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Hi.
I've tried editing a photo I took of a friend by creating a duplicate layer, blurring it and then erasing the parts of it where I wanted the photo sharp (i.e. eyes, mouth, hair). However, I found that the nose looked odd so I had to leave the bottom of it in original condition, also the boundary between her face/neck and the background looked odd softened so I've erased the top layer for the very edge. But now it seems to me like it's noticeable where the seems are. The eyes and mouth have obvious boundaries so it's ok there but the nose and the border of sharpness i've left around the edge seem noticeable. How can I avoid this?
Also I couldn't manage blurring the background without leaving a little border of sharp background near where it joins the hair/face. I'm not too bothered about this as, while it's distracting on this photo, i'm hoping in the future the distracting background is something I'll be able to sort out at shooting.
Just to point out that I don't have photoshop (yet - might get it soon) and have been using paint.net.
Click here to be linked to the photo.
Thanks
Martin
it does look a lttle soft at this point . Try to adjust the levels and curves to punch up the colours. Use a mask to to soften the area you want and experiment with brush softness and sizes to reveal the areas where you want sharpness. Use the opacity sliders to modify the effect. I don,t know paint .net, only photoshop. Download a trial which will work for month from adobe to try. Another suggestion
Google your question "soften skin in photoshop"
hope this helps
Not sure what the paint.net capabilities are, but here's a link to a tutorial on photo retouching to get the "Dior" look...sounds similar to what you're trying to achieve?
Dior
The difficulty with blurring a layer to create a soft focus effect is that the colours bleed - the blur isn't always where you want it. If you clone over the areas that you want to remain sharp with the areas you want blurred prior to applying the blur this can help minimise the effect. Also using a soft edge brush to paint on the mask can give more gradual transitions which are often more pleasing to the eye. Finally if there's any hard edges I tend to use a soften or blur brush at low opacity to make the manipulation less obvious...seems to work quite well.
In overall terms I really like the photo - you're right about the background though - it's horrible (reminiscing about my uni days and woodchip wallpaper now...)! It also blends into the models hair colour which makes it difficult to work out where the model ends and the dodgy curtains begin - have you got a plain white sheet that you could peg to the curtain rail? It's not ideal, but it will give enough contrast to be able to separate the model from the background, and also allow easier manipulation if you want to change the b/g at a later date.
Final thing is maybe to get your friend to let her hair down and pull some faces at the camera - did this with some friends I photographed a couple of weeks ago - got me some of the best shots I've ever had - best one where I told her to bite his ear (just a great shot - some brill expressions!) and also the fits of laughter after pulling strange faces gave some realy excellent natural laughing smiley faces...
Just some thoughts - and good luck with the portraits - something I've been trying to teach myself recently although progressing slower than I'd like :-(
I've just had a look at
Skin smoothing tutorial It would appear to be what you're looking for but it is Photoshop not Paint so I don't know how easy it is to apply to your programme.
I'm not sure that I like the effect but I know some people do, it's worth a look anyway.
Good Luck
Penny
My tutorial starts a little like the one Penny mentioned, but takes it a little further and uses masks, etc to prevent destructive editing. It also adds a high pass layer to maintain skin pore clarity.
Again this is for Photoshop and not Paint.net
Here it is
I use the Kodak Digital GEM Airbrush plug-in for skin softening. It can soften skin without affecting detail in hair and other facial features. You can fully control the softness and what detail you wish to retain.
The only drawback is that its a tad expensive - around £50.00.
Details and trial available at: www.asf.com
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