Krunoslav-Stifter wrote:
Cool!

By why the need to repost? The last thread was doing fine, wasn't it?

EDIT: Nevermind, I just read your second post.

yes... I think this will be way too automatic for some people
that's why I left SmoothSplit separately...
(and trying to avoid numbers and talk about "bands" and "splits")

2020 Visions wrote:
so do i do the skin split then the skin smooth cause skin smooth alone isnt doing anything

... you mean besides smoothing the skin...

make sure you have the SkinSmooth.jsx in the right place
and that it is not a .txt for example

2020 Visions wrote:
so the 2 files need sep. folders?

make sure you have the correct files, with the correct extensions (.jsx and .swf) in the same folder:
[PS] \Plug-ins\Panels\PhotonicTools\SkinSmooth.jsx
[PS] \Plug-ins\Panels\PhotonicTools\SkinSmooth.swf


if you use SmoothSplit (the other plugin) just un-check it in the Window>extensions list (have only one of the plugins turned on at the same time)

2020 Visions wrote:
both are in this folder
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5\Plug-ins\Panels\PhotonicTools

if you see the interface then you have loaded it
(make sure you don't use SmoothSplit)
If nothing happens when you press "Create" (after you have opened your image) then something is wrong with your JSX file (which makes the interface talk with PS)

so make sure the .jsx file is in place
(try downloading it again)

normad-moth wrote:
Does it need CS5?
Does not seem to work on CS3

I think you need at least CS4.
That kind of interface was not supported before then.
sorry

Photon Mayhem wrote:

2020 Visions wrote:
both are in this folder
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5\Plug-ins\Panels\PhotonicTools

if you see the interface then you have loaded it
(make sure you don't use SmoothSplit)
If nothing happens when you press "Create" (after you have opened your image) then something is wrong with your JSX file (which makes the interface talk with PS)

so make sure the .jsx file is in place
(try downloading it again)



I think you need at least CS4.
That kind of interface was not supported before than.
sorry

smooth skin comes up im just not sure how it works and how do i do the skin split i cant see that one thats my issue i want to do a split then smooth

2020 Visions wrote:
smooth skin comes up im just not sure how it works and how do i do the skin split i cant see that one thats my issue i want to do a split then smooth

.. actually it's as simple as it can be.

1) press Create, this will make a new "skin-smoothing" layer
2) use the slider to remove from pores to blotches
3) repeat from 1) and select with the slider another problem part of the skin

4) you can go back to any "skin-smoothing" layer and use the slider again to re-adjust it if you want
5) when you are done, press "Rasterize" on each layer and then you can paint in the mask for selective skin-corrections

I made an example here:
https://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thre … st13915925
there is attached PSD that shows how you can use it

you can create a "skin-smoothing" layer above anything you want
select whichever layer you like, and everything below it will be used as a "source" when you press "Create".

2020 Visions wrote:
yea but im talking about mainly the split so i can then do the smooth on it or does the smoothing one do it on its own?

roughly speaking the splitting is done by the plugin itself
you don't need to do any splitting, just press "Create" and that is it

Chennae wrote:
Just wondering if you know of any vesions or any similair plugins that would work for photoshop 7?

IIRC, PS7 didn't support scripting, much less Smart Objects. The best you can do at that point is to use an action, such as those posted in numerous other threads (unless you want to get into OS-level UI scripting, which is a whole other monster).

Ryan-Bater wrote:
I'm being a pain now.. how do you save the second file? there's no save as button, (A)!

it looks like some browsers don't have much options for saving files...

here's a ZIP archive with both files. Download and unpack.



I am running some test to compare it with Portraiture, here are some of the results:
(if you can do better with Portraiture I would like to see that,
I have the PSD with the original file and with the SkinSmooth layers.)

Edit:
this one may be a better example:
https://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thre … st13915925

Photon Mayhem wrote:

I think you need at least CS4.
That kind of interface was not supported before then.
sorry

no worries ^_^
thanks so much for htis
I just need to save money to get CS5 :S
or maybe I should wait for MS-CS6

PWF Retouch wrote:
I wish I could get these to work! I have CS5 and can't get them to show up. I know I'm adding them correctly. Are they for MAC only? I am using a PC

They work perfectly for me on PC.

PWF Retouch wrote:
I wish I could get these to work! I have CS5 and can't get them to show up. I know I'm adding them correctly. Are they for MAC only? I am using a PC

follow the instructions precisely

sometimes when you download the files when you save them their extension changes (the .jsx and .swf should not be changed)

I have added a "zip" archive with both files (the link is in the OP)
in case you have problems downloading the files directly, download the "zip"
unpack and place the file in the proper folder (check instructions)

Photon Mayhem wrote:
I am running some test to compare it with Portraiture, here are some of the results:
(if you can do better with Portraiture I would like to see that,
I have the PSD with the original file and with the SkinSmooth layers.)

I don't mean to cirque, but it's the wrong example that can be misleading.

This image, especially this crop of the image, doesn't need any skin smoothing plug in, or any automated skin smoothing at all. It looks like it's a portrait shot with shallow DOF. You don't apply the portraiture or any other kind of skin smoothing software, because most of the image has lost the details and is smooth already. More than it needs to be, actually. Instead you get rid of the small bumps in the skin. In this example healing tool would do the job just fine. Precise and selective D&B in combination with healing would give you the best results.

Such a shallow DOF where the nose gets blurred and the eye is sharp, is not the preferred way of shooting images where you test these kind of plug ins. Plus you need to get rid of all the bump, blemishes and everything else that doesn't represent uniform texture. And than you apply such a filter - carefully and controllably always with masks. Also, one radius for everything has been discussed before as a bad solution, because the skin is organic. And not only dose it have differently shaped skin pores, but they also flow in different directions. Depending of what area of skin you are working on. Treating it as uniform texture, will almost certainly give results that are not desirable in retouching. Treating it as such isn't much different than any of the taboo filters for blurring that ship along with Photoshop. And that kinda defeats the purpose of developing advance plug-ins such as Portraiture or your attempt.

It's about using the right tool for the job, and here you did an overkill causing collateral damages. You basically blurred out most of the good skin texture that was left after DOF. Can you imagine looking at this as thumbnail? It would look like somebody blurred the life out of the image.

If you want to kill the fly you use flyswatter or rolled up newspaper, you don't nuke the surroundings.

Just my 2 cents.

Krunoslav-Stifter wrote:
I don't mean to cirque, but it's the wrong example that can be misleading.

This image, especially this crop of the image, doesn't need any skin smoothing plug in, or any automated skin smoothing at all. It looks like it's a portrait shot with shallow DOF. You don't apply the portraiture or any other kind of skin smoothing software, because most of the image has lost the details and is smooth already. More than it needs to be, actually. Instead you get rid of the small bumps in the skin. In this example heeling tool would do the job just fine. Precise and selective D&B in combination with healing would give you the best results.

Such a shallow DOF where the nose gets blurred and the eye is sharp, is not the preferred way of shooting images where you test these kind of plug ins. Plus you need to get rid of all the bump, blemishes and everything else that doesn't represent uniform texture. And than you apply such a filter - carefully and controllably always with masks. Also, one radius for everything has been discussed before as a bad solution, because the skin is organic. And not only dose it have differently shaped skin pores, but they also flow in different directions. Depending of what area of skin you are working on. Treating it as uniform texture, will almost certainly give results that are not desirable in retouching. Treating it as such isn't much different than any of the taboo filters for blurring that ship along with Photoshop. And that kinda defeats the purpose of developing advance plug-ins such as Portraiture or your attempt.

It's about using the right tool for the job, and here you did an overkill causing collateral damages. You basically blurred out most of the good skin texture that was left after DOF. Can you imagine looking at this as thumbnail? It would look like somebody blurred the life out of the image.

If you want to kill the fly you use flyswatter or rolled up newspaper, you don't nuke the surroundings.

Just my 2 cents.

I agree that this is not the "Right image" for this... but it was the only thing I could find on the www.sxc.hu that was close.

I usually don't take pictures of people, but occasionally I do some portraits... I did go through my stock, but the ones that were appropriate, the models had really good skin/makeup so it was pointless to use them as an example.

If you have a good picture and can show a better use/example, please do.
I thought its better to have some example to compare with Portraiture, even if it's not the best one.

.. and if someone is able to make a video on youtube to show how it works it will be awesome

Photon Mayhem wrote:
I agree that this is not the "Right image" for this... but it was the only thing I could find on the www.sxc.hu that was close.

I usually don't take pictures of people, but occasionally I do some portraits... I did go through my stock, but the ones that were appropriate, the models had really good skin/makeup so it was pointless to use them as an example.

If you have a good picture and can show a better use/example, please do.
I thought its better to have some example to compare with Portraiture, even if it's not the best one.

Have you tried, Forums > Digital Art and Retouching >  Challenges, Contests, and Samples? With photographers permission, off course.

Krunoslav-Stifter wrote:
Have you tried, Forums > Digital Art and Retouching >  Challenges, Contests, and Samples? With photographers permission, off course.

Of course, I asked a couple of photographers, but didn't get a response.
I did a skin-only retouch of one of them, and posted the link to the sample's thread...

Edit:
this one may be a better example:
https://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thre … st13915925



I'm sure others can do better using the tool, but this was again just inside 5min for a quick test.

Photon Mayhem wrote:
I'm sure others can do better using the tool, but this was again just inside 5min for a quick test.

I think it has the same effect (read problem), as Portraiture or IHP does when used with one pass, one radius value. It makes the skin look like plastic with pores or bumps. It's hard for me to put it in words and describe it.

So, I'm afraid manual labor even with this plug in is still necessary. Selective application with various radius values is the key.

Krunoslav-Stifter wrote:
I think it has the same effect (read problem), as Portraiture or IHP does when used with one pass, one radius value. It makes the skin look like plastic with pores or bumps. It's hard for me to put it in words and describe it.

So, I'm afraid manual labor even with this plug in is still necessary. Selective application with various radius values is the key.

actually it does have variable radii, they are just calculated dynamically.

when you move the slider from "pores" to "blotches" the target radius is calculated based on the size of the image, and from there the low and high frequency cutoff (which changes dynamically and gives narrow band towards the high-frequency and wide band towards the low-frequency)

it is far from perfect of course, but different layer of frequency smoothing is not a limitation

open the PSD and you can see that I have picked 4-5 different frequencies (target radius is in the name of the layer, and only applied them in certain places (although with a quite wide brush)

full resolution PSD (200Mb) :
http://mobilefiles.ca/split/SkinSmooth-demo.psd


I guess personal taste has to play in this too... what you talk about is "loss of Mid-frequency".

Photon Mayhem wrote:
actually it does have variable radii, they are just calculated dynamically.

when you move the slider from "pores" to "blotches" the target radius is calculated based on the size of the image, and from there the low and high frequency cutoff (which changes dynamically and gives narrow band towards the high-frequency and wide band towards the low-frequency)

it is far from perfect of course, but different layer of frequency smoothing is not a limitation

Yes, but somehow the final effect is still far from perfect. One thing I like about Portraiture is their auto skin tone mask feature. I think I read somewhere, that they used numerous skin tone values and let the program do the calculation based on the certain values that appeared on the largest numbers of images. And than they made that as the default values with some tolerances so now by default you get a decent skin tone mask. I hope that made sense.


SKIN TONES MASK

Portraiture provides a powerful skin tone masking tool with an Auto-Mask feature to allow for fine smoothening control across all skin tones present in the subject image. Auto-Mask recognizes the skin tone range of the image automatically and, accordingly, creates an optimal skin tones mask for that particular image.

Auto-Mask provides an excellent starting point for manually fine-tuning the automatic results, if desired. With many available slider controls and the two Color Picker tools, you can further fine-tune the Auto-Mask results to create the most optimal skin tones mask for your image and for your portfolio requirements.

Auto-mask is also very useful when batch processing. Because it creates the masks automatically based on the image's unique skin tone range, each image will be treated individually during the batch process, thus enabling an efficient workflow technique when choosing to apply detail smoothening only to skin tones for a large number of images.

Additionally, Portraiture allows for outputting only the masked range of the image to enable further adjustments to the skin areas.

http://www.imagenomic.com/pt.aspx?f=stm

Krunoslav-Stifter wrote:

Yes, but somehow the final effect is still far from perfect. One thing I like about Portraiture is their auto skin tone mask feature. I think I read somewhere, that they used numerous skin tone values and let the program do the calculation based on the certain values that appeared on the largest numbers of images. And than they made that as the default values with some tolerances so now by default you get a decent skin tone mask. I hope that made sense.


SKIN TONES MASK

Portraiture provides a powerful skin tone masking tool with an Auto-Mask feature to allow for fine smoothening control across all skin tones present in the subject image. Auto-Mask recognizes the skin tone range of the image automatically and, accordingly, creates an optimal skin tones mask for that particular image.

Auto-Mask provides an excellent starting point for manually fine-tuning the automatic results, if desired. With many available slider controls and the two Color Picker tools, you can further fine-tune the Auto-Mask results to create the most optimal skin tones mask for your image and for your portfolio requirements.

Auto-mask is also very useful when batch processing. Because it creates the masks automatically based on the image's unique skin tone range, each image will be treated individually during the batch process, thus enabling an efficient workflow technique when choosing to apply detail smoothening only to skin tones for a large number of images.

Additionally, Portraiture allows for outputting only the masked range of the image to enable further adjustments to the skin areas.

http://www.imagenomic.com/pt.aspx?f=stm

... have you actually tried Skin Smooth?
personally I am quite happy with the automatic skin-masking it does

Photon Mayhem wrote:
... have you actually tried Skin Smooth?
personally I am quite happy with the automatic skin-masking it does

No I haven't yet. Waiting for you to stop updating and come out with final version.

Just kidding, I haven't tried it yet but I will sooner or later. The reason I mentioned skin tone mask is because it can limit the effect based on color and not the level of detail. So you can leave out the shadows or highlights from being effected. I have to take a closer look of your creatin to see if that works any better.

Krunoslav-Stifter wrote:
No I haven't yet. Waiting for you to stop updating and come out with final version.

Just kidding, I haven't tried it yet but I will sooner or later. The reason I mentioned skin tone mask is because it can limit the effect based on color and not the level of detail. So you can leave out the shadows or highlights from being effected. I have to take a closer look of your creatin to see if that works any better.

imho the masking is most important for situations when you have high contrast next to the skin (let say black hair) which will produce dark halos if you are correcting the low-freq. (and Skin Smooth masks skin quite well)

don't bash it before you've tried it.

I don't plan on any updates soon, so give it a go.

Photon Mayhem wrote:
don't bash it before you've tried it.

I don't plan on any updates soon, so give it a go.

I will, and I didn't bash it. I pointed out the obvious problem of all the automatic skin smoothing filters/plugins on the market including yours. I did that based on your examples, but don't worry I'll check it out sooner or later.

Krunoslav-Stifter wrote:

I will, and I didn't bash it. I pointed out the obvious problem of all the automatic skin smoothing filters/plugins on the market including yours. I did that based on your examples, but don't worry I'll check it out sooner or later.

the examples are more or less a matter of taste
as you get what you want (it's just way easier with this tool)

I'm sure you can get better results with more precise application of the smoothing layers if you want to (I made their application with a quite wide brush)... but in short - your concern that you need variable radius and skin masking is take care of.

MT Imaging wrote:
I'm completely new to photoshop and editing.  I decided to dl the free trail and play around with it.  One thing I would mention is that your instructions are simple and clear to person who is familiar to Photoshop.  I have no idea how to export this picture or do preview the before and after images for a comparison. 

However I find the program rather neat

don't worry, it's not a "free trail" it is completely free for ever.