How to Shape Eyebrows in Photoshop

If you need a picture of yourself for an upcoming event, such as a high school reunion, but the only one you like features your eyebrows in an unkempt state, have no fear. You can shape your eyebrows in Photoshop.

Instructions

1. Launch Photoshop and load your image. Enter Quick Mask mode by clicking on the "Quick Mask" icon just underneath the toolbar color picker. Select the "Paintbrush" tool and click on the "Default Foreground/Background Color" icon (underneath the toolbar's color picker) to change the foreground color to black. Open the "Paintbrush Settings"a from the Tools Options bar (underneath the menu bar) and set the hardness to "50 percent." Paint the eyebrow shape you want to create (you can use the paintbrush size settings to adjust the brush size as you paint).

2. Exit Quick Mask mode by clicking on the "Quick Mask" icon again (older versions of Photoshop have a second "Exit Quick Mask" button). Your painted shape should now appear as a selection. Copy the selection to a new layer by holding down "Command" and "J" for Macs or "Control" and "J" for PCs. Hold down "Command" and "D" to deselect and open the "Layers" palette to select to the original photo layer as your active painting layer.

3. Select the "Healing Brush" tool from the tool bar and use the paintbrush "Setting" option to set the brush size to "9" or "10 Pixels" with a "Soft Edge" (just as you did with the paintbrush). Hold down "Option" for Macs or "Alt" for PCs and click inside the flesh tones surrounding the eyebrow with the mouse to sample the colors. Release the "Alt/Option" key and carefully paint out the original eyebrow (your ideal brow will hide areas you over paint). If the brush begins to paint with the brow colors, just resample and paint again.

4. Return to the Layers palette and make the brow layer the "Active Layer." Select the "Smudge" tool from the toolbar and set the Tool Hardness to "100 Percent" to extend areas of the brow that you might have missed. Set the Layer Blend Mode to "Darken" in the Tool Options to mask out stray flesh tones.

5. Save the file. Use the "Save for Web" command in the File Menu and export your file as a flattened JPEG file to email or post on the web.

Tips & Warnings

• If you find the Quick Mask behaving in the opposite way when you paint, your preferences are set to "Paint a Mask" rather than "Paint a Selection." Switch the foreground color to white and the background color to black when you paint (or change your preferences).