Due to the obvious interest in turning photos into paintings, drawings, etc., I've given the topic its own forum. Feel free to start threads here for your own photo-art area of interest.

In addition to moderating the Photo-based Art forum here at RetouchPRO, I formerly administered the best collections of (mostly) photo-art actions available on the net. They were crafted by number of talented folks who frequented the Retouching Forum at www.DPReview.com, plus a few members from RetouchPRO.

Scroll to the bottom of this post for download information. Versions 7 and 6 are available.

~DannyR~

Collection replaced to correct an error in content. Count=Count+230 [11/17/02]

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NEW to PHOTOSHOP ACTIONS?

Not sure how to install them?

Click HERE (http://www.retouchpro.com/tutorials/actions/index.html) to be routed to an actions tutorial written by RetouchPRO member David Kendal.

For an exceptionally comprehensive PS actions tutorial, may I suggest checking out the one posted at www.AtnCentral.com. It's truly The Mother of all Photoshop Action Tutorials. :)

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
DPReview collection AUGUST 2003 - VERSION 7 AVAILABLE HERE

Version 7 (an additional 152 actions) is now available at http://www.geocities.com/kafuensis/

DPReview collection OCTOBER 2002 - VERSION 6 AVAILABLE AS AN ATTACHMENT (below)

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More actions (for the most part not arty), brushes, textures, etc. available here at RetouchPRO:

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/software/2767-actions-brushes-swatches-styles-textures-etc.html

Check out this tread (http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=3736834). In it you'll see a very impressive technique (and result) by Howie Mudge.

Inspired by Howie's work, Paul Stuckless wrote an action for this method. I took Paul's action and tweaked it a bit. It can be downloaded below.

Thanks to Howie for sharing his method and to Paul for his action development initiative.

~DannyR~

- - - - - - - - - -

3/14/03

Ver 2.2 posted to fix filename problems. djr
469 downloads to this point.

Here's an example using the base image from Mini-challenge #9 (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3574), "Last Chance."

The degree of graininess within the image and how much "non-colored border" is controlled by user applied brushstrokes once the action completes.

Here's my collection of 7 different actions in one set that turns your images into a cartoon.

Have fun!

Dennis D

- - - - - -
Trying to fix the attachment - DannyR

I am so excited with a new action I discovered tonight... I just had to share it with you all.

I can't wait to see what you think.

Lisa

Here is an example... I simply loaded the action and this is the results with no tweaking. I have also fooled around with using the art history brush set to low opacity to add more details back in.

Lisa

Here's the original for comparison.

Lisa

This is an action inspired by David Rowley.

It is based on his Hayes Island Cafe tutorial:

http://www.davrodigital.co.uk/tutorials/haye-island-cafe/hayes-island-cafe.htm

The action can be downloaded here:
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=39210#post39210

DISCLAIMER: Works pretty good on "non-people" images. Not at all good on human subjects. Keep image resolution in the 75-150 ppi ballpark for rendering; increase resolution as needed if you decide to print.

Have fun!

~DannyR~

I've been working on a new watercolor-ish photo art technique, (the one I used in mini challenge #64 - Jake and Joey (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=39556#post39275)) and with Danny's tips and help (big thanks Danny!!) I made an action out of it.
works quite well on most photos of animals/landscapes, but it would take tweaking to make it work on any people photos.
*note: this action will only work in PS 7, as it uses features like the Anisotropic diffuse etc.
You can view a post about this effect and how to tweak it here (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4706)

- David :)

Attachment replaced. The apostrophe in the original filename caused problems. ~DannyR~

I made a few actions from some tutorials of David Rowley...they are located at

http://www.davrodigital.co.uk/tutorials/haye-island-cafe/hayes-island-cafe.htm

and

:http://www.davrodigital.co.uk/tutorials/cardiff-bay/cardiffbay.htm

I have also included some Red-eye reduction actions. The first is an original, and the other two are from tutorials I have found searching on the web. I have also modified the one to work on Green/Blue-eye that you get from some animal shots.

It also includes a couple other actions that are kind of in process....one builds a basic background matte around the picture...and the other adds a signature line....also a couple frame actions.

I'm just learning the technique, but I hope you'll find them useful

Bud Guinn

I have written an action set that contains many frames...single, double, matte...etc. It includes some Rosewood and Oak frames...in both landscape and portrait mode. It includes some frames with backgrounds. It includes some backgrounds that the completed frame..whichever one you choose can be added to.

I have made these frames so that after they have been completed you can still go back and adjust or tweak the color of the frame and the matte. You can also, in most cases, still adjust the bevel, drop shadow, contour...etc....after the action has run.

The purpose of the big backgrounds is to allow your masterpiece to display at it's normal size (700dpi approx.), but fill the entire monitor with a "wall" or background.

These should be installed in the photoshop actions folder....this path is something like this..(from my computer)
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop 7.0\Presets\Photoshop Actions

I have made a few examples of what is available...at this address:
http://www.pbase.com/budguinn/frames_examples

Included in the actions zip. is a previous action set that I made that had some paint programs, red/green eye reduction, and a new action that cuts a pic up and places it on a background...but tweaked a bit....just something different.

I hope this is helpful...or if you have suggestions...email me budguinn@charter.net

This very popular action set has been updated to enable users to select resolution (DPI).

Click HERE (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=38960#post38960) to be taken to the post where this action set can be downloaded.

~Danny~

Bill wrote an action to create a Batik effect in the Fall of 2002.

To download click HERE (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=43194#post43194) .

Open the attachment below for a "before and after" glimpse.

~DannyR~

I have put together a collection of Wooden Frames and also a collection of Wood Mattes.......there is also a simple matte and double matte for matteing before framing, or whatever.

You have a multitude of choices.....matte the picture and then frame it.
...or matte the picture and then put it on the wooden matte.
...or just Frame the picture or Matte it with the wooden frames/mattes
...or after using the wood matte you can still wrap a frame around the matte...some of the
complementary colors are pleasing.

The action leaves the picture un-flattened....so you still can go ahead and adjust the bevel, contour, drop shadow....and adding texture works well with some of the woods. Just highlight the grain layer and open the layer styles dialogue...and adjust....or just double click on the effects icon.

Also you can highlight the grain layer and go up to Image...down to adjustments and then to Hue/saturation....this allows you to lighten or darken the wood grain....or change the color.

I have been showing these for about two weeks and have gotten pretty good responses, except for the occasionaly pervert who doesn't like anything framed.

You may see them at the same site where I showed my previous frames..they are the "new wood frames" and the "new wood mattes".
http://www.pbase.com/budguinn/frames_examples

I hope everyone enjoys these.....now I need to learn how to do other stuff in photoshop.:)

This action was inspired by Lisa Neal in a DPReview Post that can be seen by clicking HERE (http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=4495012).

For example output see the attachment in the next post.

This action was written using Photoshop 5.5; it should work in PS 5.x and above.

Note: The action displays a message to make a "rectangular" selection. Fact is you can use any selection tool you like... rectangular, circle/ellipse or even the Lasso tool for a random-edged look.

Thanks, Lisa, for another huge dose of inspiration.

~DannyR~

See attachment for example results.

To all, I have completed a new set of frames and actions. It includes a set of oval frames...both wood and matte....they can be used in the landscape mode or portrait mode.

There are three wood types, and all have the same functionality. I have a complete set of examples available here:

http://www.pbase.com/budguinn/new_actions_frames

The set also includes some Window frames to put your picture in for display. All come in wood but can be easily modified to color...instructions are in the action.

And, there are a few other things:
Signature line
Logo action...makes your logo into a brush
Award Achievement Plaque...to send/email to someone....for grins.
Two sizes of the little brass plaque with rivets.

It includes some of the useful frames from previous sets and both the Hayes Island and the Cardiff Bay paint actions.

and, well....some other little things.:) :)

Bill Richardson, who is a regular contributor at DPReview, crafted this set of "oval" frame and matte actions and graciously offered them to be shared with RetouchPRO members.

There are three actions (PS7 for sure; don't know about PS6) in the group, two of which are a matte / 3D frame set.

Enjoy.

~DannyR~

- - - - - - - - - -
Bill: THANKS very much! Sure appreciate the effort.

New upload ver to fix a bonehead error I made - DannyR (108 downloaded to date)

Sue Chastain, moderator of the about.com graphics forum, recently posted a set of photo-art actions she crafted.

http://graphicssoft.about.com/library/free/blfree_psactions3.htm

HOW GOOD ARE THEY?
On a scale of 1-10, 10=They will blow your doors off, I'd give 'em about a 6.5. Not spectacular (to me), but they use some interesting filter combinations that might inspire budding photo-art action writers.

INTERESTING TECHNIQUE
Take note of the first action in the set: It is called (run by) every other action in the collection. This is an example of "an action running another action" in case you're interested in seeing this rarely used technique.

IMPORTANT
#1 If you download this set and decide to keep it, DO NOT rename it from "Sues_Photo_Effects" to anything else. If you do, all subsequent attempts to run an action from the set will fail. Trust me on this.

#2 Also, note that this set of actions DOES NOT make a copy of the original image before applying the filters. If you don't like a result, WINDOW > HISTORY, scroll to the top and click the thumbnail of Snapshot1. This will restore the original file.

EASY MODIFICATION
What I did: In the common action (the first one in the set that's called by all the others) I recorded a "Duplicate image" step at the top of the action.

~DannyR~

To all, I have completed a new set of frames and actions, these have now been modified for Elements 1 & 2. This set requires the installation of the previous set of actions for Elements...this set can be downloaded here:

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5221

HIDDEN POWERS NOTE: If you have installed Richard Lynchs' set then you probably shouldn't install this into the welcome screen as this will overwrite some of his files. You can install these into the Recipes area and shouldn't have any problems with Richards HP stuff.

If you have only used my previous set, then you should be able to put these in either place with no problems. This set also includes thumbnails of the Frame actions for both places. The ones in the Recipes area are considerably larger.

The set includes a set of oval frames...both wood and matte....they can be used in the landscape mode or portrait mode.

There are three wood types, and all have the same functionality. I have a complete set of examples available here:

http://www.pbase.com/budguinn/new_actions_frames

The set also includes some Window frames to put your picture in for display. All come in wood but can be easily modified to color...instructions are in the action.

And, there are a few other things
Award Achievement Plaque...to send/email to someone....for grins.
The little brass plaque with rivets.

Again a special thanks to Ling Nero for helping with the html stuff and making a set of thumbnails.
Ling also has an add on set of thumbnails for the 26 Paint/sketch actions and the Photo Enhancement actions that are in the original set. You can get these enhancements and install instructions (very nice thumbnails) here:

http://www.geocities.com/rnlnero/PE2stuff.html

I should take this moment, also, to thank Danny Raphael for all of his help on the first set......and all of the many people who had written the actions in the "Mother of All Collections" that many of the actions were taken from. When the author was known I tried to give them the credit for the action....thanks again.

I hope everyone finds these fun and helpful

comments are always welcome

Attached is a set of three actions created by David Vance, each of which generates a sketch effect unlike most you've probably seen before.

Here are a couple of examples from his gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/dazzy/sketches

According to David, "The Sketch action seems to work best on people and images that aren't too complicated.

"The 'Sketch Too' action seems to work better on images that are busy. Also they both were made to work on 300ppi images. Lower resolution images turn out kind of muddy."

Thanks for sharing with us, David!

~DannyR~

Here's an example just in case David's pBase gallery every changes in the future.

Bill is another of those crafty action writers who graciously shared his handiwork to be posted here at RetouchPRO.

This is a two action set: One for a rectangular version and another for an oval version.

WARNING:
To achieve unique results, each action has several embedded STOP commands with instructions the user is expected to carry out. These instructions may be confusing to those new to Photoshop.

Because of the numerous action pause and continue sequences, these will not work in PS Elements since Elements does not have an Actions Palette which is necessary to restart paused actions.

- - - - - -

Bill: Thanks for your generosity. Your skills are to be commended.

~DannyR~

Announcing a new set of actions for Photoshop Elements Users.

This is a set of "edges" that can be put around a photograph and stand alone or then be framed.

This edge collection is from:
Ingve Moss Liknes:
http://www.liknes.no/

He has graciously allowed me to alter his fantastic edge actions to work within Photoshop Elements.

You can see an example of the thumbnails that are included with the package here:

http://www.pbase.com/image/14790709

I had to modify these from the original...any screwups are all mine, any praise goes to Ingve.

These work best with images larger than 500pxl...they will work with smaller sizes but sometimes give odd results...play with it, you can always delete.

Your image will be protected, the action starts by duplicating your original and working off of the duplicate.

Unzip the folder....This package is designed to be used in the Recipes Area of Elements 1 or Elements 2...PC or Mac

You must have installed my previous sets first...they can be gotten here...this will not work without these sets first installed in order, as below, into the Recipes/How to area.

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5221
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=47117#post47117

The original interface was written by Ling Nero and she has supplemental thumbnails and other goodies for the Paint/sketch and the Photo enhancements that are included in the first set you can get these supplemental thumbnails at her site:

http://www.geocities.com/rnlnero/PE2stuff.html

Interesting quirk in Elements....you must click anywhere to close the Recipes menu when running actions, or it may effect the final effect...start the action and after the stop messages..just click the upper menu.

Download the set here:

David implements a novel twist in this action to achieve a creative interpretation of a "sketch effect."

Thanks, Dave, for sharing another of your terrific creations.

~Danny~

Hi, I have been redirected here by Danny Raphael because I posted a photo processed using an action I developed based on a tutorial by Gregory Georges, on Photo-Art 101, http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5373
and Danny suggested I share it here.

It includes a texture which I got from scanning heavy watercolour paper and then loading it, so I don't know what will happen when the saction comes to it anf you haven't got it - I guess it will stop! I wish I could have uploaded the texture image as well but it's quite big. But if anyone is interested let me know and I'll email it.

I must make it clear that I'm a newbie, so many of you wonderful people will find it quite crude. Any suggestions to improve it will be most welcome.

I hope this has been helpful.

Lawrence

- - - - - -
I modified the action not to look for the custom texture you mention above since no one but you has it. The absense of this texture caused the action as written to display a real nasty message, which would be confusing to a lot of people. - DannyR

----------
Following some very helpful and inspiring suggestions/recommendations from Danny, I have improved the action, making it more easy to adapte to individual tastes. I am herewith replacing it with the latest version.
Any comments will be much appreciated.

Lawrence

This is a collection of Actions Written by Dave Jaseck

Dave has graciously allowed me to make these workable in Photoshop Elements 1 and 2...this revised set of actions will also work in Photoshop.

The originals by Dave worked flawlessly.....if you find they don't work that way now please curse me.

This set includes 20 different actions that Dave has released previously. It contains:

Five different sharpening actions
Six IR/sepia/contrast masking actions
Two of his famous matte actions
Seven of his paint/sketch actions, including the new "no name" action

I hope you will enjoy these.
______________________________

Install stuff:

Unzip the folder....This package is designed to be used in the Recipes Area of Elements
1 or Elements 2.

You must have installed my previous sets first...they can be gotten here...this will not work without those sets installed into the Recipes/How to area.

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5221
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=47117#post47117
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=47589#post47589

The original interface was written by Ling Nero and she has supplemental thumbnails and other goodies for the Paint/sketch and the Photo enhancements that are included in the first set. You can get these supplemental thumbnails at her site:

http://www.geocities.com/rnlnero/PE2stuff.html


If you install all of the packages you will have over 145 actions available in a format that is, quite frankly, nicer than the original Photoshop method....thumbnails and all. And they
don't take up that much room.

Download here:

Hi everybody, I finally got a chance to play around in PS today (ive been very busy lately, tons of work, school, plus upgrading computer) so I messed around a bit and came up with a couple actions:
1. Cracked paint - well it's pretty much self explanatory by the name, it's just a an attempt to create a kind of gooy cracked paint effect.

2. Blocky art - I was playing with the extrude and maximum / minimum filters and this thing just kind of happened...

both of these actions definitely are going to require a fair bit of tweaking (i.e. adjusting transparencies) to look good on various kinds of images, so far I've found the both generally work fairly well on images of flowers, fruit etc. with a fair bit of contrast and lots of color.
enjoy!

- David :)

= = = = = = =
Original attachment replaced because the apostrophe in the filename (DK's_actions.zip) was causing download problems. - DannyR

here's some examples:

Cracked Paint

Blocky Art

Click here. (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5790)

This is a very colorful action.

Thanks Bill!

- - - - -
~Danny~

In this thread you'll find an interesting discussion on black and white, plus a very creative action.

Click here (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5845).

Well done again, Bill.

~Danny~

This action is based a tutorial by CherylH (click here (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=54679#post54679) to see it).

Pictures worth 1000 words...

Example 1:
Before 1: http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=56702
After 2: http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=56703

Example 2:
Before 2: http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=56705
After 2: http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=56706

~DannyR~

AUGUST 2003

Don't have enough actions yet?

Version 7 of the DPReview Retouching Forum Action Collection is now available:

11 authors
11 action sets
152 actions

78 – Photo-art
41 – Edge, Frame or Matte
19 – Utility (general purpose)
8 – Tutorials
6 – Black and White

======================

Click the DOWNLOAD ACTIONS button here: http://www.geocities.com/kafuensis/

~DannyR~

With the October/November NAPP mag came a special Photoshop CS supplement which includes several articles describing the new CS features.

Ted LaCascio wrote one entitled "Combining Filter Effects in Photoshop CS" in which he describes a filter combination that attempts to create an oil-painting look.

The attached action is based on his steps, which I took the liberty to enhance. This is the second version of this action, which was modified 1/04.

Before: http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=61093
After: http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=61157

~Danny~
Downloads: 147

The next three posts were made at the request of member feivel, who created a pretty nifty, action. Pictures worth 1K words.

This post: Before image
Next post: After
3rd post: Download package, including the action and some additional information.

- - - - - - - -

Thanks, feivel, for donating your handiwork so others can benefit from your creativity.

After the action was applied.

This post contains the .zip package.

To get feivel's actions into your Actions Palette.
* Left-click the attachment link
* Click SAVE (and specify location)

When the .zip file download is complete, choose the Open option which will invoke Winzip, Stuffit or equivalent to "unzip" the file -- ass-u-me-ing you have a decompression program installed.

From Photoshop's Actions Palette Menu, chose LOAD ACTIONS... and navigate to the .atn location. Click OK to copy the contents of the .atn file into your Actions Palette.

After playing with the DPreview set of actions I got inspired and tried to make my own. I'm fairly proud of it. Four months ago I hadn't even used photoshop before. It uses parts of lots of other actions and has some touches of my own. It works great on some pictures and just works horrible on others. Try it and let me know how it worked for you. I've only ran it on my 5MP images, I don't know how well it works with other dpi. Here's a link to a gallery of some of my "art" made with the action.



http://www.pbase.com/cbowman/combo_painter_action

here's the Combo Painter action

Replaced .zip file attachment because apostrophe in file name causes problems. - DannyR

Since the original post got zapped (my fault), I'm reposting this action set that includes Bud's version of the popular David Rowley Hayes Island Cafe effect.

~Danny~

If you have the Jasc Virtual Painter plugin (http://www.Jasc.com) one of the actions in this action set might come in handy...

= = = = =

IMPORTANT: As of February 2004, there are two versions of Virtual Painter: 3.0 and 4.0.

You MUST play the action that corresponds to the version of Virtual Painter you have installed. The VP3 action is not compatible with VP4; the VP4 action is not compatible with VP3.

= = = = =

These actions:
* Duplicate the current image and flattens the copy
* Apply each of VPs 12 filters to copies of the Background layer, plus generates two extra layers based on the black strokes (only) rendered by the Collage and Drawing filters

Virtual Painter 3.0 is not "action friendly." When you record an action that includes commands executing a VP 3 filter, the settings applied when the action is played are the ones specified the last time that filter was applied, which may not be the ones that were recorded.

This is not a problem with VP4 actions.

Anyway, have fun with this.

~Danny~

This action is part of the collection that can be downloaded here:
http://www.geocities.com/kafuensis/

It creates a "chrome-like" effect using a Curves adjustment layer. I got the Curves settings from Linda Vich, hence the name.

On some pics it looks pretty neat, but don't try it on people!

Before:
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=63991

Examples after applying the action:
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=64026
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=64030

~Danny~

This is a new action I just wrote. It creates an engraved bronze plaque from your image and custom text.

It can be used for special occasions, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, poems, quotes, awards and acknowledgements.....just anything you could think of to put on a plaque. Just open your image and start with the first action in the set. It will walk you through preparing your text and then creating the plaque with the second action.

I hope you enjoy it.

Sharon

oops.... I forgot to say that the image I used is from the collection of royalty free stock photos at Image After (http://imageafter.com/).

Sharon

This is a new action I just wrote. It creates an engraved bronze plaque from your image and custom text.

It can be used for special occasions, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, poems, quotes, awards and acknowledgements.....just anything you could think of to put on a plaque. Just open your image and start with the first action in the set. It will walk you through preparing your text and then creating the plaque with the second action.

I hope you enjoy it.

Sharon


Sharon, what a delightful action.....really gives a very unique look...thanks so much for sharing.

bud guinn

Hi, newbie here! This is just the kind of thing I want to do, so how do I import that action into photoshop CS?

Welcome to RetouchPRO, GS...

Once you download/unzip the .zip file, the .atn file needs to be "loaded" into the Photoshop Actions palette before it can be used. Here's how to do that:

1. F9 to display the Actions Palette
2. Top/right of palette... click the arrow to show the menu
3. From the menu choose Load Actions...
4. Navigate to the unzipped .atn file(s)
5. Click on the .atn file name, then click OK. This copies the action set file from your hard disk into the Actions palette.

Check out the built-in help topics on actions. In the PS Help dialog, search on "actions" or "automation."

For a very comprehensive tutorial on PS Actions, check out:
http://www.atncentral.com/installing.htm

Hope this gets you moving.
~Danny~

I am not in a position to be using the newer versions of Photoshop. I use 5.5 and wonder if anyone has any actions for frames for that version or any other tips and help would be appreciated. If I am in the wrong forum and no one wishes to help then please let me know. tashabug

I am not in a position to be using the newer versions of Photoshop. I use 5.5 and wonder if anyone has any actions for frames for that version or any other tips and help would be appreciated. If I am in the wrong forum and no one wishes to help then please let me know. tashabug

Welcome, tashabug:

You are definitely in the right place. Unfortunately actions that are compatible with Photoshop 5.0, 5.5 are getting to be very, very difficult to find on the net.

Have you tried the sample frame actions that shipped with Photoshop? Those would be good ones to learn from if you want to start writing your own actions.

Here's a link to some actions that as far as I know are still PS 5.5 compatible:
http://www.liknes.no/photoshop/index.asp

I don't believe there are any "frame" actions among them, but there are numerous "edge" actions that might be of interest.

I hope this gets you moving. Thanks for posting your question.

~Danny~

I was sure I'd uploaded this "somewhere," but darned if I can find it.

So here it is again. I used it (along with Impressionist) to render the attached painting. Photo by Stephanie Gaspard.

~Danny~

I was tinkering today and came up with a quick/easy way to render a 4-up effect that may be of interest.

Click here (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15302) for an example of the result.

Each pane can be modified for color or other effect.

~Danny~

Click HERE (http://retouchpro.com/forums/showpost.php?p=73226&postcount=69)to jump to the thread where the action, crafted by our very own and talented Brazillian resident, Roland, can be downloaded.

I really admire like the approach Roland takes with this action: creating layer filled with various shades of gray and adding layer masks based on color channels. If you dissect his action, you're sure to learn something new.

The attached image was rendered by his action collection. When finished applying Ro's actions, I created a new layer and Alt + Layers > Merge visible.

To the merged layer I applied Photoshop's Rough Pastel's filter, added a little noise and added a Curves adjustment layer so I could tweak the tones a bit.

That's one of the things I like about this sport. You can take a great idea, then add your own custom touches to it.

~Danny~

p.s. And thanks to jaykita for a recent post. I'd completely missed this action when it was originally made available. Too many threads, too little time!

On the right image this action can give you a good start on getting a painted look. If you have the Impressionist plugin, you'll get even better results.

In the attached example:
* Left: Original
* Middle: As rendered by the action
* Right: After duplicating the original background, dragging to the top of the layer stack, setting blend mode to Darken and applying the Impressionist Conte > Faithful style

Have fun!

~Danny~

On the right image this action can give you a good start on getting a painted look. If you have the Impressionist plugin, you'll get even better results.

In the attached example:
* Left: Original
* Middle: As rendered by the action
* Right: After duplicating the original background, dragging to the top of the layer stack, setting blend mode to Darken and applying the Impressionist Conte > Faithful style

Have fun!

~Danny~

Ooooh Danny! You've surpassed yourself on this one. I simply LOVE it! Thank you so much for your generosity.

Thanks to member Goldcoin, I was checking out this site:

http://www.lths.org/brady_files/computer_art.html#projects

...and started to tinker with the "Pixel Face" tutorial:

http://www.lths.org/brady_files/digitalpixelface.htm

I hadn't used the "wave" filter much in the past and I discovered the "square wave" setting rendered some interesting results.

So I started puttering around with an action and came up with one that (to me) has lots of artsy possibilities. In addition to Photoshop's Wave and Mosaic filters, it also uses the Tiles filter.

The attached examples were all "experiments" with the various filter settings and blend modes.

Seems to work fairly well (if you can call it that) on portraits, not so good on scenery-type pics. I preferred the BW results, but color is still possible by clicking off the Channel Mixer adjustment layer.

Have fun.

~Danny~

Click HERE (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showpost.php?p=73226&postcount=69) to be taken to the thread where you can download ByRo's sketch action.

Example results:
* http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=14220
* http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=14221

http://www.chainstyle.com/freebies.html

Freebies for photoshop scripts etc...

Source: Adobe Studio Exchange

Based on the effect created here by photobobbie:
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10029

See examples here, too:
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=84566#post84566

Here's an example using the base image from Mini-challenge #9 (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3574), "Last Chance."

The degree of graininess within the image and how much "non-colored border" is controlled by user applied brushstrokes once the action completes.


I have just recently joined this great forum. I'd like to show you what I have done with the "Last Chance" image and instructions that I followed---and then deviated from. Wish I would, wish I could say that I remember all of them. However without the basic instructions I never would have gotten the fional result, which pleases me no end. I only hope that the image that I finished and attach here shows up.

Thanks Danny,
gholmes1936@gmail.com
Austin, Texas

I have just recently joined this great forum. I'd like to show you what I have done with the "Last Chance" image and instructions that I followed---and then deviated from. Wish I would, wish I could say that I remember all of them. However without the basic instructions I never would have gotten the fional result, which pleases me no end. I only hope that the image that I finished and attach here shows up.

Thanks Danny,
gholmes1936@gmail.com
Austin, Texas
George:

Your pic uploaded just fine and I can see why you were pleased with it. Congrats on your results and for having posted your first image at RetouchPRO. I hope there will be many more.

~Danny~

That's a beautiful effect, Danny! Thanks for sharing :)

I'm a newbie so if you've seen this action before please excuse the ring. It's called the "Lomo" because it simulates the colorfully intense and retro coolness of the Russian Lomo camera. I've produced some fantastic pix with it and in combination with other actions. Hope this is interesting to you because I've had a blast with it, but then I think fireflies are interesting so good luck. Whoever came up with this one also did us a great service, because it's abso-freaking-cool. :)

Some of these are really cool.

http://www.chainstyle.com/freebies.html

~Danny~

Mike: THANKS for the inspiration!

- - - - - -

It's been awhile since I was inspired to write an action, but when I saw the results of one written by Mike Warren recently (see this thread (http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1006&thread=14481459) at DPReview), I had to give it a go.

My action, written using PS7 (I don't think it work work with PS6), will take an image of any size and create a 3x3 matrix, with each pane on a separate layer for a lot of creative flexibility.

Check out the attachments for a better idea of what I mean. If someone has CS or CS2, I'd like to know if it works with either.

Have fun...

~Danny~

Danny,

You're Welcome and thanks for taking this to the next level! I wouldn't have had the drive and energy to make complex modifications to the Action (lost enough sleep on this as it was). I haven't tried your Action yet, but I'm sure it is well thought out and will run flawlessly as do all your Actions! Great idea, I can't wait to try it!


Mike



Mike: THANKS for the inspiration!

- - - - - -

It's been awhile since I was inspired to write an action, but when I saw the results of one written by Mike Warren recently (see this thread (http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1006&thread=14481459) at DPReview), I had to give it a go.

My action, written using PS7 (I don't think it work work with PS6), will take an image of any size and create a 3x3 matrix, with each pane on a separate layer for a lot of creative flexibility.

Check out the attachments for a better idea of what I mean. If someone has CS or CS2, I'd like to know if it works with either.

Have fun...

~Danny~

Danny,

I ran your Action and I was right. It was well thought out and ran flawlessly! :happy:

Thanks again!

Mike


[QUOTE=mikew714]Danny,

You're Welcome and thanks for taking this to the next level! I wouldn't have had the drive and energy to make complex modifications to the Action (lost enough sleep on this as it was). I haven't tried your Action yet, but I'm sure it is well thought out and will run flawlessly as do all your Actions! Great idea, I can't wait to try it!

What is the difference between the 7-7a and 7b action set found on this site. I downloaded all of them and would like to know if they are the same.
I also have v6.
thank you

What is the difference between the 7-7a and 7b action set found on this site. I downloaded all of them and would like to know if they are the same.
I also have v6.
thank you7a and b are minor revisions (corrections, mostly) to 7. 7b is the most current.

Mike: THANKS for the inspiration!

- - - - - -

It's been awhile since I was inspired to write an action, but when I saw the results of one written by Mike Warren recently (see this thread (http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1006&thread=14481459) at DPReview), I had to give it a go.

My action, written using PS7 (I don't think it work work with PS6), will take an image of any size and create a 3x3 matrix, with each pane on a separate layer for a lot of creative flexibility.

Check out the attachments for a better idea of what I mean. If someone has CS or CS2, I'd like to know if it works with either.

Have fun...

~Danny~

Hi Danny,
Now i have worked out how to reply to you and send, even put some pics in the gallery....takes a while but i get there eventually!!!

Love this action...do you have a tutorial for it as i like to change the hues and sats to my liking...can do it manually now but would like an action with it already done...if possible!!!

Will try send you an example of what i did to your action...hope you aprove!!!

Kind regards Patricia Kay

Love this action...do you have a tutorial for it as i like to change the hues and sats to my liking...can do it manually now but would like an action with it already done...if possible!!!

Will try send you an example of what i did to your action...hope you approve!!!Glad you like it. It was fun to write.

There is no tutorial; it's pretty much "experiment" and see what you can do.

Some may not realize that one can customize any of the rectangles by opening (double-clicking on) any of the corresponding adjustment layers and changing the settings.

One can also modify the action to apply one's favorite default colors and/or adjustment layer settings.

Does this help or did I not understand your question?

~Danny~

Hello Danny,
Thanks for the reply. i went into all the boxes, took off the frame first and then the middle one,then i just went down the list changing the levels first and then looking into each and tweaking a bit to see what i could do, its fun and i was happy with the result, thanks again for that...soon when i do a good action i will post it to you...so little time so much to with my photos!!!! I am on a learning curve every day and as i have only had photoshop a month theres a way to go...but i have had paintshop pro 9 for about a year so can do more in that program...
Enjoying retouchPro very much..

Kind regards Patricia Kay

Patricia Kay, I'm glad you bumped this thread up. I had missed it, and Mike & Danny are two of my "Action Heroes" :) Can hardly wait to try these!

:dizzy: Hi to all,
Its a really great Action that danny did, Cathrine and so much fun to do...i am sending yet another example from it...hope ya all like!!!

Kind regards Patricia Kay.

I missed your post, Pat. That's really cool, and it glows! :)

Thanks Cat...think its time to post another one.....its a fun action....
sending two, roses in one and Alex and Eden in the other....have many to send as and when.....
Kind regards
patricia kay :wavey:

http://www.panosfx.com/

Check out the Downloads link. Film strip, mosaic, edge effects and many, many more.

Just amazing...

Some free PS brushes, too.

Have fun. :hat:

~Danny~

Thanks for the head's up! :thumbsup:

http://www.mikedubu.com/panos_4_images.jpg

Hi Danny,
Thanks for the link to panosfx, Palms1 also sent me it...the actions look great...have already downloaded a few and will try later...just love new actions and plugins...cheers...
Just want to wish you and all at Retouch...

A very Merry Christmas and a Healthy and Happy New Year!!!!

Kind regards Patricia Kay :wavey:

Ps cool filmstrip mike

lillies for you this time....

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL!!!

Patricia Kay

Here's an action that creates a neat oil painting-like effect. The secret is Photoshop's Craquelure filter with settings of 2,0,0.

It works especially well on images rendered with the Impressionist plugin.

In the attached before/after example the action was played 2 times to double the effect.

IMPORTANT: Bug identified and fixed. Thanks. Mike Warren. for your help.

Have fun!

~Danny~

Thanks, Danny. I'll give it a try. :pleased:

Hello graphic pros:

I am not as experienced with Photoshop as I am Illustrator, but I'm learning:)
I saw this cool action for the "wooden frames" and thought they would look good around our band pics. However, when trying to apply a frame, I get the error message: "could not complete the command because the selected area is empty." Again, I'm just learning this complex program and am lost! Could/would any of you nice people lend your assistance here?!? Thank you for your patience.

-russell

Hello graphic pros:

I am not as experienced with Photoshop as I am Illustrator, but I'm learning:)
I saw this cool action for the "wooden frames" and thought they would look good around our band pics. However, when trying to apply a frame, I get the error message: "could not complete the command because the selected area is empty." Again, I'm just learning this complex program and am lost! Could/would any of you nice people lend your assistance here?!? Thank you for your patience.

-russellHi Russell, and welcome to RetouchPRO...

re: Just getting started with PS
Believe me, we've all been in your shoes. You have many fun days ahead.

A couple things to try...
* If the image you're working on has multiple layers, duplicate the original, flatten the duplicate and apply the action to the flattened duplicate.
* If that doesn't fly, try using the rectangular selection tool and make a selection of the portion of the image you want framed, including ctrl + A (for select all) prior to launching the action.

If neither of these work, click my name above and send me an e-mail (not PM) and I'll help you debug it.

~Danny~

Hi everyone,

especially Danny, long time no see :D
I see you're still the fountain of wisdom for all of us LOL

I'm cleaning up and doing long overdue back-ups on the puter and as I'm sure everyone of you has, I have collected a mass of actions and brushes from different sources. Recently I have found a brushes viewer - you see the picture of the brush - without launching photoshop - and it's much easier to go through. Does anybody know if something like that exists for actions. I have opened some actions with notepad and there is a great amount of text visible. It is very difficult to read and I know about the ctrl-alt-save feature to save an action in text. It helps off course butI still have to load all the actions in PS and save etc. I'm lazy that's it! LOL
It might even be illegal to try this, I don't know?

I'm sure a lot of people would be interested in something like this.
Maybe someone clever can even make it?

thanks a bunch for reading, listening and perhaps even thinking about a solution for this


gina

Hi Gina,
I don't know of a program that does that, but ActionDex (http://www.picstobits.com/adex_intro.php) is another program that makes thumbnails of what a picture would look like after being processed.
You can download a trial version on that site.
Good luck,
Sylvia

Hi Gina...

Sylvia made the same suggestion I would have made. ActionDex is a very useful add-on for managing actions (folders within folders, for example).

Hope all is well with you. Stop in anytime. ;)

~Danny~

Hi girls and guys,

thx for the actiondex suggestion. I have downloaded the trial and I will check it out when I have the time LOL.
Hope everything is well with you all too.
Since I changed from working 50% to 80% I'm more stretched for time than before. A day needs at least 48 hours t do the things I want to do :)

greets to everyone
enjoy

gina

Hi all :classic:

This is my first message here, I used to visit this forum to learn from some worthy posters... and now decided to take the step

I've just made a little action that gives an impressionist paint look and would appreciate any feedback either positive or negative, just to let me know what you think, no plugin is needed, only photoshop

Here it is Impressionist action (http://apranax.free.fr/dpr/Impressionist.atn) or download the .zip attachment below. It contains the .atn file as well.

here is an exemple before/after images (attachments)

Kind Regards to you all :wink:

Welcome officially to RTP. I'm sure you will enjoy the group around here and all of the fun we have with the art posts. Your first post is very impressive. Thank you for sharing.

Janet

Thank you for the action(s). Very well done.

Thank you for the welcome and for the feedback :classic: glad you like it ! I hope some other users will post some image using it here, just curious... :wink:

Very cool Mohammed. :bigthmb:

I am impressed :bigthmb:

Like the action very much, but unable to use it. Don't use Photoshop.

The image is so nice, that I had to try something with it, so here is another interpretation.

Really enjoying the images on your website from Southern France. They bring back a lot of fond memories.

Steve

Thank you Steve for visiting my website

The image you produced is very fine :thumbsup: !
For chillin, the action can't actually compete with software or plugins like gertrudis pro or impressionist plugin, but it give a different look and is completely free... :wink:

Cheers

Like the action very much, but unable to use it. Don't use Photoshop.

The image is so nice, that I had to try something with it, so here is another interpretation.

Really enjoying the images on your website from Southern France. They bring back a lot of fond memories.

Steve

welcome to RP, mohammed.

i also dont use photoshop, but thank you anyways. always nice to have members contributing software. and, it does look good.

you might want to test it out on other pictures. i've made filters and scripts that look great on one image but then not so much on others :)

Thank you Kraellin for this warm welcome

I've tried it with many nature landscapes, seems to work well on most images, however nothing replace human viewer eyes so you certainly have to play with the different layers at the end and try different settings

My job has nothing to do with imaging, I wish sometimes I had more time to spend in my hobbies :wink:

Kind regards

A great action by PamR to create the "copyright" or whatever....

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=23862046

A great action by PamR to create the "copyright" or whatever....

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=23862046 Nice catch, Carole. Definitely a nifty effect and a lot of fun to play with.

For those who have bought PP Vol1, if you contact PP from their site and ask for the details of discount for existing users: the nice people at PP will Email you with details of the discount (25%). They also include a link and password to the updated Vol1 actions.

The updated bundle is renamed - so you don't have to delete your old ones.

In action some - but not all the actions leave the layers displayed after completion. Which means you can switch them off or modify them as you wish.

Hi Mitch
Saw your info about an updated Vol 1 of Pencil Pixels. Went to their site and couldn't find anything about an update to Vol 1 but I did see a vol 2 and some other combinations now available. Is that what you were seeing?

By the way - if someone has purchased the actions they can easily turn off any merging of layers (normally right near completion of the actions steps) - by turning off the check mark next to the step. CAREFUL - there may be merging earlier in the process that shouldn't be turned off - results could be unpredictible.

Anyone experienced in reviewing and understanding the steps within an action shouldn't have any problems.

Regards

Bob Mc

Hi Bob,
The site Is displaying their Volume 2 actions, but also mention a discount for vol1 owners. If you contact them from their site (top right button), requesting details of the discount; they will Email you back with details. The FREE updated vol1 link is included.
Well worth the effort!

Thanks so much for these. They're great! Lynn

Hi all :classic:

This is my first message here, I used to visit this forum to learn from some worthy posters... and now decided to take the step

I've just made a little action that gives an impressionist paint look and would appreciate any feedback either positive or negative, just to let me know what you think, no plugin is needed, only photoshop

Here it is Impressionist action (http://apranax.free.fr/dpr/Impressionist.atn)

here is an exemple before/after images (attachments)

Kind Regards to you all :wink:

Thank you for this action. I used it one the image that you provided and am posting it here. I also had trouble remembering where I saw this the first time so posted a new one of my own using your image. It is at:

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/photo-retouching/22239-found-image-somewhere-you-try.html

Hi all :classic:

This is my first message here, I used to visit this forum to learn from some worthy posters... and now decided to take the step

I've just made a little action that gives an impressionist paint look and would appreciate any feedback either positive or negative, just to let me know what you think, no plugin is needed, only photoshop

here is an exemple before/after images (attachments)

Kind Regards to you all :wink:Mohammed,

I don''t know how I missed your actions. They are quite good. Thank you for sharing them with us.

Action set has two different actions. The second action adds a Deckle Edge without the white border.

You can adjust the color of the background using the Hue/Sat Adjustment Layer and adjust the size and strength of the drop shadow using the layer style. Action will work with images of any size/resolution using Photoshop PS7, CS, CS2 or CS3.

Have fun! :)

Download Action from here (http://www.mikedubu.com/mw_deckle_edge_borders_7_08.zip)



Mike
MikeW-Actions (http://mikedubu.smugmug.com/gallery/2517482_tjVSU)

Nice! Thank you Mike!

Greatest thread.....EVER!!!