Portrait Retouching: Skin, Light, and Detail
A student project from the Nexapulse digital photo editing program.
About this project
This project addresses one of the most technically demanding areas of photo editing: portrait retouching. Students work with raw portrait files and apply a structured sequence of corrections, from initial exposure balancing to fine skin texture work.
What the work involves
The core technique is frequency separation, which splits an image into texture and tone layers independently. Students learn to smooth uneven skin tone on the low-frequency layer without destroying pore detail on the high-frequency layer.
Dodge and burn follows as a second pass, sculpting facial contours by carefully brightening highlights and deepening shadows. This is done with low-opacity brushes on grey layers set to Overlay blend mode.
Color and final output
Color grading uses Hue/Saturation and Selective Color adjustments to neutralize unwanted skin casts, particularly the green or magenta shifts common in mixed artificial lighting. Students deliver files in both sRGB for screen and Adobe RGB for print.
- Frequency separation on 16-bit files
- Dodge and burn with grey layer technique
- Selective color correction for skin tones
- Sharpening using high-pass filter at 0.8–1.2 px radius
- Export settings for web and print
Program breakdown
Project stages
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Raw file assessment
Students evaluate exposure, white balance, and lens corrections in Adobe Camera Raw before opening the file.
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Frequency separation setup
Setting up the two-layer structure correctly, including blur radius calibration based on image resolution.
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Skin tone work
Painting on the low-frequency layer with sampled neutral tones to even out blotchiness and discoloration.
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Dodge and burn contouring
Sculpting the face using a grey layer; students submit before/after screenshots at each stage.
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Color grading and delivery
Final tonal adjustments and export in required formats with embedded color profiles.
Interested in the full program?
See what the complete learning path looks like — from raw file handling through advanced compositing and portfolio review.