Photoshop Actions
Want to speed up photo workflows? A Photoshop action can save you time and effort when it comes to processing multiple images at the same time. In this series, you’ll learn how to use Photoshop Actions and find professional examples to use in your own design work.
Use an action to create a specific filter or style or just about anything else that you can do in Photoshop. “Record” the process and use it repeatedly. Don’t want to create your own? There are plenty of great options out there ready to download.
Latest Photoshop Action Articles
21 Jun 2022
20+ Photoshop Photo Effects for Stunning Creative Photos
One of the best things about using Photoshop is how it gives you the freedom to let your creativity run wild and experiment with different effects.
When Photoshop first went mainstream, everyone used it to make photo manipulations and try different styles of effects on photos to make them look more fun and unique.
Well, now you can do all those fun things using pre-made templates. Today, we brought you a collection of cool Photoshop photo effects you can use to make your photos look more creative and unique.
You’ll find lots of different photo effects and photo overlays in this list. They are easy to edit and use with various types of photos. We included a few free photo effects and tutorials as well. Download them all below.
18 Jun 2022
20+ Best Comic Book Style Photoshop Actions (+ Pop Art Actions)
Drawing comic book-style pop art can be quite a difficult process, even for experienced graphic designers.
But that’s okay because as a designer you don’t have to be good at everything. You just need to work smarter and find ways to get things done faster. Like learning to use Photoshop actions.
With Photoshop comic book effects and pop art actions, you can instantly give your graphics, photos, and artworks a comic book look and feel.
Today, we bring you some of the best pop art and comic book Photoshop actions you can use to achieve that goal. These actions are easy to use and work perfectly with all kinds of design projects. Grab a few actions from the list and start experimenting.
16 Jun 2022
20+ Photoshop Light Leak Actions + Overlays
Looking for light leak effects to give a retro film look to your photos? Then you’ll find our Photoshop light leak effects collection much more useful.
Light leaks used to be a terrible side effect of using analog film cameras. If you bought a cheap camera or accidentally opened the back cover exposing the film, you usually end up with a bunch of photos full of light leaks.
Today, light leaks have turned into such a popular trend that people are actually looking for ways to add light leaks into photos. Mainly because it creates a beautiful nostalgic film look in photos.
You can also add light leaks into your photos using Photoshop actions and overlays. This collection is filled with many different styles of light leaks you can download and use right away. They are very easy to use. Go try them out.
7 Jun 2022
20+ Photo to Pencil Actions for Photoshop (Sketch + Drawing Effects)
Turning your photos into artworks or drawings used to be an expensive and time-consuming task. Back in the day, you had to hire an artist to get the job done.
Thanks to Photoshop, this task now only takes just a few mouse clicks. With the help of Photoshop actions, you can easily transform your photos into pencil sketches or realistic drawings in a matter of seconds.
Today, we bring you some of the easy-to-use Photoshop pencil sketch effects and actions for quickly turning your photos and graphics into works of art.
We included both high-quality premium Photoshop actions as well as a few free items. Be sure to download them all.
What Is a Photoshop Action?
A Photoshop action is a “recorded” command that you can use later to perform tasks in the popular editing software. Using actions can help you tap into creative techniques, cutting edge post-processing styles and beautiful effects.
Here’s how Photoshop describes it:
An action is a series of tasks that you play back on a single file or a batch of files—menu commands, panel options, tool actions, and so on. For example, you can create an action that changes the size of an image, applies an effect to the image, and then saves the file in the desired format.
Actions can include steps that let you perform tasks that cannot be recorded (for example, using a painting tool). Actions can also include modal controls that let you enter values in a dialog box while playing an action.
5 Places to Find Photoshop Actions
While you can create your own Photoshop actions, there is an abundance of them available from third parties, with paid and free options. The nice thing about downloading a Photoshop action is that it can help you get comfortable with this design technique if you haven’t used it before.
Here are five places to find Photoshop actions for your projects:
- Envato Elements has a huge library of Photoshop actions that are all available to subscribers at no extra cost.
- Fix the Photo has a good collection of actions for portrait touch-ups that are all free to use.
- Shutter Pulse has an extensive library of Photoshop actions, most of which are designed for photos of people with easy to see previews.
- Creative Market includes a library of nearly 300 actions in .psd format that you can purchase one at a time for as little as a few bucks.
- Creative Tacos has a collection of several hundred Photoshop actions that are grouped by category for easy search and filtering.
How to Add an Action to Photoshop
Adding an action to Photoshop is easier than you might think. Once you add an action it is part of your Photoshop library and available to use over and over again.
Here’s how you do it:
- Download and unzip the action file.
- Open Photoshop and navigate to Window, then Actions. The Actions Panel will open. (The placement often defaults to the top right.)
- From the menu, select Load Actions, navigate to the saved, unzipped action and select it. The file you want to install ends with .atn. Many downloadable actions also include readme or instruction files that are not installed.
- The action is ready for use.
