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How to retouch a portrait

Open the portrait in Plate and choose Image → Retouch portrait…. Five sliders smooth the skin while keeping its texture, even out the tone, lift blemishes and shine, and whiten eyes and teeth where you click. It is free and runs on your computer.

  1. Open the portrait in Plate. Go to colurvist.com/photo and drop the photo on the page. Retouch works best on a layer of its own: Ctrl+J duplicates the photo first, so you can compare and lower the effect afterwards.
  2. Choose Image → Retouch portrait…. The window docks beside the picture and previews live. Hold Before to compare.
  3. Set the five sliders. Skin smoothing removes blotches but keeps pores. Even tone calms red and yellow patches. Blemishes lifts small dark spots. Shine tones down bright hot spots on the forehead and nose. Whiten brightens eyes and teeth — click on them in the picture to say where.
  4. Touch up by hand. Spot heal (J) clears anything left with one click. The Red eye tool fixes flash eyes. Lighten (dodge) and Darken (burn) shape light under the eyes or along the cheekbones.
  5. Keep it natural. Lower the duplicated layer’s opacity until the skin looks like skin. Retouching that cannot be noticed is the goal.

Reshape a face

Filter → Liquify… has a Face section: press Find faces and sliders appear for the eyes (size, height, width, tilt, distance), nose, mouth (smile, width, lips) and face shape (width, jawline, chin, forehead). The face is found on your computer — nothing is uploaded. The Push, Bloat, Pinch and Twirl brushes work by hand on top.

AI touches

AI → Repair or tweak a photo… has cards for a smile, a younger or older look, eyes looking at the camera and opened eyes, as well as restoring and colourising old photos and sharpening blurred faces. These are paid; the price depends on the engine you pick and shows before it runs.

Retouch for the person in the picture. Small, honest corrections — a blemish, shine, stray hairs — age well; changing someone’s shape usually does not.

Try it on a sample portrait

Open Plate

Questions

Is portrait retouching free?

Yes. Retouch portrait, Spot heal, Red eye, Liquify and dodge/burn are free and run on your computer. Only the AI cards in Repair or tweak a photo cost credits.

Does skin smoothing make skin look plastic?

Retouch portrait smooths the blotches between fine detail and leaves the pores, so skin keeps its texture. If it still looks too smooth, lower the slider or the layer’s opacity.

How do I whiten teeth?

In Retouch portrait, raise Whiten (eyes · teeth) and click on the teeth in the picture. Only the parts you click are brightened.

Can I edit the face shape?

Yes, with Filter → Liquify… → Face → Find faces. Every slider can be undone, and the brushes work on top.

Are faces uploaded anywhere?

No. Finding faces and every free retouching tool run on your computer. Only the paid AI cards send the picture to the server, and only when you run one.

Read next: Plate, the photo editor · Remove a background · Replace a sky · Remove objects from photos · Color grade a video · All models

Last reviewed 1 October 2026. Prices are in Colurvist credits and show on each button before anything runs.