These are some actions I made to make my work go a little faster. They are for CS3, I am aware there are a lot of people that may not be able to use these actions and that does not make me happy. I have had a lesson from Rita (Coffee Shop Actions) about making some actions for Elements and older versions of Photoshop, but I have to be honest, I was so confused! As soon as I figure out how to do it, I will.

This one is my favorite. It does a couple things, pops and sharpens :0). It uses curves, selective color, and layer masks to achieve this look. When you run the action you will see that a couple of the layer masks are black (inverted). That is where you would use a soft white brush the same size as the colored part of the eye and in the inverted curves layer mask paint over the eye to pop it (on the inverted curves layer mask). Then you will do the same thing, only over the entire eye, nostrils, and mouth to sharpen (on the inverted "background copy" layer mask).

Download this action here: Color and Clarity action pack



This photo shows the Pop and Sharpen action and the Clean Black and White action. They both do the same thing as described above, just one converts to black and white. Download the black and white action below.



This is the Black and Whites Action pack. With this you get two black and white actions, both do the same thing as the Pop and Sharpen action but it converts the photos to black and white. One action is for a grungier looking conversion and the other is a cleaner, brighter conversion. IMPORTANT ABOUT THIS ACTION PACK: These work best on high key photos, ones with a lot of white space like the ones I show here. If it is used on a black or darker background you will lose a lot of the seperation in the blacks. However this is easily fixed if you know how to use layer masks, you can simply paint over the areas that got too dark and recover the highlights that were lost. A good example is the photo at the very top of my page, in the header. I used my black and white action, but tweaked it a little so I could see the grey of his shirt and keep the background lighter.

Download the Black and Whites Action Pack Here




I hope you enjoy using my actions! If you have any questions for me just email me at marisa@marisahugonnett.com