Have you ever wondered why some people look better in their pictures than others? All the secrets lie in beauty retouching. There are numerous ways to alter a photo, but they all serve the same purpose – the picture must be perfect. No matter what flaws a face has, a high quality retouching can work wonders and reveal the true beauty. Of course, it can be tricky to do all the editing by yourself and that’s why professional photo retouching studios are here for you. However, even when you trust your photos to the professionals, it is a good idea to know the process. It will help you feel more confident and state your requirements without hesitating. Also, if you are smart, you can use these steps as your guidelines and create a masterpiece yourself.

    Before you start, however, you should also take into account that beauty retouching is a full time job and one image might take up to 8 hours even for the professional. Therefore, plan your time and be patient, it is a very detailed handwork, especially when we talk about skin and hair corrections.

Editing techniques

    Of course, none of these pictures look fabulous just after taking them. It is all the result of highly skilled professional editors behind them. First of all, an editor chooses the best shots. It is not as easy as it looks, because only a professional knows what flaws are easier to correct. It means, an editor always has a critical approach towards the raw picture and must evaluate it before the real editing starts. If he chooses the wrong pictures to start with, it could result in many hours of meaningless work and lower quality.

    After the right pictures are chosen, the next step is colour correction, retouching and healing.We all know that perfect skin doesn’t exist and yet it’s on every magazine cover. It is the result of retouching, the next step after the colours look fine. Now the retoucher removes all visible skin imperfections such as blemishes and red spots at the pixel level. Also, it is possible to hide dark circles and bags under the eyes, wrinkles of freckles hence taking at least a couple of years off the model.

Retouching tips and tricks

    One very important technique used in beauty editing is dodge and burn. As an editor wants to enhance the picture in the best possible way, this technique comes to help. Decreasing the exposure of the light areas of the picture will make them even lighter (dodge) while increasing the exposure of the dark ares will make them even darker (burn). It can also help to shape the light and change its direction in the picture. The result is always a picture that looks luxurious and expressive.

    Another technique is frequency separation. It allows an editor to work on skin tone, colour and texture separately. It is more important than it looks. Editing them apart from one another can give more freedom to change and purify the face. Also, it will create a more natural look and will make the face look its best.

    Sometimes, however, you need more than your best. We are now switching from texture to the shape, size and place of the objects in the picture. Using various filters, an editor can shape them to your liking. For example, a big hooked nose can became small and elegant or double chin can be reduced by half. Also, such defects as lop ears or asymmetric face features may dissapear in the hands of a professional retoucher.

DIY beauty retouching versus professional services

    At this point it is probably time to know the real difference. Photo retouching and editing can be fun to play with, but it is time consuming and requires tedious work. Of course, some pictures are more demanding than others and basically the way you are planning to use these photos will determine if professional services are needed. But speaking of those special moments you are going to treasure forever, professional editing team can make them look like magic.

    Studio Impress has a team of experienced photo editors that love their job. Every picture here is edited with extreme care and only the highest quality artwork is delivered. Bring your special moments here, we can stop the time with professional beauty retouching.