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Getting Started with Photoshop Plug-ins and Actions

A Guest Post by Rob Dweck.

It’s been said that there are no shortcuts to greatness. I’m inclined to believe that, but I also believe that there are shortcuts you can take when processing your photographs that yield great results. The shortcuts I’m referring to are actions and plug-ins. Both can save time and open up new creative avenues for you to explore.

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The ethereal glow of the sunshine filter in Nik Color Efex Pro brings this image to life

In its most basic form, an action is a sequence of steps that can be played back at the click of a button or stroke of a key. Although they are essentially actions with a less utilitarian interface, plug-ins tend to be far more flexible and are generally separate programs that are launched from within Photoshop. True, anything that can be done with plug-ins and actions, can be done without them, so why pay for a piece of software that can do what can already be done in Photoshop?

The easiest answer to that might be another question: Why do ten, fifty or hundreds of mouse clicks when you can do one? Sensible enough, but the appeal of actions and plug-ins lies beyond mere time savings. As I will demonstrate in upcoming articles, you can bring new life to your images that would only be possible by a Photoshop Zen master.

So yes, part of the appeal of actions and plug-ins is they allow the user to be lazy. Not necessarily Homer Simpson lazy or click one button for an instant masterpiece lazy; more like I have a job, a family and a life and I can’t spend every waking hour devoted to learning every last function in Photoshop.

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The Kodak Ektachrome 100GX preset in Alien Skin Exposure gives extra pop to the color in this HDR image

When I’m processing my photos, very often I have a clear picture of the finished result in my head. In this case it’s simply a matter of choosing the right actions or plug-ins for the job. In other cases, I may or may not have some ideas of where I want to go with a photo. By experimenting with different plug-ins, I often end up with something new and unexpected that I could not have done using Photoshop alone with my current Photoshop skills.

I first began using plug-ins and actions years ago and usually selected the preset that looked best, click OK and was done. While this made for some good images, I soon found out that the real power of plug-ins and actions came in to play when I learned to tweak a few parameters and use the effects selectively and not always globally on an entire photograph.

Despite the infinite number of ways they can enhance your photographs, plug-ins and actions are not miracle workers. They are not the visual equivalent of Auto-Tune that will take your photographic equivalent of William Hung and turn it into Marvin Gaye. There is no “unsuck” plug-in and even if you use an action in an attempt to polish a turd, well…it’s still a turd.

If you’ve been using plug-ins and want to get more from them, you may be able to pick up a tip or two in the coming posts. If you’re just getting your feet wet, here are a few resources to get you started.

Free actions:

Actions Central – http://www.atncentral.com
Adobe Photoshop Exchange – http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/index.cfm?s=5&from=1&o=desc&cat=190&l=-1&event=productHome&exc=16
Action FX – http://www.actionfx.com/pstools-photography.html
Deviant Art – http://browse.deviantart.com/?order=9&q=photoshop+actions

Free plug-ins:

OnOne – http://www.ononesoftware.com/free/ (Free versions of some of their popular plug-ins)
Auto FX – http://www.autofx.com/freeplugins/dreamyphoto.asp?id=4

Nik Software – http://www.niksoftware.com
Onone Software – http://www.ononesoftware.com
Topaz Labs – https://www.topazlabs.com
Alien Skin – Alien Skin
Red Giant – http://www.redgiantsoftware.com
Auto FX – http://www.autofx.com
Lucisart – http://www.lucisart.com

This is just a small list with some of the more popular titles. A quick search will turn up many more products.

Rob Dweck is a San Francisco Bay Area based photographer who specializes in landscape and nature photography. His work can be viewed at robdweck.com.

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