When you recollect of adding feature to Adobe Photoshop , you mostly retrieve of plug - ins , like those offered byAlien Skin Software , flare PearoronOne Software , all of whom declare oneself excellent plug - Indiana at a reasonable price . There ’s more to improving Photoshop than just adding hack - in , however ; specifically , I ’m bear on to Photoshop Actions and Styles .
Photoshop Actions are basically a “ recorded ” set of instructions on what to do with a finical document and preserve in a way that lets you apply these command mechanically . Actions can be base on the tool built into Photoshop or may rely on third party plug - ins , but most can run out of the corner with no further fuss . For in - deepness info on Photoshop Actions and how to employ them , check out Trevor Morris ’ broad tutorial , titledActions : Automating tasks in Photoshop .
The first stead to go to regain actions is Adobe ’s ownPhotoshop Exchange , but devise yourself . Despite the fact that this is from a company that is supposed to be World Wide Web - savvy , the situation loads tardily and is badly unionise , with horrifying navigation . You ca n’t apply your web browser ’s Back push button , and both the type and preview images are flyspeck . But , if you’re able to get past all that , you ’ll be treated to over 5,000 legal action files ( assuming the act are correct ) , most of which are free to download .
You could easy spend a weekend just going through all of them : they include image and type enhancements , product and correction tools , and simple insistent - task productiveness recall dose . So , grab a loving cup of coffee , be serene and surf through the vast selection . ( According to place in the Adobe User - to - User forums , Adobe is aware how awful the Exchange became after the last update and is addressing the topic . Hopefully they will bring back the earlier website , which was a everyday “ must - stop ” for many designers . )
If you ’re looking for other sites with action — innocent or otherwise — tick off outPicsToBits ; theP2B Perfect Skies , an action for better the skies in your photos , is a good one .
Outside of Photoshop Exchange , the place that has the most utile and originative action for me , though , isPanosFX . Panos Efstathiadis , who track down the site , has a talent for creating actions , which is quite obvious once you use them . He only offers34 of themfor free , but they ’re in all likelihood 34 of the well creative image sweetening actions uncommitted . For exemplar , the image above took just a few mo to create . I accept a screenshot of the Macworld.com home Thomas Nelson Page and ran theB&Big Pictureaction . And , while you ’re on Panos ’ site , be certain to correspond out his lowly selection of natural process files that are available for purchase ; many of them , like theOld Paperaction , are quite decent .
Don’t forget styles
The image above demonstrate off just a few styles apply to each alphabetic character of theMacworldlogo . Each alphabetic character required only a single click in the Styles palette to instantly transmute the spare black missive to what you see in the computer graphic .
There are plenty ofstyleson the Photoshop Exchange site and I encourage you to look through them all : there are many that can lay aside you time trying to get a particular effect . For instance , if you ’re looking for a brushed titanium face with chrome edge to add to a box or letter , you could utilize theNew Chrome Titaniumstyle . And , one of my personal favorites , as is theWood Style .
Both actions and expressive style are easily installed simply by dropping them into your Photoshop – > Presets – > Actions leaflet or Photoshop - > Presets - > Styles leaflet and then loading them via the flyout carte du jour in the Actions or Styles palette .
[ James Dempsey runs theCreative Guyblog , which put up pourboire , trick and judgment on a variety of plan topic . ]
For more stories on Photoshop actions , seeMacworld’sAutomate Photoshop chore , and Photoshop Automator natural process gratification .
