
- LIGHTROOM PORTRAIT RETOUCHING HOW TO
- LIGHTROOM PORTRAIT RETOUCHING SKIN
- LIGHTROOM PORTRAIT RETOUCHING SOFTWARE
Technically, you can crop your images at any stage.
LIGHTROOM PORTRAIT RETOUCHING SKIN
Note that all the adjustments are very subtle, and give my model natural-looking skin tones: I’d say that my example portrait still looks a little dull and fake without some saturation, so I’ll boost the Vibrance slider, the Saturation slider, and even the Whites. Make sure skin tones are natural, not garish and unpleasant. The goal here is (generally) to push the whitest whites in the image up against the edge of the histogram, so make sure to pay it careful attention.īy the way: After you’ve made your vibrance and saturation adjustments, I recommend toggling the before and after view (hit the “\” key). You can also increase the Whites slider, if you haven’t already. You can use Lightroom’s Saturation slider, but don’t go overboard the Vibrance slider is a bit more subtle, and a bit smarter, too. Step 4: Increase the vibrance and saturationĪt this point, you’ll want to liven up your portrait with a bit of color. So I pulled back the highlights and lightened the shadows (a common edit, remember?):Īdjust highlights and shadows.

(Also, play with the whites and blacks, as well!)įor my example portrait edit, the overall exposure is decent, but my model’s skin tone is a little too light, and her hair and the background are too dark. Go ahead and experiment, though a common adjustment is to boost the shadows while dropping the highlights. I recommend adjusting the Highlights and Shadows sliders until you get a nice result. Then take a careful look at your portrait subject’s skin tones, hair, and background. If your image is overexposed, simply drop the Exposure slider (and if the image is underexposed, do the reverse!). If you’ve taken your shot correctly, you should have a relatively well-exposed shot, but it always pays to check the histogram to be sure you should have zero peaks pressed up against the walls of the graph, and unless the image is meant to feature lots of darks and/or lights, the curve should be balanced throughout the histogram. The next step in Lightroom portrait editing? Exposure and tonal adjustments. Step 3: Adjust exposure, highlights, and shadows Once you have imported your file, go to the Lightroom Develop module.Ĭorrect the white balance. Go to Develop Settings> User Presets, then click on the preset you wish to apply.) (To apply a preset on import, go to the righthand panel in Lightroom and find the Apply During Import tab. In case you’re interested in trying out my portrait sharpening preset for yourself, here are the details: I often apply a sharpening preset upon import, which gives my RAW images a bit of extra pop and cuts down my editing time significantly when I’m working with a large number of images at once. Start by importing your image into Lightroom (or your post-processing program of choice).

Make sense? Step 1: Import your portrait for editing


That’s absolutely okay! Just bear in mind that, even where your technique changes, the overall step-by-step process should remain the same. One more thing: Every photo is different, and while I’ve selected a standard portrait shot as an example, you may need to make tweaks to my editing process as you go along. Lightroom is my personal favorite program, and I do recommend it for beginners, but you should be able to follow along with my instructions regardless of your software.
LIGHTROOM PORTRAIT RETOUCHING SOFTWARE
Any full-fledged editing software will work, including Capture One, ON1 PhotoRAW, ACDSee, Luminar, and more. Now, you don’t absolutely need Lightroom to edit your portraits. Below, I’ve shared my entire system, which will take your photos from “Before” to “After”:
LIGHTROOM PORTRAIT RETOUCHING HOW TO
You see, I’ve spent plenty of time learning how to edit portraits in Lightroom, and I’ve developed a simple, 11-step process for beautiful results. That’s where this article comes in handy. If you want to take your portraits to the next level, you must master editing – but getting started with portrait edits can be overwhelming and confusing, especially for a beginner.
