30 Techniques Every Photographer or Retoucher Needs to Know

When you open a raw image in Photoshop, you see a world of possibilities. No matter how good is your photo, you’ll want to make it better. And that’s not a bad thing at all. But usually you see the problem or the potential area of improvement, and don’t know how to fix it or what to do.

In this four part video tutorial, Nathaniel Dodson from TutVid will teach you about 30 tips, tricks and techniques that any photographer retoucher really ought to know about Photoshop. Nathaniel covers a very broad array of things, and if you’re a total beginner this will be just perfect for you.

If you’ve been using Photoshop you’ve been doing photography or for a while there probably still be a bunch of stuff you pick up over the course of these four videos.

Watch tutorial

Get tutorials & freebies delivered to you.

Subscribe to the Photoshop Roadmap newsletter, a weekly roundup of new tutorials, insights and quality downloads, trusted by 6500+ readers.

Simulate the 2000s Digicam Look in Photoshop and Camera Raw

Early 2000s point-and-shoot cameras produced a distinctive look: punchy contrast, cool color casts from on-camera flash, deep shadows, and a soft glow around bright areas. This walkthrough covers how to replicate that aesthetic non-destructively using Camera Raw, radial gradient masking, and a blurred highlight layer. Watch...

How to Combine Two Photos in Photoshop Using AI Tools

Placing a subject from one photo into a completely different background used to require a long chain of manual steps. Photoshop's AI-powered tools now handle background removal, color matching, and shadow generation in just a few clicks, making the entire process accessible even to beginners. Watch the...

How to Remove Skin Blemishes and Fix Skin Tones in Camera Raw

Two recent additions to Camera Raw make skin retouching significantly faster: an automatic blemish removal tool with separate controls for moles and freckles, and a vectorscope-based skin tone indicator for correcting off-color skin. Both features work non-destructively inside a smart object workflow, so no pixel data is...

Portrait Retouching in Photoshop: Smooth Skin While Keeping Natural Texture

Smooth skin and natural texture are not opposites — achieving both at once is the mark of a professional retouch. This workflow covers blemish removal, flyaway hair cleanup, dark under-eye correction, and eye brightening, all while keeping the skin looking like skin. Watch the Video Practical Tips These key points...

How to Use Camera Raw's Blemish Removal Tool in Photoshop

Camera Raw 18.5 introduced an automatic blemish removal tool that does something previous solutions rarely managed: it removes skin imperfections while preserving the underlying skin texture. It also distinguishes between temporary marks and permanent ones like moles, giving you separate controls for each. Watch the Video Practical Tips These...

Portrait Slice Effect in Photoshop Using Step and Repeat

The portrait slice effect splits a single image into offset vertical bars, creating the illusion of a displaced or fragmented face. The entire technique relies on layer masks and a lesser-known Photoshop shortcut called step and repeat — no filters, no AI, no destructive edits required. Watch the Video Practical...