If you want to give yourself a glamorous, soft-focus look like a model or movie star, but you can't afford a professional photographer, look no further than Photoshop. With a just a little digital magic you can make your skin glow to create your own glamour shot.

Difficulty: Easy Instructions

1
Open your digital image file. Make a duplicate of the background layer named "Glow." This will allow you to build up the effects but it also allows you to go preserve the original in case you want to change things later.

2
Open the "Filter" menu and select "Diffuse Glow" from the Distort group. Set the graininess low--no higher than 1--and the glow amount high enough that skin tones don't turn dark. Set the clear amount to 18.

3
Change the layer blend mode to "Soft Light" to mix the colors with the original, tone down the highlights and bring out some image detail.

4
Add another copy of the background layer above the "Glow" layer and name it "Blur." Apply a "Gaussian Blur" filter with a setting of 10 to 15. Reduce the layer opacity to bring more detail into focus.

5
Add a layer mask to the "Blur" layer from the Layer Mask submenu in the Layer menu. Click on the "Blur" layer mask thumbnail to make the mask active; you should see a border around it. Paint on the mask with a soft-edged brush and 100 percent black to sharpen any details you want to bring back into focus, such as the eyes or lips.