Special Effects - The Photoshop: Professional Retouching and Compositing Tips, Tricks, and Techniques - page 271

Note
Don't set the amount too high in the Surface Blur filter, as it can introduce halos
and artifacts into your pictures, especially if they have lots of shadow areas. You
can see this just under the rim of the hat in Figure 4.72 .
Figure 4.72
7. To limit where and how strongly the details are applied, close the details group by
clicking the triangle icon, as before, and Option/Alt-click the layer mask icon to
add a black layer mask. Then with a white medium soft-edged brush, paint over
the image to reveal the details. Use a lower opacity brush when painting over the
skin as opposed to the clothing.
Details with the Nik Collection
I'm using the latest version of Nik Color Efex Pro 4, which includes a preset called Detail
Extractor.
I'm a big fan of this plug-in not just because of the results but also because it allows me to
work nondestructively.
1. Starting from the beginning, with no layers other than the original image, go to Fil-
ter > Convert for Smart Filters, and then to Filter > Nik Collection > Color Efex
Pro 4.