Smoothing

All SONOPP photographers know about smoothing.  Ask one of them and they'll tell you, "Smoothing is the opposite of sharpening.  You wrinkle less, not wrinkle more."

Who could quarrel with the wisdom of the ages?  But how do SONOPP photographers wrinkle less?  Most will tell you they create a duplicate layer, apply Gaussian Blur to that layer, and then use a mask to remove the blur where they don't want it.

First, of course, you need to get the image ready for un-wrinkling.

1. Create a duplicate layer (name it "Baggy Eyes" if you wish).  Use the Patch tool to smooth out the bags and wrinkles under the eyes.  When they're almost completely gone, set the opacity of this layer to about 75% so that the results look real.

2. Now create a new blank layer (name it "Blemishes" if you wish).  Go to the Healing Brush tool and make sure that "Sample All Layers" is checked.  (That way the Background layer is used for the source, and the Blemishes layer is where the result is put!)  Fix the areas around the left eyebrow.  Next soften the shiny areas on the nose and forehead using the Powder Puff tool.  What's the Powder Puff tool?  Why it's the Clone tool set at 20% and just tapped once or twice, of course!  (The Clone tool also has a "Sample All Layers" checkbox.)

Okay, now we're ready to un-wrinkle.  Create a new blank layer.  Double-click on its name in the Layers palette and rename it "Smooth Skin".  With the new layer selected, press Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E to merge all visible layers onto the active layer.  The active layer now contains all the corrections we've made so far.  (Remember this very useful shortcut.)

Your Layers palette should now look like this:

Okay, now we're ready to un-wrinkle.  But should we really use Gaussian Blur?  What about Median Noise instead?  Why? you ask.  Good question.  Let's see the difference:

rollover
Gaussian Blur
  
Median
 

Notice that by using Gaussian Blur you're actually moving the blue that's in the background into the skin area. This is of course something we want to avoid at all cost.

So, from the menu bar select Filter / Noise / Median..., enter a radius of 10 pixels, and click OK.  The skin will look just fine, but we've blurred areas that need to stay sharp, like eyes, lips, hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, and the edges of the nose and nostrils.  As usual, you add a mask and paint (in the mask) with black to let the original (sharp) features show through.  You can apply a final sharpen at this point; we did it with another Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E layer and our usual sharpening technique (see One-Click Sharpening).  Here's what our Layers palette looks like,

with the thumbnail size enlarged (Palette Options) so you can see the mask.  And here's the final image:

Run your mouse over the image to see the original.  Look particularly at the forehead, the cheeks, and the chin and neck.  You may prefer not to have hair sharpened this much, and you can certainly mask it out.  But other features, particularly the eyes and jewelry, should certainly be sharpened after the smoothing.

Finally, note that much of this article is spent on getting ready.  The actual smoothing is very fast, requiring just a few clicks and the masking.  (We've talked about this technique before, smoothing using Median Noise; see Neat Noise.  There we used a 13-pixel radius.)  Do try it -- you'll like it!