The gray disappears and it looks like you've done nothing at all.
3. Go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise. The amount of noise depends on the size of the image, but usually 5% to 10% works well. Be sure to check the box that says Monochromatic.
4. Give the noise layer a slight Gaussian Blur to smooth the hard edges... perhaps 0.5 pixels.
5. Reduce the layer opacity until your new texture matches the rest of the image without being noticeable. Start with a 50% reduction and adjust from there.

There are many variations of this basic technique:
- Instead of Overlay, try using Hard Light.
- Instead of 50% Gray, paint with pure white and set the layer blend mode to Multiply. Or paint with pure black and set the blend mode to Screen.
- Sometimes the skin tones contain a lot of subtle reds, greens, blues and yellows. You can mimic this by following the same steps above, but un-checking the Monochromatic box.
- If you're interested in a much more advanced technique that works wonders for this kind of thing, search Google and YouTube for "Photoshop Split Frequency Technique".

Thanks Rich, thats a very good method for the skin noise (which I found very challenging to do with the brush and the pencil), The 'Hard Light' option make it look more like a burn than natural skin, and with that in mind I stick with the Overlay.

Thank you very much! it will help me a lot!

 

[IamSam]

I would add one more tip for doing these types of alterations. There is a fairly easy technique for creating your own simulated skin texture. If you do this over too large an area it can look too uniform and not realistic, but for small, oddly shaped areas it can work well when the Clone Stamp is too difficult or tedious.

1. On a new layer, fill or paint over the area you want to retouch with 50% Gray. (It needs to be specifically that color.)
2. Change the layer blend mode to Overlay. The gray disappears and it looks like you've done nothing at all.
3. Go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise. The amount of noise depends on the size of the image, but usually 5% to 10% works well. Be sure to check the box that says Monochromatic.
4. Give the noise layer a slight Gaussian Blur to smooth the hard edges... perhaps 0.5 pixels.
5. Reduce the layer opacity until your new texture matches the rest of the image without being noticeable. Start with a 50% reduction and adjust from there.

There are many variations of this basic technique:
- Instead of Overlay, try using Hard Light.
- Instead of 50% Gray, paint with pure white and set the layer blend mode to Multiply. Or paint with pure black and set the blend mode to Screen.
- Sometimes the skin tones contain a lot of subtle reds, greens, blues and yellows. You can mimic this by following the same steps above, but un-checking the Monochromatic box.
- If you're interested in a much more advanced technique that works wonders for this kind of thing, search Google and YouTube for "Photoshop Split Frequency Technique".

Excellent idea, the only thing I would do differently is that I would convert the layer into a smart object.

 

[niv0070]

Excellent idea, the only thing I would do differently is that I would convert the layer into a smart object.

What is the difference between a simple layer to a smart object?

 

[IamSam]

In this case........

The SO layer gives you the ability to adjust any of the smart filters that you apply to the layer at anytime. The one drawback is, you won't be able to edit the layer in which you painted the 50% gray, so you have to get that layer just right before you convert to a SO.

 

[IamSam]

I thought you might like looking over these older threads, there is some great information in them.

https://www.photoshopgurus.com/foru...515-photo-retouching-practice.html?highlight=

https://www.photoshopgurus.com/foru...hing-restoration-practice-2-a.html?highlight=

https://www.photoshopgurus.com/foru...hoto-retouching-restoration-practice-3-a.html