Skin Smoothing in a few steps in Photoshop CS

If you have always wondered about the flawless skin of models in glossy magazines, then you should know that the images have a little trade secret -- Photoshop. You can do the same. It is not at all difficult. You just need just to go through a few steps.

Step 1 : I have opened this free stock image. You can very well see that the skin is full of blemishes.

Step 2 : Press CTRL+J to duplicate the Background layer. A new layer 1 forms. All that needs to be done will be done in this layer.

Step 3 : Go to Filter>Blur>Surface Blur.

Step 4 : The Surface Blur dialogue opens. First drag the Radius Slider a little bit at a time, then the Threshold just a little. There is no hard and fast rule for how much Radius and Threshold you will set. As you drag the sliders slowly you will be able to see the effect in the preview window of Surface Blur and also in the image. Click OK when satisfied.

This is how my image looks after applying Surface Blur.

Step 5 : Go to Filter>Blur>Smart Blur.

Step 6 : The Smart Blur dialogue box opens. Set a small Radius like 3, the Threshold around 25, Quality to High and Mode Normal. Click OK.

The skin looks even more flawless. But, in making the skin smooth, the eyes and lips have been blurred which will not do.

Step 7 : Click the Layer Mask button in the Layers palette. A layer mask forms next to layer thumbnail on Layer 1.

Step 8 : Click the Brush Tool.

Step 9 : Click where the arrow points to. It will reveal the Brushes. Set the Hardness to zero and the Master Diameter (Size) suitably.

Step 10 : Make sure that the Foreground is set to Black and Background to White. If not then press 'x' and then 'd' on your keyboard to reset it to the default.