What is your most used PS action or preset?

[cbettua]

Please share what your favorite go to action or preset for your photos.

[lovely1m]

Sara's Babys Breath and Clean Laundry.

[Kara]

PW's boost action.

[SirScrapalot]

It changes all the time, but right now it's Sarah's from the kit for La...and the Photographer's Tool Box.

[ColleenSwerb]

Before I bought TRA's original set, it was PW's boost. Now it's TRA's Oh Snap! I love that set, and I'd LOVE to get the second set or the lightroom presets one of these days. Maybe for Christmas this year.....

[MommaTrish]

On the Spot Studio's Toy Camera action from her Simple Sweetness set. I'm constantly combining it with others to give them an extra umph.

[Nettio]

I own both sets of the Totally Rad Action and I them. SO worth the money.

I never use just one action on a photo but some of my most used actions of theirs are Boutwell Magic Glasses and Oh Snap! from TRA 1 and Lux (Soft) and Clarify from TRA 2. I've also started using A Better Web Sharpen from TRA 2 to sharpen my web layouts and I'm really liking it.

[MommaTrish]

Originally Posted by Nettio

I own both sets of the Totally Rad Action and I them. SO worth the money.

I never use just one action on a photo but some of my most used actions of theirs are Boutwell Magic Glasses and Oh Snap! from TRA 1 and Lux (Soft) and Clarify from TRA 2. I've also started using A Better Web Sharpen from TRA 2 to sharpen my web layouts and I'm really liking it.

I've been using PTM's free web sharpening action on my layouts and am loving it too.

[cbettua]

Links please, I have no idea where these are lol

[Nettio]

LOL, I'd even opened up the TRA website and then forgot to link.

These are the Totally Rad Actions: http://www.gettotallyrad.com/product...oshop-actions/

[MommaTrish]

OTSS - Simple Sweetness
I don't know if the PTM one is still available, it was a facebook one, but here's her fan page link:
http://www.facebook.com/paintthemoonphotography?ref=ts

[cbettua]

Originally Posted by MommaTrish

OTSS - Simple Sweetness
I don't know if the PTM one is still available, it was a facebook one, but here's her fan page link:
http://www.facebook.com/paintthemoonphotography?ref=ts

cool thank you

[Leah]

I use MCP's Eye Doctor, to some degree, on almost every photo. I also use TRA's Oh Snap and PTM's Picture Perfect Mega Set sharpening actions a lot too.

I'm a little bit of an action hoarder.

[Megan Turnidge]

I'm a Florabella lover.

[Leah]

Originally Posted by mturnidge

I'm a Florabella lover.

Me too! I love the BW Blush!

[joelsgirl]

I use PW's Fresh Color & Boost regularly. For B&W photos, which I only do if the colors are just awful, I use My4Hen's black & white actions that apparently are not for sale anymore. I can't seem to find them on her site.

That said, now that I've been looking, I think I'm going to pick up Matchstick and Color Wonder. You can get a free action if you like her FB fan page here.

[MissKim]

I use MCP's Web resize and sharpen action on everything I post on the web. I use their High Def Sharpening action on everything I print.

For my color processing, I tend to use Nichole Van actions. Seriously love, love, love them, but then again, my processing style is to go for a pop of color.

I also use Coffeshop's *free* Perfect Portrait 2 action on all my portraits. There's a newer version out, but I don't like how it works in PSE.

[Milmomma]

I'm a huge My4Hens fan so I'd have to say Photographers Tool Box 1 &2

[Gemma]

Originally Posted by joelsgirl

That said, now that I've been looking, I think I'm going to pick up Matchstick and Color Wonder. You can get a free action if you like her FB fan page here.

I LOVE Matchstick! I'm a huge B&W fan so these get used so much. I also love her Photographers Toolbox!

I'd love some Florabella actions but don't have the money just yet!

[Ginger_79]

I have a mixture of actions, but some of my favourites are the PW boost/warmer/cooler/slight sharpen, the free TRA actions and from M4H the Vintage Primer from the colour play set.

My problem with most actions is, that I don't like "overdone" photos. So usually tweak quite a bit and rarely use an action at 100%. It's a problem I have with most of the photographer/action blogs and homepages. I hate it, when the first thing I see is a picture with extremely deep colours and kid's eyes that I find outright spooky. IMO about 80% of all edited kid portraits on those sites have "creepy kid" eyes.

That's what makes it hard for me to judge, how good I'll like their actions and how drastic they will be on my photos. I am still looking for one homerpage, I lost the link some time ago. And go mad over it now (because now I may have the money to buy the stuff). It had lots of wonderful, balanced portrait actions, and I think it was somethink like "Perfect Powder" or something in the set names. I cannot find it again whatever I search for and it wasn't one of the standard ones from the scrap world.

[cbettua]

Wow so many great things. Thank you

[Paula]

I have a lot of Sara's (My 4 Hens) photo actions and I love them.

[adrianka]

Originally Posted by Ginger_79

My problem with most actions is, that I don't like "overdone" photos. So usually tweak quite a bit and rarely use an action at 100%. It's a problem I have with most of the photographer/action blogs and homepages. I hate it, when the first thing I see is a picture with extremely deep colours and kid's eyes that I find outright spooky. IMO about 80% of all edited kid portraits on those sites have "creepy kid" eyes.

Very true. Sometimes I even like the "before" more than the "after". Even with some of my favourite action authors.

Still, with some shots actions can help to improve the quality. My favourite set is Blessings by Paint the Moon. But before investing into actions I'd try some freebies. Paint the Moon had a freebie called Wonder Quickie, which is a totally great one for basic tweaking. I don't know if it's still online. But it's good to play with the freebies to learn if the particular author's products are worth investing into.

As far as non-action tweaking is concerned, I love Curves in Photoshop + duplicating pictures and playing with their Overlay / Opacity.

[suze]

Originally Posted by Nettio

I own both sets of the Totally Rad Action and I them. SO worth the money.

I never use just one action on a photo but some of my most used actions of theirs are Boutwell Magic Glasses and Oh Snap! from TRA 1 and Lux (Soft) and Clarify from TRA 2. I've also started using A Better Web Sharpen from TRA 2 to sharpen my web layouts and I'm really liking it.

I would love to own both sets too!! good way to check them out is by fanning them on facebook. They give some awesome samples and they are my favorite actions.

Also I love the 2 new ones that I got from Myfourhensphotography in the La charity kit.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by suze

I would love to own both sets too!! good way to check them out is by fanning them on facebook. They give some awesome samples and they are my favorite actions.

You can get them by clicking the Test Drive link on their website too. Also I think the Pioneer Woman actions (the Photoshop actions, not the Elements ones) were made by the same people who do TRA and they're free, haha.

[suze]

Originally Posted by Nettio

You can get them by clicking the Test Drive link on their website too. Also I think the Pioneer Woman actions (the Photoshop actions, not the Elements ones) were made by the same people who do TRA and they're free, haha.

haha now thats great to know!!

I've been watching extreme couponing those women have me thinking EVERYTHING is better when its free lol

[liahra]

It depends. I've made some awesome vintage and BW presets in LR that I use a lot. If not I tend to use Photographer Ultimate Toolbox and Hippy Dippy Trippy by M4H

[sprauncey1]

Originally Posted by adrianka

Very true. Sometimes I even like the "before" more than the "after". Even with some of my favourite action authors.

Still, with some shots actions can help to improve the quality. My favourite set is Blessings by Paint the Moon. But before investing into actions I'd try some freebies. Paint the Moon had a freebie called Wonder Quickie, which is a totally great one for basic tweaking. I don't know if it's still online. But it's good to play with the freebies to learn if the particular author's products are worth investing into.

As far as non-action tweaking is concerned, I love Curves in Photoshop + duplicating pictures and playing with their Overlay / Opacity.

I'm also a weird one who most of the time likes the photo pre-actioned. They usually just need a white balance adjustment and a curves bump and some sharpening in my eye. I think in the photography world (correct me if I'm wrong) I prefer a more "clean edit" than a artistic one that you often get with these actions. Part of me wants to invest in some of these (TRA ones especially) but then another part of me is like "learn your freaking program and make your own!! Actions aren't magic, they are just a series of steps!!" So that is my own internal debate on the subject, it just depends on the day, which way I lean.

I do have to say though I do love my MCP Facebook Fix action. It does the job well and I don't have to remember sharpening setting for the FB size. It was free from her site.

[heathergw]

I'm usually a DIYer too for pictures pre-scrapping... the only time I use actions is when I want to get them to match a kit I'm scrapping with. That being said, I really like PW's Seventies action and some of M4H's actions.

[Kjersti]

It's Marcus Bell for me.