What does it take to create a professional quality portrait photo? Depending upon the quality you want, the list of basic requirements can be extensive; ranging from an expensive DSLR, to lighting equipment, to Photoshop (with the requisite background in learning Photoshop). Or, you can add Portrait Plus to your Mac and enhance almost any portrait photo to near professional level.
They say it’s best to have the right tool for the job and if you want better portrait photos then a portrait retoucher app gives you results that compete with Photoshop but without the expense or the extensive learning curve.
Portrait Plus, as the name implies, does portraits. That means the app is almost automated. It can detect a couple of dozen facial features and improve the face with just a few clicks.
Improve? Skin blemishes, discoloration, scars, and wrinkles are easily removed with basic presets, while it restores skin smoothness, texture, and color. The user interface is straightforward and uncluttered.
Portrait Plus facial recognition means faces can be adjusted in shape to appear more symmetrical. Smiles can be enhanced, freckles removed or subdued, eye color adjusted, wrinkles removed, and eyebrows enhanced. All with a few clicks.
Presets and focus make the difference here. The learning curve is mild because every tool is there to enhance the face; eyes, nose, skin, smile, shape, color, texture. Batch processing is built in and helps to reduce the time to enhance a portrait to near Photoshop-like levels.
There’s a lot of sophisticated photo processing power here, but it’s gently applied, non-destructive to the original photo, and improved results are really truly merely a few clicks. If there’s a negative at all, it’s the price tag, though Portrait Plus goes on sale often, and there’s a try-before-you-buy version.
The app’s actual name is Portrait+ rather than Portrait Plus. Either way, the name is lame and does not do the app justice. Any application or product name that incorporates “plus” or “+” is lame and lacks imagination. Yes, Google+ included.
Even with the anemic product name, Portrait+ is worth a try, especially if you love taking portraits but can’t afford Photoshop or all the equipment you need to do it like the professionals.