Not too long ago, Drea posted some great info here on Photo Bliss about using free actions to automate processes in Photoshop Elements. She mentioned CoffeeShop, whose Creamy Toffee Latte action I used for this belly button shot.
How to Install and Use Actions in Photoshop Elements 8–10 for Mac. By Linda Sattgast. Note: Beginning January 2016 our classes no longer support actions for versions of Photoshop Elements that don’t have an Actions panel (any version older than PSE 11).
Here are some other places to find Photoshop Elements friendly freebies!
Photoshop Elements Actions Free Mac Version
One caveat before you start downloading – confirm that these actions are compatible with your version of Photoshop Elements and with your operating system (Mac, Vista, XP).
- Graficalicus – Not only does Graffi have a great free action sampler pack, he also has good tutorials in his blog, and he posts free stuff there from time to time. The free sampler pack has these actions, among others: Soft Black & White, Old Romance, and Sketch.
- Grant’s Tools – totally free set of 10 actions that gives missing Photoshop functions to Photoshop Elements. Free is good! Some of the actions you get are Layer Masks, Channels and Curves. No one has an excuse not to use Layer Masks now!
- Elements Plus – up to 145 free actions that “reveal the hidden functions in Photoshop Elements” to make it more like Photoshop itself. It has a great black & white conversion, paths and a watermarker.
- virtualPhotographer by optikVerve Labs – I can’t even count how many effects you can get here – all for free! These actions are compatible with Paint Shop Pro too. virtualPhotographer will help you modify color, create soft focus, add film grain and more. Here is the Faded effect from virtual Photographer:
- Panos FX – Lots of fun effects here, like Out of Bounds, Rubik’s Cube, and
- Rainy Day (see below).
Installing Actions in Photoshop Elements
- Photoshop actions are a huge time saver in the photo editing process, especially when you need to apply the same image adjustments to multiple photos. This allows you to apply the same photo effect to multiple images in seconds, shaving hours off the editing time you would usually spend in the editing process within Photoshop.
- Stop repeating the same stages in Adobe Photoshop to receive a certain effect – use these free Photoshop actions instead. These Photoshop Actions are compatible with Photoshop CS 4-6, Photoshop CC. Just download the Photoshop action you like right now or simply bookmark the whole page of free actions for Photoshop for easy access later.
Best Photoshop Actions For Photographers
Some of these actions automatically install themselves. Unfortunately, you have to install the others yourself. The process sounds intimidating, but it’s not! Tutorials for installing actions in Photoshop Elements 4, 5, 6 & 7 on XP and Vista are available on my blog. Happy Photoshopping!