Why Retouching Is Essential

For this Advanced Photoshop for Photographers course, Karl is joined by professional retoucher Viktor Fejes.

Viktor, who started using Adobe Photoshop at the age of eight years old, joins Karl to present this series of Photoshop classes, where he demonstrates advanced Photoshop techniques to retouch a series of practical examples, from beauty images to product images.

In this first class the pair sit down to answer some of the fundamental questions of retouching — why we retouch, what should we retouch and how we can tell a story through an image. Together they then review some of Viktor’s work, discuss his workflow and the thought process behind the retouching applied to each image.

To download Viktor’s Visual Aid Action, seen in this class, click here.

In this Photoshop class we cover the following:

  • Why we retouch
  • Understanding colour — Hue, Saturation & Luminance
  • How to guide the eye through an image
  • Professional post-production workflow
  • How to use actions and layers to speed up your workflow

If you are not yet familiar with Photoshop, please watch our Photoshop for Photographers course, where you’ll learn the basics of Photoshop, as well as some of the more advanced techniques that will be covered in this course.

If you have any questions about this class, please post in the comment section below.

Comments

  1. Hi Karl, another fantastic insight and a very interesting watch!

    Is there a video where Viktor demonstrates how he uses the ‘shine’ panel? I know he gives a very brief description of what he uses it for but in this video but I would like to see it in more detail if there is a video where he uses it?

    Many thanks for all the hard work and great content you and your team achieved last year and I am very much looking forward to another fantastic year with new mind blowing content! 🙂

    Cheers,

    Nathan

  2. I found this fascinating. The difference that Viktor’s seeing eye makes is incredible. It’s forensic!
    Back to the beginner’s Photoshop course for me…

  3. Hey Karl,

    I just started watching this video and for the first time I heard the term “pro retoucher”. I had no idea that that was a thing. It sounds as if he doesn’t take the pictures himself but retouches the pictures that get sent to him for a certain project client.
    Now my question is: What kind of rates are there on such market?
    Perhaps the question is a bit too broad since I guess there are quite some people who do this and depending on skill level rates may vary. What I want to know is that if there is some kind of guideline that can give me an idea.

    I’m curious because I enjoy the process of retouching! 🙂

  4. Hi Karl,
    a brilliant series of videos with Victor. I was extremely impressed with the visibly huge difference between the original and final version after a great many apparently small adjustments adding up to a very polished result.
    Whilst I do not shoot any fashion, I can certainly put to good use the information gained to improve and refine my own retouching skills within my business.
    I Exactly love the visual aids. Thank you Victor.

  5. Great pace. Outstanding depth of knowledge. Remarkably good communication skills from highly skilled professionals. And so relaxed in presentation style. These tutorials are master classes ☺

  6. yeah that’s fair enough, just a thought, On the other hand I’m loving the videos especially the new foodie ones with Anna, just the kind of photography I’ve recently had a hankering to try !
    thanks for sharing with us and keep up the good work .

  7. Hi Karl,
    Just a suggestion but have you thought of producing a supplemental booklet to go along with these lessons ?, I’ve bought this course and am loving it but it’d be nice to have the option to buy a booklet that I could work from as well as the video, as I find I’m having to pause or go back to a part I missed whilst working on the files provided.

    Regards Simon.

    1. Hi Simon, unfortunately I think that would just be too expensive for us to produce. If you have the option of making a two screen editing set up then I find it useful to have the video on one screen and photoshop on the other, or maybe the video on an ipad while you work along on the main computer.

    2. I find it helpful to make notes in my own notebook while watching tutorials likes this. It is incredibly important actually, because these courses have so much information and it’s impossible to remember it all. It’s better to isolate the information that is most relevant to you and write it down, at least that’s what works for me. Cheers.

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