# Photo Editing in Adobe Photoshop: Using Check Layers to Retouch Portraits - review & insight | Gareth B. Davies Source: https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/photo-editing-in-adobe-photoshop-using-check-layers-to-retouch-portraits/ [← All courses](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/) Photography · Quick win · Rated 7 /10 # Photo Editing in Adobe Photoshop: Using Check Layers to Retouch Portraits Updated August 2026 Daniel Nwabuko · Demystifying Photography x Videography Intermediate · 52 min A tight 52-minute technique for one specific problem: your eyes lie during skin retouching, and check layers are the fix. [Get a Free Month on Skillshare](https://skillshare.eqcm.net/c/3155494/298081/4650?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skillshare.com%2Fclasses%2Fphoto-editing-in-adobe-photoshop-using-check-layers-to-retouch-portraits%2F113369177) New to Skillshare? Your first month is free, enough to take this course at no cost. ## A narrow, well-argued technique class This course sells one idea and sells it clearly: retouchers cannot trust their own eyes because eyes autocorrect for distractions in real time, so the fix is to build layers that expose what the eye smooths over. Daniel Nwabuko spends the first four lessons building that case before touching a single tool, walking through why retouching exists, the difference between destructive and non-destructive workflows, and what a check layer actually is, a layer or group used purely to monitor a property of the photo and then discarded before export. It is a short runway, but it earns the technique that follows instead of just naming it. The core of the class is three check layers applied to one portrait. The solar curve check layer pushes an RGB zigzag curve to extremes to reveal dust spots and blemishes invisible at normal viewing, which gets used immediately to clean the background and skin with a spot healing brush and clone stamp. The gradient map check layer inverts the photo to black and white via a foreground/background swap, then adds a levels adjustment on top so light and dark patches on the skin become obvious targets for a micro dodge and burn pass, done with two curves layers set to multiply and screen with inverted masks, painted in at low opacity and flow. The saturation check layer, built from a selective color adjustment pushed to absolute mode, exposes uneven saturation the same way, corrected with paired hue/saturation layers set to matching plus and minus values so the change stays balanced. What makes this more than a tips list is the consistency of the pattern: build a check layer, read it, paint a correction on a separate layer, repeat. By the time the saturation lesson arrives, the viewer has already internalized the rhythm from the dodge and burn lesson, so the pacing accelerates without losing clarity. The final stretch adds a global dodge and burn pass for contour and a lesson on recording Photoshop actions, using keyboard shortcuts like the bracket keys instead of clicking specific layers so the action does not break on files with different layer structures. That detail is a genuinely useful piece of craft knowledge that goes beyond the check layer concept itself. Where the course falls short is scope and depth. It moves at a brisk clip through settings that matter, an opacity of 70 percent here, a saturation value of plus or minus 25 there, but rarely explains why those numbers work beyond "this is what I picked." Viewers who want to understand the underlying color theory rather than copy a workflow will need to look elsewhere. The class also assumes real Photoshop fluency: layer masks, blend modes, adjustment layers, and keyboard shortcuts are used without introduction, so it offers nothing to someone still learning the interface. At 52 minutes across one project, this is closer to a focused workflow demonstration than a comprehensive retouching course. It does not cover frequency separation, dodge and burn philosophy debates, or color grading beyond saturation balance. But for what it promises, an objective way to judge when a retouch is done, it delivers a specific, reusable method rather than vague advice to "trust the process," and the actions lesson means the technique does not have to be rebuilt from scratch on the next photo. The standout The gradient map plus levels check layer, which inverts the photo to black and white so light and dark patches on skin become impossible to miss, directly driving the micro dodge and burn pass. ## What you will learn - · Build a solar curve check layer to expose hidden dust spots and blemishes before cleanup - · Set up a non-destructive layer-based retouching workflow in Photoshop - · Create a gradient map plus levels check layer to visualize where skin lighting is uneven - · Perform micro dodge and burn on a low opacity/flow brush to smooth skin texture without flattening it - · Build a selective color check layer to spot and correct saturation imbalances across skin tones - · Record a Photoshop action to automate the dodge and burn layer setup for future edits Best for: Intermediate retouchers who already know their way around Photoshop layers and want a more objective, repeatable method for skin work. Skip it if: Beginners who don't yet know basic Photoshop tools like curves, layer masks, or blend modes, since none of that is explained from scratch. Clarity of Instruction Actionable Steps Organization of Lessons Engaging Teacher [Get a Free Month on Skillshare](https://skillshare.eqcm.net/c/3155494/298081/4650?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skillshare.com%2Fclasses%2Fphoto-editing-in-adobe-photoshop-using-check-layers-to-retouch-portraits%2F113369177)