How to Change Skin Color in Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop's powerful selection tools and "selective color" feature allows you to easily change skin color. In five simple steps, you can lighten a bad sunburn or correct skin tones that look off because of bad lighting. The steps in this tutorial will teach you how to color correct skin tones for any occasion.

Things You'll Need

• Adobe Photoshop CS1 or later

Instructions

Isolate and Change

1. 

   Use the "Polygonal Lasso Tool" to select the area(s) of skin tone you want to change.

2. 

   Go to the "Select" menu and choose "Feather...". Type in a value of 2 and click "OK."

3. 

   Select the "Image" menu > "Adjustments" > "Selective Color."

4. 

   Leave the default selection at "Red." Adjust the color sliders under to achieve your desired skin tone. Adjusting the "Magenta" and "Yellow" works best. Click "OK" to apply your changes.

5. 

   Go to the "File" menu and select "Save" or "Save As" to save over the old photo or create a new version of it with a different name.

Tips & Warnings

• Try making minor adjustments at first before moving the sliders for more drastic changes.

• Try to select and isolate your skin tones as closely as possible or you might affect other areas of the photo.

References

• Adobe Photoshop Selective Color Tutorial