wacom settings

[tharden]

I'm not getting the same smooth "3" to "5" pass results using the clone tool at 20, 30 even 40% -- especially on dark complexion as in practicing on Star. Working on the chest area (her boobs) I'm not able to get rid of the "dots on her chest." I've played around with the wacom settings a bit, and the results don't change that significantly. So, any other retouchers experiencing similar problems? Any suggestions on the wacom settings to get a smoother skin texture in less passings over?

Thnx.

Thaddeus

[Nick Saglimbeni]

Hi Thaddeus,

Believe or not, my best Wacom settings are simply set to default, you'll notice that I don't even turn on pen-pressure in the Brush Settings. If your Brush Spacing is set to approximately 25% and your Opacity of the clone stamp to 18-25% (with the Flow at 100%) you should receive identical results to what you're seeing in the series. Do you want to show me a sample pic and maybe I can figure out what's not working?

[Nick Saglimbeni]

You bring up a good point that I had not thought about. Your brush settings may in fact be identical to mine, but when you refer to my experience, what actually may be happening is that I am simply sampling from a "more effective" area, meaning that by choosing the optimal highlight or shadow area to clone from, the effective "stroke power" will be increased, even though the brush settings haven't changed. In looking at your image, I think you could blend the shadow/highlight transition areas a bit better, which is what made me think about your sampling origin point. Try to study the areas I sample from in the series, and see if this decreases the amount of strokes you need to use.

[PhotobyAllen]

I initially watched everything first and now am going through a second time now following along with Nicks images. I have in the past used pressure sensitivity and am just currious as to why not use it.

Thanks
Allen

[Nick Saglimbeni]

I initially watched everything first and now am going through a second time now following along with Nicks images. I have in the past used pressure sensitivity and am just currious as to why not use it.

Thanks
Allen

Hi Allen,

No reason in particular, it's just my own personal preference. I've calibrated my brush feather and opacity settings to exactly the level I need for my personal style, so pen pressure, for my workflow, would only complicate things (because my applied pressure won't be exactly the same every time). However, if using pen pressure is organic to your own retouching workflow, then by all means go ahead and use it. You may want to use higher Opacity settings than I do (~21%). Hope that helps.

[Nick Saglimbeni]

You are simply sampling from the wrong area. Set your sample point from a clean patch of skin.