# To Buy Actions or Not to Buy Actions?



## AprilRamone (Nov 1, 2007)

Hi everyone,
I was hoping we could start another discussion about actions.  I am trying to decide if I want to spend my $ on some.  I finally got Lightroom and PS3 which is really exciting. But, after spending so much time only using Elements 2.0 I'm a little overwhelmed with all of the options I now have.  (I did learn PS in college on 7.0 so I'm not totally in the dark with a lot of the tools in CS3)
Anyway, I guess I just want to get some conversation started about them.
1.) How many of you use Actions?
2.) Which brand/company is your favorite?  I know Kubota has been mentioned as well as Boutwell.  Any others out there?  I recently found this company and really liked their borders: http://www.ittybittyactions.com/borders.htm

I think I'm trying to convince myself that the cost of the actions are worth it since the time it would take me to create some of my own would most likely be somewhat extensive.  

Anyway I guess I'd just like to hear what others think about them.


----------



## Alpha (Nov 1, 2007)

The cost of actions is not worth it. Two important reasons why stand out in my mind.

1) There is an abundance of freely available actions online. Why pay?

2) Actions are simply steps in post-processing amalgamated into a single automated one. Two concerns. A) By definition, actions don't do anything that you couldn't do on your own. B) Using other people's automated post-processing discourages you from developing your own workflow and experimenting on your own with various post-processing techniques. In short, it also makes you lazy. Making your own actions forces you to understand the individual steps in processing an image and they way that they interact with each other to produce new, compound effects. It would be a shame to avoid that learning process.


----------



## elsaspet (Nov 1, 2007)

I totally disagree with the above.
Although I do have some freebie actions, for the most part, they are NOWHERE near the quality and flexibility of the "buy" ones.

Call me lazy if you want Max, but I don't have the time to sit around and make actions, or God Forbid, do these things manually.  Could I?  Yes.
Will I....ever?  No.

My typical workweek, which is ALL shooting and processing is never less than 60 plus hours.  I'm busy trying to establish a brand.  As long as I take a good photo and try to make it look great, I could care less how I got there, as long as I get there quickly.
One man's lazy is another man's ability to get the job done.


Having said that:
Other great actions are the Sallee collections, and Tricoast's new "Finding Color" set.
However, as someone with literally HUNDREDS of actions, used daily, I would still advise either KK2 or the Boutwells.


----------



## Big Mike (Nov 1, 2007)

You could also look into Lightroom Presets, which I hear are easier and faster to run than Photoshop actions.


----------



## elsaspet (Nov 1, 2007)

Hey Mike,
I hadn't heard of them.  Do you have a link to some, or a link to an area I could read more about them?
Thanks!


----------



## JHF Photography (Nov 1, 2007)

Big Mike said:


> You could also look into Lightroom Presets, which I hear are easier and faster to run than Photoshop actions.


 
That's cool! Had no idea that there were premade presets for Lightroom out there. Thanks, Mike!




elsaspet said:


> Hey Mike,
> I hadn't heard of them. Do you have a link to some, or a link to an area I could read more about them?
> Thanks!


 
I just googled it, here's a link to 85 presets made by Jack Davis, a photoshop pro. There were tons more hits, but this one looked pretty good.

http://www.ononesoftware.com/photopresets-wow.php


Jason


----------



## elsaspet (Nov 1, 2007)

Cool Jason,
Thanks!


----------



## Big Mike (Nov 1, 2007)

Cindy, 
Check out the Kubota site (my fire wall is blocking it)...they do have Lightroom presets.  I've heard that there are plenty of free ones floating around as well.

From what I've heard, they are just a one click and it's instantly done...rather that having an action run through it's steps.


----------



## JHF Photography (Nov 1, 2007)

Big Mike said:


> From what I've heard, they are just a one click and it's instantly done...rather that having an action run through it's steps.


 
Yes, you're right. I've played a bit with the presets that came with Lightroom, and one click and it's done. You can even preview what it will do in the little viewer window. It shows you how the actual picture will look before you even click, all you do is hover over it.

But the the preloaded ones kinda suck.... so thanks again for the tip!


Jason

P.S.  You're welcome, Elsaspet.


----------



## Snyder (Nov 1, 2007)

Actions are extremely easy to make, I wouldnt pay someone for something if I can do the same thing or better.


----------



## Big Mike (Nov 1, 2007)

> Actions are extremely easy to make, I wouldnt pay someone for something if I can do the same thing or better.


Actions are easy to make, that's true.  But it's also easy to take a photo.  Doing either of those things well, is what makes the difference.  

As mentioned, there isn't anything that those bought actions give you, that you can't do without them...but you would need to have a fairly good knowledge of PS.


----------



## elsaspet (Nov 1, 2007)

Big Mike said:


> Actions are easy to make, that's true. But it's also easy to take a photo. Doing either of those things well, is what makes the difference.
> 
> As mentioned, there isn't anything that those bought actions give you, that you can't do without them...but you would need to have a fairly good knowledge of PS.


 
That and you need alot of time to mess with making your own.
How cool Mike.  I got a spam from KK about the new lightroom thingies, but never checked them out.  I feel like I already own stock in his company. LOL.
I'll definately check them out today.
Thanks again.


----------



## wildmaven (Nov 1, 2007)

I've tried some free actions to smooth skin and they ALWAYS oversmooth. I'm trying to learn how to do it myself, but my time is very limited right now. Unfortunately, I don't have the funds right now to buy something that's not going to be what I want and then have to buy something else. It's not like you can return an action if you don't like it.


----------



## Big Mike (Nov 1, 2007)

Remember that you are still working in Photoshop.  You can change or alter the steps in a particular action...or you can just turn down the opacity of the results, if you think they are over done.


----------



## wildmaven (Nov 1, 2007)

Big Mike said:


> Remember that you are still working in Photoshop. You can change or alter the steps in a particular action...or you can just turn down the opacity of the results, if you think they are over done.


 
Is there a way to turn off a particular step in an action, because the actions I try flatten the image as a last step, making it impossible to readjust anything.


----------



## Big Mike (Nov 1, 2007)

If you open the actions pallet and expand the list of steps...you should be able to change or edit any of the steps.  

I've never tried any bought actions, so I don't know if they have any built-in protection against people changing them...but I don't see how they could.

Also, you could just run the action on your image, let it be flattened, save as something else, then open the original again and drop the new one on top.  Then you have two layers and you can turn down the opacity of the top one.  You should be able to do the same thing by creating a duplicate layer in the first place...as long as the action doens't try to flatten it.

Many of the actions that I've seen (again, not the bought ones) actually create a dup layer to start with anyway...so you always have the original layer in the working image.  

When I'm going to do anything more than light editing...the first step is always to create a duplicate of the background layer.


----------



## elsaspet (Nov 1, 2007)

Just unflatten in your history, WM.  Also have your layer pallet open.  You will see in there some sort of layer.  Mess with the layer opacities until you get it like you like it.  Then just smash it again.

This doesn't always work though unfortunaltey, as some actions just take you back to a snapshot in the layers.


----------



## zendianah (Nov 1, 2007)

AprilRamone said:


> Hi everyone,
> I was hoping we could start another discussion about actions. I am trying to decide if I want to spend my $ on some. I finally got Lightroom and PS3 which is really exciting. But, after spending so much time only using Elements 2.0 I'm a little overwhelmed with all of the options I now have. (I did learn PS in college on 7.0 so I'm not totally in the dark with a lot of the tools in CS3)
> Anyway, I guess I just want to get some conversation started about them.
> 1.) How many of you use Actions?
> ...


----------



## AprilRamone (Nov 1, 2007)

Thanks for the suggestions on other actions Cindy.  

Zendianah, I agree, I wasn't too impressed with the actions on her site, but I did love the borders enough to buy them since they were only $30.  In the end I guess I just decided $30 was definitely cheap enough to just have some already made instead of having to make my own.  

I have a feeling I will eventually be using some combination of my own actions, bought actions, and then probably bought borders for the most part as well since there are already so many lovely ones out there.  Seems almost like a waste of time to recreate my own action if there is already another one out there that I already like.  

That being said, I do think it's important to know what the action is doing and be able to recreate it on your own for the most part.  But, actions will just make my pp work so much faster.  I am so excited to finally be able to have them and not have to do every single picture individually.


----------

