Removing Love Handles

This is a very handy body-sculpting technique, and you'll probably be surprised at how many times you'll wind up using it. It uses Liquify, which many people first dismissed as a "toy for giving people bug-eyes and huge lips," but it didn't take long for professional retouchers to see how powerful this tool could really be.

Step One

©ISTOCKPHOTO/DRAGAN TRIFUNOVIC

Open the photo that has a love handle repair just waiting to happen.

Step Two

Go under the Filter menu, under Distort, and choose Liquify. When the Liquify dialog appears, click on the Zoom tool in the Toolbox on the left-hand side of the dialog, and then drag out a selection around the area you want to work on to give you a close-up view for greater accuracy.

Step Three

Get the Shift Pixels tool from Liquify's Toolbox (it's the seventh tool down or just press S). Choose a relatively small brush size using the Brush Size field near the top-right of the Liquify dialog. With it, paint an upward stroke starting just below and outside of the person's left love handle and continuing upward (as shown here). The pixels will shift back in toward the body, removing the love handle as you paint. (Note: When removing love handles on the person's right side, paint downward rather than upward. Why? That's just the way it works.) When you click OK, the love handle repair is complete, and you'll see the difference a quick 30-second retouch can make.

Before

After