Tutorial 3.1

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Setting up your file

1. Open the provided file: [ PP_Chptr02-1_Cropping_Original.webp ] in Photoshop.
2. Re-save the file as [ PP_Chptr02_Cropping_Working.psd ]

Selecting the Affected Region

3. Select the Crop Tool (hotkey: C) from the toolbar. A cropping border with handles should appear around the image. If the crop tool was used on a previous image, the border may be set to the previous image’s size.
   • Reset the Crop Tool to its default settings by right-clicking / Control-clicking on the Crop Tool button on the contextual toolbar (located at the top of the screen) and select Reset Tool from the menu that appears. The aspect ratio (if any) should be reset and the Width and Height boxes at the top left should be empty. However, the cropping border itself will not be reset.
   • If needed, reset the cropping border by pressing Esc, select a different tool on the toolbar, and reselect the Crop Tool. The cropping border will now be positioned around the entire image.
4. There are a few different ways to crop the image to focus only the bicycle in the shot. Here are two common methods – try out each and see which one you prefer:
   • Method 1: Click and drag the handles on the cropping border (via the handles) to reshape the border of the image to surround the bicycle. Clicking and dragging the image inside the border can also reposition the image inside the cropping border. When finished, click Done.
   • Method 2: Click on the image and drag a border to surround the bicycle. Drag the handles on the cropping border to reshape the border as needed. Clicking and dragging the image inside the border can also reposition the image inside the cropping border. When finished, click Done.
5. To reset the crop made, click the Reset button on the top right of the screen, or Undo under the edit menu (hotkey: Ctrl / Command + Z).

Save & Wrap Up

6. Save your .PSD working file (Crtl / Cmd + S).
7. Save-As a .PNG (flattened) file (Shift + Crtl / Cmd + S).

Additional Tips for working efficiently with the Crop tool:

• To keep the original aspect ratio of your image when cropping, hold Shift when dragging the crop handles.
• To crop your image to a specific aspect ratio (for example, 16 wide by 9 tall, or 16:9), enter the aspect ratio into the Width and Height boxes on the top toolbar. Enter 4 for the width in the first box, and 5 for the height in the second box. The cropping border should now be 4 : 5 ratio. To swap the width and height values, click the arrows between the aspect ratio boxes.
• To crop the image to a specific pixel size (for example, 1080 pixels by 1080 pixels, at 72 pixels per inch), change the dropdown menu on the toolbar from Ratio (default) to W x H x Resolution, and enter the pixels into the Width and Height boxes on the top toolbar. Enter 1080px for the width in the first box, and 1080px for the height in the second box.  Note that the aspect ratio of the cropping tool will be constrained by the values you enter here – a 1080px by 1080px crop will result in a 1:1 (square) aspect ratio.
• To give the cropped image specific dimensions in inches (in) or centimetres (cm) (or even millimetres (mm) or points (pt)),  and then enter the dimensions along with the units into the Width and Height boxes on the top toolbar. You can also set the resolution (in pixels per inch or pixels per centimetre) so that the image is resized when you crop.
  For example: If you wanted to ensure your final image was 6 inches by 4 inches at 300 pixels per inch (a common size for printing photographs for a photo album or small picture frame), you would enter 6″ for the width in the first box, 4″ for the height in the second box, and 300 in the third box on the toolbar, ensuring the resolution dropdown is set to px/in.  Note that Photoshop will not specifically warn you when scaling an image up in this way (increasing the image resolution) – if you request a size larger than the original image, it will “up-res” as needed to artificially increase the resolution, which may result in a poor quality image.
• Note that you can do simple math equations in the Width and Height text entry boxes, including units of measurement – for example, you can enter a value of 12 in * 2 and the program will automatically convert this to 24 inches.
• Photoshop uses two letter abbreviations for dimensions. Inches = “in”, inch marks (“) are not recognized. 
• To non-destructively crop the image (if you want to try various crop sizes), deselect Delete Cropped Pixels checkbox at the top-middle of the contextual toolbar. This will retain the cropped information so that you can “uncrop” at a later time if needed, rather than deleting it from the image. Note that when working on large images this can greatly increase the size of your files and system resources required to work on them as that non-visible information is retained. This is especially useful when cropping a working file that has multiple layers that you may wish to reposition after cropping.
  

Tutorial 2.2

Image Composition Basics

Setting up your file

1. Open the provided file: [ PP_Chptr02-2_ImageComp_Original.webp ] in Photoshop.
2. Re-save the file as [ PP_Chptr02-2_ImageComp_Working.psd ]

In this tutorial, we’ll use the same base file to apply several different composition rules.

Image Composition Using the “Rule of Thirds“

1. Select the Crop Tool (C) from the toolbar. Reset the tool to default settings if you’ve modified it previously (by right-clicking the tool icon on the contextual toolbar and selecting Reset Tool).
2. Click on any highlighted edge or corner of the crop display to activate the 3 row by 3 column grid, which shows the positioning grid based on the “Rule of Thirds“: The Rule of Thirds is a general composition guide where the subject of the photo is placed at or around one third of the width of the image, which can be found using the grid lines, leaving two thirds of the image empty (or vice versa).
3. Click and drag the cropping border, starting with the lower right corner, so that the streetcar fits into the bottom right two-thirds of the grid, in the rightmost third.Why? This uses the Rule of Thirds (taking up roughly two thirds of the image) to make the composition of the image look visually engaging compared to solely centering the subject in an image.
4. When your crop is positioned where you want, select Done (hotkey: Enter).
5. Save-As a .PNG (flattened) file (Shift + Ctrl / Cmd + S)

Image Composition Using the “Golden Ratio” and “Golden Spiral“

1. Select the Crop Tool (C) from the toolbar. Reset the tool to default settings if you’ve modified it previously (by right-clicking the tool icon on the contextual toolbar and selecting Reset Tool).

2. In the Width and Height boxes on the contextual toolbar at the top of the workspace, enter 1.618 for the width in the first box, and 1 for the height in the second box. This ratio – 1.618 : 1 – is referred to as “The Golden Ratio“, also known as the golden number, golden proportion, or the divine proportion.

3.  Click the Overlay icon located on the contextual toolbar at the top of the workspace (the icon for this looks like a 3 by 3 mesh grid). From the drop-down menu, choose Golden Spiral. The Golden Spiral is a composition guide where the subjects in the image follow a spiral-like guide to create a balanced, “natural” composition. It is widely found throughout both nature and in many great human creations. The golden spiral follows the Golden Ratio in composition.

4. Click and drag the cropping border to have the image fit the crowd of people, red traffic light, and streetcar. Postiion the crop so the crowd of people are near the bottom left edge of the spiral, the red traffic light is near the top of the spiral, and the streetcar is close to the bottom right of the spiral. Ensure that the people entering the streetcar fit inside the inner spiral. Why? This uses the Golden Spiral (where the key visual subjects follow the calculated spiral based on the image’s dimensions) to make a visually balanced image compared to solely centering subjects in an image.
5. When finished, select Done (hotkey: Enter).
6. Save-As a .PNG (flattened) file (Shift + Ctrl / Cmd + S)

Cropping for Mobile Screens

1. Select the Crop Tool (C) from the toolbar. Reset the tool to default settings if you’ve modified it previously (by right-clicking the tool icon on the contextual toolbar and selecting Reset Tool).
2. In the Width and Height boxes on the contextual toolbar at the top of the workspace, enter 9 for the width in the first box, and 16 for the height in the second box. This will crop the image to fit in a 9:16 aspect ratio (a common aspect ratio used for mobile devices).
3. Drag the image inside the cropping border to place the streetcar within the border. Click and drag on the bottom left and right handles to crop the front of the streetcar into the middle center and right grids (following the Rule of Thirds).
   
4. When finished, select Done (hotkey: Enter).
5. Save-As a .PNG (flattened) file (Shift + Ctrl / Cmd + S)

Tutorial 2.3

Layer Masks

Setting up your file

1. Open the provided file: [ PP_Chptr02-3_CreateALayerMask-Student.webp ] in Photoshop.
2. Re-save the file as [ PP_Chptr02-3_CreateALayerMask_Working.psd ]

Make a Selection

3. Under the Select menu, click Subject (Select > Subject). This process may take a few seconds to complete as Photoshop reviews the image, attempts to identify the subject, and applies a selection to thatject.
   • Once the Select > Subject is complete, the student in the image should be selected. You can adjust the selection using any of the normal selection tools, holding Shift to add to the selected area and Alt / Option to remove from the selected area. You can also use commands found under the Select menu and Select > Modify sub-menu to further refine your selection, such as Feather (to soften edges – hotkey Shift + F6) or Expand and Contract, if needed. Adjust the selection as required to ensure you have everything you want selected before proceeding to the next step(s).

Apply a Layer Mask to the Selected Area

4. With your selection set, click the Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers tab (the icon looks like a solid rectangle with a circle cut out of the middle). Alternately, you can access the same functionality under the Layer menu by going to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection. This will apply a layer mask to the layer, shown on the Layers tab by adding a second thumbnail directly to the right of the original layer thumbnail.
   • With the layer mask applied, anything you had selected will remain visible while anything outside of your selection should dissapear. Unlike deleting or erasing, the pixel information is still there – it is just being hidden by the layer mask. More information on Layer Masks and how they function can be found at the end of this tutorial.
   • When a layer masked is applied to a Background layer, the name of the layer will change to Layer 0 and it will no longer be designated as a Background. This unlocks the position of the layer as well as provides greater flexibilty in how it is used. This happens automatically when we apply a layer mask to a Background layer, but is important to be aware of as a layer designated as a Background has certain restrictions otherwise. 
5. Rename this layer from Layer 0 to Student by double-clicking the layer name in the Layers tab.

Add a new background behind your masked layer

6. Open the second image in the tutorial files [ PP_Chptr02-3_CreateALayerMask-Background.webp ], click and drag the layer thumbnail from the Layers tab of that image document to your working file. Double click the layer name and rename this layer Background Scene.
7. Using the Move tool (V), position the Backgound Scene so that it is aligned with the image area of the working file. It is the same size as the working file, so it should snap to the edges easily for you.
8. Rearrange the order of layers so that the Backgound Scene that you dragged onto your working document is behind  the Student layer (meaning: on the layers tab, the Backgound Scene layer will be below the Student layer). Because the Student layer has a layer mask applied, the student will appear to be in the new background location.
9. Using the Move tool (V), shift the position of the Student layer to the right, so that her face is approximately 2/3 from the left hand side of the image (using the rule of thirds to help guide our composition).
   • The default behaviour of the Move tool is set to automatically select the top-most visible layer that you click on with your cursor in the work area – you can toggle this functionality on or off by clicking the Auto-Select: checkmark in the contextual toolbar, or change the type of auto-selection being used via the drop-down directly to the right of that toggle.
10. To quickly make the tones of the two images a little more similar without getting into detailed tonal adjustments, try this quick tonal match method:
    •  Select the Student layer in the Layers tab
    • Go to Image > Adjustments > Match Color
    • In the dialogue box that appears, set the Source to your working file, the Layer to the Background Scene layer, and the Fade slider to 50.

(Typically speaking, we’d want to further adjust the tonal range and a few other details at this point to make the composite image more visually coherent, but this is a good start – we’ll cover more on tonal ranges and seamless compositing in future tutorials!)

Save & Wrap Up

11. Save your .PSD working file (Crtl / Cmd + S).
12. Save-As a .PNG (flattened) file (Shift + Crtl / Cmd + S).

Additional Tips for working with Layer Masks:

• Greyscale controls visibility. On a layer mask, pure white keeps pixels fully visible, pure black hides them completely, and any shade of grey makes them transparent proportionally to how light/dark the grey is. This lets you blend layers or reveal adjustments with pixel-level precision.
• Masks are editable image-layers themselves. Although they don’t store colour, a mask is just another pixel layer. You can paint, fill, erase, blur, or run filters on it exactly as you would on a normal layer – as long as the mask thumbnail is selected / active (its icon shows a white outline).
• The Properties tab (Panel) allows further non-destructive tweaks. Controls like the Feather: slider softens edges non-destructively; experiment freely and fine-tune later.  The Density: slider lowers overall mask strength (0 % = fully hidden, 100 % = original mask). Think of it as a kind of layer mask opacity slider.
• Layer Masks are linked to the position of the layer by default, and move around with it when it moves. You can turn this off by clicking the chain icon between layer and layer mask – when “linked” together, it locks them together for moves and transforms. When unlinked, you can move and transform each of the two individually. Unlink your mask when you need the mask to stay put while repositioning the artwork (or vice versa).
• Copying masks between layers: Drag the mask thumbnail to another layer while holding Alt / Option to quickly copy it to the destination layer.
• You can apply layer masks to layer groups for complex compositions. Place several layers in a Group and add a single mask to the group-folder to control visibility for all of the layers inside without duplicating work or having to copy the same layer mask to multiple layers.
• Quickly apply fades using Gradients on layer masks. A black-to-white gradient on the mask produces a smooth transitions – ideal for subtle sky replacements or double-exposure type effects.
• Masks can be further refined with the Select & Mask toolset. If your mask edge looks jagged, load it as a selection (Ctrl/Cmd-click), then choose Select & Mask to brush in precise hair or fur detail.

Essential Shortcuts & View modes for Layer masks

(Apply to the Mask Thumbnail in the Layers tab)

Canvas switches to greyscale mask view; repeat to return.

Red “X” appears while disabled.

Swaps visible and hidden areas – handy for quick reversals.

Tutorial 2.4

Complex Layer Masks

Using Shapes and Typography

Setting up your file

1. Open the provided file: [ PP_Chptr02-4_ComplexMasks.webp ] in Photoshop.
2. Re-save the file as [ PP_Chptr02-4_ComplexMasks_Working.psd ]

Add Text and Convert to a Shape

3. Activate the Horizontal Type Tool (hotkey: T), click on the image area in roughly the centre of the image and type Yonge.
4. In the Paragraph Tab, set the text alignment to Center Aligned.
5. In the Character Tab, set the text size to 115 pt, the font to Franklin Gothic Heavy (or similar), and click the All Caps icon (to convert Yonge to YONGE in your image area).
   Tip: If you are having trouble finding the Paragraph or Character tabs – or any other controls tab for that matter – you can reveal them by going to the Window menu, and clicking Paragraph or Character, respectively (Window▸ Paragraph / Character).
6. Right click your Yonge text layer and select Convert to Shape from the menu that appears. Alternately: Select the layer in the Layers tab and go to Convert to Shape under the Type menu (Type▸Convert to Shape).
7. Using the Free Transform tool (hotkey: Ctrl / Cmd + T), increase the height of the text vertically (only) by clicking and dragging the middle-bottom handle downwards while holding Shift, and the middle top handle up (also while holding shift). When you have made the height approximatly 250% of the original height, hit Enter or click the checkmark in the top contextual menu to complete the Free Transform action.

Creating a Layer Mask Based on the Shape

8. On the Yonge layer, create an (empty) layer mask by selecting the Layer Mask button at the bottom of the Layers panel (looks like a rectangle with a circle in the middle). Nothing will visibly change as there is no selection currently limiting the layer mask to show or hide particular areas of the layer – the layer mask is solid white, so all areas of the layer are revealed. 
9. In the Layers tab, click on the layer mask thumbnail on the Yonge layer, so that it is highlighted (shows a white outline). Set your colors to default (black and white) via the D key. Use the Gradient tool (G) from the toolbar to draw a linear gradient line from the bottom of the text upwards. Use the control handle (diamond) in the middle of the gradient to adjust the midpoint of the gradient to make the fade smooth.

Apply a Clipping Mask on Image

10. Unlock the Background (image) layer by clicking on the lock in the Layers tab, and drag it above the Yonge layer. Re-name this layer Street.
11. Right-click on the Street layer and click Convert to Smart Object.
12. Right-click on the Street layer again and select Create Clipping Mask (hotkey: Alt + Ctrl / Command + Option G). This will apply the image onto the visible areas of the Yonge layer below it.
13. With the Street layer selected, the image can be moved and transformed using the handles to adjust the position of the image within the “YONGE” text. Transform the image to the right and down to have the signs in the photo more visible.
14. Create a new layer (using the plus-symbol-inside-a-square icon at the bottom of the Layers tab). Rename this layer Background, and re-order it so that it is the bottom layer in the Layers tab.
15.  Swap your foreground and background colours using the double-sided arrow or the hotkey X, so that white is your active colour. Ensuring the Background layer is selected, use the hotkey Shift + Backspace to fill the Background layer with the foregound colour (white).

Save & Wrap Up

16. Save your .PSD working file (Crtl / Cmd + S).
17. Save-As a .PNG (flattened) file (Shift + Crtl / Cmd + S).

Tutorial 2.5

Simple Compositing

Blinking Individuals

Setting up your file

1. Open the provided files: [ PP_Chptr02-5_Blinking.webp ] and [ PP_Chptr02-5_Sneezing.webp ] in Photoshop.
2. Re-save [ PP_Chptr02-5_Blinking.webp ] as [ PP_Chptr02-5_Blinking_Working.psd ]

Merge and Align

3. Drag the Background layer from the [ PP_Chptr02-5_Sneezing.webp ] file to the [ PP_Chptr02-5_Blinking.webp ] file, and name this layer Open Eyes
4. As these two shots have slightly different alignments, you can either re-align them manually or use Photoshops Align tools to help:
   • Select both layers in the Layers tab (shift-click them)
   • Under the Edit menu, go to Auto-Align Layers (Edit > Auto-Align Layers)
   • You will be given seveal options for alignment types in a dialogue box. Because these shots are so similar, Auto should work here.
   • Review the alignment and in particular the area(s) you wish to focus on. You can do this by toggling the layer visibility, or reducing the opacity of the upper layer to view how it is positioned relative to the lower layer(s). Adjust as needed using the Move tool (hotkey: V)

Blending the layers together

8. On the Sneezing layer, create a layer mask via the Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All menu item. This creates a completely black layer mask, rendering the layer completely transparent.
9. Using the Brush tool (B), set your active colour to white, and brush on the mask where the open eyes of the person should be. Adjust the brush hardness and size as you go to blend the areas around the eyes and make the edit look more realistic.
10. If needed, use the Free Transform tool (Ctrl / Command + T) to manipulate the size, position and angle of the Sneezing layer if the alignment is not exact – viewers are especially sensitive to the symmetry of faces, so even minor angle adjustments can make a big difference in the beliveability of your edits.
11. Once you are happy with the way your composite is looking, do a quick check of your layer mask by Alt / Option clicking the Layer Mask Thumbnail. If you notice “stray” brushstrokes in the revealed layer mask, it’s a good idea to clean these up.
12. During the alignment process additional canvas area may have been added to help align the layers. Use the Crop tool (hotkey: C) to Crop the image to remove these blank spaces and reframe the image appropriately.

Save & Wrap Up

16. Save your .PSD working file (Crtl / Cmd + S).
17. Save-As a .PNG (flattened) file (Shift + Crtl / Cmd + S).

Tutorial 2.6

Removing Unwanted Objects

Setting up your file

1. Open the provided file: [ PP_Chptr02-6_RemoveFigures.webp ] in Photoshop.
2. Re-save the file as [PP_Chptr02-6_RemoveFigures_Working.psd ]

Removing Figures and Items

3. Select the Lasso Tool (L) from the toolbar. In the tool options at the top of the screen, set the Feather to 10 px and make sure Anti-alias is checked (on).
4. Click and drag around the figure on the left side of the image who is trying on shoes on the sidewalk, the red shoebox beside him, and his reflection on the wall.
5. On the contextual taskbar, click Remove.

This tool uses AI to remove the selected objects, and doesn’t always get it right the first time – if you find the results are poor, Undo the Remove action (Ctrl / Cmd + Z) and click the Remove button again to permit the AI to re-attempt the removal. There is a bit of randomness here: you may need to try several times to get an acceptable result, particularly with the reflection on the wall. Areas with text are especially difficult to keep looking right with just this tool alone, but oherwise the results can be quite impressive. 

6. Repeat the process to select and remove other figures from the scene.

Generally speaking, the more space there is around the individual(s) you select, the better the results will generally be – try removing the figure wearing a yellow jacked and blue skirt in the distance, or the figure in the magenta top. 

Restoring Selected Components

The removal tool will sometimes remove components that you wish to keep, especially if they are closer to the area you are removing. If you would like to restore an area, add a layer mask to the Remove tool edits layer by clicking the Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the layers tab (solid rectangle with a circle in the middle), and use the brush or other tools on the layer mask to reveal the parts of the original image below that you want to restore. In my case, when I removed the figure in the magenta top the hand of the figure beside her got distorted. Thankfully, the original hand and phone was still avaialbe below and could be shown again by hiding that portion of the Remove tool edits layer.

Additional Tips for the Remove Tool

When you need to remove a large number of figures like in this shot, try removing figures one by one or in small clusters where they are overlapping to help the process – the AI uses the areas you’ve already cleared to help rebuild the new areas you are looking to remove figures from next.

As usual: Naming your layers as you go will help to keep your file organized.

Removing Small Details

The Remove tool may be unnessary for small detail removal, such as clearing pieces of garbage from a sidewalk or a stray traffic cone from a road. For these small items in your shots, consider the following instead:

7. Create a new layer called Clean Up, and activate the Healing Brush tool (hotkey: J). This can be found on the toolbar under the Spot Healing tool. In the contextual tool options along the top of the workspace, make sure the Sample: dropdown is set to All Layers.
8. Alt or Option click on a “clear” area of the image to sample from – such as a clear patch of sidewalk. Then, apply the Healing Brush to a mark or piece of garbage on the same surface type that you wish to remove. You can use this tool to rapidly remove unwanted debris and other marks, even text or signage.
9. Save your .PSD working file (Crtl / Cmd + S).
10. Save-As a .PNG (flattened) file (Shift + Crtl / Cmd + S).

Tutorial 2.7

Subtle Adjustments: Double Chin Removal

Setting up your file

1. Open the provided file: [ PP_Chptr02_DoubleChin_Original.png ] in Photoshop.
2. Re-save the file as [ PP_Chptr02_DoubleChin_Working.psd ]

Selecting the Affected Region

3. Using the Pen Tool (hotkey: P), click and outline below the top chin and around the neck. Don’t extend the pen into the brick background of the image, or the grey shirt.
4. Right-click and select Make Selection. The Feather Radius should be set to 10, Anti-aliased should be selected (checked), and the Operation should be set to New Selection. Click OK to confirm the action. The neck area encompassed by your pen tool should be selected.
5. Duplicate the selected area (hotkey: Ctrl / Command + J), twice.
6. Hold the Alt / Option key and click between the two newly created layers on the layers palette to create a clipping mask between the new layers.

Why do we do this?
We’re going to manipulate the upper of these two layers, but we only want it to visually affect the selected area. By setting the upper layer as a clipping mask, our edits are restricted to this area only and will not “spill over” onto other areas of the image.

Making the Modifications

8. Activate the Free Transform tool (Edit ▸ Free Transform or hotkey: Ctrl / Command + T), then right-click in the transform area and select Warp.
9. Click and drag the upper row of the transform grid (close to the middle of the grid) upwards, to obscure the double chin.
10. Use the Patch tool (hotkey: J) to select and adjust any unwanted dark creases.

Put on a Happy Face (optional), Save & Wrap Up

11. Open the provided file: [ PP_Chptr02_DoubleChin_Smile.psd ] and drag the Smile layer onto your working image.
12. Align the placement of the Smile layer to hide the original frown.
13. Save your .PSD working file (Crtl / Cmd + S).
14. Save-As a .PNG (flattened) file (Shift + Crtl / Cmd + S).

Tutorial 2.8

Subtle Adjustments: Smoothing Skin

Setting up your file

1. Open the provided file: [ PP_Chptr02.8_SmoothSkin_Original.webp ] in Photoshop.
2. Re-save the file as [ PP_Chptr02.8_SmoothSkin_Working.psd ]

Selecting the Affected Region

3. Duplicate the background layer of the image (hotkey: Ctrl / Command + J).
4. Name the new layer Smoothing.
5. In the Layers panel, change the blend mode of the new (upper) layer copy to Vivid Light.
6. On the menu, go to Image > Adjustments > Invert (hotkey: Ctrl / Command + I).
7. On the menu, goto Filter > Other > High Pass. Set the radius to 4 pixels.

   Imporant Note: The value used in the radius here will be proportional to the resolution and detail of the particular image you are using – this value works well for our sample image, but may be to high or low for other images depending on their resolution. Higher resolution images will generally need higher values here, while lower resolution images will required lower values.

8. On the menu, go to Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All.
9. Select the Brush Tool (B) and set the colour to white (D to load the default colours (Black/White), X to swap foreground and background colour so that White is the foreground). Under the Brush tool settings, make sure the Hardness is set to 0% so that the edges of your brush are soft. Use the brush Draw on the layer mask in the areas of the person’s face where the skin requires the smoothing effect.
10. Reduce the intensity of the effect by changing the Opacity of the smoothing layer to about 65%.

Save & Wrap Up

11. Save your .PSD working file (Crtl / Cmd + S).
12. Save-As a .PNG (flattened) file (Shift + Crtl / Cmd + S).