How to Lighten the Skin Tone of Someone in a Picture
Graphics-editing software such as Adobe Photoshop and GIMP are great options for editing photos on your computer. A common task that you may find yourself repeating is lightening skin tones. For each of these applications, the key is adding a saturation layer over the main image.
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Instructions
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Open the file you wish to modify.
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Click the “New Layer” button on the Layers palette. A dialogue box will pop up that allows you to modify the general properties of the layer including the layer title. Give the layer a recognizable title such as “Skin” and click "OK."
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Set the Layer mode. Click the Layer drop-down menu in the Layers pallet. Select “Saturation" mode.
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Select a medium-size fuzzy brush. Set the opacity to 100 percent.
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Click on the Lasso selection tool. Make sure that you are working on the Skin layer, and draw a line around the areas of skin you want to modify, such as the subject’s face or hands.
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Right-click the selected area and select “feather.” The feather property determines how gradually the area within the selection will blend into the rest of the image and rounds the edges of the selection lines. The default feather setting is usually around 10. Set it to 20.
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Set white as the foreground color on your color palette.
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Color all visible skin areas white. Do not brush over the eyes, eyebrows or mouth.
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Decrease the Skin layer’s opacity setting using the slider located below the Mode drop box. As you decrease the opacity, more of the natural skin tone from the background image begins to show through and gives it a lighter appearance.
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Save the file as a copy with a different name. This allows you to keep the original image intact for future modifications.
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Merge all layers on the copy image and save. The JPEG image format it the most commonly used for sharing purposes.
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References
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
