Make Pretty!
Many years ago I was fooling around with Photoshop when I noticed that a particular combination of filter and blend amounted to a quick and easy photo enhancement technique, which at the time I christened the "Make Pretty" filter. I have never seen a portrait photo which couldn’t be substantially improved using this technique (especially if it was taken using a flash).
The photo below was taken at a dinner a couple of weeks ago, and before processing is typical of the sort of photo that I hate because it makes me look like a pasty git. After processing I think maybe it’s worth keeping, especially because it is almost impossible to find a photo of me smiling.
Three easy steps to making [white] people look better using Photoshop:
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Adjust levels and move mid point to lighten the shadow areas (in over-exposed shots you may need to darken rather than lighten).
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Apply a Gaussian blur with a radius such that facial features are still discernable but small details (eg a zit or greasy highlight) are smoothed out. Depending on image size this could be anywhere from 3 to 16 pixels.
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Use Edit->Fade and set the blend mode to overlay and the opacity to somewhere between 40% and 70%
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The actual numbers will vary from image to image, but the process is fairly straightforward after you’ve experimented a bit. The net result seem to be that the blurred version combines with the original in such a way as to bring out facial structure and color while de-emphasizing surface detail. The above sample was processed with a blur of 3 pixel radius and a 70% overlay blend. I also cheated a little and desaturated my teeth in this case, but that step isn’t essential to achieve an improvement.
Using values 70% or higher for step 3 you will see significant saturation of colors, to the point where you might want to reapply the original colors (keeping the luminosity from the new image).
Hmmm I think I’ll avoid posting any more pictures of myself for a while, since looking back over recent posts I’m starting to seem a little obsessive over my appearance…
BTW I’m not planning to make a habit of OSX’ing my images– I just like experimenting in Photoshop to reproduce various effects.
Folks in the visual effects world will tell you that you’ve independently rediscovered the ‘glow’ filter, of which there are many variants, but they all are pretty much colour-correct, blur, transfer-mode-of -your-choice (usually screen or overlay).
Excellent for the glowing white teeth you’ve always wanted, and for the magical soft shine on freshly wiped kitchens…