I just started exploring Photoshop actions. For those of you who have never tried them out they are basically an editing shortcut and a way to save time. You press “play” and the action runs your photo through a pre-made list of Photoshop steps. It is pretty neat, I don’t edit photos in bulk often so I don’t use them all the time. They would be invaluable to someone who edits in bulk frequently. You can create your own actions and save them, you can buy them, or you can find some free actions offered online. This particular set of actions I am using is free from Afterglow.

Once you have downloaded the actions you want to use- open up the Actions panel in Photoshop. Go to Window and select Actions from the drop down list. I like to change my actions to button mode by selecting the drop down arrow on the right hand side (as shown below) . Now you can apply your actions with just a click of a button! Let’s try it out!

There are a lot of options with Actions and they are a good way to add some style into your photos quickly. If you like a particular look for all your photos this is a really simply way to edit them to all have the same consistent look. I feel like I am just scratching the surface on this deep rabbit hole that is Photoshop Actions. You can even stack Actions on top of each other to get different effects.What do you think of Photoshop Actions? If you already use them I’d love to hear about some of your favorite sources.