The Secret Code to PERFECT SKIN TONES in Photoshop

so what is the code to the perfect skin tone well let's cut to the chase and there you go this is the code if this code rings a bell or gives you an idea you're privileged to jump into Photoshop right now and try it out for yourself however in the video I'm gonna give you something that they'll allow you to never remember the code and you don't have to memorize it at all keep in mind that all of the skin Corrections that you will see in this video will be done just by using this code also stay tuned because I'm gonna show you where to download some other codes as well for a variety we don't have to worry because this code works on all types of skin tones so what is this code how to use it all about it so without any further ado let's get started so here we in Photoshop and let me take an eye test for you first why this will make sense later have a look at this picture what do we have here we have a circle what color is it it looks mostly yellow now if I make a copy of the same ellipse the same shape control or command J write with the help of the move too if I move it did the top have a look at the color look at it look at the change it looks darker it looks more blueish and look at both of those they look totally different but you know that we just copied it and it's exactly the same what does this prove you cannot trust your eyes similarly consider two cases you have your subject on a red background you're looking at it for a long time then you have your subject on a green background in the next image well it might create problems for you you might think the skin tone is not right when it's absolutely right or you might think the skin tone is absolutely right when it's not also when you are editing your photos for a long time and moving from picture to picture just as we move the circle to a different background see how it influences the color right so when you're looking at a photo looking at a color for a long time your eyes can get affected and therefore we cannot trust our eyes for color so what is the solution solution is standardization so I'm gonna give you some standard skin tones and these colors are perfect sampling of skin tones in perfect lighting of ideal skin now there's no such thing as perfect skin tone or perfect skin but this can be used as a great starting point after that you can add any effect that you want some effects make the skin blue red but you will have something standard to start your work with so let's jump into a first example so here we are back in Photoshop and this photo was submitted by Catlin popescu thank you so very much Catlin for submitting this photo an amazing photographer check out more of Catalans work right here it looks awesome the skin tones might look perfect but there might be corrections to be made so what do we do first of all select an area which might be the best representation of the skin term so right now in this image I guess it's the cheek and a little bit of the forehead so we have to take an average so with the help of the lasso tool right here select that area okay and we might extend the selection don't select the highlights or the shadows just select the evened out areas which best represent the skin all right now we need to copy it into a new layer press ctrl or command J that way only that thing is copied okay hold the ctrl or command click on the layer thumbnail now we have a selection of that now it's time to average it to do that go to filter blur and then average now we have the average skin tone that we can take as a sample press ctrl or command D to deselect that now what to do I have created some standard skin tone samples for you to download so go ahead and check the links in the description and download them these skin tone samples have been created with a lot of calculations hidden trials so I've tried my best to give you the standard ones but you can find more later I'll show you how later in the video so after you download just locate them in your Explorer or finder so I'm just gonna open that and I have four that I have made available for you to download now what you need to do you need to choose the one that matches the best with this so I think the second one will be the perfect fit so just drag it and drop it over the canvas on just like that okay now it might seem very big you just need to zoom out and put it around at the side just make it smaller and you can put it that decide totally as a sample just as a comparison just like that okay and hit Enter or return now let's zoom into the face now all we need to do we need to match this sample that we averaged to this one that the standard one and how can we do that well create a curves adjustment limb click on the adjustment layer icon and then choose curves now inside of course we have to make two samples to do that first of all make sure that the curves symbol is selected the adjustments layer symbol then click on the hand tool then we need to hold down shift an option on Mac Shift + Alt on Windows then the eyedropper tool shows up with a plus with a circle in between some strange target icon so create a sample here and then create one more sample here so keep that held down shift an option shift and alt hold that and then just click so we have two one and two and for both of them we have the information right here one two in the info panel so if you cannot see the info panel automatically you can go to Windows and then click on info if you'll show that to you now move the info panel somewhere where you can see I'm gonna move it to the side now I'm gonna open back in the curves properties all right now all we need to do is to match this sample to that sample to the standard sample okay zoom in even more now hold the shift and command the eyedropper tool is still there hold the shift in command it becomes a white eyedropper and click on it what happens is when you go to the red channel a point has been created if you go to the green channel a point has been created so the corresponding points for this color has been created in the RGB channel so let's go to the red now we need to get this point to a value to a number so what number do you need to get it to you need to get it to 205 okay so hash one is 205 so hash two is 166 so I need to get this from 166 to 205 so with that selected you can take it up until it gets to 205 there we go a little bit here and there is okay 206 is fine now it is looking strange I know but it won't let's move to the green Channel what does green need to go where does it need to go just look at the left-hand side here and look at the right-hand side on the - 169 it's in 134 so we need to increase it to 169 roundabout there we go all right let's go to the blue where does blue need to go 145 it's at 118 so let's increase it to 145 there we go now the skin tone looks great but it's not over you need to control the luminosity or the brightness so you need to get back to RGB and you can turn both of these off and control the luminosity let's make a make it a little darker like that as it was before and let's just close it and let's have a look at it so this is the after and this is the before so this is the before this is the after also at this time select the move tool let's zoom in quite a bit I think the saturation is too much so I'm gonna create a hue/saturation adjustment layer and let's just decrease the saturation to make the skin tone even more natural just like that now I want you to have a look at this so this is the before let's make a group of both of them so select the curves hold the ctrl or command select the hue/saturation press ctrl or command G this makes a group so this is the before and this is the after looks so much more better just a slight correction of skin tone takes it a long way let's get back to curves I think I need to make it a little more darker let's try it again so here's the before here is the after it looks so much more warmer the skin is it looks so much more better slight change right before after before after that's how to do it now keep in mind this will get even more easier in the second example if it seems too much long process it is not it'll get tremendously easier in the third example so let's go to the second example by the way just a little pause are you getting where the code is coming from we just discussed the code it's a mystery if you're not getting it yet just keep watching there's more mysteries to be uncovered in this video so here we have our second example and this photo was submitted by Monica Casco thank you so very much Monica you can check out more of Monica's awesome work amazing work brilliant work great work right here all right so let's just zoom in and have a look at the skin I totally love the skin I have no complaints for the skin tone however why not let's just try it out and this time I'll show you a simpler method and what is it let's go to my desktop I guess it's in my desktop so in my desktop there's this thing called skin palette all you need to do drag it and drop it that's it you don't have to sample do anything a lot of times just sample once and that's it just keep it at the side for now okay and let's take a sample of her skin similarly as we did with the previous one still select the background and just select the lasso tool just take a sample of her skin the area which best represents the skin let's take a little sample from the forehead as well a little bit hair here and there is won't make a difference because we gonna average it anyway alright there we go control or command J I'm gonna do it quick this time because I've done it slow in the first example for you hold the control or command click on the layer thumbnail and then filter blur and average control or command D now all we need to do is to create a curves adjustment layer by clicking on the adjustment layer icon and then choosing curves make sure it's at the top not here at the top now you can choose the hand tool take a sample but if you take a sample now if you hold the shift + command and take it's just sampling black and it's strange right why is it strange because the mask is selected please make sure that the symbol is selected all right and then just let's reset it and with the hand selected all we need to do we need to we don't need to create all those 1 & 2 samples don't have to hassle with that hold the shift and command shift and ctrl on the windows just click on it just sample it then let's go to red now what to match it with see what matches best with this I guess it's the second one so let's go with the second one and the numbers are already there so you can also download this trip links are in the description so this color palette right here you can download that ok so we have to match the red two to 1/8 so let's do it but for that you have to create at least one sample right here so how do we create a sample you already know that hold shift and option and just click once right here so you just need one sample you don't need to just do a lot of math just drag it and drag the strip in and you're good to go let's open this one and you can just place the info right here and place it right there let's go to Red's and match it to two 1/8 let's select the move tool drag it two one nine two one eight there we go be matched it so 211 is the before 218 is the after okay so let's move to greens green 171 it's 157 so we need to increase it to 171 there we go increased now let's go to the blues blue is what 145 so we need to increase it to match it to 145 now it's 124 so there we go 144 146 it's bit too much now if you want to do micro adjustments you can do it with the help of the arrow keys so you can just bring it down move it to the side there you go 145 perfect right so now you need to turn this off or just delete it it's totally upon you and you can close this distraction close it and have a look at it so here is the before a bit reddish here is the after looks really good if you want you can control the luminosity and make it a little darker from here just a touch darker if you want to so here's the before here's the after it might not look like a drastic difference but it actually is alright so let's move over did the third example and this will get totally easy for you alright so let's just do it right now so here we have a third example and now we have a darker skin tone however this image might come with its own challenges and I'll show you what but before that let me make the process fast for you so instead of just dragging it and dropping it what about this if I go to windows and then actions if I just open up my actions I've created an action here skin color palette all we need to do is just plate there we go it just appears on the side amazing isn't it now you need to create that action even if I give this action to you it might not work because this is based on the pot right so how do we create this action I already created one for you first of all you need to create an action set so click on this folder okay or you can create an action inside and already created folder by you so I'm gonna name it skin picks just like that hit and now inside that we're gonna create a new action click on that one and let's name it pallet alright now it's inside skin pics and function key no we don't want to assign a function key if you want you can just hit record now Photoshop starts acting like a tape recorder okay now all we need to do is this oh I shouldn't have started recording now because I already have it open so let's just stop it and let's just delete it let's start from scratch okay let's delete it I don't want to confuse you start it and palette and then just hit record now it's recording go to file place embedded now we need to locate where the skin palette is in your computer so in mine it's in my desktop it's in skin palette just select that place okay it's gonna place it now all you need to do hit Enter or return it's recording it press ctrl or command a it selects it all now with the help of the move tool align it to the left or the right or the middle whatever you want so I'm gonna keep it to the left aligned press ctrl or command D and you have created it so if even if you delete it all you need to do just click on the palette open up the actions click on the action that you just created and just play it mix it so much more faster now you can just move it right here and make it a little bigger if you want to and there you go I didn't mean to move the mic sorry about that okay so let's create a curves adjustment there just like that and let's take an average now in this image when you have darker skin tone some skins are shiny beware do not sample from the shine it can give you crazy results don't do that so let's get back to the background and let's take an area which is not shiny so with the help of the lasso - now do not know shiny allowed lasso tool right here let's sample this area no shiny let's take an average of this area right here and let's get back to it it seems good to me now press ctrl or command J hold the ctrl or command click on the layer thumbnail and then go to filter blur and then average now you have a sample of this ctrl or command D ok great now come back to the curves select the symbol don't forget it select the hand tool now hold the shift and option shift in alterna windows and create a point right here then hold the shift and command shift and ctrl on Windows click on it now you have created points in red green and blue now we need to match it to the nearest one so I'm gonna choose this one the second last and we will try to match it to that so it red is 190 so let's get the Reds to 190 its 209 here we need to reduce it to 190 so let's reduce it to 190 let's use the arrow keys to get it perfect there we go it's 190 right now let's go to greens and for the green the value is 142 we have to take it to 142 right now it's 145 so just a tad bit with the arrow keys there we go 142 now let's go to the blues it's already selected and for the blue its 119 here is one one four so we need to increase it arrow keys let's take it up okay all right it looks great now all we need to do we need to just turn this off and have a look at the skin it looks totally awesome it looks natural it looks great let's just close it there we go so here's the before here is the after totally great but let's delete it first but the problem is this and the challenge is this the hair looks a little greenish and the background looks a little you know a lot more blueish I don't know there's a color cost to it but the skin looks alright so how do we solve that issue no problem at all and this was the challenge all we need to do click on the mask all adjustment layers come free with a mask select the mask press ctrl or command I turns the mask black take the brush now what's the concept of mask white areas show up and black areas hide so it's completely black so none of the curves effect shows up all we need to do take the brush with the foreground color white press X to toggle between the foreground and the background and the mask selected just paint on the skin with a soft brush there you go now let's zoom in have a look at the difference so here's the before to red very red and here is the after now I would play a little bit with the luminance let's make it a little darker add a little more dimension to it and there we go so here's the before here's the after looks so much more better also if you want you can decrease the opacity just like that and there we have a much more better result before after the next example is gonna be totally extreme we have a skin tone which is totally destroyed and we will try to recover it to the normal all right so let's move into the next example have a look at this image have a look at the skin totally magenta is totally gone however I already did the steps for you that we did in example 1 2 3 so you don't have to get monotonous about it so I took the sample I took the brown skin at the side just like we did in the first example and I did all the corrections I could with the curves give simple Corrections and it still doesn't look that awesome I did darken it a little bit in this because it was looking too bright and took it down from the left and did all those Corrections still it's just not looking right you know what we need to probably decrease the saturation so all we need to do we'll create a hue/saturation adjustment layer and let's try to decrease it let's see whether that works maybe a little bit might work - 15 yes that is great now on top of that the color of the head doesn't match with that of the body what to do next so create one more curves adjustment layer and this is where the complexity comes you need to brighten it don't look here on the body just look on the head don't focus on the body just remember the color of the body and that's it just increase it now to increase it the best way to do it is select the hand - you need to match this with that so you can sample here or there and just click and drag it up like that okay just keep it at that just tuck it in and then select the mask press ctrl or command I now we need to take the brush foreground color white make the brush a little smaller and then just paint with white over here on the skin and hope that it does match there we go we have a better one so here's the before here's the after looks so much more better now now what else we can do to improve it even more we can create one more curves adjustment layer and maybe add a little bit of contrast so make it a little brighter from here make it a little darker from here to add a little contrast to it and there we go that's the most that we can do in this image so let's have a look at the before and after so this is the before totally gone magenta looks so bad and hold the alt or option click on it to bring every layer back in turn on now if you want you can just mask the skin but it's looking great in case you want to do that you might want to do this you might want to group all of them select the topmost layer hold the shift key select the bottom most layer with the adjustment it selects everything in the road then press ctrl or command G then hold the alt or option click on the mask button it creates a negative mask then you can take a brush and you can just paint on just on the skin if you want to do that but it was looking great with all of it applied I can do this if you choose to that's totally upon you but for this image I prefer it without the mask just turn off the mask if you're wondering how I did that I just held the shift key click on the mask to turn it on click on the mask to turn it off and that's pretty much it so that's how to get the perfect skin tones in Photoshop all you need to do take the average sample bring in the palette you can use the action check the download links in the description then with the help of the curves you just match the average sample with that of the palette and you're good you can also adjust the hue saturation or the luminosity whatever you want after that but this gives you a great starting point so that's pretty much it for this video hope this video helped you and if it did make sure to give us a like and also don't forget to subscribe and not just subscribe ring the bells that you my friend don't miss any other feature tip trick or tutorial I would like to take this moment to thank all these nice and amazing people for supporting pixel perfect on patreon and helping keep fix imperfect free for everybody forever thank you so very much for all your support thank you for watching I'll see you guys in my next one till then stay tuned and make sure that you keep creating [Music] you

Channel: PiXimperfect

Views: 939,882

Keywords: skin tone, color correction, curves, sampling, adobe color themes, photoshop, color grading, portrait photography, portrait retouching, skin retouching, tutorial, piximperfect, unmesh dinda

Id: Wvr8LCSuFjE

Length: 24min 21sec (1461 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 11 2018