ACTIONS, Photo-Art Photoshop ACTIONS: The Mother of all Collections

[Doug Nelson]

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.

[DannyRaphael]

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 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.

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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/sof...tures-etc.html

[DannyRaphael]

Check out this tread. 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.

[DannyRaphael]

Here's an example using the base image from Mini-challenge #9, "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.

[dennov]

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

Have fun!

Dennis D

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Trying to fix the attachment - DannyR

[OhThatGirl2001]

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

[OhThatGirl2001]

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

[OhThatGirl2001]

Here's the original for comparison.

Lisa

[DannyRaphael]

This is an action inspired by David Rowley.

It is based on his Hayes Island Cafe tutorial:

http://www.davrodigital.co.uk/tutori...sland-cafe.htm

The action can be downloaded here:
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/sho...9210#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~

[d_kendal]

I've been working on a new watercolor-ish photo art technique, (the one I used in mini challenge #64 - Jake and Joey) 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

- David

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

[budguinn]

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

http://www.davrodigital.co.uk/tutori...sland-cafe.htm

and

:http://www.davrodigital.co.uk/tutori...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

[budguinn]

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

[DannyRaphael]

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

Click HERE to be taken to the post where this action set can be downloaded.

~Danny~

[DannyRaphael]

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

To download click HERE .

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

~DannyR~

[budguinn]

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.

[DannyRaphael]

This action was inspired by Lisa Neal in a DPReview Post that can be seen by clicking HERE.

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~

[DannyRaphael]

See attachment for example results.

[budguinn]

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.

[DannyRaphael]

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~

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Bill: THANKS very much! Sure appreciate the effort.

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

[DannyRaphael]

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

http://graphicssoft.about.com/librar...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~

[budguinn]

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/sho...&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

[DannyRaphael]

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~

[DannyRaphael]

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

[DannyRaphael]

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.

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

~DannyR~

[budguinn]

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/sho...&threadid=5221
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/sho...7117#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:

[DannyRaphael]

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~

[qajfat]

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/sho...&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

[budguinn]

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/sho...&threadid=5221
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/sho...7117#post47117
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/sho...7589#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:

[d_kendal]

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

[d_kendal]

here's some examples:

Cracked Paint