The Healing Brush can perform wonders on wrinkles and dark areas, but can also create a "fake" look and your subject could lose their personality.

The next step alleviates this problem. On the top retouched layer of the image, simply adjust the Opacity slider in the layers palette.

The wrinkles and skin texture will appear again when you begin adjusting the Opacity. Adjust to your taste. For an optimum look that retains realistic features is usually between 50 and 60%, as you can see in Figure B.

FIGURE B

She looks like herself, only better. Click picture for a larger image.

The more you use this feature, the better your portraits look, although you will not need to be an expert with the Healing Brush as you did with the Cloning tool of Photoshop's past. As always, the key is to find a balance between making people look their best without causing them to look fake.

Once you take away the wrinkles and "tired" dark circles, subjects will love you for sure!

About this Photoshop Guru series The Connected Photographer Photoshop Guru series is made possible through an editorial partnership with Software Cinema, a software training company that offers interactive training through training camps, programs on disc, Workshops-On-Demand and video presentations. As part of this editorial partnership, Software Cinema is providing exclusive articles to Connected Photographer readers from some of the best known and most highly acclaimed Photoshop gurus in the industry today. These articles are derived from the Software Cinema interactive training programs and we highly recommend you visit Software Cinema at http://www.software-cinema.com and sign up for some of their courses. Product availability and resources For more information on Kevin Ames' photo retouching course, visit http://www.software-cinema.com/disc_products.php?disc_sub_category_id=24.

Kevin Ames is a commercial photographer, author and columnist. His passion for light can be seen in his fashion, portraiture, product and architectural photography. Kevin's love for compositing images began in the early eighties. His elaborate multi-camera sets allowed him to create "impossible" compositions on single sheets of film. These experiences helped him recognize and embrace Photoshop's potential. He began his digital odyssey with version 2.0. He is considered an expert in workflow and Kevin is much in demand as an educator and speaker. He is a Photoshop World Dream Team Instructor. He authored Adobe Photoshop CS The Art of Photographing Women and writes the Digital Photographer's Notebook for Photoshop User Magazine.