Hi there, this is Unmesh from PiXimperfect.
And one of the most common questions that I get asked a lot, especially from retouchers,
is that whether to do Liquify in the very beginning or at the end.
Now, if you had asked me this question about 10 years ago, I would have said - do it in
the beginning.
Why?
Because we always start from the structure, ground up.
However, if you ask me now, my answer would be different.
Why?
Because of the introduction of Smart Objects and Smart Filters.
Let me show you.
Now here we have a retouch, which I think I had featured in a previous video, but let
me take you through it.
Let me show you the Before, so this is the Before and this is the After.
We have covered all the basic steps of Portrait Retouching here - Removing Blemishes, Dodging
& Burning, Frequency Separation and all of that stuff.
So if you wanted to make little changes to the structure and probably hair, and you applied
Liquify in the very beginning, here's what would happen.
So, here's the main Background layer, here you have applied the Liquify.
On top of that, of course, you can remove the blemishes, maybe do some more Frequency
Separation, on top of that, maybe, Color Grading and all of that stuff.
Now if you want to make any changes to the Color Grading, you can go to that layer and
make some changes.
However, if you want to make changes to Liquify, you have to go all the way down, change the
Liquify and then you would have to again change all of the things above that involved masks,
that involved anything to do with pixels like removing blemishes.
You get the idea.
You would have to change everything at the top.
However, if you apply Liquify in the very end, here is what will happen.
Let me show that to you.
So I'm going to create a brand new layer at the very top, this is an empty layer, and
then press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E. This creates a merged copy of everything that you see in
the canvas.
In other words, it creates a Stamp Visible Layer.
Now, once that Stamp Visible Layer is created, let's go to Filter and then Convert for Smart
Filters.
Hit OK.
This is essential to make it non-destructive.
Let's go to Filter and then Liquefy.
So I'm going to make a very minute change here.
So, let's say I want to make the hair a little wider.
Let's just drag it a little bit to the left.
Something like this.
All right.
I'm liking this and I'm going to hit OK.
This is pretty cool.
Now, if you want to make any changes to the Liquify, you can easily do that by double
clicking on the Liquify, you can just erase these changes.
If you want to reduce the changes just a little bit, you can just scroll down and choose Reconstruct.
If you decrease the slider, have a look, look what it's doing, it's just like Undo on a
slider.
It's reducing those changes.
So if you want to reduce those changes just a little bit to this point, hit OK.
Once you're satisfied, hit OK again.
Now, you're seeing a couple extra hair.
That's just because Show Backdrop is checked.
You can uncheck it.
Now, let's click on Reconstruct.
We can just lessen the effect or increase the effect.
I'm going to lessen the effect.
Hit OK.
Hit OK again.
You can make changes to the Liquify.
But here's the catch, my friend.
If you want to make any changes to any layer beneath it, what do you do then?
You would have to apply Liquify all over again, right?
No.
Let's say, you want to completely turn off the Vignette, right there.
And let's say you want to completely turn off the Color Grading, right there.
Okay.
Now this was the Liquify Layer for which we had created a Stamp Visible Layer.
All you need to do here is turn this off.
All right.
Now keep in mind we have turned off Vignetting and Color Grading.
Or if you want to make any adjustments, you can make that.
Now, create a brand new layer, all right, and then press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E. Once
it's done, you don't have to do Liquify all over again.
So let's say you worked so hard inside of Liquify, but then you have to make some changes
in the layers beneath it, maybe in Color Grading, maybe in removing the blemishes, you had to
erase some blemishes or maybe make some other changes.
But now, your Liquify is destroyed.
You have to redo it.
You don't have to.
All you got to do is to create a new Stamp Visible Layer, convert that into a Smart Object
and then copy the previous Liquify to the new Stamp Visible Layer.
Makes sense?
Here's how to do it.
So, this was the previous Liquify right here, and we have it as a Smart Filter.
Have a look.
So all you have to do is to hold the Alt key or the Option key, click on the Smart Filter,
drag it and drop it in the new Stamp Visible Layer.
Now it's processing.
See it's saying - Writing mesh data.
Have a look, it's done.
So, the same Liquify, which was right here in the previous one, this same Liquefy has
been applied in this one as well.
Have a look.
All you had to do was just copy and paste the Smart Filter.
Now you can go ahead and delete the old Stamp Visible Layer.
Just click and drag it to the trash can.
That's it.
Done.
So therefore, the answer to the question is if you're using later versions of Photoshop
which supports Smart Objects and Smart Filters, please use Liquify in the very end because
that way, you get the flexibility to change anything at any point of time.
And if you're using very old versions of Photoshop, by chance, then do Liquify in the beginning
because we start with structure.
I hope this video helped you and if it did, make sure to give us a like and also don't
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miss any other future tips, tricks or tutorial.
Thank you so much for all your support.
Thank you for watching.
I'll see you guys in my next.
Until then stay tuned and make sure that you keep creating.