Skin tones are one of the most crucial parts of a portrait edit. Get them right, and they can elevate the image to another level. Get them wrong, however, and they can sink your image. If you are new to shooting and editing portraits, this helpful video tutorial will show you three steps to get better skin tones in Photoshop.

Coming to you from Justin Laurens, this great video tutorial will show you three steps to better skin tones using Photoshop. If you are new to editing portraits, you are probably focused on learning to remove blemishes while still preserving natural skin texture, and while that is, of course, quite important, crafting better skin tones makes a big difference as well. The important thing to remember when working with any sort of color-editing (particularly involving the skin) is that less is more. It is quite easy to go overboard, particularly given how sensitive some of Photoshop’s sliders can be, so be sure to use a light touch and err on the side of doing less. It is also helpful to step away from your computer for a few minutes when you are done to let your eyes reset, then evaluate the image more time before you export it. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Laurens.