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

ADD DEPTH TO THE EYES AND LIPS to enhance them
Retouching portraits is always tricky. You want to
improve the image and still preserve the person’s
character. Because the eyes can define personality,
enhancing the eyes helps the viewer focus on the
subject. And adding a little intensity to the lips,
particularly on women, can often improve the
overall portrait.
You can add depth to the eyes by intensifying the
eye color and darkening the natural outline of the
iris and the eyelashes. Using a Vibrance adjustment
layer and a layer mask lets you control the strength
of the enhancement. You can follow the same
Vibrance layer technique to intensify the color of
the lips.
And instead of using Photoshop’s Dodge and Burn
tools directly on the image, you can use the Brush
tool to darken lines and add eyelashes on separate
empty layers. You can vary the opacity of each layer
for complete control. This digital technique is similar
to dodging and burning in the darkroom. Painting with
black darkens areas, lengthens the eyelashes, and
adds definition to the eyes. Using the Opacity setting
in the Layers panel, you can fine-tune the
adjustments before you finalize the image.
Note: Photograph copyright © Photospin.com.
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Important: Start with the default foreground
color set to black and the background color set
to white.
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1 Click the Zoom tool and click and drag
across both eyes to zoom in.
2 Click the Vibrance adjustment layer icon.
A new adjustment layer is added with a
white mask.
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3 Press Ô+Delete (Ctrl+Backspace) to fill the
layer mask with black.
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4 Click and drag the Saturation slider
completely to the left.
Note: Step 4 is to help you see the irises as you
paint over them.
5 Click the Brush tool.
Note: Make sure the foreground color is now
set to white.
6 Paint over each iris with a small soft-edged
brush.
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The irises turn gray with no saturation at all.
A Make sure the mask is still selected.
7 Click and drag the Saturation slider back to
0.
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The original color returns to the irises.
8 Click and drag the Vibrance to the right to
increase the color.
9 Click and drag the Saturation slightly to the
right to intensify the color.
The eye color is more vibrant.
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