Superb Skin Airbrush Technique

Dan (Israel)
#1. February 24th, 2008, at 5:27 PM.

Thank you for taking the time making Photoshop tutorials
Nicely done!
(You might put again the missing pictures though).

Dan (Israel)
#2. February 24th, 2008, at 5:31 PM.

Sorry. After refreshing the page, nothing is missing…
Thanks again.

Janice
#3. February 25th, 2008, at 12:17 AM.

I think, as a tutorial, you should have made the skin darker instead of brightening it like those makeup ads. Because the purpose for this tutorial is to airbrush skin right? Not to make it brighter. Perhaps offer it as an additional step but don’t actually use it so that we can see the difference without the brightening in the final results.

Rupali Patil
#4. February 25th, 2008, at 6:27 AM.

It’s fine….!i got the best results….

TuanAnh
#5. February 25th, 2008, at 9:04 AM.

Thats really a great tutorial.Very useful , thank you!

carlmaxx
#6. February 26th, 2008, at 2:49 PM.

thank you so much!!! now i learn something new….God bless you

Jim
#7. February 26th, 2008, at 5:57 PM.

Nice start but the flesh is too “rangy”. She has a big red splotch in her forehead. Examine the alpha channels. Many high end clients don’t want china dolls. Some wrinkles need to be there, but just subdue them. Flesh is very hard to do and takes a great deal of time. There really is no blanket move. I felt the noise layer turned to 50% helped the flesh look better. Dont forget the hair edge as well.

-Jim

Billy
#8. February 27th, 2008, at 8:20 PM.

This may be useful for people who don’t want it to look that perfect and want it more natural:
I find that in step 13, if you use the green channel instead of the red, it looks more natural and less airbrushed. But you start seeing pimples and some wrinkles.

Heather
#9. February 28th, 2008, at 8:42 AM.

Thank you so much for this tutorial, I’ve tried airbrushing so many times and failed, this is by far the best tutorial I have found online! THANKS!

Suruchi Jain
#10. February 29th, 2008, at 1:14 AM.

Hey!
I don’t have the SMART BLUR OPTION in ma photoshop

wt shall i do?/
ur tutorial really seems interesting
is dere ne other alternative for SMART BLUR???

i use photoshop7.0…is dere ne other alternative?/ plz tell

khaled
#11. February 29th, 2008, at 4:32 AM.

thanks it’s great and cool tutorial
thank you so much

Syd
#12. March 6th, 2008, at 8:53 AM.

I didnt really like it. The skin still looks very fake in my opinion.

Dan
#13. March 8th, 2008, at 2:36 AM.

Guess what. It still looks plastic and blurred. Sorry, but real skin still looks better and the sooner idiots in the magazine and fashion industry realise this, the sooner insecure women will stop trying to live up to impossible standards.

knottstone2
#14. March 10th, 2008, at 3:17 PM.

Thank you for the tutorial!

LAXMAN
#15. March 11th, 2008, at 10:17 PM.

NICE EFFECT

chuchu
#16. March 12th, 2008, at 7:59 AM.

i Did not get it
~ i can’t make a layer in groups~
i also don’t have the right brush~
i don’t have also surface blur~

i use photoshop 7.0

Arild
#17. March 15th, 2008, at 7:29 AM.

I personally think the end result in this tutorial really looks fake and not good at all. But if you do some small changes along the way, and take down the opacity in the end result, I got a totaly different look. So I’m super happy with this guide. Saves me hours with the clone stamp and patch tool.

Thanks!

daveyphotodude
#18. March 16th, 2008, at 7:53 PM.

Nice tutorial !!! best one I have found on the subject of airbrushing !!! Thank You !!!

Giuseppe
#19. March 18th, 2008, at 3:46 AM.

Very nice tutorial, never done photoshop before and I managed to improve the skin quality on two drunk bastards. (don’t ask me who they are) the change isn’t dramatic but more suddle, making it look even more realistic. I might not have used exact tutorial settings, but it is definently a good starting point as a beginner to the program.
Very nice 5 stars or whatever they are called here

Hasmukhray
#20. March 19th, 2008, at 7:13 AM.

What I have noticed, is that it will work deferentially on deferent skin tone. However, if you do bit of a change according to what your image needs while you are working on it, then you will get almost 100% result of the effort has been made. I personally appreciate & liked it. Many thanks for your time.

Aviv
#21. March 21st, 2008, at 2:21 PM.

When i’m doing step 11, when i start painting nothing is hapenning, the skin doesn’t change? can you help me ASAP?

bhatti
#22. March 22nd, 2008, at 8:42 PM.

this dont look so realistic but i was searching tutorial like this.
this can be more reallistic. now it looks like as a model’s photo. looks pretty.

Becki
#23. March 27th, 2008, at 4:34 PM.

Hey I dont have the surface blur tool either? Do you have to download it as an add on or something :S HELPP!!

sarah
#24. April 2nd, 2008, at 1:24 PM.

i really don’t get the persons who say they can’t put layers in to groups, they don’t have smart blur or something else because they use ps 7.0, i use it, and i can do all that och i have all the tools o;
the result was really nice(!), even if i had some trouble understanding all the tools from the eginning because i use photoshop with another language (swedish)
thx for a great tutorial

Vici
#25. April 7th, 2008, at 1:54 PM.

Its all worked fine until it gets to the 50% grey scale + then later when i turn it back to a skin tone - i cant see the image at all, and when i try to apply image all i get is a screen of blockcolour because of the greyscale, and iv followed your instructions through thoroughly. so why hasnt it worked?!

ashwin chande
#26. April 19th, 2008, at 6:42 AM.

there are lots of other simple steps to do this work

avenkatesh
#27. April 28th, 2008, at 6:02 AM.

your tutorial are very nice to under standing and ur explaining through is very nice , giving the nice opportunuty to learn photo shop effects , thank you tutorial out post

Jody
#28. April 30th, 2008, at 2:32 PM.

Vici - #25 - Make sure you adjust to ‘Hard Light’ next to the Opacity level on the top. This will solve your problem.

Cindy
#29. May 3rd, 2008, at 6:45 PM.

Awesome tutorial! Worked perfectly…thanks!

deepak
#30. May 9th, 2008, at 1:54 PM.

its very interesting tutorial

John
#31. May 13th, 2008, at 11:47 AM.

Horrible tutorial. Several step left out…
1)How was the skin lightened?
2)Where did the mask from the group come from?
…. just to name a few!!!

Cass
#32. May 13th, 2008, at 3:31 PM.

I hate to say it, but parts of it still look far too smooth for being natural. This tutorial is slightly similar to one on Photoshop Tutorial’s website, but their’s is more realistic. If anyone wants that tutorial, look it up there.

Dennis
#33. May 17th, 2008, at 6:52 AM.

Thanks You Very Much I learn a lot to this tutorial but i make a little change to what you have done.. i apply the apply image to the texture layer rander than to the Group it self hehehehe.. then I find it more realistic.. but i think i always defend on the person editing the image..
Thank YOu Again.. Nice tutorial

ali
#34. May 27th, 2008, at 5:01 PM.

hi there, i have long been wanting to achieve this strategy you have changed my life!!!!

thank you

sLick-E
#35. June 16th, 2008, at 8:18 AM.

Dude, max respect! I really nailed it this time. hahaha! More power to your team. ^_^V

melody
#37. June 19th, 2008, at 10:38 AM.

wow! thanks! it was really easy following the instructions, hot keys helped as well!! great job!

Andrea
#38. June 19th, 2008, at 3:16 PM.

Here’s a hot tip for everyone saying it’s too fake….noone said you had to do it by the book! Learning the concepts and then playing around with the settings gave me a great natural finish, thanks so much, this is just what i was looking for.

YASIR R
#39. July 12th, 2008, at 1:57 AM.

IT IS SUPPERB…..

Craig
#40. July 16th, 2008, at 2:59 AM.

Nice tutorial. I work with photoshop everyday and have learnt something new from this. Ignore the comments above that say it doesn’t work or there are steps missing…..it does and there aren’t. These people do not understand photoshop and are using it incorrectly.

kristina
#42. July 31st, 2008, at 11:29 PM.

i can’t do step 11, it keeps on saying thAT i could not use the history brush because the history state does noty contain a corresponding layer. did i missed a step or that i did something wrong?

Manolo
#43. August 6th, 2008, at 1:23 PM.

Very very nice.Thank you.

TRP
#44. August 7th, 2008, at 12:16 AM.

Who is girl?

Lurkily
#45. August 12th, 2008, at 5:58 AM.

Kristina, did you have the correct layer selected? If you have a layer selected that has not been changed, there is no history to brush to.

I agree with those saying that this looks plastic. She looks like a china doll. Flesh is one of my banes, I have a hard time with it, but one thing I’ve learned is that there is no ‘trick’. It’s different every time, every skin tone. This is a good tutorial for learning how to begin, but these are not, in my opinion, professional results.

R3spira
#46. August 16th, 2008, at 8:41 PM.

Nice Tutorial, Bueno tutorial compadre… internet es la futura escuela, y para nada de mala calidad.

Saludos…

Gracias por el aporte man.
Visitme

CJN
#47. September 12th, 2008, at 3:11 AM.

EXCELLENT tutorial!!! thank you… and for the people who says that it looks plastic! that because you did not do it correctly! Mine looks like real (and somewhat perfect) skin… there are some flaws that I leave in, but minor to make it look believable..

Anonymous
#48. September 12th, 2008, at 4:03 PM.

thank you so much for the great tutorial, this worked wonders. and now I know models aren’t naturally flawless. :o)

Geschenkidee
#49. September 22nd, 2008, at 7:57 AM.

We work much with Photoshop, this tutorial I searched.
Thanks to the Author.
Sorry for my Bad English

P.S is a nice Girl

ibel
#50. September 26th, 2008, at 9:45 PM.

incridible, i like that.. thanks for tutorial

Ranard
#51. September 27th, 2008, at 7:19 AM.

I thank you for taking the time to do a such a detailed posting. I’ve been looking for this exact tutorial for over 6 months. Finally, I know how to get clear skin w/o the plastic look.

I hope you disregard the smart “I would have done this or you should do that” comments. I don’t see any posts by them. Only you! Thank you.

Ranard

Daniel
#52. October 5th, 2008, at 5:37 PM.

Targeted smoothing is rarely the best way to do this kind of thing, as you lose a LOT of detail in the face. This isn’t a bad technique, but I would lower the opacity of the blur layer a bit and then use another layer of painted lights and darks to keep the pores on a person’s face intact (without just added a noise layer).

It’s fine for a magazine cover, but people don’t look like this is real life :).

Mike9
#53. October 6th, 2008, at 7:21 AM.

If you just maintain the original background layer and keep it as the baseline topped by your finished one then fade back a fair bit (Opacity) this would tend to bring back more realistic look of the facial skin. Elsewhere use layer mask to conceal or reveal the parts.

iloveshyxx
#54. October 7th, 2008, at 12:37 AM.

its a great tutorial but am not quite getting it…i think am missing a step when airbrushing..but ill keep trying

adolfiux
#55. October 8th, 2008, at 3:42 PM.

in the step 9, i don’t see what the settings for brightness should be. any idea?

thanks.

Chase
#56. October 9th, 2008, at 6:20 PM.

Pretty nice job.
Except the last layer doesn’t actually do anything. And I mean nothing. A layer has to be filled with something, anything, to make any kind of manipulation to it. otherwise its just a completely transparent “tarp” over the image that cannot interact in any way with it, or any other layers, in any way.

I like the idea though.

CubanPrincess
#57. October 23rd, 2008, at 11:29 PM.

thnx tonz!
ive been looking 4 lessons lyk these
n dis 1 is d best so far!
all h8rz above
stop h8in!
effects were awsum!
love it
2 thumbs up!=)

Bob
#58. October 26th, 2008, at 11:44 AM.

Hey, great tutorial.
What camera did you use if you youself took the picture?
Thanks. =]

evelion
#59. November 21st, 2008, at 2:30 AM.

who is girl?

Marcella
#60. November 26th, 2008, at 11:08 AM.

wonderful tutorial, exactly what i was looking for a fashion editorial called alivedoll. thanks

Lukas
#61. November 28th, 2008, at 6:12 AM.

very good! almost perfect - it’s true, at the end it looks a bit to plastic but the thing with that sort of images is - you always have to work at finall resolution of image, and doing it for web display would be a different story (much easier btw), but this is very nice example of print job and that was what I was looking for long time

gem
#62. November 29th, 2008, at 11:10 AM.

wow this is sooo helpful! thanks so much!!!

Typh
#63. December 1st, 2008, at 5:58 AM.

Hi,

Can someone help: Step 11 is not working. When I use the brush nothing is happening…

Thanks very much!

Darrell
#64. December 5th, 2008, at 2:06 PM.

Great tut, love the natural looking skin, yet very clean look including the eyes, a very pretty girl to start a beauty at your talent.

Fernando
#65. December 20th, 2008, at 5:52 AM.

Having trying this tutorial for quite few times now In my opinion after step 8 I definitely dont see any massive improvement and things get too confusing for a very plastic result. I think if you want a flawless skin efect you should airbrush spots, eyeshadows and then use this tutorial but I find better results when I follow it up to step 8 and just ajust brightness and contrast along with colour balance. the end result of this tutorial is a terrible plastic skin as if the picture was taken from Madame Tussauds

caitie
#66. December 21st, 2008, at 1:21 PM.

great tutorial! thanks so much.

Waylon
#67. December 27th, 2008, at 7:46 PM.

I loved my end results thanks….to keep a little bit of the real texture of the skin I advise not doing anything at 100 percent. If it is left at a 75 or less area for the air brush group I think it gives a more realistic look. Well written and done tutorial and works beautifully so thank you.

Junior
#68. December 28th, 2008, at 8:10 PM.

Thanks for the help…your the best. Happy Holidays

Jorge Chavarria
#69. December 30th, 2008, at 7:11 PM.

usually i don’t post while read, but this tutorial was really good, that was what i was looking for! tnx!

Doug
#70. January 6th, 2009, at 2:06 PM.

Tried it on a sample image. I found it a bit too plastic so I adjusted the blur layer opacity down to about 49-50% which let in a little more of the natural skin texture. A nice compromise between reality and that magazine look.
Thanks!

kokoliso
#71. January 6th, 2009, at 5:48 PM.

this is the best tutorial ever i think you should keep doing this you explain everything like a 3 year old kid which is awesome not everybody do that - i wish you could make a tutorial about cartuning (caricature) but real caricature not plug ings crap the real deal god bless you keep up the good work

hayley
#72. January 7th, 2009, at 3:13 PM.

i really found this tutorial helpful as i wanted to learn this technique as a more proffesional way to smooth out skin. i found i didn’t like the hard light option for my photo, but when applying soft light and reducing the lightness some more i got the result i wanted. people who don’t like the results after following the tutorial exactly maybe just need to play around a little to suit their individual photo and styles. let me know of more tutorials like this please.