Automatic skin-smoothing
Discover how Photoshop’s new AI-powered Neural Filter enhances portraits for you.
The Skin Smoothing Filter is part of Adobe’s Neural Filters command: a range of new filters that employ artificial intelligence to analyse image content and determine which areas to affect. Skin Smoothing can automatically recognise people and faces in your photos, isolate the skin and let you apply a softening effect. Pimples, spots, wrinkles, eye bags and rough skin can all be de-emphasised within a few clicks.
Even a model with great skin like this can benefit from some subtle smoothing. Skin Smoothing gives better results than many other smoothing techniques, as it lets you smooth out tones while retaining texture in the pores, which is essential for keeping the portrait looking natural.
Neural Filters are part of a bold new direction for Photoshop, as Adobe embraces AI. They won’t be perfect every time, but they usually get you most of the way there. In the case of Skin Smoothing, you may need to finish off by adjusting which parts of the face are covered in order to keep the important areas sharp. JAMES PATERSON
1 MASK THE DETAILS
After completing Skin Smoothing, you might find some details look softer than you’d like. Here the initial filter has blurred the nose slightly too much. Apply the filter, then add a Layer Mask (unless you’ve set Output to Smart Filter or Duplicate Layer Mask, in which case highlight the newly created mask). Grab the Brush Tool and paint black over the details to reduce the effect in these areas.
2 NEURAL FILTERS
Skin Smoothing is one of Photoshop’s Neural Filters (Filter > Neural Filters). These employ artificial intelligence to carry out image editing tasks and effects. Skin Smoothing automatically detects skin in faces and applies a smoothing effect to the area. To begin, toggle the switch to enable the filter. If it’s your first time using it, you may need to download it via Creative Cloud.
3 SELECT A FACE
The command will analyse the image and recognise any faces within. If your photo has more than one person, the tool can differentiate between each face and allow you to make different edits to each. Choose between faces using this dropdown (if there’s only one subject, like here, you won’t see any other choices). The blue box around a face shows that it has been recognised.
4 RETOUCH SPOTS SEPARATELY
While Skin Smoothing is great for enhancing rough patches of skin and softening areas of uneven tonality, it might not be the best choice for retouching marks and spots. The Spot Healing Brush is ideal for removing marks like this in an otherwise clean area of skin. Simply make a new layer, grab the Spot Healing Brush and tick Sample All Layers, then paint to remove small marks.
5 OUTPUT OPTIONS
Once you’re happy with Skin Smoothing’s settings, you can choose from several output options. Duplicate Layer makes a copy of your current layer and applies the effect to it, while New Layer makes a semi-transparent layer with the blurring effect applied over the face. Smart Filter is often the best option: it turns your layer into a Smart Object, which means you can adjust the settings at any time.
6 BLUR AND SMOOTHNESS
These two sliders let you set the strength of the smoothing effect. Blur affects fine details, so it’s good for softening pimples and spots; Smoothness has more of an impact on uneven tones and patchy skin. Experiment with different settings; it can help to output as a Smart Filter so you can adjust it later. The Before/After icon at the bottom can be useful for assessing the effect.