For the last few weeks, I’ve been writing about the Perfect Photoshop Elements Workflow. These are the steps we’ve covered so far:
- Reading a Histogram
- Lighting
- Defog and Noise Reduction
- Blemish Removal
- Levels
- The Most Important Workflow Step
And now, for step 7, it’s time to discuss running actions in Photoshop Elements.
Actions are a series of automated enhancements to an image. They save time, create beautiful effects, and in some cases add functions to Photoshop Elements that are only available in the full Photoshop.
Unfortunately, you can only create actions in the big Photoshop. But lucky for us, we can run many of them in Elements. If you find actions on the internet, always make sure that they are compatible with the type and version of software that you have. For instance, some are compatible with PSE 6, but not PSE 5. And many aren’t compatible with Photoshop Elements at all.
There are lots of free actions available for PSE. So many that I haven’t found it necessary to spend much money on actions available for purchase.
Installing actions into your software can be easy or hard, depending on the version of Elements you have. Installation instructions for PSE 4, 5, 6 & 7 on Vista and XP is here.
And as far as when to run the actions in your workflow, it really depends on the action. For actions that add specific effects, like a color pop or B&W conversion, I generally run them after lighting corrections, defog and blemish removal. Other actions, like those that sharpen or provide layer masks, are best run exactly when you think you need them.
Most of you know already that my absolute favorite actions are from CoffeeShop Free Actions. I love them not only because they are free, but because they are huge time savers and are easy ways to take your pictures from run-of-the-mill to extra-ordinary. And, watching how Rita’s actions work is a great way to learn about adjustment layers and layer masks in PSE.
Rita’s latest addition to the CoffeeShop menu is the Hot Cocoa 2 action, which adds a warm glow to your picture, with just a touch of a chocolate tint. And just before that, she released the Perfect Portrait action. This one is phenomenal! For many photos, running this one is all the image needs.
I have tutorials on this website for some of Rita’s fantastic actions. They are long but helpful. You only need to work through the entire tutorial if you haven’t had much experience with actions or image processing. Otherwise, you can just look at the sections covering topics that you aren’t quite sure about.
Here are some other sources of free actions for Photoshop Elements.
- Grant’s Tools- includes a layer mask, Curves and Channels. Many people think that these actions give you everything signficant that PSE is lacking as compared to Photoshop.
- Graficalicus- free actions and actions for sale. Includes actions that give PSE full-blown Photoshop capabilities.
- VirtualPhotographer – free plug-in with lots of color and black & white actions to apply. This one gets rave reviews!
- Panos FX – fun actions and effects for PSE, some free some for sale. Includes effects like spiral binding or a puzzle look
- Elements+- About 145 free actions that “unlock” Elements to make it more like full Photoshop
- Shutterfreaks – this link goes to the PSE 7 free actions, but if you look around on their site, you can find free actions for all version of PSE. There is a layer mask here, plus frames and a rule of thirds guide.
The last two installments in the Perfect Photoshop Elements tutorial (Vignettes and Sharpening) are coming soon! Subscribe to Digital Photography For Moms so that you don’t miss them!
Erin
