Enhancing Photos Using Actions

I recently took some newborn baby pictures for a friend. I’ll be the first to admit that while I am a decent amateur photographer, I don’t have any experience taking newborn photos. It was a fun adventure, but I wasn’t thrilled with how the pictures turned out. They needed some work, and luckily enhancing photos using actions is something I am good at!

An action is simply a series of pre-recorded steps. And the talented designers at Scrap Girls have put together some amazing ones, perfect to take my amateur photos to the next level.

Whenever you are applying multiple actions to the same picture, think about what order you apply them. Use the photo editing actions first – anything that is going to adjust colors, levels, saturation, etc. Once you are happy with those edits, merge the layers, and then move on to actions that apply effects. Use any that won’t alter the shape of the photo, like adding bokeh or sunspots before actions that lift or tear. Merging after each action will keep the number of layers down, making it more likely the actions will run correctly.

In the example below the picture is okay, but nothing spectacular.

In the photo below I’ve added ScrapSimple Tools – Actions: Magical Photos 2, followed by ScrapSimple Tools – Actions: Dreamy Magic 6301. It’s starting to look a little more interesting, right?

From there, I moved it onto my layout and used ScrapSimple Tools – Actions: Mega Lift I Squared Biggie to add a lifted frame to my photos.

And with that, that photo has gone from something mediocre to a beautiful scrapbooking page that I can give to my friend.

Just remember to apply the photo editing actions first, effect actions second, and shape-altering actions third. Merge as you go along, and you are good to go!

I really love enhancing photos with actions because they take my photos to the next level without taking a lot of time playing with settings and effects. I would love to see how you stack actions up to create stunning pictures, so be sure to post in the Scrap Girls Gallery!