How the smoothing works
Detail → Smooth blends an edge-keeping blur into the photograph wherever the mask allows. On Skin tones the mask is every pixel whose colour falls in the range faces usually occupy; on Region it is an oval you drag over the face; on Everywhere it is the whole frame. The strength runs from 0 to 100 and opens here at 25.
Use it for an overall softer look on a portrait. For a single spot, a tap is better than smoothing the whole face: Photo blemish remover. For red pupils: Remove red eye. For grain across a whole night photo: Reduce noise in a photo.
It does not reshape a face, apply makeup or change skin colour. It smooths; that is all.
Questions about smoothing skin
- Will it keep skin texture?
- At low values, mostly. The blur backs off at strong edges, so eyes, brows and lips stay sharp, but fine texture is exactly what smoothing removes. Start at 15 to 25 and drag the seam: if the cheek looks like plastic on the right, lower the number.
- Why did the background smooth as well?
- Because the mask is a colour range, not a face detector. Wood, sand, brick and warm walls fall in the same range as skin. Switch Where to smooth to Region and place the oval over the face instead.
- Does it lighten skin?
- No. Smoothing blends neighbouring pixels of the same area; it does not change their brightness or colour, and nothing on this page lightens skin.
