I’m not a pro, but I know what I like and what’s important when I download and try out a free or exclusive action. A few tips below!

1. A nice overall appearance
The first impression of a collection is important, because this is where people decide to download it or not. Keep it simple and organized. I prefer a lot of ‘before and after’ examples. Make it your actions! If you want people to recognize your actions you could make distinctive looking layouts or at least make one recognizable point. For example your copyright.

2. A good description / what do I really download?
It’s good to add in the description: the names of the actions, file size, which version it’s compatible with, your terms of use and maybe some more information about the actions. Also keep this simple and organized…

3. Quality before and after
I think this is very important to users. This is what it’s all about eventually! After I applied an action I prefer to keep the same quality, however this is not possible with most of the actions. Especially when it’s applied on a big size image, it’s more visible. It always decreases a little bit with every step that has been made. Test it out on more than one picture and see if it’s acceptable for you…

4. Make sure your action is compatible with more Photoshop versions
Not everyone has the newest CS6 for example, try to make it compatible with different versions of Photoshop. The more feedback you could expect. And if people upgrade their Photoshop they can still use your actions! Even though you have CS2, ask people to try it out on their versions.

5. Easy to adjust for the users
Actions can look great on the previews, because everyone will try to find images that fit perfectly with their collection. This can be different on other images though. Of course… you can add it in your description ‘good for portraits and flowers’. But not every flower image has the same lighting for example. My advice for this is make your action easy to adjust so people can remove some layers and style the action to their kind of image(s).

Hope this was a little bit useful! Thanks for reading.

First I explain what the icons mean.
Window > actions (ALT+F9)

Start to create a new set This icon will add one folder in the photoshop actions window. Give it a name. My folder is called ‘Lieveheersbeestje vintage V7′, like you see in the example below. After this you can click on ‘create new action’.
After you created a new set, create new action(s) And give it a name. (Brown fusion, Golden memory .. in example)
Begin recording Select your action name, click on ‘begin recording’ to make photoshop record your adjustments.

Stop playing/recording
Delete
Play selection photoshop applies your recorded commands when you press play.
Load actions/save actions… and more options, you need to save the action if you want to make it downloadable. (press Save Actions…)

Read full post…

First you need to find an action you want to download. You could take a look at DeviantART. There are lot of (free) actions to choose from! Select ‘popular all time’ at the left or type ‘photoshop actions’ in the search bar.

If you found an action you want to use, click on it. Click on ‘download file’ at the right and save it to your desktop or to a specific download folder.

Read full post…

Who is booboo? I love to take pictures of her! She’s the perfect model, coöperative, versatile and very relaxed! Booboo is a 1,5 year old blond guinea pig. There’s no special meaning behind the name, it’s just cute! She’s not that social to other guinea pigs though, I would say a spirited lady. She also doesn’t walk, stays if you put her somewhere till you pick her up again. Quite spoiled and often not interested in things. I think all these things give her a strong and unique character! In my Booboo portfolio you can see more of her and her friends!
 
Name: Booboo
Kind: White Crested Guinea Pig (I’m not sure though)
Gender: Female
Age: 1+
Weight: 980 grams
Favorite food: chicory and carrots
Hobbies: Eating, lying in her cage and posing in front of the camera.