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As a professional photographer and retoucher with over a decade of experience, I‘ve edited my fair share of portraits. And one of the most common retouching requests I receive is to magically erase a dreaded double chin. According to a study by the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, 68% of people are bothered by excess fat under the chin and neck. So it‘s no surprise that minimizing double chins is a top concern for portrait subjects.
While it‘s always best to minimize double chins in camera with flattering posing and lighting, even the best photographers will occasionally need to do some chin sculpting in post-production. As digital editing tools have advanced rapidly in recent years, there are now more ways than ever to quickly and convincingly remove double chins in Photoshop.
In this in-depth tutorial, I‘ll share my professional techniques for expertly removing double chins developed over years of working with clients in my high-end retouching studio. Whether you‘re a beginner looking to learn the basics or a seasoned pro seeking to refine your workflow, this guide will level up your portrait editing skills. Let‘s get started!
Understanding Double Chins
Before we dive into the step-by-step retouching process, it‘s important to understand what causes double chins and how different facial structures can affect their appearance.
Double chins are caused by a combination of factors, including genetics, aging, and weight fluctuations. As we get older, skin loses elasticity and muscles start to sag, leading to the appearance of excess skin and fat under the chin. Weight gain can also contribute to double chins, as can having a naturally recessed chin or shorter neck.
Different face shapes and bone structures can make double chins more or less noticeable. People with heart-shaped or triangular faces may be prone to more noticeable double chins, as the narrow chin provides less support for the skin and fat above it. Those with square or round faces and stronger, more projecting chins often have less visible double chins.
According to a 2015 study published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, the ideal chin projection for a youthful, attractive profile should be approximately vertical with a line drawn through the lower lip. Chins that fall behind this line are considered recessed, while those that project beyond it are prominent.
When retouching double chins, the goal is typically to create the illusion of a more pronounced, youthful chin and streamlined profile. However, it‘s crucial not to overdo the sculpting and lose the unique character and structure of the subject‘s face. Restraint and attention to subtle anatomical details are key.
Selecting the Double Chin Area
My go-to tool for precisely selecting double chins is the pen tool. With the pen tool active, zoom in close on your portrait and begin placing anchor points along the bottom edge of the double chin, starting from one corner of the jaw and working your way across to the other side.
Take your time and be meticulous with the path, carefully hugging the contours and curves where the double chin meets the neck. To create a smooth, clean selection edge, avoid jagged anchor points by placing them sparingly only where the direction of the chin changes. Remember, we can always refine the selection later, so it‘s better to work with fewer, more economic anchors.
Once you‘ve traced the entire bottom edge of the double chin, bring the path up the sides of the jaw and complete the selection by connecting the end point to the origin. Then right click the path and choose "Make Selection." For most photos, a feather radius of 0.5-1 pixel is ideal for creating a soft, natural blend.
With the selection active, use the shortcut Command + J (Mac) or Ctrl + J (PC) to duplicate the chin to a new layer. This chin isolation layer is where we‘ll do the bulk of the sculpting.
Sculpting with the Liquify Tool
Prior to Photoshop CC 2021, my go-to tool for eliminating double chins was the warp tool. But with the introduction of the new Face-Aware Liquify tool, the process is easier and more intuitive than ever.
With your chin layer selected, go to Filter > Liquify. In the Liquify dialog box, make sure the Face-Aware Liquify option is checked. Photoshop will automatically detect and place control points on key facial features.
To access the chin controls, click the chin area of the mesh. Use the jaw slider to gently push the double chin area inward, sculpting it to follow the contours of the underlying jawline. Avoid the temptation to drag the slider too far – subtle, incremental movements are best to keep the edit natural.
You can also use the chin height slider to elongate the chin slightly and the chin width slider to narrow it, enhancing the streamlined profile effect. If any odd distortions or artifacts occur in surrounding areas, use the smooth tool to even them out.
Remember to toggle the preview on and off frequently to check your work. It‘s very easy to overdo facial sculpting, so err on the side of restraint. The goal is simply to subtly enhance the existing bone structure, not dramatically alter it.
Refining with Frequency Separation
For the most flawless, undetectable results, I like to finish my double chin removals with some targeted frequency separation retouching. Frequency separation is an advanced technique that allows you to independently edit the texture and tones of an image on separate layers.
To set up frequency separation, duplicate your chin sculpting layer twice. Name the top layer "high frequency" and the layer below it "low frequency." Hide the high frequency layer for now.
With the low frequency layer selected, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Use a radius of 3-5 pixels, or whatever amount blurs away all the pore-level detail while retaining the broader tones and shadows. Then go to Image > Apply Image. Set the layer to the high frequency layer, the blending mode to Subtract, and Scale and Offset to 2 and 128 respectively.
Now select the high frequency layer and change its blending mode to Linear Light. This will make the layer appear gray, but don‘t worry, the texture is still there.
The low frequency layer is for evening out patchy tones and shadows, while the high frequency layer is for smoothing out any areas of rough or stretched texture from the liquify sculpting. Zoom in close and gently clone and heal the chin area on each layer until you have a beautifully smooth, natural result.
Final Thoughts
With practice and attention to detail, removing double chins in Photoshop is a skill anyone can master. The key is working non-destructively on isolated layers and building up subtle, iterative edits for the most realistic results.
However, it‘s important to remember that portrait retouching is not without controversy. In our digital age, heavily retouched images are coming under increasing scrutiny for promoting unrealistic and unattainable beauty standards. As retouchers and photographers, we have to walk a fine line between tastefully enhancing our subjects‘ best features and altering their appearance beyond recognition.
When it comes to slimming faces and removing double chins, I believe the goal should always be to help subjects look like the best version of themselves – not to impose a cookie-cutter ideal of perfection. Every face is unique, and it‘s our job to enhance and celebrate that individuality, not erase it.
What are your thoughts on double chin removal and portrait retouching? I‘d love to hear your perspectives in the comments below. And if you found this guide helpful, please consider sharing it with your fellow photographers and retouchers.
Special thanks to the incredibly talented Julia Kuzmenko McKim and Pratik Naik, whose work and teachings have been a huge influence on my retouching philosophy and techniques over the years. I highly recommend checking out their courses and tutorials for more expert insights on the art of portrait retouching.