Photoshop Actions: Your New Best Friend

I love Photoshop. I mean I really, really love it. Every time I take a new picture I have to put it in Photoshop to see what enhancements I can make to it. I might be a little obsessed, but it's mainly due to my newly discovered best friend: my actions. Before I heard about actions I was adding numerous adjustment layers on top of each other trying to get the effect I wanted. It took lots of time and lots of trial and error. Now I let my actions do all of the work.

So what is an action? Basically it's a bunch of steps in Photoshop that you can record and then save so that with a push of a button all those steps are performed for you and you don't have to painstakingly remember all the little details each time you want to edit a photo. You can make your own actions, use the few that are already in Photoshop, or you can download more. To access your actions go up to the top navigation bar in Photoshop, click on Window, and check Actions.

I was first introduced to actions when I discovered a deal for Amanda's Collision Action Set on one of my favorite online shopping sites. Normally it's priced at $128 but I got it at a steal for way less than that, and wow, it's been totally worth it. Combining actions is my favorite thing to do when editing photos. Here's a couple of examples of pictures I took with my DSLR and the actions I applied to them from my Collisions Action Set.

                    
Actions used: Crem De La Crem, Sweet Honey, Punch, Turnin Up The Heat, Sunbeam, and Flush Cheeks and Lips.

Actions used: Velveteen, Wowza, Simply Splendid, Cool It Off, and Start Off Right.



Now I realize that not everyone has $128 laying around to spend on Photoshop actions or any other camera/accessory so here's another alternative. If you create an account on Envato, you'll have access to a marketplace filled with tons of interesting downloadable content, including actions. Just go to the graphicriver tab and search for "Add On files Included Photoshop Atn." From there you can choose from lots of different packs that are pretty reasonably priced. I just purchased a set of 65 actions for $10 and it had some really great basics in it. Here's some more examples of what actions can do for you. On the left is the original photo (complete with lots of blurriness from my phone). Below are three different actions I applied to the photo. HDR-Gamma, Camera Holga-Color, and Toning Split-Warm.

So check it out, and see what actions can do for you! Comment below with your favorites and let me know if you find any really great deals on action sets! Stay creative my friends!