Photoshop Actions: Glossary of Offerings by MCP Actions

Yesterday, I provided 10 tips for deciding which actions to buy, download and use on your photos. Today, I will explain to you a little more about each specific MCP Action set.  I get asked about the differences so often.  I thought this breakdown would help. If I write that something works in “Full Photoshop” I am usually referring to CS2 through Photoshop CS5.  Some will work in older versions like CS, but check the website to be sure. If I wrote that a set is compatible with Elements, usually they will work in Elements 5-8, but again, check to be sure.

• Eye Doctor and Dentist: Are you looking to make enhance eyes in Photoshop? Want to whiten yellow teeth? These actions will sharpen, add a sparkle, and make eyes look more dramatic and exciting. And will make teeth whiter and brighter. Best for closeups, and they can be used on people or animal shots. (Available for full Photoshop and Elements)
• Magic Skin: As a photographer, many of your clients will want smoother, creamier skin. These actions help reduce wrinkles and blemishes and help achieve overall better skin tone and complexion. The actions can find skin for you, or you can paint it on just where you want it. Fully adjustable for a wide range of coverage. (Available for full Photoshop only at this time)
• Bag of Tricks: With this set, you will be able to edit like a professional retoucher. You can add or enhance skies, vanish color casts and color issues, fix skin tones, and create crisp, high contrast, intense color images. Make backgrounds high key white or low key black in seconds. Recover overexposed images and add fill light to shadows. Make your photos stand out! (Available for full Photoshop only at this time)

Photoshop actions for more vibrant color, black and whites, and other fun looks:

• Complete Workflow: These actions will help you build a solid workflow for color, black and white, or basic vintage editing. They take you from a defog, to your adjustable conversion, to a sharpen at the end. Just adjust the layers and save. (Available for full Photoshop and Elements)
• Quickie Collection: Do you like to play and stack effects?  Build the look you want and have more control over your color and black and white images.  Fun urban processing and vintage effects, alongside sharpening and midtone contrast, make this set a must have editing essential. (Available for full Photoshop only at this time)
• All in the Details: Do you photograph full-body shots of seniors, children or engaged couples?  This action set has many conversions from color, to antique, to vintage to rich, toned black and whites. But what makes these actions unique are the way they pull out fine details in the image. Bring natural textures from the environment to life. This set works best on distant shots of things like cars, rust, brick, concrete, and other textured surroundings. (Available for full Photoshop only at this time)
• Coloring Book: Have you been trying to figure out an easy way to do selective color black and whites?  This makes it easy.  Yes, I know this is a fad, and not all photographers love the look.  But when you do it sparingly and quickly, you can offer it to customers if they desire. (Available for full Photoshop only at this time)
• Urban Cover Model: This is our smallest set and creates a magazine, ultra smooth, bright skin look.  Certainly not to be used on all photos, but for the right model-like image, it can make your photo pop. (Available for full Photoshop only at this time)
• Frosted Memories: Our take on hazy, vintage post-processing. While our style is more vivid and bright, certain photos call for a lighten, less contrasty touch.  This action set also has instant, light textures that you can apply to your image in just one click.  You can create scrapbook and background papers using the textures in this set or even layer them over images edited with any MCP set. (Available for full Photoshop only at this time)

Photoshop actions for sharing photos on the web:

• Finish It: Ready to share your photos on your website, blog or even Facebook or Flickr?  This set makes it easy and fun to add color blocks, frames, borders, rounded corners and branding bars to your images.  In seconds your photos will be resized for the web, stylish and sharp. (Available for full Photoshop and Elements)
• Blog It Boards: If you love showing detail shots or storytelling, web sized collage style actions are the way to go.  In seconds, you will have multiple images in template form, ready for web.  The actions even add your logo or watermark if desired. (Available for full Photoshop and Elements)

Photoshop actions for collages, storyboards and printable creations:

• Print It Boards: Similar to the Blog It Boards, in seconds you can build storyboards and collages.  But unlike the “blog version” these are for printing.  Some clients may not want one picture on a huge canvas or print.  But show them a collage, and they feel it is a better value since they get more images for the same price. (Available for full Photoshop and Elements)
• Tell a Storyboards: These storyboard, collage templates allow you to add scrapbooking paper or color backgrounds to your layouts.  They have more spacing than the Print It Boards and a slightly different look and feel. One set even has rounded corners. (Available for full Photoshop only at this time)

And the Free Photoshop actions: Currently 8 Free actions ranging from web and print sharpening actions, an action that applies textures to your image, a free Blog It Board, a black and white action with color overlays, a watermarking action, and so much more. Many of these are available for Elements, all are available for full Photoshop.

Photoshop Actions: Which Actions are Best for Your Photos?

So imagine this… You sit down at your computer to edit in Photoshop or Elements. And you want your editing to go faster and more smoothly.  You decide that you want to buy some Photoshop actions. But how do you decide which ones to purchase? And which should you use once they are loaded in your actions palette?

I frequently get emails asking, “how do I know which set to buy (or use)?”  Remember there are hundreds of companies making actions now. You need to find and use products that educate you with their use and help you achieve the look you want. We hope that you love what you see at MCP Actions, but for certain looks, you may need to stray a bit too. Do your homework, and make sure you buy from a company that has excellent customer service and fully supports their products, with help and tutorials.

Here are 10 tips: A guide to help you choose the best actions for your specific photos.

1. Try before you buy: MCP Actions has an assortment of single Free Photoshop actions so you can get to know our style.
2. Look through before and after examples on each individual product page to see the types of looks you can achieve. If you start stacking your edits, and mixing in more than one set, you can create a wider variety of looks.
3. Experiment: Try things and write down your steps on an index card.  For looks that you like, keep a little card box with your “Blueprints.”
4. Blueprints: Most Fridays I share Blueprints sent in by customers, or occasionally ones that I make into before and afters, with step-by-step instructions.
5. MCP Facebook Page: Join MCP on Facebook and post your questions and answers to the “wall.” Ask other photographers, what they would use or how to get the look you want. Feel free to share your images using MCP’s Photoshop actions. Look through older “wall” posts and photos uploaded by other photographers.
6. Search the Blog: Search for Photoshop tutorials, look under specific categories for lessons, and check out past Photoshop video tutorials.
7. Search the Website: Search for products in the top drop down sections (under “actions” and “training”) – you can organize by the version of Photoshop you have (for example, you could click on Shop By Photoshop “Version” and select “Photoshop CS5” or “Elements 8“). You can also search by “Category” and even “Keywords.”
8. Educate Yourself: When deciding what actions you want to use, take the time to watch the Photoshop actions video tutorials and Elements actions video tutorials that come with each product.  You can find these 2 places, through the links on the product pages and under “Training.”
9. Take Notes: As you start using the Photoshop actions, write down which are your favorites and what looks you get with them.
10. Organize Your Actions: After you use certain action sets for a while, you may find that you use some all the time, and others rarely. Learn to organize your Photoshop actions in this video tutorial for a faster, more efficient workflow.

Competition…  Is it a good or bad thing? Does it help or hurt your business as a photographer?  I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below. Does competition frustrate you? Or do you embrace it?  Here are some of my thoughts on competition as it pertains to my actions and training business and also to the photography industry.

I often get asked, “Does it bother you that so many people create and sell Photoshop actions now?”  When I read photography forums and blogs, I see action makers popping up all over.  When I first started selling actions and training photographers, I could count my competition on one hand.

When I first started my Photoshop actions and training business back in 2006, I had 2 action sets and the one-on-one Photoshop training.  I can only think of a handful of companies that sold actions at that time and nobody who offered one on one training.  The ironic thing is that the first few years of my business I had very little competition and I had fairly low income.  Now it seems you can almost buy actions and training at Wal-Mart or McDonalds, well not really but you get the idea. And with all the extra competition, my business is more successful than ever. I have a full line of products alongside private and group online workshops, and my blog now gets close to 100,000 unique visitors a month.  I definitely credit social networking with some of my growth.  But that aside, you might wonder how can you be more successful with more competition? So I analyzed what I do to separate myself from my competition and why I have grown my business, and hope these tips help you too.

• Awareness: With all the competition came awareness.  Photographers now know more about actions and are familiar with the benefits.  Back in 2006 many were unaware. With photography, the same concept applies. Sure, you may see those who shoot and burn, come into your market.  But, when more professional photographers exist, more people will understand the true benefits of hiring a pro as well.
• Hard work: Working hard and smart is so important. Very few businesses evolve with luck alone.  I know my business would not be where it is if I did not put my energy into it.
• Customer service: Provide a great product and amazing customer service. I aim to do this in all facets of my business. If you do this, it will separate you from your competition.
• Presentation: Create a strong brand and you will stand out from the crowd.  If you build a solid brand and reputation, you will find you have less competition.  People will want to have “you” photograph them.  You are the only “you.” No other photographer can sell that!
• Stop worrying about competition: Rather than spend all your time and energy frustrated about what other photographers are doing, use that energy to grow your skills and reputation.
• Be true to yourself: If you genuinely love what you do, the business will follow.  That said, you need to make sure you have the skills in marketing and in photography.  When you do what you love, it shows in your work.
• There is enough business for everyone: Of course some of this depends on your goals and the size of your audience, but for the most part there is enough business to go around.  For me, think of how many photographers there are who own Photoshop.  How many people are making actions or providing training classes?  In the end, how many sales and how many people do I need purchasing from me to make the income I desire?  The % is very small.  So in the same way I do not need every photographer to know who I am or buy from me, you do not need every person in your city or town to buy from you, unless of course you have a town of 30-50 families.  Now apply this to your photography business.
  • How many people are in your town?
  • How many professional photographers are there?
  • How many areas are within easy drive? And what are there populations?
  • How many portrait sessions/weddings, etc. do you need to make your desired income?
  • See where this is going?  Chances are for most of you, you just washed away the need to worry about competition.
• Broaden your audience: If you run into your competition too much, maybe you need to find new places to find customers.  For me, this meant diversifying and targeting places other than just photography forums. It also meant me creating a blog that has lots of word of mouth.  For you, this may mean trying other forums of advertising, reaching beyond your specific neighborhood or town, or getting creative with how you get your name out there.
• Make friends: Network in your local community and online.  Utilize social media, blogging, mom groups, wedding coordinators, your child’s school, local businesses, etc.  Get your name out there so it is at the top of everyone’s referral list when people start asking.
• Build partnerships with your competition: Partner with those you consider competition.  While this will not work in all situations and for all people, consider giving this a try.  Two are stronger than one. Look for win-win scenarios.  Reach out to photographers in your area.  You may just find that you have a wedding someone wants you to shoot and you are booked.  You can refer it to them.  Or you may find that you have a newborn shoot with twins and could really use an extra set of hands. If you partner with the “right” photographers, and that is key, it can grow your business and theirs. Just make sure everyone is winning.  And remember, no need to be selfish.  If you both can make more money doing what you love, isn’t that what it is all about?

As a photographer, you can choose to embrace competition and become stronger, or you can let it eat at you, consume you, and often hurt your business. So back to the original question, “does the competition bother me?”  When I started my business, competitors bothered me. I worried it would take away from my business.  Once I gained confidence and learned to believe in myself, I learned to work with some of my competitors and overall, it has been magical.  In the end it is WIN – WIN – WIN.  My customers win – my “competition” wins, and I win.

So I challenge each of you to start thinking of competition in a new way. If you agree, disagree, or if you have experiences to share, I want to hear your thoughts on competition. How do you deal with competition?  Have you found ways to embrace competition?  Does my answer to how I feel about competition help you think of things you could do differently in your business? Please share thoughts and comments here so that each of you can create a WIN – WIN exchange of ideas on the topic.