Let's talk actions

[hollyxann]

I've been editing my maternity pictures today & trying to get them posted to my FB and flickr. Let me start by saying I LOVE actions...they make life easy. I'm a M4H, PTM, and PW junkie. (My 4 Hens, Paint the Moon, & Pioneer Woman)
I'm currently using CS4 as my software. So here are my questions for you...

1. What are your favorite actions/places to get actions?
2. How do you organize your actions?
3. How do you know which actions do what?...do you just refer to the images from the folder or site or do you print the reference picture?

[MommaTrish]

I am a total action junkie too. It's sad. I have over 200.

1. What are your favorite actions/places to get actions? I love Sarah's.... but I really love On the Spot Studio's also. I did her buy my store a year ago and I think I use those the most. My favorite is her Daydream set. I use actions from it all the time.
2. How do you organize your actions? Seriously It might seem kind of compulsive. I have them organized by type of action. ex. Black and White/Cool, Black and White/Funky, Retro/Cool, Retro/Warm, Lightening/Cool, Lightening/Warm, High Contrast, Golden Tints... etc.
3. How do you know which actions do what?...do you just refer to the images from the folder or site or do you print the reference picture? See above.

[Gemma]

1. What are your favorite actions/places to get actions? M4H mostly, I have a few freebies from others but I've totally been drooling over Florabella's actions lately and I WILL own some eventually, maybe in the Summer!

2. How do you organize your actions? I have a seperate folder for actions but I dump them all in and they are all mixed up now! I'm going to take the time to organise them a bit better over the next few weeks as I always use the same ones even though I own around half or a bit more of the actions Sarah has for sale lol!

3. How do you know which actions do what?...do you just refer to the images from the folder or site or do you print the reference picture? I don't, read above lol!

[Happy Now]

Oh, my... I've been using PSE8 for less than a year, but I don't know anything about actions! Sounds like I am missing out!

[luckyme]

1. What are your favorite actions/places to get actions?

I use Totally Rad Actions (Sets 1 and 2) for virtually all my photos, plus some by Lilyblue (for beach/dreamy photos).

2. How do you organize your actions?

Erm, just by how they come! I know where everything is!

3. How do you know which actions do what?...do you just refer to the images from the folder or site or do you print the reference picture?

Really good memory, I suppose! That's not very helpful, I know. Sorry!

[rach3975]

1. I love My 4 Hens, but I've been drooling over MCP Actions for a while now. I may splurge on a set for my birthday next month. I really want Bag of Tricks!

2. Sorry-I don't have enough for it to matter.

3. I copy all the previews/samples into a folder and just browse through that to pick one.

[AlliJ2008]

I love MCP Actions, M4H, and TRA. I don't have them organized in any specific way but for the most part I can remember where they are & what they do because I usually use the same ones.

[Milmomma]

Originally Posted by MommaTrish

I am a total action junkie too. It's sad. I have over 200.

1. What are your favorite actions/places to get actions? I love Sarah's.... but I really love On the Spot Studio's also. I did her buy my store a year ago and I think I use those the most. My favorite is her Daydream set. I use actions from it all the time.
2. How do you organize your actions? Seriously It might seem kind of compulsive. I have them organized by type of action. ex. Black and White/Cool, Black and White/Funky, Retro/Cool, Retro/Warm, Lightening/Cool, Lightening/Warm, High Contrast, Golden Tints... etc.
3. How do you know which actions do what?...do you just refer to the images from the folder or site or do you print the reference picture? See above.

I'm rather similar.
1-I have mostly M4H, but like around 200ish of them.
2- Same as Trish, I have basic editing, black & White, warmish, holiday, etc. I leave them in there groups she makes them, but organize the group this way.
3- I have most of them memorized as I use them almost daily

[g8rbeckie]

I bought all the TRA actions on Black Friday, and I love using their recipe site! While I'm still learning what they all do, I go there and find a photo that has the effect I'm looking for, then use the recipe provided to achieve it!

http://www.gettotallyrad.com/recipes/

I also LOVE Sarah's (myfourhens) - hers are much more affordable and totally dreamy and gorgeous!

[*Celeste*]

i need more actions. this thread is great!

[AmyM]

Sarah's are fabulous. Go for all the M4H toolbox ones.
MCP actions- awesome
Lots of people love TRA. I did at first but find myself wishing now I'd bought portraiture instead.
If you want something different than a clean color edit, try Florabella. I think they're beautiful but usually end up using them on my own photos rather than with clients.

[AmyM]

Oh yeah...organizing.
I went through and dumped a bunch recently that I don't use anymore. All are saved in a folder so I can go back and add them again if I ever start missing them. Here's how I'm set up




Basic Workflow
Re touch
black and whites
color shifts/any processing above clean color edits
sharpen
resize
then there's a few recents at the bottom I need to organize in there
(I forget the exact order of ones in the middle, need to fix that!)

[rach3975]

Does anyone have PTM Miracle Makeover or The Essentials? I'd love to know how they are. Thanks!

[Leontine78]

Originally Posted by rach3975

Does anyone have PTM Miracle Makeover or The Essentials? I'd love to know how they are. Thanks!

I'd like to know also....I only have some freebies, but I am not sure I use them correctly, because sometimes I just feel my original photo is much better, LOL.

I do have some by Pioneer Woman...but I used them way too less.

[littlekiwi]

What are some essential M4H actions - I use CS4 and since they are half off with the coupon code lovestruck50 I'd like to get one set

[Ginger_79]

Ooooh, a M4H sale! I have been looking for an excuse to buy some of hers anyway. Now, how to decide which ones I want...

[junebug]

i love Sarah's and Paint the Moon's. i also have some free Coffeeshop Actions. i dont organize them; they are all jumbled into my effects folder. i'm afraid i dont know how to really organize them and my PSE takes so long to install them anyway i dont care to spend extra time organizing them lol. i tend to use the same few actions and just remember what they do

[MommaTrish]

Sarah's Photographer's Toolbox is awesome. I used it all the time before I learned to all of it myself. If you'd rather not shell out the money on the kind of stuff the CoffeeShop blog has tutorials on how to do most of it.

[Leontine78]

I am in love with the Essentials....but do you always use more than one action at the time? Because I saw a small video and what she all does to get a good photo....I don't know if I can do that.

In that case I rather spend my money here in the shop!

[AJM]

There's a new MCP freebie action, Mini Fusion, on the facebook page. You have to click on the exclusive download. It's for Photoshop and elements and it's great!

[AJM]

Originally Posted by Leontine78

I am in love with the Essentials....but do you always use more than one action at the time? Because I saw a small video and what she all does to get a good photo....I don't know if I can do that.

In that case I rather spend my money here in the shop!

Everyday elements is een hele goede site om over het gebruik van actions te leren. Er staan hele goede tutorials op en heel veel freebies.

[Leah]

I'm an action hog...

1. What are your favorite actions/places to get actions?
I have all of the TRA sets which I love (I especially love the RECIPES, so fun to play!), Paint the Moon, MCP, M4H, Pioneer Woman and Actions by Nicole Van (Flourish).
2. How do you organize your actions?
Mine are organized according to who made them and they're all loaded in CS3.
3. How do you know which actions do what?...do you just refer to the images from the folder or site or do you print the reference picture?
It really depends on what I'm doing with the photo. For LO's, I like to play a little. I love throwing some actions together and seeing what the result is. I also love Black & Whites, so I do a lot of these as well.

[Leah]

Originally Posted by rach3975

Does anyone have PTM Miracle Makeover or The Essentials? I'd love to know how they are. Thanks!

I have the essentials and love it!

[rach3975]

Originally Posted by paperboutique

I have the essentials and love it!

Thanks! I'm tempted...

[interstitchal]

I'm turning into an action junkie - but you have to be careful - they are so fast that you have to be careful not to overdo it!

I like My4Hens, and I have Paint the Moon Essentials and Miracle Makeover. I've used the essentials a ton so far - it has mostly general editing. I haven't used the Miracle Makeover as much yet because I haven't edited a lot of portrait photos recently - but I can't wait to try them out more.

[Leontine78]

When I bought the shadows by Jenn and I installed them, they were categoried in my styles palette under Jenn's shadowstyles. In that case I only see those styles and no others.

Is that possible for actions also? I've been trying to find things. I should create a metadata file somehow for all actions I have (luckily not many yet). But I really don't have a clue.

Can anyone tell me how to do that in plain normal English?

[Sarah8914]

leontine, what program do you use? I just did that yesterday for PSE 8

[Leontine78]

Originally Posted by Sarah8914

leontine, what program do you use? I just did that yesterday for PSE 8

I have PSE 8 too!

[Sarah8914]

Here's what I used:
http://www.texaschicksblogsandpics.c...free-template/

I just downloaded her file and changed the names and saved new files for all of my actions!

[mlewis]

Originally Posted by rach3975

Does anyone have PTM Miracle Makeover or The Essentials? I'd love to know how they are. Thanks!

I have both of these and love them. I think they're really great for just basic clean editing.

[Leontine78]

OK, I must be really dumb or something.

I downloaded the file. I copied the data in notepad. I changed the names into the atn file name and the name I want to have in my effects pallette. Saved it in the photo effects folder. But then.....nothing. I want to make sure I am doing the right thing because I do have more actions that I thought!

[Leontine78]

By the way....my original metadata files are much bigger than after I renamed them! Is that OK, my feeling says they should be bigger.

I think I leave it for now....everything was working ok... although not very organised

[EvaK]

As far as photo editing actions... I have quite a few of Nichole Van's. They are incredible. Everything is left in layers and you can adjust to your hearts content. Her site is a bit hard to navigate I think... but here is a link if you wanna check it out.
http://shop.nicholev.com/default.aspx

[Sarah8914]

Originally Posted by Leontine78

By the way....my original metadata files are much bigger than after I renamed them! Is that OK, my feeling says they should be bigger.

I think I leave it for now....everything was working ok... although not very organised

The metadata files are tiny!! make sure when you save it it's the same name as the action, and has .metadata on the end... plus, in notepad, it automatically saves as a txt file, so after the .metadata you need to add .xml to make it an xml file.

And i just realized you don't need to download hers because you can just open a metadata file you already have for an action (likes ones that come with the program).

[ovaltine]

I use a mix of PW and M4H, but sometimes I use Mullet God's actions here :http://www.mulletgod.org/photoshopactions/
and grab some freebies from deviant art. And I found some nice ones here :
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008...oshop-actions/
I'd love to buy TRA but they're just too expensive for my student budget

[rach3975]

Originally Posted by mlewis

I have both of these and love them. I think they're really great for just basic clean editing.

Thanks! I think I'm going to get them. I watched Annie's videos about how she edits, and they look incredible. Not to mention that between the bundle price for The Essentials and Miracle Makeover and the FB coupon, they'll come to about half of what I'd spend on the set I've been eying at MCP Actions.

[adrianka]

Originally Posted by rach3975

Thanks! I think I'm going to get them. I watched Annie's videos about how she edits, and they look incredible. Not to mention that between the bundle price for The Essentials and Miracle Makeover and the FB coupon, they'll come to about half of what I'd spend on the set I've been eying at MCP Actions.

Is there an FB coupon? I must have missed it.

ETA: Found the code and have sinned. Bought my first actions. :-)

[rach3975]

Originally Posted by adrianka

Is there an FB coupon? I must have missed it.

ETA: Found the code and have sinned. Bought my first actions. :-)

What did you buy? I'm glad you got to use the coupon! I saw it when I was pretty tired, and I missed the part about the minimum $100 purchase so it didn't work for me. Oh well! It was still a lot cheaper than the set I was eying at another action site, and I'm sure I'll use it all the time.

[adrianka]

Originally Posted by rach3975

What did you buy? I'm glad you got to use the coupon! I saw it when I was pretty tired, and I missed the part about the minimum $100 purchase so it didn't work for me. Oh well! It was still a lot cheaper than the set I was eying at another action site, and I'm sure I'll use it all the time.

Haha, you know what I've just realised? That, without thinking, I went to M4H instead of PTM... :-D She has a 50% discount coupon as well, and since I'm ill, tired and have to work anyway (still working, and it's 19:25 here in Lux), no wonder I got confused! But all the better, because I wouldn't want to spend over 100 USD today. :-D

A definite proof it's time to call it a day.

[rach3975]

LOL! Good thing M4H had a FB coupon, too. Enjoy your new actions! I hope you get to go home soon.

[adrianka]

Originally Posted by rach3975

LOL! Good thing M4H had a FB coupon, too. Enjoy your new actions! I hope you get to go home soon.

What a coincidence, right? I suppose my tired brain knew what it was doing.

I'm actually at home - went to work after two days of being officially ill, but I got dizzy and took 1/2 sick day. However, I had to work anyway, because there's a long document and a Monday deadline involved. Still, it was better to revise on my sofa than in the office. And the good thing is that I did work long hours, but didn't have to spend the additional 30 minutes by walking home. :-)

[adrianka]

Originally Posted by rach3975

Thanks! I think I'm going to get them. I watched Annie's videos about how she edits, and they look incredible. Not to mention that between the bundle price for The Essentials and Miracle Makeover and the FB coupon, they'll come to about half of what I'd spend on the set I've been eying at MCP Actions.

Is the coupon still valid or is it gone? I kind of changed my attitude and suddenly I feel like spending. :-)

[adrianka]

OK, I think I figured it out. Was it the 10% discount? If not, let it rest in peace because I've got Essentials, Miracle Makeover and Blessings. *gulp* I don't think I'm going to purchase more actions too soon!

And there I was claiming until recently that I wasn't interested in post-production of photographs. Hmph.

I have to say I don't like the PTM website, it's kind of annoyingly confusing for me.

[Leah]

And to add to my collection, I just added these sweet babies...

Florabella Luxe I and Luxe II