Adobe Photoshop Actions are a great feature of the app, allowing you to create a process or workflow, record how it worked, and then easily repeat the process again for other photographs or design elements.
Today we’ve collected some of the best Photoshop actions out there, for photographers and graphic designers alike.
They cost just a few dollars but give you an incredibly powerful toolkit to easily repeat complex and intricate processes.
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What Are Photoshop Actions?
Actions is a useful tool in Photoshop that allows you to record the actions you make when designing and create presets of those actions for later use.
For example, you can record your actions when you adjust the saturation of a photo, increase brightness, and add a custom adjustment layer to create a custom Photoshop action. Then you can apply that action to other photos to make those same adjustments you’ve made to your previous photo, with just a single click.
What makes Photoshop actions even more powerful is that it even supports third-party presets. This means you can download Photoshop actions made by other professional designers and use them to improve and enhance your own photos.
We’ve also written a quick guide on how to use and install a Photoshop action after you’ve found the right one!
Best Photoshop Actions of 2020
Top Pick
Whether you’re a professional graphic designer or an amateur photographer, this Photoshop action is a must-have tool in your collection. It allows you to instantly improve and retouch your photos to achieve the perfect look.
This bundle includes 34 different Photoshop actions fully optimized for all types of skins with various airbrushing and smoothening techniques.
Why This Is A Top Pick
Retouching and enhancing the skin is one of the most time-consuming tasks of editing portrait photos. This amazing Photoshop action allows you to automate most of that process to help you save a lot of time.
You’ll come across many different Photoshop actions for transforming a photo into a painting. But none will be as amazing as this one. This action features a realistic painting effect that makes your portrait photos look like real paintings. It works best with high-resolution images.
The lens blur effect is a bit difficult effect to recreate in Photoshop. It could take a while to create the effect to look natural. With this Photoshop action, you’ll be able to create the effect with just one click. It will give an HDR look to your photos as well.
The cyberpunk trend is all the craze in the design world these days. This Photoshop action uses the same trend in a creative way. It allows you to add a colorful neon filter effect to your portrait and landscape photos. Your social media photos will never look the same after using this action.
Aquarelle is an advanced Photoshop action that lets you add a realistic watercolor painting effect to your photos. While this action works with any type of photos and images, it’s most suitable for landscape and nature photography.
Give a realistic retro engraved look to your photos using this Photoshop action. It’s easy to use and the effect comes in multiple variations. The best part is it’s free to download and use.
If you’re a fan of modern art, you’ll surely be a fan of this Photoshop action as well. It allows you to transform your images into modern works of art by adding various design elements. It also includes more than 40 color presets.
This Photoshop action allows you to give a stylish studio-like effect to your ordinary photos. The effect can be applied to any image or portrait photo with just a few simple steps. And it works great with photos that have dark backgrounds.
Create a unique abstract art look for your portrait photos and images using this Photoshop action. The action uses the Photoshop oil paint filter to create a unique painting effect of its own. It works with Photoshop CS6 and higher.
You’ll never have to worry about creating an authentic monochrome effect when you have this Photoshop action in your collection. It includes multiple variations of black and white effects for quickly transforming your photos.
You can add a dark and gritty look and feel to your photos using this free Photoshop action. The effect of this action can also be easily customized to match your photo.
The dual lighting effect is commonly used to make portrait photos and objects look more attractive and colorful. This Photoshop action allows you to instantly apply the same effect to your own photos. The effect is available in 3 variations and it’s easily customizable to your preference.
You can use this Photoshop action to give a futuristic cyberpunk look to your cityscape and landscape photos. The bundle includes 8 different styles of cyberpunk effects inspired by different themes. The effects are editable as well.
This modern Photoshop action adds a stylish effect filled with colorful lines and objects. It’s perfect for creating backgrounds and even for product promotions. The action comes bundled with brushes and patterns for creating the effect.
Want to give a vector-like look to your creative and product photos? Then use this amazing Photoshop action. It instantly transforms your ordinary photos into an image that looks like vector clipart. It’s perfect for product promotions and creative design projects.
This is a free Photoshop action that allows you to create a powder explosion effect. This effect is commonly used in posters and background designs. You download and use the action for free as long as you add an attribution.
This Photoshop action is perfect for poster design projects. It allows you to add a futuristic and colorful look to your posters. The action generates the effect using lots of shapes, patterns, and brushes. And it comes with a video tutorial as well.
A premium Photoshop action that allows you to give a painting-like look and feel to your portrait photos. The specialty of this effect is its quality. The action creates an authentic effect that makes your photos look like a real painting.
Struggling to create a bokeh effect in Photoshop? This Bokeh kit will help you create the effect without an effort. This is a complete kit you can use to create your own bokeh designs in Photoshop. It also includes a Photoshop action if you rather have it automatically generated.
A unique Photoshop action for creating a black and white effect. This action creates an effect similar to the black and white look of vintage and classic photography. You can easily customize it to your preference as well.
This free Photoshop action transforms your photos into a watercolor painting. It’s perfect for portrait photos as well as object and product photography. The action is free to download and use with your personal projects.
Want to make your photos look cartoonish? This Photoshop action will help you do that in just a few clicks. The action generates an oil paint-like cartoon effect to make your photos look more creative. Works with Photoshop CS3 and higher.
This is a unique Photoshop action that allows you to give a realistic snow lettering effect to your text. It also includes 2 other effects for making your text look like they were drawn on ice surface and red salt.
This Photoshop action is perfect for photographers and graphic designers. Especially for making wedding photo albums, slideshows, and presentations. The action is easily customizable and works with Photoshop CS3 and higher.
With this Photoshop action, you can make your photos look like old vintage paintings. It includes a bundle of additional content such as brushes and patterns to help you create a realistic effect as well.
Just as the name describes, this free Photoshop action allows you to instantly enhance the colors of your photos with just one click. The effect is free to use and customizable as well.
This premium Photoshop action will turn any outdoor landscape photo into a beautiful work of art. The action creates a beautiful pink bloom effect that improves your photos. It’s ideal for improving wedding, newborn, and fashion photography as well.
This is a creative Photoshop action that generates a unique hologram-like effect for portrait photos. The action is quite easy to use and comes in 6 different color variations. It’s great for making posters, covers, and unique background effects as well.
A unique Photoshop visual effects action that will completely transform your portrait photos. This effect creates a stylish ribbon-like visual effect that gives an eerie look to your photos. It will come in handy when designing movie posters, banners, or even unique branding designs.
With more than 50 different gradient duotone effects to choose from, this bundle of Photoshop actions will give you enough options for creating modern and creative gradient effects, backgrounds, and more.
Add a cool speeding effect to your static images using this creative Photoshop action. It’s perfect for making even the most boring photos come alive. The action features the speeding effect in 4 directions.
This unique Photoshop action allows you to apply a creative effect to your text, shapes, and graphics to give them a stylish rubber-like look and feel. It includes multiple actions featuring various stitch effects and rubber effects.
If you want to add a stylish matte effect to your fashion and lifestyle photos to make them look like photos in a magazine, this free Photoshop action will come is perfect for you. It works with Photoshop CS3 and higher.
Adding duotone effects to photos can make them look more creative and unique. This free Photoshop action allows you to add creative duotone effects to your photos without an effort.
Using the depth of field effect to create a miniature look is a popular technique used by landscape photographers. This Photoshop action allows you to create that same effect with just a few clicks.
Create a unique and artistic double color exposure effect with this creative Photoshop action. It includes 7 different color combinations and it works with graphics, text, and photos as well.
Turn your ordinary photos into oil paintings with this Photoshop action. It works best with portrait photos. You can use this action with Photoshop CS 3 and higher.
With this creative Photoshop action, you can instantly give a retro 80’s look to your graphic designs. The action is easily customizable and comes with supporting brushes and textures as well.
Optimize your portrait and outdoor photos with just a few clicks using this bundle of skin retouching Photoshop actions kit. This kit includes all the effects and optimizations you’ll need to properly enhance your photos using actions.
Orange and Teal is a creative Photoshop action that allows you to add a beautiful filter to your landscape and nature photos. It works with Photoshop CS3 and higher.
Using this free Photoshop action you can add a soft and light effect to your outdoor portrait photos to make them look more professional and attractive. The action works with Photoshop CS3 and higher.
This Photoshop action allows you to create an authentic watercolor effect that will make your photos look like watercolor paintings. The effect is easily customizable with adjustment layers and the action works with Photoshop CS4 and higher.
The glitch effect is most commonly used in movie posters and book covers. This Photoshop action lets you create that same effect using your own photos almost instantly. It comes with 14 different effects.
This unique Photoshop action will instantly turn your photographs into scalable vector art and illustrations. The PS action literally turns your images into vector graphics that you can scale and use with various print designs. It comes with 15 different variations of the action along with 10 backgrounds and 10 color presets.
If you’re a fan of oil paintings, this Photoshop action will come in handy. It allows you to give your portrait and landscape photos an authentic oil painting look and feel. The action features 10 different effects inspired by comics and oil painting styles. You can apply the action with just one-click and customize it to your preference.
Give your movie posters, event flyers, and portrait photos a groovy retro effect using this Photoshop action and it will give a classic 80s themed look to your designs. The final effect is fully-layered as well, which means you’ll be able to edit the effect however you like. It’s compatible with Photoshop CS3 and above.
This is a bundle of free Photoshop actions that include various effects and adjustments for enhancing all kinds of photos, including newborn photos, wedding photos, nature photos, and more.
This free Photoshop action allows you to enhance your portrait photos, especially ones taken indoors. It also comes with a Lightroom version of the effect as well.
Pixelated graphics are quite popular in video game and movie-themed designs. This Photoshop action will help you achieve that same old-school 8-bit pixelated look with just one-click. The action comes with 25 different pixel design effects and works on any type of image or graphic. You can also edit the effect to adjust its intensity as well.
Double exposure effect is a popular design trend in poster designs, especially related to movies and games. This simple Photoshop action will allow you to achieve a perfect double exposure effect with a few clicks. The action works with Photoshop CS2 or better.
This is a highly customizable and unique Photoshop action that gives a stylish effect to your various types of graphic designs. It allows you to customize the effects using 6 object styles, 4 trace directions, 8 lightning angles, and several color presets.
Give your portraits and photos a watercolor look with this easy-to-use Photoshop action. With just a single click, this action will turn your photos into real artworks. The PS action is available in 20 colors presets and includes related brushes and patterns as well.
Become a master of the duotone effect with this Photoshop actions kit. This bundle comes with 66 different duotone effects that allow you to easily apply the popular effect to your portraits, landscapes, posters, and other designs with just a few clicks.
The sketch and hand-drawn effect is not an easy effect to master. But, you don’t have to when you have this Photoshop action. It comes with brushes, patterns, and color presets for instantly giving a natural hand-drawn look to your photos.
This is a collection of high-quality Photoshop actions that features a series of cinematic effects. You can use these actions to enhance color, adjust contrast, and do much more to give a dramatic look for your designs. The pack includes 18 different actions.
This is a very popular effect these days. The dusty effect is commonly used for many types of marketing and designs. You may have seen it in the official character posters for Thor Ragnarok as well. This quick and easy to use Photoshop action lets you achieve that same effect instantly with a few clicks.
The cloud effect is also a great option you can use to give an urban hipster look to your portraits and graphic designs. This Photoshop action is compatible with Photoshop CS6 and you can apply the effect to your design with just one-click.
Achieving the perfect black and white balance for B&W photography is no easy task. Only the professionals can get it just right. This is a collection of 31 B&W Photoshop actions you can use to get that perfect Black and White effect in your images.
If you’re working on a Christmas or a New Year’s related design, this Photoshop action will help you add that special holiday-themed look to your designs with just a few clicks. This action works with Photoshop CS4 and above.
Retouching portrait photos can be a time-consuming task. If you work with a lot of portrait photos, this collection of 10 Photoshop actions will come in handy. These actions let you enhance your portrait photos in an instant.
It’s like Bruce Lee once said, “be as water my friend”. This cool Photoshop action lets you add a realistic water effect to your portraits and photographs. It comes with 3 different actions with different water splash graphics. You can also customize them to your preference.
This is an effect you mostly see in video game and movie related promotions. This Photoshop action makes that effect look even better. The action uses lots of particles with different sizes to achieve a realistic broken glass effect.
Turn your graphics and backgrounds into low poly art with this Photoshop action. You can use this action to create your own unique low poly backgrounds or even create artistic portraits. The effect is completely customizable.
Give an old-school retro look to your photos using these Photoshop actions. This pack comes with 10 Photoshop actions featuring different styles of analog and retro effects.
We’ll start the list with an all-in-one bundle that comes with 520 Photoshop actions for adding effects and automating all kinds of enhancements in Photoshop. It includes several types of actions, including effects for wedding photos, HDR, matte, vintage, and much more.
The double exposure action is a great tool for a photographer or designer. Create the wonderful effect of double exposure in a few seconds. After the action finishes work, you can add a color tone, or gradient to your composition.
This pack includes 4 Photoshop actions for adjusting and toning different conditions in portrait photos like cold moody toning, rich and warm toning, and faded matte toning.
Using this bundle of Photoshop actions, you’ll be able to easily retouch many types of portrait photos to airbrush skin, correct skin issues, adjust highlight & contour, and do much more.
The stylish toning actions in this pack are crafted to improve and enhance your landscape photos. But, they can also be used with portrait photos as well. There are 5 different Photoshop actions in this pack.
A simple yet an effective Photoshop action that uses duotone and gradient overlay effects to give your photos a unique look. The bundle includes 22 actions.
An incredibly useful bundle of Photoshop actions for photographers who works with jewelry and product photography. The 40+ Photoshop actions in this bundle will allow you to enhance your product photos by removing color cast, enhance colors, add more sparkle to jewelry photos, and more.
The 3 different Photoshop actions in this pack adds a dreamy fantasy-like effect to your portrait photos. It includes a soft morning haze effect, a warm evening sun effect, and a dusk/twilight haze effect.
This bundle includes several different types of Photoshop actions, such as light leaks, textures, grain methods, sharpening, and more. It comes with a total of 28 actions.
This fun Photoshop action makes your typed text look like it’s been drawn into sand. It includes 3 versions of the action to be used with Medium, Bold and Thin font weights.
Another artistic Photoshop action that makes your photos look like watercolor paintings. The action is fully customizable and comes with 5 different color options.
The double exposure effect is quite popular among Photoshop designers, however most beginners still can’t get this effect right. This easy to use action will make that process much smoother.
Travel and food bloggers and photographers will definitely love this Photoshop action bundle as it allows you to easily enhance your photos with just one click. The bundle includes 40 actions.
This action adds a subtle film toning effects to your photos to make them look more professional. The pack comes with 25 film toning effects and 10 faded pastel effects.
The hand-drawn effect is not an easy one to achieve, but this Photoshop action will let anyone turn their photos into drawings with just one click.
A natural and a soft toning effect for giving your portrait, fashion, and fine-art photos a professional touch. It will also work great with outdoor portraits and wedding photos.
Turn everything into gold using this cool Photoshop action. It also comes with actions for silver and black effects as a bonus.
This is an interesting bundle that comes with over 200 Photoshop actions that can be used to create your own effects. It includes a simple 5 steps PDF tutorial that teaches you how to create your own effects as well.
SandStorm Photoshop Action
Dispersion Photoshop Action
This action will break apart pieces of your photo and shoot them into a direction of your choice. Don’t spend lots of time trying to create this effect manually, get it done in seconds with only a few clicks.
You simply brush in the areas that you want to disperse and play the action. You can choose from Up, Down, Left or Right directions to shoot the broken pieces off into. Creating such an advanced effect has never been this simple and fun.
3D Map Generator – Action
Easily create your own 3D maps with only one click. Every shape is possible and delivers a professional result. Ideal for web graphics, infographics or presentations.
Realistic Embroidery – Photoshop Actions
Transform your text or logo in a realistic embroidered/stitched element in few clicks.
ModernArt Photoshop Action
Give your photos a professional new artistic look with this action. Typically an effect similar to this could take you hours, but now it can be done in under 1 minute.
Fury Photoshop Action
Give exquisite fury look to your design with this amazing action. It’ll bring spark to your work like never before. Can be used both for designs and photography.
Dispersion 2 Photoshop Action
Create a beautiful liquid effect action for images and graphic designs.
Retro Vintage Text Effects
This graphic resource gives you a quick & easy way to apply a high-quality retro/vintage/old style to your text. You can use it on simple text, shapes and vector logos. You just need to place them into the smart object.
How to Use + Install Photoshop Actions
Using Photoshop actions is quite easy. First, you need to install the action in Photoshop. Here’s how it’s done.
- Your downloaded Photoshop action will likely arrive in a ZIP file. UnZIP it to extract the contents of this file.
- Locate the ATN This is the Photoshop action file you need to install in the app.
- Open the Photoshop app and navigate to the Actions If the actions window is not visible in your user interface, you can enable it from the Windows menu in Photoshop.
- On the Actions window, you’ll see an icon at the top-right corner. Click on this icon and select Load Actions from the menu.
- Then navigate to the folder where your downloaded ATN file is located and open it.
Now you’ll find the new action in your Photoshop Actions window.
To use the action, all you have to do is open an image in Photoshop, select the action you want to apply from the Actions list, and click on the Play button at the bottom of the Actions window. Then the action will automatically run its entire process to apply the effects to your photo. It’s that simple!
Photoshop Actions
Photoshop Actions are the perfect timesaver to save you doing the same processing on multiple images. Using other people’s actions can help you tap into creative techniques, cutting edge post-processing styles, and beautiful effects. In this series, you’ll learn how to use Photoshop Actions and find professional examples to use in your own design work.
