Point, shoot, upload, scrap, print. This is the workflow of many digiscrappers. While there is nothing wrong with this process, many are wising up to the world of digital photography that used to only welcome pros. Paying closer attention to your photos, through better camera equipment and proper post processing, is quickly becoming more accessible to home photographers who aren’t quite a super serious aficionado.
There is much on the web about DSLRs and above-average P&S cameras, so this post will introduce photo post-processing with actions as a way to take your digital scrapping to the next level.
So what is post-processing? It is a series of one or more steps you take, using an image editing program, to enhance a photo’s features. These features may include contrast, saturation, brightness, hue etc. However, becoming adept at even basic photo editing can take some practice and even a little training. This is where actions come into play.
While you’re reading up on expert photo editing, actions can do some to all of the work for you. Basically, an action is a set of instructions to adjust settings in your photo editing program. In the case of many scrappers, we’re talking about Photoshop Elements (PSE). While some actions leave you with a finish product, others offer you the freedom to tweak the image as you like. Using actions is a great way to train yourself in post-processing.
Yes, there is a Santa Claus are actions for Photoshop Elements
The world of serious amateur and professional photographers can sometimes make “somewhat to moderately serious” amateur photographers feel a little left out. We want lightning-fast post-processing too! Fortunately, there are a few site that have actions for PSE users. No longer are these presets only for Photoshop and Lightroom fans.
These shops offer PSE-compatible actions, of varying prices, for black & white conversion, color popping, vintage effects and more!
- CoffeeShop Actions – FREE
- Kim Hill’s Actions – $
- Actions @ Pixel Gypsy Designs – $
- EZ Actions – $$
- Fluorish Actions – $$$$
When you’re shopping around, be sure to check on PSE compatibility. There are MANY more actions available for Photoshop than PSE – so read the fine print.
Do you use actions for your post-processing? What effects are your favorite?
Thanks for the link to the CoffeeShop Actions! I hadn’t discovered those yet!
Christine (supertwinkle)’s last blog post..I’ve been tagged!
Hi,
I feel to use photo editing software one should be a little creative. I want to learn photo editing and your links are of great help. I have only tried conversion of photographs to different formats using contenta converter , I am able to do that because the tool is very user friendly. thanks for the great post.