How to Use the The Smart Portrait AI Neural Filter in Photoshop
Unlock the power of AI in Photoshop! In this video, we’ll dive into the Smart Portrait Neural Filter, a game-changing tool that allows you to adjust facial expressions, lighting, and more with just a few clicks. Whether you’re enhancing portraits or exploring creative edits, this filter makes it easy and fun. Let’s get started!
This video is from our Photoshop Generative AI Editing MasterClass Course.
Video Summary:
This tutorial explores Photoshop’s Smart Portrait Neural Filter, an AI-powered tool for making detailed facial adjustments. The filter allows you to modify expressions (happiness, anger, surprise), age, hair thickness, eye and head direction, and even lighting direction. The host demonstrates using these sliders in moderation to maintain natural-looking results. Key settings include “Auto Balance Combinations” (checked by default to balance multiple adjustments) and “Retain Unique Details” (to preserve the subject’s core facial features). The video also covers “Feather Mask” for blending edits seamlessly with the original image and using the resulting layer mask to selectively apply or remove effects from specific facial areas.
Timestamps:
0:06 – Introduces the Smart Portrait Neural Filter in the normal (non-beta) Photoshop.
0:42 – Explores the main adjustment sliders:
* 0:52 – Happiness: Adds or removes a smile.
* 2:04 – Facial Age: Makes the subject look younger or older.
* 3:29 – Hair Thickness: Adds or reduces hair volume.
* 4:04 – Eye Direction: Changes where the subject is looking.
* 4:24 – Expressions: Adds emotions like surprise or anger.
* 4:57 – Head Direction: Attempts to turn the head (notes it can look artificial).
* 6:00 – Light Direction: Adjusts lighting to match a changed head pose.
6:27 – Explains the “Auto Balance Combinations” checkbox. When checked, it balances all slider adjustments together for a more cohesive, natural result. Unchecking it applies each slider’s effect fully, often leading to unrealistic outcomes.
7:30 – Explores the Settings panel:
* “Retain Unique Details”: Controls how much of the subject’s original facial structure (eyes, nose, lips) is preserved. Higher values keep them more recognizable.
* Combines with “Auto Balance” for the most controlled edits.
9:09 – Introduces the “Feather Mask” slider, which softens the edges of the AI-generated face overlay to better blend with the neck and background, especially useful after extreme edits.
10:24 – Applies the filter, outputting the result to a new layer with a mask.
11:00 – Demonstrates using the layer mask for selective editing: Painting black on the mask with a brush conceals the AI effect on specific areas (e.g., lips, eyes), allowing you to restore the original features while keeping other adjustments (like a younger look).
