opinions on CS6 ACTIONS?

[dmtx]

If you want to send your money, a better bet is to buy a good set of PS filters, ex. NIK Software or Topaz Labs.

 

[Pukka312]

Well, I don't mean to contradict everyone else here, but when I was first starting in photoshop, I found actions immensely useful. I do regret a few "artistic" purchases, but I still consistently use my clean edit actions...mostly from Pure Photoshop Actions | Premium Photoshop Actions The newer sets are taking an artistic turn, but the earlier sets are nice, clean and subtle. Its basically paying for a shortcut to certain tweaks that I have not perfected. And when I run a batch edit, it saves me time.

I did spend more money than I should have, because now I've narrowed it to about 3 that I use religiously, 15-20 that I play with on a more routine basis and the rest almost never. And if you are a photoshop whiz, then it's obviously less expensive to simply make your own. The only actions I've made are customized "recipes" from my purchased sets.

 

[CA_]

Actions can give you insight into how certain looks are created, yes. However, without knowing exactly why certain steps are taken, I still relegate actions to the scrap pile. BUT, being somewhat of a black sheep of this site, I am a big believer in whatever unlocks your creativity and gives you the tools to create is a good thing, no matter what.

Would I recommend actions to a beginner? No. But if it somehow helps other artists learn, then by all means !

Outside of just exploring PS capabilities, I've never used them.

 

[Pukka312]

Actions can give you insight into how certain looks are created, yes. However, without knowing exactly why certain steps are taken, I still relegate actions to the scrap pile. BUT, being somewhat of a black sheep of this site, I am a big believer in whatever unlocks your creativity and gives you the tools to create is a good thing, no matter what.

Would I recommend actions to a beginner? No. But if it somehow helps other artists learn, then by all means !

Outside of just exploring PS capabilities, I've never used them.

What resource would you recommend to a beginner in photoshop? I think photoshop has a steep learning curve and I remember being disappointed at first glance because I couldn't see beyond the basics (I.e. crop tool, text, paint bucket, etc). I remember utilizing YouTube for most of my education, but I still had to have an idea of what I was trying to do and then translate it into something searchable. I had purchased 1 book, but the techniques it was demonstrating were extreme cases of photo manipulation, when I was more interested in enhancement (obviously I bought the wrong book).

I found actions gave me an idea of the full capabilities of the software, and though I still can't perform many of those enhancements without my actions, I'm grateful I purchased from someone who has a more thorough understanding of the software. I would love to have the time to learn everything myself, but I really never found a solid resource...or perhaps I just couldn't quite grasp the inter-relationships between techniques, that when blended, offer the look I want. But seriously, if you have a good resource, Would love to check it out.

 

[CA_]

Actions can give you insight into how certain looks are created, yes. However, without knowing exactly why certain steps are taken, I still relegate actions to the scrap pile. BUT, being somewhat of a black sheep of this site, I am a big believer in whatever unlocks your creativity and gives you the tools to create is a good thing, no matter what.

Would I recommend actions to a beginner? No. But if it somehow helps other artists learn, then by all means !

Outside of just exploring PS capabilities, I've never used them.

What resource would you recommend to a beginner in photoshop? I think photoshop has a steep learning curve and I remember being disappointed at first glance because I couldn't see beyond the basics (I.e. crop tool, text, paint bucket, etc). I remember utilizing YouTube for most of my education, but I still had to have an idea of what I was trying to do and then translate it into something searchable. I had purchased 1 book, but the techniques it was demonstrating were extreme cases of photo manipulation, when I was more interested in enhancement (obviously I bought the wrong book).

I found actions gave me an idea of the full capabilities of the software, and though I still can't perform many of those enhancements without my actions, I'm grateful I purchased from someone who has a more thorough understanding of the software. I would love to have the time to learn everything myself, but I really never found a solid resource...or perhaps I just couldn't quite grasp the inter-relationships between techniques, that when blended, offer the look I want. But seriously, if you have a good resource, Would love to check it out.

Hmmm... well, I feel bad, because most of my knowledge was gained through trial and error, so I am somewhat at a loss as to direction. However.... I am learning Maya 3D at the moment, and all the of the tutorials I'm finding are from TutsPlus. They have a PS subdivision on the site that may be a good place to start.

Things to learn: Destructive vs Non-destructive editing & Layers v.s. Adjustment Layers, color modes (not AS important, but know the diff between CMYK and RGB), dots-per-inch (dpi), 8bit vs 16bit. That's the tour of the most important things I can think of. Learning basic stuff like that will make most of the tools make sense. It'll give them context.

 

[KmH]

Digital images don't have dots (dpi), they have pixels (ppi).

Photoshop is careful to make the distinction too, and uses ppi for input devices like digital camera photographs, and dpi for output files, like inkjet printer resolution.
You may also want to note that digital input devices use the additive RGB color model, while output devices use the subtractive CMYK color model. Color model - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For electronic display, image resolution is the image pixel dimensions and ppi is meaningless. PPI only has meaning for prints and along with the image pixel dimensions is directly related to image size. Pixels / PPI = Inches
Output device resolution 9dpi) has an effect on image quality, not on image size. A high quality 300 ppi image may be printed on a print device that has 6000 dpi resolution, which means each pixel is rendered using 20 dots.

It takes some number of dots to print a single pixel. The minimum number required is 3. One cyan, 1 magenta, and 1 yellow dot make black, though the 3 in equal parts don't make a deep black. So a lot of printing devices also have black ink/dye. Higher end inkjet printers use as many as 12 tones of ink/dye to make a print.

Not all printing devices use dots. Most prints made by online labs are chromogenic, or C-prints. C-print paper has a light sensitive CMY emulsion on one side of the paper. The image to be printed is projected onto the emulsion side of the paper using red, green, and blue (RGB) lights, usually LEDs. The paper and image is then developed in a chemical solution (RA-4 chemistry).

Inkjet printing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chromogenic color print - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Offset printing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia