The Ten Commandments of

Retouching
May 15, 2017

There are some things in life that are universal rules we should all follow—
things like not cheating on your wife, not killing anyone, and not stealing.
Easy enough, right? And if life has Ten Commandments that are just
obvious things not to do, retouching should have them as well.

Hereʼs are my 10 Commandments of Retouching.

I. Thou Shalt Not Blur Thy Skin

 You lose a lot of detail when you blur skin. It may not be noticeable on a
phone screen as much, but when these photos are printed or even viewed
on a monitor, you can actually see the difference and the missing detail.

This is just a poor retouching technique. When youʼre just starting out, itʼs
understandable. But as you progress and start doing more, you should
either hire a retoucher for all of your shoots or learn the proper
techniques.

If you want to learn the proper techniques yourself, this was the single
biggest resource that helped me learn more.

II. Thou Shalt Not Edit on a Single Layer

 This allows you to edit more effectively and gives you the ability to go
back without hurting other edits.

Destructive editing isnʼt good. It makes it tougher when you make a

mistake and need to go back. Itʼs like doing a crossword puzzle in pen—
sure, itʼs doable, but that doesnʼt mean you should. And it doesnʼt make
you look cool.

Editing over every layer makes it tougher in the moment, but being able to
isolate different editing portions allows you to stay organized when you go
back and need to fix things. Itʼs tough to get into a habit of doing. I
sometimes forget to accidentally open a new layer for edits, but itʼs
something that makes for better, and more organized retouching.

III. Thou Shalt Not Brighten the Whites of the Eyes

 Although you can see the color in her eyes on the right, the glow of the
white in the eyes is very unnatural.

Thereʼs the right way to edit eyes, and thereʼs the wrong way. The right
way: Stay within the pupils and just bring out the color a bit. The wrong
way: Brighten everything inside the eyelids.

If you want to read about more natural ways to retouch eyes, hereʼs a
great read on understanding eyes and how to retouch them.

IV. Thou Shalt Calibrate Thy Monitor Every Few Months

Monitors are fickle. The more theyʼre on, the more theyʼre being used, the
color on them is like to change.

Depending on how often you use your monitor, you can be seeing much
different colors from the last time you calibrated (if you ever did). Thatʼs
why calibration systems ask you to calibrate every month-few months. Itʼs
just one of those things you have to do like going to the dentist every 6
months.

V. Thou Shalt Respect Thy Subjectʼs Body Type

If a woman is a size 9, donʼt make her a size 2. Easy as that. Itʼs one thing
if youʼre shooting fashion and the dresses that day are a little too tight. Itʼs
another thing when you make their butt and breasts expand like the
Grinchʼs heart on Christmas day.

VI. Thou Shalt Leave Smooth Transitions From Highlights to

Shadows
Light falls on the face a certain way. Sure thereʼs a difference between
softbox and beauty dish fall off, but the transitions arenʼt supposed to be
incredibly sharp. They have a gradation to them. When youʼre dodging
and burning, you should try and keep as much of the natural gradation
that you can.

Obviously, this goes for more natural retouching and not art pieces where
youʼre going for that look.

VII. Thou Shalt Edit Each Photo in a Series Consistently

 These photos are from the same series, shouldnʼt they have a similar
look? The left looks like a more natural shot whereas the right looks like a
bad filter was put on it. These 2 photos donʼt really match anymore.

If you look at 2 images from the same set, are they the same brightness
exactly? Are the same blemishes removed? Does the background have
the same look/color in them?

Consistency from photo to photo is a learned skill, but it is probably one of

the most important skills. If you bought 2 chairs from Ikea, youʼd want
them to be exactly the same. You wouldnʼt want one to be slightly darker
and have 1 leg thatʼs shorter than the rest.

VIII. Thou Shalt Not Be A Cheapskate, or: Actually Purchase The

Adobe Creative Cloud Suite
$10 a month. Come on. If you use free alternatives thatʼs fine, but thereʼs
no reason to steal Photoshop or Lightroom. And if youʼre a college
student, you can get the Photography Plan or the full plan for even
cheaper.

IX. Thou Shalt Not Overuse the Sharpening Tool

 A big tell for things like this is hair. Youʼll notice a lot of crispiness in the
hairs on oversharpened photos.

Itʼs like youʼre cooking. If you do a taste test and find it needs a little salt,
you donʼt just dump salt on the entire meal… you add a pinch. A little goes
a long way. Hereʼs a good little guide on how to sharpen better. And if your
image is just really blurry, thereʼs not all that much you can do to fix this.

X. Thou Shalt Not Wait To Fix In Post

Hair on the modelʼs shoulder? Donʼt just wait to fix that in post. If itʼs
something you can physically fix in the moment, do it. You shouldnʼt wait
until youʼre home and realize youʼre not as good as you think you are.
Retouching is an art form and should be respected, just like photography.
You canʼt just take a photo any situation and make it perfect. Some things
are un-fixable.

Unfortunately I donʼt have a link to getting better at this. You just need to
pay more attention during the shoot. Always try to be paying attention to
certain details while shooting.
Where is the hair falling on the model? Is anything out of place? Is their
shirt tidy? Just some things I like to try and think about during shoots.

About the author: David Justice is a portrait, fashion, and beauty

photographer based in New Britain, Connecticut. The opinions in this
article are solely those of its author. To see more of Davidʼs work, visit his
website or follow him on Instagram. This article was also published here.