Website Design Tips

Hundreds of useful Adobe Photoshop actions

Most designers will agree that Photoshop actions are extremely useful for creating images and photograph effects quickly and efficiently. Listed below are those I've had in my favorites and thought would be great to share. For those new to Photoshop, a quick run down on what actions are and how to use them can be found on an earlier post: How to make a photo cube with actions.

Of course to use these actions, you also need the graphic software they have been created for: Adobe Photoshop.

1. Polaroid 600 Instant Film
This free Photoshop action turns any photograph into a polaroid instant film (3.5x4.2") as demonstrated below. It is compatible with Adobe Photoshop 7, CS and CS2 (PC/Mac). Webdesigners, graphic artists or scrapbooking enthusiasts will find this action useful.

Other popular actions by the same creator include:

An action for edge vignetting. Here is what this free Photoshop action does in their own words:

Lomo camera effect with vibrant colors and visible edge vignetting.

2. B & Big Pictures
This action makes a collage of 25 photos from one original and works with Photoshop 6 and above.

Other popular actions by the same creator include:

Photoshop Stamp action - turns any photograph into a postage stamp.

Cracked Wall action - popular for grunge action effects.

B&B filmstrip is a set of powerful actions that will turn your images into filmstrips and will give them a 3-D look. The set includes both convex and concave effects. Perfect for photography or holiday website graphics.

3. Vintage Antique Photoshop action - create an antique or vintage design from any photograph.

4. Photo Frame Action - Photoshop action that places a simple black and white frame on your photographs as demonstrated below.

5. Scorching sunset Photoshop action - Free action to help you add fantastic looking sunsets to your photographs.

Other popular actions from the same website include:

Print ready Photoshop action - These free actions are recommended for photograhers and are useful for preparing your images ready for print. Your photographs can be automatically resized, ready for printing in the following formats: 6x4, 7x5, 9x6, 10x8, 12x8, 15x10 and 18x10 inch.

6. Free Photoshop action for rounded borders - create rounded borders for your images and photographs.

7. Large collection of Photoshop actions provided by deviantART.

8. Adobe Exchange offers hundreds of action downloads including: watermarks, holga effects, gold filling, puzzle effects, lightening, comic actions, vectorize and many others.