Lately I've received a lot of questions about image editing. I'm very happy about it! It means that my pictures have gotten better!
A few minutes ago I was writing a reply for one of these questions (about skin smoothing), and decided to write it here as well. I Don't see it as a top secret since I do pretty basic stuff, just simply found a way that works for me. Hope you will find it useful as well!
So here it goes. How much time you will spend on one portrait mostly depends on the model's skin and what kind of photo you are editing. So first, you should remove everything from the model's skin that you wouldn't normally notice, such as acne etc. Secondly, if you need the skin to look extra clear and smooth, use high-end-editing techniques. I think this tutorial is pretty good to start with. And thirdly, to achieve even smoother skin without losing texture, I would recommend to check out this tutorial.
Hope at least some of this was useful. Let me know what you think, and if you know some good tutorials please share it with me! I'm always searching for ways to improve.
Good luck and have fun!
Hewnly
