Adobe Photoshop CS6 Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks by Lynette Kent

IMPROVE THE SKIN with the Spot Healing brush and layers
(continued)
The Spot Healing Brush generally removes blemishes
and imperfections and makes the skin appear cleaner.
However, the liver spots and blemishes often discolor
the surrounding skin tone, and removing them can
leave spots or streaks of mismatched colors on your
subject. You can add another layer to smooth any
blotches the Healing Brush may have left and improve
the overall skin tone at the same time.
You can use many different tools and methods to
improve skin. This particular technique enables you to
control the amount of tonal adjustment by working on
a neutral gray layer in the Overlay blending mode.
Painting with white and black on the layer mimics
dodging and burning but with much more control, so
you can adjust the skin without making the photo
appear retouched and without altering your original
file.
This skin-smoothing technique was perfected by Jane
Conner-ziser, one of the most experienced and wellrespected
portrait retouching professionals in the
industry. You can learn more about Jane’s many
classes and seminars at www.janeconner-ziser.com.
* Press Option (Alt) and click the
New Layer button.
The New Layer dialog box
appears.
( Type a name such as Skin Tone in
the Name field.
) Click the Mode drop-down menu
and select Overlay.
19 22
q Click Fill with Overlay-Neutral
Color (50% Gray) ( changes
to ).
w Click OK.
21
20
18
26
24
24
25
A
A A gray layer in Overlay mode
appears in the Layers panel.
e Click the Brush tool ( ).
r Click the Brush Preset drop-down
menu and click a soft-edged
brush.
t Click Opacity and drag to the left
to reduce the brush opacity to
about 3%.
y Click the Default Colors icon to
reset the default colors to black
and white.
88