At the bottom of the Blending Options section, you’ll see two sliders under the header Blend If. Once you’ve painted over the areas that you want to appear brighter, double-click on the Curves Layer to open the Layer Style dialog. We’re going to be using Blend If to limit what parts of the image this Adjustment Layer will affect. Don’t worry about being super precise here. Using a soft edge brush and Flow of about 70%, paint with white over the eyes of the subject. Now we just need to use the Brush Tool ( B) to paint white on the areas of our image that we want to be affected by the Curves layer. This will fill the Layer Mask with black, making it invisible.

Since we only want this layer to affect a portion of the subject’s face, we’ll need to use Layer Masks to tell Photoshop which areas we want to adjust.Ĭlick on the Layer Mask of the Curves Adjustment Layer and hit CTRL or CMD + I to invert it. Curves will allow us to adjust the overall brightness of the image.

Once again, go to Layer, New Adjustment Layer, and then to Curves. Shed Some LightĪfter you’ve added the Black & White Adjustment Layer, we can take the first steps to brightening the areas under the subject’s eyes.

We can disable it at any time and it won’t be included when we export our final image – it’s simply there to help us check our work. This type of layer is known as a Check Layer. Removing color will give us the ability to more easily identify areas of light and dark that may need adjustment. You can do this by going to the layer tab, down to New Adjustment Layer, and then to Black & White. Our preferred method is to add a Black & White adjustment layer on top of the Layer Stack while we work. Adding a Check Layerīefore we get started, we want to make it as easy as possible for us to be able to identify the transitions of highlights to shadows in the image. Then we’ll show a quick method for rescuing some of the original skin color using the Brush Tool and Blending Modes. Using Adjustment Layers, Layer Masks, and our old friend Blend If, you’ll learn how to target only the darker portions of the skin that need to appear brighter.

In this tutorial, we break down an easy process for reducing the dark circles that can often appear under eyes in a photo. Quickly Adjust the Texture and Skin Tone of Under-Eye Areas

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