Imagenomic Portraiture for Photoshop and Lightroom
Version 4.5 · Imagenomic LLC · Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) · ranked #115 in the library
Skin retouching that separates texture from tone and works only on the tone, so a portrait comes out even and clean while pores, stubble and fine lines stay where the camera recorded them.
Read the installation section below before you start. The order of the steps matters on this release.
About this release
Overview
Every general purpose blur applied to skin destroys the thing that makes it look like skin. Portraiture works differently: it builds a mask from the skin tones present in the frame, separates the frequency bands, and smooths only the tonal variation while leaving the texture band untouched. The result is even skin that still has pores in it, which is the difference between a retouched portrait and a plastic one.
The mask is the part worth understanding. It samples the skin tones you point it at, builds a range around them with hue, saturation and brightness tolerances you can widen or narrow, and shows the mask directly so you can see exactly what is being affected. Anything outside that range, eyes, lips, hair, clothing, background, is left alone entirely, which is why it does not smear an eyelash into a cheek the way a manual blur pass will.
For volume work it is a batch tool. Presets cover the common cases from a light pass on a headshot to heavier work on difficult lighting, and once a preset suits a set of images it applies across the whole take in one action. In Lightroom it runs as an external editor step on a selection, in Photoshop it runs as a filter that can be applied to a smart object so the retouching stays adjustable long after the composite is built.
What it does
Feature breakdown
Frequency separated smoothing
Smooth the tonal band while leaving the texture band intact, so pores and fine detail survive a pass that evens out the skin.
Tone based masking
Build the mask from sampled skin tones with adjustable hue, saturation and brightness tolerances, and view the mask directly while tuning it.
Enhancement controls
Sharpness, softness, warmth, tint, brightness and contrast applied within the mask only, for correcting tone as well as texture.
Preset library
Starting points for light, medium and heavy work across different lighting conditions, savable and shareable across machines.
Batch processing
Apply a preset across a whole take in one action rather than opening each frame, which is what makes an event set survivable.
Smart object support
Applied as a smart filter in Photoshop so the settings stay editable after the retouching is done and the composite has moved on.
Changed in this build
Version 4.5
- Mask detection improved on darker skin tones and on mixed lighting.
- Faster processing on high resolution files through a rebuilt render path.
- New preset collection covering contemporary editorial and beauty treatments.
- Better handling of edges where skin meets hair, with fewer halos.
- Batch mode now reports per-image progress rather than a single overall bar.
Installation
Follow these in order
- Close Photoshop and Lightroom before starting.
- Extract the archive.
- Disable real time protection while the activation component runs.
- Run the installer as administrator and let it locate the host applications.
- Apply the included activation step after the files are copied.
- Open the host, confirm the plugin appears under the filter menu, then restore protection.
Release notes
From whoever packed it
- If it does not appear in the filter menu, the plugin landed in the wrong host version folder. Copy it across manually.
- In Lightroom it works as an external editor step, which means it operates on a rendered file rather than the raw data.
- Block the updater. An update replaces the activated binary.
System requirements
Minimum and recommended
| Operating system | Windows 10 version 22H2 or Windows 11, 64-bit |
|---|---|
| Host application | Photoshop 2021 or newer, or Lightroom Classic, installed beforehand |
| Processor | Any modern multicore Intel or AMD processor |
| Memory | 8 GB minimum, 16 GB recommended for high resolution batch work |
| Storage | 300 MB for the plugin and its preset library |
Questions about this release
Answered before you ask
- Does it work as a smart filter?
- Yes, in Photoshop, which keeps the settings editable afterwards.
- Can it batch process a whole shoot?
- Yes, apply a preset across a selection in one action rather than per image.
- Will it blur the eyes and hair?
- No, those fall outside the skin tone mask and are left untouched.
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