SIMPLE SKIN SMOOTHING TUTORIAL

Open an image to work with, (large pic files are always better & cellphone pics do NOT work well)
Go to layers/promote background layer
Next youll use the scratch remover tool which usually is set on the clone tool by default
( it looks like a paintbrush next to an arrow thats in between two green lines above and below)
click on the drop down arrow and the very next tool is the one you want ,The scratch remover
( it is a paintbrush on what looks like a canvas of a sunset or sunrise)
Select that one and then go up to the top of the screen and set your width
( i use 5 or 6 depending on how large the pic your using is and the size of the blemish)
Now take the brush and drag it a little bit over the blemish you want fixed and voila! Blemish is gone.
Do that over all the blemish's that you want to disappear but BE CAREFUL, If the brush is set too wide or you use the tool over one area too much it will distort that part of the face.
Now when youre done with that go to adjust/add-remove noise/edge preserving smooth and click on it.
Now you need to set your amount of smoothing. This part is a lil tricky because if you do it too much, it will smooth over the eyes and all your features too which makes it look too fake. I set mine at 5 and if its not enough just repeat the 5 again.
After you have that where you want it you should always take your sharpen tool and go over little features like the eyes and around the mouth. The sharpen tool is right above the eraser tool (if youre using PSP X2) its default is set on a gradient black and white scale so if that what you see just click on the arrow and scroll down to the sharpen tool (Hover your mouse over it and it will give you the name of what it is, this actually works for all the others too)
Now make sure you look up at the bar and check your opacity, I always set mine to 100 because it takes less time this way. My sharpen brush is usually set to 20 for the size and 50 for the hardness.
Go over the eyes a lil bit until they look a lil more clear and repeat that with the rest of your features if you think they look too fake/smooth. And that's it!
Thats your basic skin smoothing. Hope this helps you!

This tutorial was written in whole by Melody Herman. Do not copy, duplicate or share with others without written permission from author. If you would like to share this tutorial please link back to my page.