Frequency separation seems to be all the rage recently. It’s a very powerful tool to have in your bag of tricks when retouching. Here’s a short video that covers the formula to help you get started with frequency separation. It’s not as complicated as it may sound.
Frequency separation is a technique that can be used for a variety of different things, but the most common use is for retouching images for portrait, beauty, fashion, and editorial photography. Like any tool, it can be overused and it’s not a one stop shop for all your retouching needs. The key to using this technique is subtly, in my opinion. The above video is one I made for The Composite Creative.
What is Frequency Separation?
The technique involves breaking an image up into two separate parts. One part contains all the detail or texture information, while the other part will contain all the color information. This allows you to make targeted adjustments and corrections to color without affecting the detail of the image. And to make texture corrections while not affecting the color.
What are the steps?
Step 1:
Duplicate the base layer twice.Then rename the bottom layer to LOW. Rename the top layer to HIGH.
Step 2:
Hide the HIGH layer by clicking on the eyeball icon next to the layer in the layers panel. With the LOW layer selected, click on the EFFECTS tab. Go to BLUR and select GUASSIAN BLUR. Now you want to select a radius that blurs the finer details but still retains the color structure. There’s no one particular radius that will work for every image. You’ll just have to adjust till you get the desired amount of blur, then click OK.
Step 3:
Click the eyeball icon on the HIGH layer to make the layer visible again. With the HIGH layer selected, go to IMAGE tab and select APPLY IMAGE. This will bring up a window for you to adjust some settings and those settings will vary depending on whether you’re working on an 8 bit or 16 bit image.
8 Bit:
- Click the drop down menu to select your SOURCE layer. Select the LOW layer.
- Make sure the INVERT box is unchecked.
- Under BLENDING, click the dropdown menu and choose the blending mode of SUBTRACT.
- SCALE should be set to 2
- OFFSET should be set to 128
16 Bit:
- Click the dropdown menu to select your SOURCE layer. Select the LOW layer.
- Make sure the INVERT box is CHECKED.
- Under BLENDING, click the dropdown menu and choose the blending mode of ADD.
- SCALE should be set to 2
- OFFSET should be set to 0
Now click OK. Next, set the BLEND MODE of the HIGH layer to LINEAR LIGHT.
You should now your frequency separation complete. I would recommend adding a blank layer between your LOW and HIGH layers. You can do all our transition and color toning on that layer, which helps to keep this whole process as non-destructive as possible. Use a soft brush with a setting of 100% opacity and a flow of around 2-4%. Sample often, as explained in the video, and paint. You can target your texture work on the HIGH layer using the healing brush tool or any similar tool that suits your fancy. I personally like the healing brush tool.
Just remember, subtly is the key here. Let the effect build up slowly. You’ll have more control and better results. If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a comment and I’ll answer as best I can.
Bare Bones Frequency Separation
