Damien Symonds

Gosh, good job! But now that I've seen it, I think the shiny catchlights will need to be reduced a lot more.

Looks great, well done!!!

I guess so. No. If you have overexposed skin, start again.

The best I can offer is Dust & Scratches filter at 15/6. That will get rid of the strongest hair, but plausibly leave the lighter hair remaining. By not overexposing it. Go back to raw if necessary.

Definitely don't try to fix it. Only replace it.

Did you actually read the thread you linked? To its conclusion?

It doesn't matter a damn. You've got Bridge, you can view the raw files just fine.

Ok ... so what don't you understand, exactly?

http://www.damiensymonds.net/2010/06/faq-help-my-raw-files-wont-open.html

Yes, perfect.

And you definitely had Resize unchecked?

By the way, read "The Photoshop Method" (second section) on this page. It's written to be used with my web watermarking action, but applies generally in your case too. Nothing at all. Relax.

In Image Processor, make sure you don't have "Resize to fit" checked.

Can you do this for me?

What about if you check the Image Size immediately after cropping, before saving or closing or reopening? By the way, I strongly suggest clicking on the little cog in the Options Bar, and choosing "Use Classic Mode".

Ok, yeah, this is REALLY bad. May I see a screenshot with your crop tool selected, with the preset crop chosen?

Yes, I'm thinking that too. Also this to reduce the shiny "catchlights".

The version of Windows is irrelevant. Which version of Photoshop do you have?

This is difficult for me to address, because I can't really tell which part of the process you don't understand. Do you know how to add a drop shadow via the "Fx" button in the layers panel?

I don't even think cloning will work, to be honest. You'd need to do a lip swap from another photo, if possible. Or embark on some very painstaking lip creation. Or simply accept that the bubbles are freakin' gorgeous, and leave them.

Oh gee, I'm getting more confused. What do you mean by "low resolution display on the monitor"?

Ok, let me know if it occurs again.

This is exactly the kind of stupidity one comes to expect. Yes, always do it this way.

Have you tried switching those around?

You've got the layer thumbnail selected, rather than the mask thumbnail. Click on the mask thumbnail in the Layers Panel, so that it has the little border around it.