Pictures of me that I have... I dont know if Im posting in the right place. But I've posted before a while ago askin' for the same help. I can post some sample pics of me if anybody can help me. I just wanted to touch up my pics (airbrushing) so my skin looks clearer or to make my features stronger. It's the same thing they do to entertainers or models in mags & such. This is for my modeling resumes, so if anybody could help me out I'd appreciate it. Thanx. :)

The first thing to do is to get hold of a paint application, if you havn't already, and then download tutorials or buy a book that teaches retouching. You can find it all on the internet. Use for example www.google.com and search for "photoshop", "paint shop pro" or "coreldraw". They usually have free demo or light versions that can be downloaded. You could also try looking for computer graphics magazines. They sometimes have articles and software that you can use to begin with. I realize this isn't much help, just a pointer in the general direction.

As you already seem quite able to recolor a background of a photo of yourself, so I think you already have a paint application. Judging this picture (being a photoshop user for some time), I think you are not posting in the right place. If you ever want to be famous, get your bio together. For modelling resumes people like not too retouched photos by the way, this would be sufficient.

Hoofdcommissaris.... The pic I posted was not a pic of me, it's Adriana Lima (Victoria Secret model). I just posted it so that everyone could see an example of what I was talkin' about & what I was lookin' to do to my pic. Its not about being famous, Im very aware of how to accomplish successs in the entertainment business. It's not something I'm new to. My specific reason was to come on here to learn how to touch up my pics for personal use, & I'm aware that for resumes they dont like photos too retouched. Again its mostly for personal use. Thanx anyway though! Caron... ur right it wasn't too much help but, I appreciate the input. Is there anyone who wouldn't mind to do it for me... it'd save me a lot of time & I know there are individuals on here who really enjoy doin' these things for fun. If ur interested, jus let me know 'cause Id greatly appreciate it!! Also If I'm not posting in the right place can I ask the moderator to move it to the right place please... or jus inform me on where to move it to....Thanx :)

A little selected gaussian blur and/or blur tool, and judicious use of the clone brush works wonders. I don't know how advanced in photoshop you are, so mentioning curves and channels might not necessarily be a help. Adjusting the color balance and saturation can also help. I'd have to actually see the pictures to offer any real advice.

Hey Bonestructure... would u mind if I sent u a pic so you could judge for yourself??

no problem, my email is bone@1s.net

I sent u two pics to your email...

Hmmm, I haven't gotten them, Did you send them to 1s,net like the number one, not the letter l

whoops sorry, I accidentally put bones instead of bone...lol. I re-sent it to the correct address.

I got em

Well the Boneman probably know PS as well as I do but as far as general rules go, 1) The key to good re-touching is to 'touch' the image as little as possible. The more you touch it, the more modified it looks. 2) Don't paint or airbrush (ever!), clone instead and use as small a brush as possible (slightly larger than the area your trying to 'dot' out (and I've just told you something else important) when cloning out irregularies (especially textures and fabrics). If you must paint do as little of it as possible (refer to rule 1). When you're all through modifying the image duplicate it and completely desaturate the dup (make it black and white). Blur the dup (not a lot! - play with it if you're unsure how much) and boost the contrast and then apply it as 'Soft Light' layer (I'm assuming you're using Photoshop,- if not I defer to Bone who also uses PSP (I don't)). Make sure the dup sits on top of the original and adjust the transparency to suit (this adjusts the amount of the soft light effect). This has the effect of subtlely softening the edges (the blur) and enhancing the contrast (makes features stronger). If none of this helps drink a good bit of alcohol and look at it again. Both methods achieve the same result although the later is temporary and may leave you with a hangover.

Oh Yeah, always use a soft edge brush when cloning. How soft depends on the area you're addressing.

Oh I use Photoshop for most things. I only use PSP for particular things, which it does better than photoshop, and for a few of its filters

Well I knew you used them both and I have no experiance in PSP thus my post.

truth is, I mostly use PSP for browsing images. It's extremely valuable to me for that. It lets me see thumbnails of every image in a file, and I have a LOT of imafe files lol. I also use it quite a bit to do black and white and grayscale maps for verious 3D purposes because, honestly, it has better brush control than Photoshop, in that instance. It took me about 2 hours in Photoshop to modify and retouch the images tonight, and I sent em to lala, so we'll see what kind of job she thinks I did tomorrow lol.

By the way imamaya, I duplicate the layer, gaussian blur it at about 7, then apply it at about 40% opacity to soften images.

Imamayaidiot...I have no Idea what your talkin about...LOL!! But thank you so much for being so detailed & passionate (it seems) about your hobby. Im completely new to this stuff so you might wanna break it down for me (if you got time). I want to learn & I have all the free time to do it but..for now Ill just go ahead with the second method you mentioned! Lol!

Boneman, I've never tried the blured layer method. (I've never thought of doing it). I'll have to try that. Thanks.

It is unfortunately the original picture was in Low Res. I hope you like the new retouched one.