Photoshop & Lightroom Retouching Tutorials
Learn portrait and product retouching that looks like the person, not a plastic version of them: skin, eyes, hair, teeth, shape, and clean-up in Photoshop and Lightroom. More than 170 free and PRO video tutorials from Aaron Nace, from a five-minute cleanup to advanced frequency separation.
What You’ll Learn
Retouching is where most editors pick up bad habits, because the tools make it easy to go too far. These tutorials teach the professional standard: remove what is temporary, keep what is permanent, and leave texture alone.
- A fast, clean first pass. Spot Healing, the Remove Tool, and Content-Aware Fill for blemishes, stray hairs, dust, and distractions, plus the new AI clean-up tools in Photoshop 2026 and Lightroom.
- Skin that still looks like skin. Frequency separation, dodge and burn, and texture-preserving smoothing, and how to know when to stop.
- Eyes, teeth, and hair. Brightening without the glow, whitening without the chalk, and taming flyaways with masks instead of blur.
- Shape and light. Liquify used honestly, plus dodge and burn to sculpt light on a face or a product.
- Batch retouching in Lightroom. Syncing masks across a whole shoot, assisted culling, Denoise, and when to send an image to Photoshop for the fine work.
Where to Start
If you have never retouched a portrait, begin with the Retouching Learning Path, which goes from a basic cleanup to advanced skin work in order. Portrait photographers should also look at the Portraits Learning Path, and anyone shooting for clients will get the most from the PRO course Advanced Portrait Retouching.
Free and PRO Tutorials
Free tutorials are complete lessons, not previews. PRO tutorials go deeper and longer, and they include the sample images, RAW files, actions, and presets used in the lesson so you can follow along on the exact same file. A PHLEARN PRO membership unlocks every PRO tutorial on the site, including all of the ones in this category.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to retouch skin in Photoshop?
Start with healing tools for individual blemishes, then use frequency separation to even out tone while keeping pores and texture, and finish with dodge and burn. The tutorials in this category walk through each step on real portraits.
Can I retouch in Lightroom instead of Photoshop?
For light work, yes. Lightroom’s healing, masking, and the newer AI blemish removal handle most everyday cleanup, and they sync across a whole shoot. Heavy skin work, hair, and reshaping still belong in Photoshop.
How do I avoid the over-retouched look?
Zoom out often, keep skin texture, work on separate layers at reduced opacity, and compare to the original frequently. Several tutorials here are specifically about restraint.
Where to Go Next
Retouching pairs naturally with Color & Tone, which is where a finished portrait gets its look, and with Photo Editing for the exposure and color correction that should happen first. For studio and product work, see Tools & Techniques, and for whole-shoot workflows see Workflow & Productivity.
Learn Retouching in Order
The Retouching Learning Path goes from a basic cleanup to advanced skin work, one tutorial at a time.
On This Page
PHLEARN PRO
Every PRO tutorial in this category, with sample and RAW files, plus the full PRO library.
This tutorial takes you step-by-step through the high-fashion retouch editing. Each look uses different lighting and calls for a different approach. We guide you through everything from object removal, to skin smoothing, to color and lighting.
Photoshop | Retouching | Medium | 3.75 hours
3 Sample Images | 1 Photoshop Brush | 1 Lighting Breakdown Video
Today, we have three simple steps for editing Children’s Photos. First we had a Vignette, then a Warming filter, and finally we enhance the yes for some finishing touches.
A professional photographer needs a professional workflow to organize and maintain their photo catalog. In this tutorial, we’ll teach you the foundations for developing a clear and efficient post-production process.
Photoshop | Retouching | Easy | 8 hours
11 Sample Images | 2 Photoshop Brushes | 1 Photoshop Action
Welcome to part two of our best-selling series Retouching 101-301. Expand on your retouching skill-set by mastering dodging and burning and frequency separation.
Lightroom, Photoshop | Retouching | Medium | 10.5 hours
26 Sample Images | 2 Photoshop Actions
High-end retouching requires a complete understanding of color, skin tone, textures, and how to touch up blemishes, hair, skin, and environments while not affecting what makes the subject unique. Join us as we demonstrate how to master the art.
Photoshop | Retouching | Advanced | 12.25 hours
12 Sample Images
Scars are a natural part of life, but they can also attract attention away from your subject. In today’s tutorial, we teach you a fast, easy way to remove scars, so you can create clear skin anytime you want!
In this tutorial, we show you how to add and balance lighting in any situation to capture all of the images needed to make a perfect composite. Then we put it all together in Photoshop.
Photoshop, Lightroom | Compositing | Easy | 1.75 hours
18 Sample Images | 1 Photoshop Brush
Strategically add shadows and highlights to a body for the effect of more defined muscles. In this tutorial we focus on abs, but the same techniques can be used for enhancing the definition of other muscles as well.
This intermediate Photoshop tutorial covers everything you need to know about coloring and stylizing your images. Learn how to add clouds and dramatically alter the sky of your images to increase depth and mood, even if there are objects in the way!
Photoshop | Color & Tone | Medium | 1.5 hours
3 Sample Images | 2 Photoshop Brushes
The Face Aware Liquify tool is a new addition to Photoshop CC 2015 with the recent Version 5.0 update. In today’s episode, learn how to adjust facial features using Face-Aware Liquify.
Learn the art of retouching or brush up on your skills! This tutorial will teach you how the pros work to remove blemishes, smooth skin, dodge and burn, apply makeup, and sharpen images. See our exclusive PHLEARN workflow and tools in action.
Lightroom, Photoshop | Retouching | Medium | 9.75 hours
26 Sample Images | 5 Photoshop Brushes | 1 Photoshop Action
Sometimes it’s better to be nasty, as in the case with sports portraits. Learn how to make a sports portrait even more gritty by using Dodge and Burn and advanced sharpening in today’s episode.
Learn how to simply remove eye wrinkles in a natural and subtle way, leaving your subject refreshed and looking great.
Are those winter months taking a toll on your complexion? Learn how to Transform pale Skin into beautiful bronze in Photoshop!
Enhance Hair Color using a Color Balance Adjustment Layer and add a new Color just to the Highlights of Hair. Next learn how to Dodge and Burn Hair to add volume and shape.
Sometimes babies and newborns will have too much red or blue in their Skin, which doesn’t look great in photos. Learn how to use a reference image to analyze skin tone and apply those changes to correct skin tone!
Remove a blemish with Photoshop Fix, adjust development settings with Photoshop Lightroom for mobile, and then apply the Adjustments to a photo burst with Photoshop Lightroom for desktop.
Join us as we match Skin tones, targeting red areas of the photo matching the Color of the Skin your desired tone. We also use the Healing Brush Tool to duplicate textures, covering the stretch marks.
You’ll be amazed at what you can do when using the Blend If sliders. You can blend based off of information from the Layer you are on, or based off of information from the rest of the image.
Use these tips and tricks to adjust the style hair in Photoshop.
We will walk you through the process of “contouring” makeup in Photoshop to enhance facial features.
Often times you might want to change the nail Color of your subject. Maybe you want to try a color that would better fit the overall image. We have a very simple but effective solution for you!
Remove any Tattoo with these tricks. We start with a rough removal using the spot healing brush tool and then we use the brush tool to sample and paint color back in place. We finish things off with adding texture back on the skin.
From flyaways to frizzies, hair seems to never do exactly what we want it to. Learn how to shape and Style hair in Photoshop in today’s episode!
It’s always a sad time when you end up with unwanted Reflections in someone’s glasses! Learn how to utilize the clone source dialogue to remove glare in today’s episode!
Learn how to completely repair an old torn photo in Photoshop! From tears to discoloration, we will show you how to fix it!
You won’t believe how quick and easy it is to remove red-eye in Photoshop! Learn how to fix those creepy pupils in today’s episode!
Photoshop | Retouching | Easy | 15 mins | 1 video
1 Sample Image
In today’s episode, learn How to Retouch a Dramatic Male Headshot in Photoshop! Fix blemishes and redness, and add classic Color Styling to your photographs!
Sample Images Included
Besides it being tons of fun, it can be extremely helpful in things like family portraiture. If you want to replace someone’s closed eyes with open ones, or replace a crying baby with a happy one, this is the technique to use.
Who wouldn’t want to spend time Retouching handsome, mature men!? In today’s episode, learn how to eliminate wrinkles and pores, and add color back to the skin!
Altering a model’s Body Proportions is a very controversial topic. In today’s episode, we show you some techniques to get a great transformed Body without pushing it too far.