Heal/Clone in wavelet-decomposed layers

Processing
1

Hi.

I really like using wavelet decompose in order to retouch skin. I read the tutorial by @patdavid and I started obtaining good results.
Recently I tried to use the heal or clone tool in Gimp in order to remove flaws from the skin, but instead of using them on the original image, I use them on one of the decomposed layers. This way I feel I can act more effectively and precisely.
I’d like to know if this is a sound technique, in your opinion. (edit: it looks like it is :slight_smile:)
Actually I’d like to use some dodge and burn technique, as it’s like the “definitive” technique according to what you read around, but I can’t really grasp it and can’ obtain any good result. I tried painting black or white with low opacity on a 50% gray in soft light mode, but there’s no way I can attain anything good…

Any idea?

Dario

1 Like
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I’d say you already found my opinion on the matter… :slight_smile: (tl;dr - yes, it’s a very sound technique).

I wrote a little bit about this quite a few years ago (5?!). The basic idea is to accentuate the shadows and highlights of your subjects in a way that is pleasing and flattering for what you want to emphasize. Usually I’ll use a black or white with low opacity (as you have), but I’ll also couple it with a large radius blur to soften and feather the boundary edges. A really light touch goes a long way here (as opposed to my examples in that old blog post ;)).

I’m happy to go on (and on, and on, and on) about this. :slight_smile:

Before from that post:

After:

2 Likes
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I hope @Tatica won’t mind me sharing this here. The original is hers, the edit is done by me using dodge and burn. I never got good results with using this for faces, but to make an image pop it can be useful.

Original

1024×819 228 KB

Edit

1024×819 230 KB

I tried to do a little before/after animation, but ran into the following problems:

  • GIF sucks for this as the number of colors is limited
  • MNG isn’t supported by browsers
  • APNG is only supported by a few browsers but convert can’t create them
  • Videos are not as easily embedded as images

So here is the crappy GIF version, but I would highly appreciate any hints how to give a better result.

1024×819 1.01 MB

XCF
breath-away1-small.xcf.bz2 (1.5 MB)

4 Likes
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What a great image to do this on! I did the same thing recently for one of the images of Mairi at Finsbury (Mairi Mid-Air in fact - I think we both did something very similar with the fabric).

This gif is fine for what you’re showing here - though linking a video is pretty darn easy here… :wink:

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I actually appreciate the gift, as I mostly browse from my phone!

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Let’s see how well APNG works in browsers.

Edit: Not at all, the forum turns it into a normal PNG.

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Thanks to everybody.
So, to draw a conclusion, wavelet decomposing is good for details retouching, while dodge&burning will help to modify the light. Well, I simplified but I got it:)
Nice examples, by the way!
Is there some care to be taken when dodgin and burning, with regards to preserving small scale contrast?

Dario

1 Like
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If you’re doing D&B on the residual wavelet (low frequency) scale, you should be pretty safely isolated from the contrast in smaller details. It’s how I’ve been doing it lately.

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Good idea! I’ll try it:)

thanks!

Dario