Photoshop actions can save a lot of time especially if you are repeatedly doing the same thing with an image. They are also a great technique for photographers to pass on the best techniques to others in a swift and effective manner. If you are involved with photo editing, you can save a lot of time by stocking up an incredible library of Photoshop actions.
There are many actions available which can be downloaded absolutely free. This post features 50 of the best free Photoshop actions which have been created by various photographers and designers. Experiment with each action and get to know the one which works best for certain kinds of images.
The Need of Free Photoshop Actions
Whether you get a free photoshop action or paid versions, before using them, you should know why we need Actions in Photoshop. The simple way to describe this is if you need to spend 30 seconds extra due to repetitive work then you need to use a Photoshop action to increase your productivity. For example, a blending mode and mask takes 30 sec to complete a normal routine to duplicating a layer and renaming it.
Maintaining a consistent look and feel for the sequence of actions will create a more robust and time-saving environment, so try the following free Photoshop actions to reduce some laborious repetitive works.
1. Efeito Action Dramatic Sepia
This Photoshop action creates a dramatic effect which gives a lot of emphasis on contrast in the midtones. It’s ideal if you want to create a dramatic and warm feel.
2. Polaroid Generator V1
3. Cross-processing ATN
This is a traditional photographic technique which involves deliberate processing of one kind of film in a chemical solution. This results in skewed colors with enhanced saturation and contrast.
4. Vintage Pro
5. Go Boom
Creativity is essential while editing your images and Go Boom promotes this special idea. It leads to a fantastic feel by adding color to some and softening the others.
6. Stick it action
7. Purple Contrast
8. Colors Actions
9. HDR Tools
A technique which designers and photographers love using is to fiddle around with the HDR settings of an image. This changes the overall details of the picture and has four different actions that can be applied at four different levels.
10. set 28
11. Sunlight Actions
12. Faux HDR Action
13. Holgarizer
Toy cameras can be used without too much effort on the final product. With such cameras, you can get aesthetically pleasing images with their typical warm tone and added effects. These action gives the same effect as that of toy cameras.
14. Portrait Action
15. Rainbow Haze
Add rainbow colors to your pictures with this fantastic Photoshop Action.
16. Pretty Lady Actions
17. Light Leak Flow
Light Leak Flow is free for a limited time and it mimics the actions that are caused accidentally while taking images.
18. PS Action 12
19. Bright Eyes
This action gives an intense appearance to blue eyes and is a great effect for extreme closeups.
20. Walden Instagram Effects
21. Teeth Whitening
This is an important element for portraits. Picture lightening in some cases is poor and leads to a yellowish tint on the image. This may pass into the color of someone’s teeth. This action can fix this issue.
22. Unspoken
23. Action 01
24. Old Tones Actions
25. Vintage Action 9
26. Action 3D
This action creates a false 3D anaglyphic image. It separates out color channels within the image and separates them.
27. RedLips Action
28. NoiseLess RetroFit Actions
29. Infrared
30. Black and White Action
31. Peace and Love Action
32. Hard Light Action
33. Soft Colors Action
A washed out look is gaining a lot of popularity in photography. This action washes a bit following which it adds a pretty yellow tint on the top.