Candy Apple is the name of this particular Photoshop action I used to edit my picture today. Yes, you guessed it, we’ll talk about actions this morning. But, first of all, good morning and happy Friday!
So, what is a Photoshop action? According to the Adobe website:
“An action is a series of tasks that you play back on a single file or a batch of files—menu commands, panel options, tool actions, and so on. For example, you can create an action that changes the size of an image, applies an effect to the image, and then saves the file in the desired format.
Actions can include steps that let you perform tasks that cannot be recorded (for example, using a painting tool). Actions can also include modal controls that let you enter values in a dialog box while playing an action.
In Photoshop, actions are the basis for droplets, which are small applications that automatically process all files that are dragged onto their icon.
Photoshop and Illustrator come with predefined actions installed that help you perform common tasks. You can use these actions as is, customize them to meet your needs, or create new actions. Actions are stored in sets to help you organize them.
You can record, edit, customize, and batch-process actions, and you can manage groups of actions by working with action sets.”
That’s not too complicated, is it? Being the lazy person that I often am, actions come in handy when I have zero inspiration or will, to work on an image. It kind of provides an answer, when the question is “so what do I do with this picture?” However, I can’t be too lazy. Actions can be customized and that’s the point really. When you’re given a certain action, it definitely applies to some images but that doesn’t mean it will on every one of them. You will, most likely, have to adjust and modify it, in order to best compliment your shot.
So what is it with all the actions talk this morning?
Are you familiar with The SLSpoon website? It’s a relatively new blog, that I’ve subscribed to, which is very bad for my diet, but very resourceful! The owner Mac Massimo, posts images of food and whatnot, almost daily, but some very useful tools for your pictures editing, as well. He has recently created some actions called “The Autumn Fed Collection” and just released “The Baking Beauty Collection” which includes more awesome features, like hair strands, overlays, and lights! You will have to click on the names to read what each bundle has to offer, how much they cost and how you can purchase them.
But let me walk you through the actions, using my photo today as an example. I’ve uploaded the raw image of my shot here. You can download it and practice while you read these steps.
- Open Photoshop and under Window, select the Actions option (or hit Alt & F9). The Actions menu will appear on the right of your screen. (screenshot)
- Click on its menu and select Load Actions. Select the Autumn Fed Collection from your Downloads folder (or wherever you choose to save the things you download) and click Load! (screenshot A|screenshot B)
There you have it. Now, you’ll get all 4 actions in folders, 2 brushes for Food Realism and Glaze and Food Depth. Again, I’m reminding you that these are preset edits that might or might not, look good on your image. As soon as you select the Candy Apple Moody action, for example, click on the play icon and it will load the action as layers above your snapshot. Then you can individually modify and adjust all selected layers accordingly. You can even deselect one if you feel that it will make your picture look better. This is where personal taste comes in and there shouldn’t be actions or recipes for that.
That’s pretty much it! I recommend you try them out yourselves, see how they work out for you and I encourage you to be creative. Take multiple shots, try different actions on them and see how they look because you might be surprised. I had fun playing with these for sure, even though I have a very particular way of editing my images, which doesn’t include any actions. But any help provided is always well received!
Feel free to ask any questions you might have in the comments section below and I’ll try to help you as soon as possible.
Good luck and have fun!
That’s all for today, hope everyone has a great weekend! I’ll see you all next time!
♡
dust bunny . autumns calling
dust bunny . autumns calling . bench
dust bunny . autumns calling . candle cup
dust bunny . autumns calling . chair type a
dust bunny . autumns calling . chair type c
dust bunny . autumns calling . chair type d
dust bunny . autumns calling . plate setting
dust bunny . autumns calling . pumpkin centerpiece
dust bunny . autumns calling . wine bottle
dust bunny . autumns calling . wood table with tablecloth
•
dust bunny . harvest feast
dust bunny . harvest feast . cranberry sauce .fullset exclusive
dust bunny . harvest feast . dinner rolls
dust bunny . harvest feast . filling
dust bunny . harvest feast . gravy boat
dust bunny . harvest feast . green beans
dust bunny . harvest feast . mashed potatoes
dust bunny . harvest feast . plate of food
dust bunny . harvest feast . pumpkin pie
dust bunny . harvest feast . pumpkin slice
dust bunny . harvest feast . sweet potato casserole
dust bunny . harvest feast . turkey . fullset exclusive
•
hive // gather round
hive // adirondack bench
hive // worn dining chair
•
hive // large palm plant . dark
