NEW PRO! Advanced Portrait Editing in Photoshop & Camera RAW

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Advanced Portrait Editing in Photoshop & Adobe Camera RAW

by Aaron Nace
June 23, 2025
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Difficulty

Advanced
Length

3.5 hours
Videos

9
Software

Photoshop

Description

Transform your portraits from good to unforgettable! This advanced tutorial in Photoshop and Camera RAW guides you through editing eight diverse RAW photographs, tackling unique challenges. Master AI-powered masking, reshape lighting, control exposure and color, and apply advanced sharpening techniques to make your subjects shine.

THIS COURSE INCLUDES

8 Sample Images (RAW)
8 Sample PSDs

1 | Course Preview

01 - What You’ll Learn

1:36m

2 | Getting Started

01 - Basic Edits

32:53m
02 - Targeted Enhancements

26:18m
03 - Editing Surroundings

26:31m
04 - Color Adjustments

29:48m

3 | Your Skills In Action

01 - Exposure Adjustments

27:25m
02 - Jumpstart Your Edits

23:14m
03 - Guiding the Gaze

17:23m
04 - Elevate Your Subject

17:18m

Course Downloads

Edit Beyond Expectations

AFTER

BEFORE

From Capture to Canvas

Trying to figure out the best workflow for editing images can be a daunting task. This tutorial will guide you through a complete portrait editing journey, transforming RAW photographs from start to finish! You’ll master the seamless transition between Camera Raw and Photoshop, and Aaron’s favorite non-destructive editing techniques that will give you complete control and flexibility over every adjustment.

Photoshop & Camera RAW

Photoshop and Camera RAW have powerful tools designed to help you transform your images with precision and achieve stunning, professional results. From RAW adjustments, to color grading, to advanced masking, we’ll show how to use each tool to enhance your portrait photos in no time! And if you want to take things a step further you should check out our tutorial Advanced Portrait Retouching in Photosho, which covers fundamental retouching techniques like dodge & burn, frequency separation, and more!

Smart Editing

Non-destructive editing is the cornerstone of professional image retouching, and Smart Objects in Photoshop are key to this. We’ll show you how to convert your layers to Smart Objects, so you can apply adjustments, filters, and transformations without permanently altering the original pixels.

AFTER

BEFORE

Selective Adjustments

Selective adjustments are crucial for refining specific areas of your image without affecting others. We’ll teach you how to master tools like masking in Camera Raw and Photoshop, along with adjustment layers, so you can precisely target elements, like brightening a subject’s eyes or warming a background. This focused approach ensures your edits enhance key details, leading to a polished and impactful final photograph.

Correct Exposure

Correcting exposure can transform your photos, revealing hidden details and creating a more harmonious image. We’ll teach you the best methods for adjusting exposure and contrast, moving beyond auto-corrections. You’ll learn how to strategically balance light and shadow, enhance detail in highlights, and add depth with contrast, ensuring your subjects always look their absolute best.

Generative Fill

We champion a hybrid approach, seamlessly integrating both manual tools and cutting-edge AI power to achieve exceptional results. We’ll explore using Generative Fill to remove distracting elements like clothing wrinkles or water spots. You’ll learn how to use Generative Expand and Content-Aware Scale to enlarge your canvas, and get past potential content flagging.

Highlight Your Vision

Shift The Focus

Advanced Masking offers unparalleled control over your edits. We’ll show you how to highlight your subject with incredible accuracy, making them pop from the frame, while simultaneously adjusting less important areas to subtly recede.

AFTER

BEFORE

Advanced Masking

Explore the power of advanced masking tools! This tutorial goes beyond basic selections, teaching you to wield absolute control. You’ll learn to target specific areas for flawless color correction and creative enhancements by adding to your selections for ultimate coverage, and subtracting unwanted details with precision.

Selective Sharpening

Sharpening is the ultimate final touch for any edit. In this tutorial, we’ll teach you a precise technique that accentuates specific parts of your image. This method enhances your photographs, making elements visually striking and defined without introducing common issues like halos or grain, truly elevating the overall impact.

Shape The Mood

There’s nothing quite like precisely shaping the mood of your images, and color grading provides that exact power. This tutorial emphasizes subtle, impactful adjustments, teaching you to leverage hue, saturation, and luminance sliders for precise control and stunning, professional results. Discover how to strategically apply cool tones to shadows and mid-tones while introducing warmth to highlights, creating a captivating sunset aesthetic.

AFTER

BEFORE

Adaptive Editing Mindset

Beyond just techniques, this tutorial delves into Aaron’s decision-making process. You’ll gain insight into troubleshooting common editing challenges and understanding the why behind each adjustment. Aaron openly demonstrates attempting certain tools, like Lens Blur, and gracefully changing course when results aren’t ideal. This transparency provides invaluable lessons in adapting your workflow for optimal outcomes.

RAW Files Included

We want you to make the best out of this learning experience! That’s why this tutorial includes eight RAW portrait images for you to download. By editing right alongside us, you’ll get hands-on practice with the exact same starting images. This helps you truly understand every technique and master the full editing process from start to finish, seeing the amazing changes happen firsthand.

Portraits Learning Path

Explore more on Portrait Editing with our comprehensive 32-hour Portraits Learning Path. Take your skills in action with tutorials on creating soft portraits, stunning visual effects composites, and adding captivating elements to your portraits. Let’s dive in and unlock the true artistry of portrait photography!

Aaron Nace

PHLEARN Founder – Class Instructor

Aaron Nace is a photographer, Photoshop artist and founder of PHLEARN. He is the #1 Photoshop instructor in the world with millions of YouTube subscribers.

View More Classes by Aaron Nace

Osea Costantini

Portrait Photographer

A big thanks to Osea for providing us with RAW images to use in this tutorial! Osea Costantini is a portrait photographer specializing in both artificial and natural light. He collaborates with leading imaging brands and trains photographers through videos, workshops, and editorial projects. His approach combines artistic vision with technical precision, with a strong focus on expressive portraiture.

View Osea Costantini’s work.

Yorch Sans

Fashion Photographer

A big thanks to Yorch for providing us his RAW images to use in this tutorial! Born in Nicaragua, this world citizen now thrives in Miami’s sunshine. Inspired by photojournalism, fashion, and childhood magazines, his photographic journey began in Granada, Spain. Collaborations followed in Barcelona before a 2010 return to Nicaragua for weddings. Now, he leads SANS-STUDIOS, capturing love and cultures worldwide.

View more of Yorch’s work.