Go pro with industry-standard
knowledge & practices
Who Is this Course for?
This course is for photographers, retouchers, and anyone with basic knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, interested in learning professional beauty and portrait retouching.
High-quality skin & hair retouching are the key post-production skills required in any genre of professional photography that involves images of people, such as portraits, fashion, and especially beauty.
The Dodge & Burn technique is the cornerstone of professional retouching.
Regardless of which current or future technologies and tools you use to perform it, this course will provide you with a deep understanding of the underlying principles and every nuance of the D&B technique.
🎁 Bonus: Downloadable custom actions, brushes, and practice images are included.
By the end of this course, you’ll have complete control over this technique and integrate it seamlessly into your retouching workflow.
📲 Continue learning anywhere via Kajabi app on your mobile devices.
Photo & retouching by @juliakuzmenko
Courses Purpose & Promise
While the concept of the D&B technique is quite simple, its quality implementation requires a good degree of knowledge and practice.
This technique is essentially a manipulation of the luminosity of pixels within your image. On a localized, macro level, it is done to create an appearance of an even, smoother surface of skin, fabrics, and other elements while preserving delicate textures.
On a broader scale, we use it to enhance visual depth, adding volume to your two-dimensional image.
In these lessons, you will see what makes D&B such a powerful tool for skin retouching in the context of portraits, beauty, and fashion photography.
Throughout the course, we look at a variety of practical examples and go beyond luminosity adjustments to demonstrate how to overcome color issues that may arise in the process as well.
Although D&B is considered a fundamental tool for retouchers, this is not a beginner course and requires some basic Photoshop knowledge.
Along the way, we also share all the necessary layer and brush settings and our Custom Actions and Brushes, so you can immediately apply these concepts to your work.
What You Get
This course is designed to guide you through every nuance of the Dodge & Burn technique:
- The underlying theory of Dodging & Burning and its application in retouching;
- The various Dodge & Burn methods and when to use them for best results;
- Exactly how D&B layers are set up for various D&B methods;
- Making the Dodging & Burning phase of your retouching workflow faster and easier.
Install our custom actions and brushes for your convenience and use the included images for practice.
What Is Included
Immediately after your purchase, you will have access to the streaming videos and downloadable materials in your Course Library (login details provided in an automated email):
Skill Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Format: Streaming
Access: Lifetime
Duration: Over 3 hours
Practice Files: Beauty images photographed by Michael Woloszynowicz, Julia Kuzmenko McKim, and Anita Sadowska
Bonus Materials: Custom Actions, Brushes, and additional non-beauty practice files.
Our retouching courses are diligently crafted by Julia Kuzmenko McKim and Michael Woloszynowicz, professional beauty & fashion photographers, retouching artists, and educators. In each lesson, we bring decades of our combined distilled industry experience and share our refined retouching methods.
One of the images used in the course, photographed by Michael Woloszynowicz.
Course Outline & Topics
Lesson 1: Introduction to Dodging and Burning (45+ mins)
- The underlying theory behind D&B, how it works, why it is so important, and how it compares to other retouching techniques;
- The elements of an image: Hue, Saturation & Luminosity;
- The main types of D&B;
- Tools & layers for D&B work.
Lesson 2: Corrective or Local Dodge & Burn (40+ mins)
- Setup, workflow, and the process;
- A practical example;
- Assignment #1.
Lesson 3: Global Dodge & Burn (45+ mins)
- Contouring: Strategy, practical implementation, and process;
- Assignment #2.
Lesson 4: Color Correction & Final Touches (50+ mins)
- Identifying and correcting color issues;
- Various methods for correcting color shifts;
- Fixing “Peach Fuzz” and final color corrections.
By 2028, the global beauty sector is forecasted to reach $590 billion, growing at 6% annually
Both the U.S. and global beauty industries are poised for steady growth over the next five years, with significant contributions from clean beauty trends, digital marketing channels, and regional market expansions in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.
By 2028, the global beauty sector is forecasted to reach $590 billion, growing at 6% annually
Both the U.S. and global beauty industries are poised for steady growth over the next five years, with significant contributions from clean beauty trends, digital marketing channels, and regional market expansions in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.
What Our Students Are Saying
What Our Students Are Saying
Photo & retouching by @juliakuzmenko
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the Retouching Academy courses for?
Our courses are created for photographers, retouchers, and anyone interested in mastering professional retouching techniques, starting at any skill level.
Each course description specifies the recommended level of experience with retouching:
♦️ Beginner-Level Courses & Bundles are for those who are new to beauty and portrait retouching. These courses provide a strong foundation in essential retouching techniques.
♦️ Intermediate to Advanced Courses & Bundles are created for photographers and retouchers who want to advance their skills, streamline their workflows, and branch out into commercial work with confidence.
Our in-depth course lessons with practice files and self-paced assignments help students progress quickly and immediately implement the new practical knowledge in their work.
💵 Ultimately, after completing our courses and with sufficient practice, you will develop pro retouching skills that meet commercial client standards (e.g., beauty, wellness, and other companies). These skills will allow you to qualify for senior in-house retouching roles, creative agency opportunities, and remote freelance work for major brands from anywhere in the world.
Do I need prior experience to take these Courses?
For our Beginner-Level Courses & Bundles, prior retouching experience is not required, but familiarity with Photoshop is helpful. These courses include introductions to essential Photoshop tools and key retouching techniques, making it easier for beginners to follow along.
♦️ If you are completely new to Photoshop, we recommend starting with our Photoshop Essentials for Beauty Retouching course to build a solid foundation before diving into retouching.
Our Intermediate to Advanced Courses & Bundles assume you already have some experience with retouching techniques or are a practicing retoucher. While they do touch on the fundamentals, they focus more on advanced methods and do not cover the basics in depth.
Who is the Beauty Retouch panel for?
The Beauty Retouch panel is created for photographers or retouchers who already have some familiarity with essential retouching techniques and terminology.
💥 New Beauty Retouch Version 5 is here!
This new version simplifies and accelerates every stage of your retouching workflow, from skin retouching to finishing touches and exporting your final images.
While it’s especially powerful for beauty and portrait retouching, the new AI Tool and the New Skin script are useful for any photography genre involving people.
You can also link 6 (six) of your own custom actions and run them right from the panel’s interface.
🎓 Our detailed video tutorials will guide you in making the most out of these panels.
📌 Compare it with the MUA Retouch panel here.
Who is the MUA Retouch panel for?
While the Beauty Retouch panel focuses on the key stages of the general retouching workflow, the MUA Retouch panel adds a range of super useful scripts specifically for makeup and beauty retouching.
Each panel can be used independently, as they both contain essential retouching tools and scripts. However, by adding the MUA Retouch panel to your Beauty Retouch, you will significantly streamline your beauty retouching workflow.
The MUA Retouch panel’s scripts mimic the effects of real makeup and beauty products, making them intuitive and easy to use for all beauty enthusiasts.
🎓 Our detailed video tutorials will guide you in making the most out of these panels.
🗝️ This panel comes with a FREE concise Photoshop Essentials for Beauty Retouching video course for beginners.
📌 Compare it with the Beauty Retouch panel here.
Do I need Adobe Photoshop to use the Panels?
Yes, our panels are Photoshop plugins, compatible with Adobe® Photoshop® CC2021 (v22.0) and later for Win & Mac OS, including M-series chip Apple computers.
Important! The AI-powered features in the Beauty Retouch v5 require Photoshop® 2024 (v25.3) or later.
📌 If you are completely new to Photoshop, we recommend starting with our Photoshop Essentials for Beauty Retouching course.
What if I don't like the Course I purchased?
We are incredibly proud to share that in the past five years, we have not received a single refund request for our courses.
That is not accidental – it is the result of meticulous planning and creation of our courses, and the detailed course descriptions that ensure that our students’ expectations and learning experiences are completely aligned.
With that being said, if you’re not completely satisfied, please reach out to us within 7 days of your course purchase.
🛠️ See our general Terms & Conditions.
What if I don't like the Panel I purchased?
Thousands of creative professionals worldwide have been using our panels for over a decade, and they love them!
How do we know?
They proudly share their retouching work with us on @retouchingpanels, leave kind testimonials, and tell us directly in their emails when they connect with our team.
In fact, over 90% of our legacy RA Panels users have upgraded to the new UXP subscription-based versions to keep working with their favorite tools.
We’re confident that once you watch our video tutorials and learn how to use the panels (they’re simple and intuitive), you’ll love them too!
Plus, we offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, making it completely risk-free to try. If you’re not completely satisfied, just reach out to us within 30 days of your purchase, and we’ll make it right.
🛠️ See our general Terms & Conditions.
How long can I access the Course I purchased?
Once you enroll in any of our current courses, you’ll have lifetime access to all course materials, including any future updates or added content.
Our courses are self-paced, so you can learn at your own speed, revisit lessons anytime, and complete assignments whenever it suits you.
The courses are hosted on a streaming platform, making them accessible on your desktop computer, laptop, and mobile devices.
📲 You can watch our courses anywhere via the Kajabi app.
Can I get personalized feedback?
While our courses are self-paced, we encourage you to leave comments under relevant lessons when you have any questions so our team can answer and support your learning journey.
Some courses also include access to a dedicated private community, where you can ask questions, suggest new lessons, and receive feedback from instructors and fellow students.
Can I download Course materials?
Yes! All our courses come with downloadable bonus materials, including practice files, custom actions, and brushes.
Typically, you will find them at the beginning of each course on the Additional Materials & Downloads or Welcome to the Course pages.
How can I enroll in a Course?
Immediately after purchasing any of our courses or bundles, you’ll receive an email with your login details and instructions to start learning right away.
If you’ve purchased courses from us before, you can log in via the Customer Login or through the Learn > Your Course Library link in the top menu of our Retouching Academy website.
