Retouching Spot Blemishes

After the linear blemishes have been retouched, we can switch tools to the Spot Healing Brush. Once again, simply press the J key until the Spot Healing Brush is selected. We will configure the Spot Healing Brush as follows :
- Mode Normal.
-Type Proximity Match.
- Brush Size About 25% larger than the width of the blemish spot, here = 45 pixels.
- Hardness Start at 100% and reduce if necessary. Remember, you can Control+click on the Mac or right-click in the image to display the Brushes Preset Picker and change this setting on the fly.

Having the feathered edge when using the Spot Healing Brush is especially important, because you do not have the option of setting multiple source points or using various opacities as you do with the Clone Stamp or standard Healing Brush tools.
To use the Spot Healing Brush, simply move the cursor over the top of the spot blemish and click. The Spot Healing Brush uses the surrounding pixel values to replace the spot blemish. Experiment with brushes of various sizes and hardness values to acquire a feel for how these alterations will affect the results of the spot healing. If the resulting healing does not have quite the right texture, try enabling the Create Texture radio button in the Type area of the Options palette.

When you apply the Spot Healing Brush tool to some edge areas, such as next to the lips in this example, place the brush off center a bit, away from the color you want to avoid.

Another technique that I have found effective when spot healing next to high-contrast border areas is to use very small brushes and nibble away at the larger spot blemish from the side, away from the color you want to avoid. For spot blemishes that fall within  both areas (such as blemishes that are partially on the red lips and partially on the normal skin in this example), you can nibble away with a small brush from both sides—first from one side and then the other. A little practice, and you will be a pro!