Looking for a way to retouch skin, facial expression, and more? Portrait+ is an extremely easy to use Photoshop plug-in that makes retouching portraits so easy.

Retouching Skin

One of the the most useful feature of Portrait+ is the skin retouching algorithm they use. Arcsoft calls it “Skin magic” and it does feel like magic for those who have never retouched skin in Photoshop. Skin magic lets you smooth skin without making it look blurry and improve skin tones. See the image below for a before and after comparison of the skin smoothing effect.

Before skin smoothing
After skin smoothing

So how does Portrait+ know where to retouch? The skin areas are automatically selected and it does a very good job selecting skin tones – we weren’t able to find a photo where Portrait+ couldn’t select the skin tones properly. But in case that you can’t select skin tones, Portrait+ lets you paint in the areas to correct it.

image

In addition to skin smoothing, you can also improve skin tones with the “Change Skin Tone” and “Brighten Skin” settings. These settings are useful for evening out skin and removing redness from skin irritations. You can also use it to make skin look more pale or vivid.

Skin tone in Portrait+

Enhancements

After smoothing skin, you’ll want to work on the finer details like the eyes, cheeks, and lips. This is where the enhancement features are useful and also where you have to be careful because you can easily overdo some of the settings.

image

You can easily transform a portrait with subtle improvements simply by enabling all the effects. All of the effects with the exception of the “Remove Eye Circles” let you adjust the intensity from low to high. Some of the settings can start to make it look like a different person but they still look natural and realistic as long as you stay below the medium range. Thankfully, there’s a side-by-side comparison mode you can use to remind yourself not to overdo any of these settings.

Portrait Enhancements on Low
Low enhancement settings make faces look more awake and pleasing.

Portrait Enhancements on Medium
At medium enhancement settings, most effects retain a natural look but others may start to look unnatural.

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6 responses to “Arcsoft Portrait+ 3 Review: Retouch Portrait Photos without Learning Photoshop”

  1. Hera Avatar
    Hera

    Both ArcSof Portrait+ and Portrait Professional has its nice features, just see which one meets your need most. The plug-in can be found here in PS after opening an image: filter>ArcSoft>Portrait+.

  2.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Thank you for the reveiw. I think both ArcSoft Portrait+ and Portrait Professional have its nice features, just see which one you need most. The plug-in can be found here after opening a portrait image in PS: filter>ArcSoft>Portrait+.

  3. Agnes Lam Avatar
    Agnes Lam

    Is this better than Portrait Professional?

    1.  Avatar
      Anonymous

      from where to this plugin..??

  4. Rygeil Avatar
    Rygeil

    This seems to be a feature that should already be included in Photoshop.

  5. D.Martin Avatar
    D.Martin

    Good

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