Oily skin in photos can appear bright and shiny, distracting from the subject. When photographing people, they may also request that you remove the oily look from their skin from the images. Luckily, you can easily remove shine from a face in Photoshop.
Here is how to do it in a few simple steps.
Video Tutorial
How To Fix Shiny Skin In Photoshop
Step 1: Create A New Blank Layer Using The Plus Sign In The Layers Panel
First, you must create a new layer to place the color changes you will apply to your image. To do this, go to the Layers Panel and click the plus sign icon at the bottom.
Step 2: Paint Over The Oily Skin Using The Brush Tool (B)
Select the blank layer you created previously. Afterward, go to the Toolbar and select the Brush Tool (B).
Once you enable the Brush Tool, you must change some of its settings in the Options Bar.
First, change the blend mode to Darken. This will make the brush paint pixels that are lighter than the color we will sample. Thus, regions around the problem areas that are already darker than the sampled color and do not need to be painted will not be affected.
Next, change Opacity to 20%. This will allow you to achieve more natural results. Zoom in (Control + + (Win) or Command + + (Mac)) on the area you want to correct. Hold Alt (Win) or Option (Mac) and click an area adjacent to the bright spot you want to correct to sample pixels from there.
Once you hold in Alt/Option, your cursor will turn into an eyedropper icon. Click the desired pixels to sample them. You will see the sampled color active in the Foreground color swatch. With the desired color sampled, right-click on your image to bring up the Brush Settings panel.
Choose a brush size proportionate to the area you will initially cover. Alternatively, you can adjust the brush size using the bracket keys on your keyboard. The right bracket key ] increases brush size, while the left bracket key [ decreases it.
Leave Hardness at 0% and choose a Soft Round brush.
Now, paint over the bright pixels to cover them with the color you sampled.
Step 3: Blend Pixels In The Target Area Or Cover Pixels That Were Missed
To better blend pixels in the target area and cover pixels that may not have been covered, create a new layer by clicking the plus sign icon in the Layers Panel. Then, keep the new layer selected and change the blend mode to Color.
The Color blend mode allows you to paint pixels, preserving their luminance.
With the brush active and adjusted as demonstrated above, zoom in on the target area and sample pixels adjacent to the problem area. Then, keep painting the affected area with the sampled colors until the brightest spots are covered.
Step 4: Change Layer Opacity
If you feel the pixels you collected are not blending well with their surroundings, you can bring down the Color layer’s Opacity.
Repeat the process over the rest of the shiny areas to remove the oily skin.
This simple trick is great in your back pocket when editing portrait images. Especially when shooting headshots, this will be one of your most requested retouching adjustments!
