Where do you stand on Photoshop retouching? | Practical Photoshop

Retouching is hardly a new phenomenon, but with controversy often surrounding the practice, we begin to debate – how much is too much?

Retouching portraits to make them look perfect is hardly a new technique – photographers have been getting rid of blemishes, lightening eyes, removing hairs and so on pretty much since photography first began.

Of course, with Photoshop, the technology is available to more people, is quicker to use and therefore more prevalent.

Most people expect images in magazines and advertising to be retouched a little, but how much is too much? Recently, a L’Oreal advert featuring Julia Roberts was banned by OFCOM for being too heavily retouched, as they believed it mislead consumers about the product being sold.

So the question arises, when, and what type, of retouching is acceptable? Is it OK for magazines to retouch a celebrity to make them appear slimmer? Retouched photos of both men and women are often linked to eating disorders, especially when they appear in magazines aimed at young people.

It’s hard to deny that most of us would prefer to see photos of ourselves looking at our absolute best, and if subtle tweaks can help do that, then it can be hard to resist. In the latest issue of Practical Photoshop we go over fixes for eyes, lips, hair, skin, teeth and body shape – they’re all designed to help create better portraits, without going too far.

Let us know where you stand on the Photoshop retouching debate, how much is too much and where do you draw the line. Leave your comments in the box below or email us at letters@practicalphotoshopmag.com. One ‘star’ letter will receive some fine art printing paper from Fotospeed.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 1st, 2011 at 2:19 pm and is filed under Shop. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a comment. Pinging is currently not allowed.