Most of us who have Photoshop on our computer are not using it to its full potential. Photoshop is a tool with which you can achieve impressive creative results, both in the field of photography processing and editing and in more creative, advertising or industrial works.
In Photoshop there is a thing called “Actions”. The day I discovered them there was a major change in the way I used Photoshop. In today’s article I’m going to explain what Photoshop actions are, what you get with them, how you can create your own, and where you can find ready-to-use actions.
What is a Photoshop action?
Actions are a Photoshop functionality that allows us, with a single click, to recreate a series of steps. Imagine: you open a photo, change its size, apply a filter, increase the saturation, add a text and save it. You can do these steps once, group them under an action and, from that moment on, use that action every time you want to apply the same steps to other photos. In short, actions save you time by applying a series of previously recorded steps to a photo.
Practical example of a Photoshop action
If you want to experiment with an example, in the article on how to add a watermark to your photos, Caro showed a practical example of how to add a watermark or a signature to a photo. These are the typical 3-4 steps that you have to repeat every time you want to add your signature to a photo, so why not group them in one action and have it there, at hand, always available?
Like this example, in Photoshop you can create an action with any kind of adjustment or editing steps you can think of.
A world of creative possibilities
Did you know that there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of Photoshop actions developed by editing experts and made available to everyone? There are online stores dedicated to this topic. Some actions are true works of art in themselves. They are actions that, once installed on your computer/Photoshop, will allow you to obtain exactly the same result in your own photographs with a single click.
Today I bring you a small selection made up of 20 Photoshop actions that I personally like.
20 amazing Photoshop actions that will spark your artistic streak
1) Sandstorm
2) Dispersion
How can these actions serve me?
Photography is a very complete means of expression in itself. A well-taken, well-composed photo that tells a story or conveys a message can be a great piece of work in itself. However, the life of photos does not necessarily end there. A photo can give continuity to a following artistic work for which the «actions» can be very useful. With them you can transform a normal and current photo into a creative poster or image to hang, decorate, use in a job, expose on your profile on social networks, or simply give a creative twist to a character or a photograph that at first seemed bland.
With some of these actions (such as the 200 professional actions for photo processing) you can get hundreds of different photos from the same photo. Maybe that snapshot with which you were not very satisfied, which you were about to send to the trash, maybe you need to give it a second chance. A new life.
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