Overview
SkinFiner does one job, which is why it does it faster than a general editor. It separates skin tone from skin texture and lets you move each independently, so blotchiness and colour unevenness can be flattened without turning the surface into plastic. Frequency separation by hand gets to the same place, but it takes a layer stack and several minutes per frame rather than two sliders.
The retouching set covers what portrait work actually needs: smoothing with a texture floor, blemish removal with a healing brush, tone evening across the face, shine and highlight suppression, colour correction for red or yellow casts, and a set of dodge and burn brushes for shaping. Every adjustment is masked to skin automatically, with a manual brush available where the automatic mask overreaches.
It runs standalone on a folder of images or as a plug-in from inside a host editor, which is how most people use it: send a layer across, retouch, and send it back into the same document. Batch processing applies a saved preset across a full shoot, which for event and school photography is the difference between an afternoon and a week.
What it does well
Tone and texture separated
Smooth uneven colour without flattening pores, or reduce texture while leaving the tone alone, with independent strength on each.
Automatic skin masking
Skin is detected and masked per image, with a manual brush for corrections around hair, lips and eyes.
Blemish and shine tools
Healing brush for spots and marks, plus a shine reducer that pulls back specular highlights without dulling the skin.
Batch processing
Apply a saved preset across a whole folder, with per-image mask detection still running individually.
Plug-in and standalone
Works on its own or from inside a host editor, returning the retouched layer into the original document.
Changes in this build
- Skin detection improved on darker tones, which was the weakest part of the previous engine.
- Healing brush reworked with better edge sampling near hairlines.
- Batch queue now processes on multiple cores rather than one image at a time.
- New preset set aimed at even lighting for event and group photography.
- Fixed a colour shift when returning a layer to a host document in a wide gamut space.
What is in the package
- SkinFiner installer, 64-bit
- Host editor plug-in module
- Preset library for portrait, beauty and event work
- Batch processing queue
- Multilingual interface files, 9 languages
System requirements
| Processor | Intel or AMD 64-bit, quad core recommended for batch work |
| Memory | 4 GB minimum, 16 GB for large batches |
| Graphics | GPU with 2 GB VRAM for the accelerated preview |
| Storage | 600 MB free plus batch output space |
| Display | 1600 x 900 minimum, colour accurate panel recommended |
| System | Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit |
Installation
- Close any host editor before running the installer.
- Extract the archive and run setup.
- Point the plug-in step at the host editor plug-in folder if it is not detected.
- Launch standalone once so the preset library registers.
- Disable the update check in preferences.
Before you start
Presets are a starting point, the automatic mask still needs a look on unusual lighting.
Batch output writes beside the source by default, set a separate destination folder first.
The plug-in only appears in a host editor that was closed during install, restart it if it is missing.
Questions about this title
Does it work as a plug-in?
Yes, and it returns the retouched result into the host document as a layer.
Can it process a whole shoot?
Yes, the batch queue applies a preset across a folder with per-image masking.
Does it keep skin texture?
That is the point of the tool, texture and tone are controlled separately.
Is a standalone mode included?
Yes, it runs on its own without a host editor installed.
About this listing
This entry was checked on a clean install of Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) before it was published, and it is rechecked whenever the package is rebuilt. The figures on this page come from the site index rather than from the publisher, so the download count is what people here have actually pulled.
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