Quite often, the overall impression of a photograph is spoiled by small details. It is especially disappointing when a generally successful portrait shot is spoiled by facial defects or signs of fatigue.
Modern graphic applications allow you to quickly retouch the image by adjusting the details of the face. This article is about how to remove bruises under the eyes in Photoshop. Even a novice photo artist will cope with this task.
What exactly needs to be corrected
Before we consider how to remove bruises under the eyes in Photoshop, you need to understand what exactly needs to be processed.
Bruises under the eyes are, firstly, darkening and shading of the lower eyelids. They change the geometry of the face, removing the focus from the eyes. Shadows visually divide the cheeks into zones, destroying the integrity of the face, giving it a painful look. So these shadows need to be lightened.
Secondly, these shadows tend to differ in shade of color. So, to remove the bruises under the eyes of "Photoshop CS6", you need to workover tinted under eye areas.
Thirdly, bruising under the eyes is in many cases some swelling of the lower eyelids, that is, a change in volume, which is reflected in the distribution of highlights.
Finally, this swelling necessarily has a border to varying degrees - a more or less noticeable fold, sometimes similar to a wrinkle.
In the photo, the crease can be emphasized by the play of light. As a result, this line not only makes the face painful, but also ages it. Often this fold is expressed with a slight hint, but even if it is barely noticeable, the viewer still completes it according to the stereotype. Therefore, it is also necessary to remove this border by shading the border line between the swelling of the eyelid and the upper part of the cheekbone.
Color correction
To remove bruises under the eyes in Photoshop, you must first correct the complexion as if we were applying makeup. The bluish or crimson shade of the eyelids is masked on the face with light green shadows. Let's do the same on the photo.
Using the Lasso tool, draw around the areas to be adjusted. It is necessary to outline both lower eyelids in order to make the same correction. Then select the item "Image" in the menu, then "Correction" and finally - "Color balance".
In the dialog box move the slider from magenta to green. It may be necessary to further work on the tone. Let's say you often want to take away some blue in favor of yellow.
It all depends on the individualcomplexion, frame quality, lighting and overall tone of the picture.
Applying color
The second way is "applying makeup". To do this, you need to use a brush and apply a little green paint directly on top of the image. Select the Brush tool and adjust its options so that it is no more than 20% transparent.
Color should be chosen close to light emerald. The edges of the brush should be very smooth (adjust the hardness of the tool).
Then create a new layer (menu "Layer" - "New" - "Layer") and use a brush to apply transparent green paint to the area below the eyes. If you are using a regular mouse and not a graphics tablet, you may need to edit the strokes.
Use the soft-edged Eraser tool to remove the excess stroke area if necessary. You can also adjust the layer transparency and tone. If the superimposed greenish "shadows" are completely invisible, duplicate the layer.
After these manipulations, the complexion should become more even. This is the first step to how to remove bruises under the eyes in Photoshop. The green tone layer does not need to be merged with the bottom one yet. It may need to be adjusted further.
Lightening
With the Dodge Tool, set to no more than 50% exposure and with a soft-edged brush, lighten the dark areas. Be careful with the borders of bruises: if you do not lighten the entire area of shading, then the border may become more noticeable.
Maybeyou need to brighten the whole face. This will make him look younger and accentuate the brightness of his eyes. This can also be done with the Dodge tool.
Now you can go back to the green tone layer. Perhaps it needs to be adjusted again, making it less noticeable, that is, more neutral.
Retouch highlights
If the swelling under the eyes gave unnecessary highlights or shadows, they need to be darkened or brightened with the appropriate tools.
Crease Retouching
If the bruises under the eyes end in a pronounced crease, it can be removed using the Clone tool (Stamp). Select a function, set the brush to be small and soft. Move the mouse pointer to the location immediately adjacent to the fold. Click on it, and then put the pointer on the fold. Start painting with a brush. Fragments containing a fold will be replaced by elements free of it.
Alignment
The final part of the answer to the question of how to remove bruises under the eyes in Photoshop is as follows. It is necessary to even out the relief of the face, masking possible traces of retouching.
If the green tone layer doesn't need to be changed anymore, merge it with the main one. Then select the Blur tool. The brush should be soft, but as large as possible. In this case, it is better to start with a minimum intensity, setting a value of about 30% in the corresponding window.
Move the tool across the face, avoiding the eye area. Pay special attention to possibleretouching mistakes and skin imperfections (wrinkles, acne marks, etc.).
It is possible that bruises under the eyes are minimally noticeable. In this case, the way to quickly remove bruises under the eyes in Photoshop can only be a slight lightening and blurring of the relevant areas.
