Dave's Favorites: Retouch Portraits With CleanSkinFX
It should come as no surprise that the most common trick photographers use to make people look good in professional portraits is a little bit of blur. Sometimes it's a little gel on the front of the lens; other times it's a custom "portrait lens" that intentionally leaves the focus a bit soft. With digital photography, you can select and soften someone's face within an image editor. If you want to get the same effect without any of the effort, then try CleanSkinFX from MediaChance.
This utility is both free and fun. After a short download, install CleanSkinFX and load a portrait. The program automatically analyzes the scene and applies a softening filter to the face while sharpening the other elements of the picture. It also has an optional "enhance pink" setting that improves skin tones.
How well does it work? Well, since it's a free tool, it's certainly worth trying. I've found that it goes a little too heavy on softening. That's a good thing for portraits that feature people with a lot of skin defects--it glosses over all of those kinds of things quite nicely--but it's too much for people with good complexions. You can be more precise with a selection tool and a blur filter in Paint Shop Pro or Adobe Photoshop, but CleanSkinFX is so easy to use that it's worth keeping on hand.
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