Pro Retouch 2.0: A Game-Changer for Newborn Photography Editing

As a newborn photographer, I'm always on the lookout for ways to streamline my editing workflow and deliver stunning results to my clients. In this post, I'll be comparing three methods for skin smoothing in Photoshop: Portraiture, Adobe's neural filters, and Totally Rad's Pro Retouch 2.0.

One big drawback of using Photoshop's neural filters is that the skin smoothing filter only affects the face. This motivated me to compare these three methods and see which one comes out on top.

First up is Portraiture, a plugin I've used for years with great results. The biggest advantage of Portraiture is its ability to find the skin tones in your image and create its own mask. You can choose from several presets or fine-tune the mask yourself using the eyedropper tool. The smoothing is automatically applied only to the skin, without affecting details like eyes and hair.

However, Portraiture comes with a hefty price tag of $199, making it inaccessible to hobbyists and those on a tight budget. But for working professional photographers, it's well worth the investment.

Next up are Adobe's neural filters, which are a newer feature of Photoshop CC released in October 2020. The skin smoothing filter needs to be downloaded but is free for Photoshop CC users. While it's not as advanced as Portraiture, it still produces excellent results and is a great option for those who don't want to spend money on plugins.

Finally, I'll be discussing Totally Rad's Pro Retouch 2.0, which includes a skin smoothing action that can be used in Photoshop. This plugin is part of the Pro Retouch 2.0 bundle and offers a range of actions for touching up newborn skin.

In this article, I'll be comparing the results of each method and discussing my personal experience with them. Whether you're a professional photographer or a hobbyist, skin smoothing can make all the difference in delivering beautiful portraits to your clients.

Pro retouch