# How do you feel about photoshop action sets?



## MrsLittle (Dec 8, 2011)

I edit all my work using photoshop and navigating my around to achieve the look I want. I feel like this way of editing also puts me in the back of the pack, since everyone seems to be using these one-click actions. There are so many floating around (florabella, pure actions, paint the moon) that's just a few that my friends are using. My questions is, how do you feel about editing your work with these action sets? Do you think it's cheating? a trend or here to stay?

Sorry if I am not making sense.


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## CCericola (Dec 8, 2011)

I only use actions when I am batching. I have never used the actions from places like Paint the Moon, etc... But I think they would be a hit or miss because each photo is different. I think it would be just as easy to come up with your own formulas using adjustment layers.


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## MrsLittle (Dec 8, 2011)

I was just wondering, because I get moms asking if I can recreate a picture straight out of their actions portfolio. I think a lot of people are going for those crazy vintage looks and are not satisfied with a crisp cleanly edited photo anymore.


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## MTVision (Dec 8, 2011)

MrsLittle said:
			
		

> I edit all my work using photoshop and navigating my around to achieve the look I want. I feel like this way of editing also puts me in the back of the pack, since everyone seems to be using these one-click actions. There are so many floating around (florabella, pure actions, paint the moon) that's just a few that my friends are using. My questions is, how do you feel about editing your work with these action sets? Do you think it's cheating? a trend or here to stay?
> 
> Sorry if I am not making sense.



I use actions all the time- my own actions. It's better to learn how to do it all yourself versus using actions made by someone else. People are paying for actions that they could do themselves for free. I don't think it's cheating to use someone else's actions but they aren't always going to work for your photo. 

Editing w/o actions isnt putting you in the back of the pack. At least your photos won't look similar to everyone else's!

Check out coffeeshopblog.com <---- free actions for photoshop. This way you can see how they work and play around with them. You can apply an action to a photo and delete the last step so you can see exactly what the action did.


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## GooniesNeverSayDie11 (Dec 8, 2011)

I only use actions 

1) If I created them and I am batch processing files, or its a routine part of my workflow

2) If its an quick extremely useful and complex group of actions to achieve a quick effect ( ie. Phototools for film emulation or different degrees of adding a glow etc. which is essentially a big group of actions that I could most likely mimic myself if I wanted to spend the time doing it. )

All of these plugins you find, are basically just harnessing PS's power. They aren't adding anything, just running actions behind the scenes. I think it is much better to strive to learn how to do many of those things yourself and then create your own actions for you. That helps you practice the steps. So its not so much the "cheating" aspect of it as opposed to the "never learning how to do things yourself" aspect of it.  So if you use actions as a crutch so that you can be lazy and not learn, then yes it is cheating. If you use them as a time saver, then no it is not cheating. IMO anyway.


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## ghache (Dec 8, 2011)

I use action alot but only to do some basic stuff that is time consuming and thing that i do to every pictures i post process. 

Example: Create multiple layer with different settings for skin smoothing, I do use that action that i created for this because i do the same thing for EVERY pictures. Its part of my work flow so its a bit faster to create an action for it.
I do not create or use action in PS CS5 that once applied to the photo will look good on one and will look all wrong on the other because the light and other things in the scene is different.

Most of my photos, I use lightroom as the first step in my workflow and this is where i set my exposure and all the basics including what tones and color i will be using for a set of photos.  If i pick lets say 5 photos from a set that i want processed the same way, i will use a preset that i created from the first photos i processed for this set and apply it to the other 4 and then tweak them up so they look the same.

I try to look closely at my photos 1 by 1. Every photos i choose to process need this special tweak. no every single photos will look the same just by applying an action/preset.

I don't fall into buying presets and actions package because most of the time, the preset/action is looking good on the picture they used to promote the action itself. Use the same action on one of your picture and it will look way different and will need to be tweaked to get the same result there is no way you will get the same result right away because you photos is different, lighting is different, tones from the raw is different, and your lens is probably rendering different colors. Of course you need to be able to point out the things you need to change, modify and tweak to bring that "action" to your liking. If you know all these things already you should be able to do it from scratch so buying actions to modify colors tones and all that crap is pointless.

In the long run, doing you actions yourself will pay off.


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## 2WheelPhoto (Dec 8, 2011)

MTVision said:


> MrsLittle said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I think you may have meant "thecoffeeshopblog.com", without "the" it goes to the real java =)


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## Big Mike (Dec 8, 2011)

I've always been of similar opinion.  You can do just about everything you could ever want/need, with the tools that are in Photoshop.  You just need to learn how to do it.  
But I have downloaded a bunch of free actions to try out.  I don't use them much, but even when I did, it was always as a starting point or as a way to get some inspiration.
I do use a handful of actions that I've recorded myself, just to help with the tedious stuff.  

Actually, now that I use Lightroom, I hardly use actions at all (can't remember the last time I did).  Now I use 'Presets'.  Almost the same thing as actions, but for Lightroom.  
I've downloaded a whole bunch of free ones, but never bought any.  

But just recently, I've been turned onto Topaz Labs and their plug-ins.  I watched a few webinars and it sold me.  I've bought two so far and I might by another one today, as I watched another webinar this morning.  
Now, I don't think these plug-ins are doing anything that LR/PS can't do....but they certainly simplify some things that would be complicated or that are out of my realm of PS knowledge.  
Another way of putting it...I'm becoming less of a purist (maybe a PS snob) and realizing that easier is better....especially if it can save me time and effort when editing.  With three small kids, my 'free' time is very limited so I need to make everything as fast & easy as possible.  Plus, they seem to have a pretty good value.  They do a lot for a price that isn't huge.  Especially because they offer frequent discounts.


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## MTVision (Dec 8, 2011)

2WheelPhoto said:
			
		

> I think you may have meant "thecoffeeshopblog.com", without "the" it goes to the real java =)



You are right!


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## unpopular (Dec 8, 2011)

Actions are very useful for certain things, like if you need to make several editions at various scale, certain device-specific color adjustments,  specific, determined multistep routines such as for noise reduction or sharpening or special effects or for specific color grading which you use on a regular basis.

I really don't think there is any need to download pre-made ones, except if you are interested in how an effect works. Never EVER buy them. That's just silly since everything they're doing Photoshop can, by definition, do already.


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## DiskoJoe (Dec 8, 2011)

You know you can make your own actions, right?


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## KmH (Dec 8, 2011)

If you're using Photoshop Elements you are limited to what you can do regarding actions.

Unless they changed Elements, you cannot write you own actions in Elements but you can play actions that use tools and functions Elements has.

Obviously Elements cannot successfully run an action that uses a tool/function Elements lacks.

No doubt, Elements is inexpensive, but from a business perspective, so is CS5.

Runnings Photoshop actions someone else wrote is like using a camera in green "AUTO" mode. You don't learn how to use Photoshop.

I hear it all the time from people that say, "I want my images to be unique. I want to have my own style." and then copy the shots and editing other photographers do. MOO!


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## MLeeK (Dec 8, 2011)

I have wasted so much money on action packs it's not even funny. 
I use 2 actions out of the hundreds I have.
The rest of the actions I use? I made them to do exactly what I want to do to my images. 
If you learn how to make a certain look you can then record the steps to do it and the action will then do it for you much faster. You can then batch process and walk away from the computer while it does your editing for you.


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## Derrel (Dec 8, 2011)

I keep wasting my money on those Lego Action Sets for my son!!! And to think, all this time, I could have been acquiring PHOTOSHOP Action Sets!!! Arg!!!!!


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## ann (Dec 8, 2011)

When I first started out with digital I bought some, and then rarely used them. Probably not so much that I didn't like the result, but rather i had to be brought into the digital world screaming and dragging my heels and avoided the computer.

Then I discovered Plug-ins (maybe a step up, who knows) and found I do use those, rarely as is, but as a starting point. I still avoid the computer until a mood strikes and then may work for days on images.  

Because my work with PS is off and on again, I find Nik, OnONe and Topaz easier to use. 

Oh, those other actions lost them in a major computer melt down earlier in the year. Haven't missed them.


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## MLeeK (Dec 8, 2011)

ann said:


> When I first started out with digital I bought some, and then rarely used them. Probably not so much that I didn't like the result, but rather i had to be brought into the digital world screaming and dragging my heels and avoided the computer.
> 
> Then I discovered Plug-ins (maybe a step up, who knows) and found I do use those, rarely as is, but as a starting point. I still avoid the computer until a mood strikes and then may work for days on images.
> 
> ...


I do like the plug ins a lot better too! I can control them and create what I want to create with them. LOve Nik's Color Efex and Viveza; Imagenomic's noiseware and their portraiture<---seriously my favorite EVER. Topaz... OnOne...


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## unpopular (Dec 8, 2011)

If you are using PS, you can select which step in an action you'd want to adjust manually by clicking on the little box to the left of each action, iirc. I am unsure if you have this option in PSE.

While Actions don't have access to Photoshops API, they do provide a lot of control if this option is selected.


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## MrsLittle (Dec 8, 2011)

I dont think elements has a feature to create my own actions, not really sure though. And what exactly is plug-ins? I'm still just starting out, so I haven't perfected photoshop yet and not ready to upgrade to something more complex at the moment either. I just downloaded some freebies, and they are pretty easy to layer and I can adjust opacity of each step. 

I suppose this will be inspiration to master my editing skills.


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## MLeeK (Dec 8, 2011)

I know you've probably heard this a million times... but... The key is to get it right in camera. If you nail everything in camera you don't have to "EDIT" you need only to process. When you only have to process and save to jpeg and web size, etc an do not have to do things like clone or fix eye sockets or things that people end up fixing in editing your editing will get so fast you will be blown away. 
I shot over 1000 images at Saturday's event. I processed and polished them in less than an hour. I had to do no individual touching. I opened up the first image in camera raw and adjusted the white balance,noise removal, tone curves, etc to get THE LOOK I wanted. I saved those adjustments as a preset in ACR and then applied it to all of the rest of the raw images. I then went through and culled out the ones I wanted to completely delete. That took me probably the most time. 
Then I ran a batch through photoshop that applied my pops, did my light overall sharpen, flattened, saved to jpeg, resized, placed a watermark on it and then saved in the watermark file. Because I had recorded every one of those steps it took me about a minute to set the batch up to process. I walked away from the processing computer while it did all of that and surfed around here, made dinner... When I came back it was done. 

HOWEVER... if I had needed to touch something individually in those images-clone something, double processing, lighten just the eyes or similar... I would have had to touch every image. I am fast as hell in photoshop but if I had to touch every image I still would have been at the computer for about 8 hours. That's about 30 seconds per image. Not many can do quick individual touches in just 30 seconds. If I had needed a bit more editing like cloning or something? It's possible I'd have had to be there for 50 hours. 3 minutes per image.


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## Big Mike (Dec 8, 2011)

An action is just a list of photoshop commands that run in order.  Pretty simple (but can get complicated).

A plug-in is sort of like a separate program that you use from within photoshop.  The one I have are accessed via the filters menu.  When I choose it, it takes the current photo (actually, just the current layer) and starts up the separate program.  I work the image in that program, then when I'm done, it brings the resulting image back into photoshop, where I can continue with the workflow.


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## kearypik (Dec 8, 2011)

Hello I'm new to the forum. How do you up load photos?


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## MLeeK (Dec 8, 2011)

You need to upload photos to something like Flickr or Photobucket and then use the 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 tags to post it here with the code from the image in between.


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## kearypik (Dec 8, 2011)

Can I post something from my iPhone or does it have to be on the computer?


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## MrsLittle (Dec 8, 2011)

I didn't even know there was a preset option in Camera raw, could have saved me a lot of time the other day. bwahahaha!
I try real hard to get the image right in camera and when I was doing free pictures for friends, the #1 request that came up was to make their photos look vintage and hazy. I asked my photographer friends how they did it and they mentioned the action sets.


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## MLeeK (Dec 8, 2011)

MrsLittle said:


> I didn't even know there was a preset option in Camera raw, could have saved me a lot of time the other day. bwahahaha!
> I try real hard to get the image right in camera and when I was doing free pictures for friends, the #1 request that came up was to make their photos look vintage and hazy. I asked my photographer friends how they did it and they mentioned the action sets.



On the far right side of the ACR window there are little lines toward the top of the panel/under the histogram. That's a flyout menu. You can save presets in there, change your defaults...


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## MLeeK (Dec 8, 2011)

kearypik said:


> Can I post something from my iPhone or does it have to be on the computer?



You can upload images from any drive (your phone or computer...) to flickr or photobucket.


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## MrsLittle (Dec 8, 2011)

MLeeK said:


> MrsLittle said:
> 
> 
> > I didn't even know there was a preset option in Camera raw, could have saved me a lot of time the other day. bwahahaha!
> ...


Thanks! I will check that out.


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## Starskream666 (Dec 8, 2011)

I just recently discovered them, well a few months ago and i've been using them alot since to be honest. I also feel kind of bad when i use them because its so easy to just click once and everything is done, i usually adjust the curves and levels after but still.


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## kearypik (Dec 8, 2011)

I don't want to be a pain. I really would like other people to see my photos and give me advice, but I have no idea how this works. Where to upload the photo to. Is there somewhere I can get help from?


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## ann (Dec 8, 2011)

My background is very traditional and I want to get it right in camera, and very rarely do i use software to make a correction; but it is great fun to get very creative.

Nothing like a bit of curves to boost contrast, etc.


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## MTVision (Dec 8, 2011)

kearypik said:
			
		

> I don't want to be a pain. I really would like other people to see my photos and give me advice, but I have no idea how this works. Where to upload the photo to. Is there somewhere I can get help from?



In the beginners forum there is a thread on how to upload images.


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## MLeeK (Dec 8, 2011)

kearypik said:


> I don't want to be a pain. I really would like other people to see my photos and give me advice, but I have no idea how this works. Where to upload the photo to. Is there somewhere I can get help from?


You really need to start a new thread to get your questions answered. It's kind of poor etiquette in someone else's post, but it also won't get noticed for what it is and what you need buried in someone else's stuff. 
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...forum-functions-pictoral-guide-using-tpf.html


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## GooniesNeverSayDie11 (Dec 8, 2011)

Big Mike said:


> An action is just a list of photoshop commands that run in order.  Pretty simple (but can get complicated).
> 
> A plug-in is sort of like a separate program that you use from within photoshop.  The one I have are accessed via the filters menu.  When I choose it, it takes the current photo (actually, just the current layer) and starts up the separate program.  I work the image in that program, then when I'm done, it brings the resulting image back into photoshop, where I can continue with the workflow.


 Yeah, but it is running an action when it imports them back in. Like phototools for instance. They are all actions and you can paint in some effects. When you click finish, sometimes if it lags, you can get a glimpse of it cycling and merging layers, creating what you just told it to do. The plug in is just a fancy shell that lets you use actions and create a 1 time event of a string of actions, preview them,  and then run them all at once and import the resulting file into PS.


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## Derrel (Dec 8, 2011)

Russell Brown used to have a HUGE, free set of Actions that ran under the application called "Automator", in Mac OS. Automator was one of the system-level apps that many people never even noticed. I used to regularly use Automator to run lengthy batch processes on batches of CR2's and NEF's, while I was busy with other things. it was a great way to batch-apply watermarks, "Proof" overlays, etc,etc.. It was a very simple thing to take the source files and put them in to one folder, and then have the automatically-modified files sent to the "Destination" folder.


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## KmH (Dec 9, 2011)

kearypik said:


> I don't want to be a pain. I really would like other people to see my photos and give me advice, but I have no idea how this works. Where to upload the photo to. Is there somewhere I can get help from?


Thread hijack.............


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