Fri
25Photoshop Actions and Photo Effects
I keep getting emails asking me how I add certain effects to my photos, and I thought a tutorial might help some of you. Before I go any further, I’d like to dispel any rumors that “real photographers don’t use photoshop.” While it’s true that you need a good base image to work on, every single photographer I know uses Photoshop for post-processing. It doesn’t mean your photos suck, and it doesn’t mean you aren’t as good as anyone else. So get that nonsense out of your head.
We’re going to take this image:
And turn it into this:
This is just a sample image, and the effects that we are about to apply can look much better on a different image. While it’s a nice image as is, there are things we can do to it to make it a lot more interesting.
The first thing we’re going to talk about are Photoshop Actions, and different color overlays. If you’ve never made or used an Action, you don’t know what you’re missing. You can open up your Actions menu, create a new one, and it will record everything you do to an image until you hit the stop button. This is a great tool for various reasons, but especially if you have to do the same thing to many images and are lazy like me :D
I’m going to walk you through creating your own action. In the photo above, I want a vintage feel with muted color tones with bright splashes of underlying color. First, Open your image, obviously. Then, go up to your menu, and select Window and make sure “Actions” is selected. Your actions toolbar will look something like this:
Click on the little icon that looks like a folded piece of paper, right next to the trash button:
A popup will appear that asks you to name your action. Mine is named “Avatars”, because that’s what I use it for most. After you’ve typed something in, select Record. Now Photoshop will automatically record everything you do to your image until you stop the recording. Don’t feel rushed, Photoshop only records what you do to the image, not how long it takes to do it. Spend as much time as you need to, just remember to click “stop” when you’re done.
Now that we are recording, we want to take our image and add some color overlays. They’re a great way to add a variety of feels to your images, and in this case we’ll be making it look like vintage film.
Color Layers
1. Create a new layer. Click on your color palette, and select #f8b922. Set it to multiply at 30%.
1. Create another new layer. Click on your color palette, and select #1b0a62. Set it to Lighten at 50%.
1. Create a final new layer. Click on your color palette, and select #4bb3fb. Set it to Hard Light at 10%.
I know it’s a bit of work, but remember we’re making an action, so you can use this as many times as you want without ever having to repeat the steps above.
After you have your three color layers, Duplicate your first layer and drag it until it’s on top of all of your other layers. Set that to Soft Light at around 50%, or whatever you think looks best. It should look something like this:
You’re done with your color layers! Go back to your Actions menu, and click the little square icon on the bottom that says “Stop Recording.”
Now not only have you applied some neat vintage-y effects to one image, you can use it over and over again. Whenever you want to use it on another image, just select that action and press “Play” and it will do everything for you. Awesome, right?!
Darkened Edges
I get asked a lot about the darkened edges some of my photos have. This is called a Vignette, and it’s a neat way to add interest to your photos. Vignettes in photoshop simulate the darkened edges that some camera lenses produce. You could simply select the burn tool and go around the edges, but there’s a much quicker way to do it.
In Photoshop (I use CS 3, I’m not sure what other versions have this feature) open your image. Go up to your menu and select Filter > Convert to Smart Filters. This will act almost like an adjustment layer, allowing you to easily add or remove more filters without ruining your original image.
Then, go back up to your menu. Select Filter > Distort > Lens Correction. You’ll notice a popup with different options. Go over to the Vignette section, and select a negative value using the slider, and slide it until you like the result you get. Ignore the “midpoint” part.
Then click Ok. Now you have a vintage-y photo with darkened edges. You’ll need to flatten your image before you can save it as a high quality JPEG. You’re all done! Some of these settings are different depending on the photo, and it may not always look right. Luckily, you can use your handy action and adjust some of the settings yourself until you like the result. You can also play around with the brightness and contrast to get something you like.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below.