Removing Freckles

In this tutorial we're going to show you how you can remove freckles easily and quickly using gaussian blur and history brush.

Here are the before and after photos;

Step 1: Once you have opened your image, duplicate your background layer by choosing 'layer>duplicate layer' or simply drag your background layer to 'create new layer' button in the layer palette.

Step 2: Now apply gaussian blur (filter > blur > gaussian blur) to your background copy. Try to drag the slider slowly to the right until you see the freckles are no longer visible.

Step 3: If you can't find your history palette on the screen, go to window > history to bring up the history palette

Step 4: Now click on the duplicate layer state to return your photo to what it looked like when you haven't applied the gaussian blur. Also click in the first column next to gaussian blur state.

Step 5: Choose the 'History Brush' from your tool palette. Change the History Brush's Mode to 'lighten' to keep from simply painting in a blurry version of our photo.

Step 6: Start to paint your photo to remove the freckles. If you find that the person looks 'too clean' you can always undo your step, and lower the opacity of the brush and try again.