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how to use frequency separation in affinity photo

HeyBraza points at the low-frequency layer so you blur tone there and leave skin texture untouched on the high-frequency layer.

frequency separation smooths skin without that plastic look by splitting texture (pores, hair) from tone (colour, shading) onto two layers. the part people get wrong is retouching on the wrong layer. here's the filter and which layer does what.

or do it yourself

  1. 1in the photo studio, go to the 'filters' menu and choose 'frequency separation'.
  2. 2set the radius so the preview just hides the blemishes you want to even out, then click apply - you now have a 'high frequency' and 'low frequency' layer.
  3. 3to even skin tone, select the 'low frequency' layer and brush with a soft, low-opacity blur or paintbrush - this smooths colour without losing texture.
  4. 4to remove a spot or stray hair, select the 'high frequency' layer and use the healing or inpainting brush there.
  5. 5drop the overall layer opacity if the result looks too smooth, so it stays natural.

let HeyBraza do this with you

HeyBraza is a tiny on-screen guide that points at the right buttons and talks you through it, on windows and mac.

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common questions

which layer do i retouch on for skin?

smooth tone on the low-frequency layer; fix individual spots and texture on the high-frequency layer - mixing them up is what makes skin look fake.

where is frequency separation in affinity?

it's a filter - open the filters menu in the photo studio and choose frequency separation; it isn't a tool in the toolbar.

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