RETOUCH4ME, another AI retouching program?
A market that keeps on growing… Retouching assisted by Ai, further reduces your time in Photoshop and helps you deliver these images fully retouched to your client much faster. I’ve shared my experience with EVOTO Ai, a standalone solution in a past article. It has strong features but it doesn’t quite fit my workflow. So how is retouch4me different… and how does it perform?
It took me some time to wrap my head around Retouch4me because the approach is completely different from EVOTO AI. One one hand, Retouch4me is a series of plugins used within Photoshop for retouching. On the other, EVOTO Ai is used as a stand-alone software for retouching and color grading.
When you head to Retouch4me's website, you have to choose which plugins you need and buy each one individually. Once bought it’s yours to use. With EVOTO Ai you pay for each photo you export by buying some credits upfront, one credit equals one export.
I have been using PS for more than a decade now and I won’t step away from ADOBE’s software for now. So EVOTO wasn’t ideal for me as I had to open another separate software.
Retouch4me meets me halfway. I barely change my workflow, from a capture one session I open my file in Photoshop for editing and usually start dealing with any skin problems I may have on a portrait. I use the frequency separation technique most of the time, I would then do a bit of dodging and burning, localized (face and body), and then general over the entire image.
This may take some time, it's different for every image, and it’s the least fun part of the process for me. This is why I got myself the Heal, the Dodge and Burn, and Volume plugins… and on top of that the Mattifier plugin... just in case.
These are all I need for the majority of my work. One may argue and say that EVOTO proposes a bunch of features in one single package, which is true. However, I found myself using only half the features of the program (at best). I am in a phase where I wish to step back. this means a moderate and subtle approach to the amount of retouching applied to an image. And this is why Retouch4me suits me better at the moment.
So how does it perform and how do I use it? It’s easy, like any plugin just open the one you need, and adjust a single slider for the desired effect. I choose to use the mask or soft layer function, and once you press apply, it does the work for you. You can then reduce the opacity of your layer, or even add a mask if you wish to reduce or erase the effect on specific parts of the image.
My priority was to optimize my current workflow and this is a real-time saver for me. It does a fantastic job most of the time. With some of my bendy models, the effect is at times less effective. But on regular portraits, I barely have to modify anything and can move on to the color grading part.
Some before and after (not color-graded)
The Mattifier plugin, helps me reduce shine or harsh highlights. I don’t use it all the time but it came in handy on some of my recent images.
So you guessed it, it’s a matter of workflow. In the end, most of the software I tested, delivered great results. If you use Photoshop, If you wish to have a natural approach in your retouching, and if you usually work on a small number of files per session, then you are a bit like me and Retouch4me might be your best bet.
If you work with high volumes and need fully retouched photos on huge sessions. Then you might look away as other solutions will help you deal with that better.
I may take a closer look at their other plugins, but for now, these are all that I need. Check out the links below for a discount and some useful links. Like always all the galleries are on the blog and the the scenes video of these sessions are also there… So if you are interested in that you know what to do.
I guess that I will catch you in the next one, take care, and until then, have a good one.