Description of actions?

[Ronisdragon]

Hi. I saw a few threads here about people's favorite actions. Not to sound silly but I'm having trouble understanding what an action is. I know it changes the way your photos look but I don't understand how. I tried to watch a tutorial but it seemed like the person in the video was just raising and lowering multiple things. If you have to change many levels after using the action why not skip the action and just change the various levels to begin with? After you get an action what do you do to use it. How does the action make the changes to your photo? I'm sure I'm missing something because I've seen some gorgeous after photos where the action just makes the photo beautiful. Can any actions be used with any program? If I use PSE 9 can I only use PSE actions? Thanks so much for all of your patience with my newbie questions! Have a great day, Roni

 

[eryn]

An action is basically just a series of commands that have been automated. So somebody has taken the time to do all the steps to make a photo look vintage for instance, and have recorded them, saved and so now somebody else can do the same thing with just one click.

The action you buy will specify what program it works for, so make sure you check. There are also some freebies around that you can try first, and most places that sell actions will have instructions on installing them and using them.

As for the video you watched, some actions are adjustable. So at certain points you have the option of tweaking it how you like it. But most are just one click.

 

[eryn]

Gina Miller has 2 freebies in the store that you can try

https://the-lilypad.com/store/product.php?productid=3153&cat=0&page=1
https://the-lilypad.com/store/product.php?productid=3123&cat=0&page=1

 

[Ronisdragon]

Thanks so much. I wish I could use these but I use Elements. I'll have to find some other freebies to try. Do you install all actions the same way or do they differ?

Gina Miller has 2 freebies in the store that you can try

https://the-lilypad.com/store/product.php?productid=3153&cat=0&page=1
https://the-lilypad.com/store/product.php?productid=3123&cat=0&page=1

 

[eryn]

I'm not sure for PSE, but all actions for PS are installed the same so I'm guessing yes. Sorry you can't use those ones, I didn't think to check.