How to add skin glow

[GeoffwithaG]

I'm relatively new to PSP but have developed some skills by watching youtube videos and generally just experimenting with the software. However, I cannot seem to work out how to add "glossy skin" to an image of a model. There are many Photoshop guides on how to perform this act, but nothing on PSP. I've tried to "translate" the Photoshop methodology to PSP, but without much success. Any help would be appreciated.

[Jean-Luc]

Could you post an example of what you want?
And give us the link to the PS methodology.

[GeoffwithaG]

Could you post an example of what you want?
And give us the link to the PS methodology.

Something like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGl-oxe ... damBrazier
or this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZTpZv2 ... l=Anilraju
Thanks!

[LeviFiction]

The second one is pretty similar to the way Unmesh from Piximperfect does it as well. At least in one of his many tutorials covering skin glow techniques. Can I assume the issue you run into with that one is that PSP's Curves adjustment layer doesn't have Blend Ranges? Here is the video I'm working off of - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jmXLuSPxnk

Jean-Luc is better at Blend Ranges (Blend IF in PS) than I am but this is how I would do it.

1) Duplicate the background Layer
2) Add a Curves Adjustment Layer - pick a spot in the middle and drag it up
3) Take your Curves Adjustment Layer and your duplicated layer and group them together. We're going to ignore the Adjustment layer's built in mask.
4) Next Add a mask to your Group Layer.

The result here is a group layer with a mask and another group layer inside of it. In that second group layer will be your Curves adjustment and your Duplicated layer. The reason I do it this way is because Groups have Blend Ranges, so we can make use of that, but the adjustment layer will only affect the layers directly beneath it. So if we put the adjustment layer in a group by itself it wouldn't do anything. If we only group the adjustment layer and the then the mask will only apply to the layer in the group and you can't layer edits.

5) on the mask layer invert the mask and grab a white brush, and gently brush in the highlights you want to keep.
6) If the highlights are too harsh, just decrease the opacity of the top group.
7) If you want to have different levels of effects on different parts, just duplicate the group, change the curves adjustment, blend ranges, mask and opacity of the new group to target a different area of the image with slightly different results.

If this is hard to understand I might try a video demonstration of it. But the most complicated part is all of the groupings. Most of the time you never touch the Curves adjustment again, (the reason we do it this way is because you might want to adjust the adjustment layer), so you're just using the mask and blend ranges on the top-level group and ignoring everything else.

The easier option, though less versitile, is as follows.
1) Duplicate your layer
2) Apply a regular curves adjustment (not an adjustment layer) making a point in the middle and dragging up.

From here it depends on whether or not you want to apply masking. If you don't, just go into the layer properites and play with the blend ranges and opacity of the layer. If you do, continue with the instructions.

3) Add a mask layer (this creates a group)
4) Turn off mask layer visibility quickly
5) Set Blend Range on the Layer Group
6) Invert the mask and brush in the areas you want to glow.

[Jean-Luc]

Hi GeoffwithaG,

If you want something simple (not as sophisticated as LeviFiction's excellent solution), you can try playing with the Layer Blend Mode and a white layer.

You access the Layer Blend Mode by right-clicking on the layer with the image in the Layers Palette, selecting Properties, and clicking on the Blend Ranges tab.

Move the triangle-shaped cursor at different values (see screen capture attached).

Layer Blend Mode.jpg

[GeoffwithaG]

Thanks Jean-Luc and LeviFiction. I'll try all the approaches this weekend!!

[Jean-Luc]

Hi, GeoffwithaG,
I want just to add that if you make some testing with the Layer Blend mode that I have explained, you could replace the white layer with a little or more overexposed version of your image.