CoffeeShop 2 Minute Miracle Plus Photoshop/PSE Action!

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Bethany wrote me on my Facebook page and request a new version of 2 Minute Miracle with the levels adjustment and redness removal layer from Perfect Portrait.  Of course I was excited to oblige since I am always looking for new things to post on this blog that people actually need.  :-)

The beautiful image I used in this ad was photographed and donated by Caryn Prouty.

CoffeeShop 2 Minute Miracle Plus is the exact same action as 2 Minute Miracle, but with an additional two steps added.  There is a levels adjustment layer that allows you to adjust the color/contrast on the fly and there is also a redness removal layer where you can paint off skin redness with ease.  This action is perfect for those red-tinted skin baby images.

Here is a before/after from Beverley.

To use this action please read the tutorial on the 2 Minute Miracle original action and also the additional tips below.

When you start the action, a levels adjustment layer box will pop up and you can adjust color and contrast.  After the action finishes running you will see 6 new layers over your background.

Paint over the layer masks and adjust each layer's opacity to edit your image.

I hope this action will be a valuable additional to your Photoshop/PSE toolbox!

Download the free CoffeeShop 2 Minute Miracle Plus action.  You can also download it here.

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop Actions or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

For complete info on installing all of my actions, click here.

View the original article here

CoffeeShop Rays of Light Photoshop/PSE Action!

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Today I wanted to share my newest free action, CoffeeShop Rays of Light.  This action automatically enhances the light in your images.  I have a step-by-step CoffeeShop Rays of Light Action UnWrapped tutorial posted here if you want to learn how to do this without the action or are just curious what is happening "under the hood".

This action should be run on images that have light coming through objects like trees, mountains, and buildings.  It automatically selects the light in your image and you adjust the amount and color of the rays.  

CoffeeShop Rays of Light Action Tutorial:

Open your image.   This picture is perfect for this action since there is some sun peeking through tree branches.

Start the action.  The first prompt will ask you to add a radial blur effect to the light.  I keep the Amount to 100, Blur Method on Zoom, and the Quality on Good.  Simply drag the Blur Center to the brightest area, in this case the sun in the upper right-hand corner.

To make the rays look more realistic you might need to blur them.

I dialed up the Gaussian Blur to 27 in this image and I can really see a difference.  You can also blur this effect after the action finishes running if you wish.

These are the layers you will see after the action is finished.  The Adjust Contrast was renamed Adjust Color and Contrast in the final action.  :-)  You can adjust the opacity of the Light Rays layer to add a more subtle effect.

If you want to add some color to your light rays, turn on the top Light Ray Color layer and adjust the color and opacity to taste.

If you want to add more contrast you can click on the Adjust Color and Contrast layer (a levels adjustment layer) and adjust the sliders to add more contrast.

If you want a Matte-type of edit, slide the bottom-left black Output Levels adjustment slider to the right and slide the top-left shadow slider to the right.  See screenshot above to get an idea of settings.

You can also use this layer to add color.  I changed the RGB setting to Blue and added more blue to this image.  I love playing with the Blue/Red/Green sliders.  :-)

I hope you have fun playing with this action!  Download the free CoffeeShop Rays of Light Action. You can also download it here.

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop Actions or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

For complete info on installing all of my actions, click here.

View the original article here

CoffeeShop Sun-Kissed Butter Photoshop/PSE Action!!!

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Today I am posting for download the free CoffeeShop Sun-Kissed Butter Photoshop/PSE action!  If you want to read the Action UnWrapped step-by-step tutorial please click here.

CoffeeShop Sun-Kissed Butter Action Instructions:

Run the action on a flattened image.  Please read this tutorial for additional tips/tricks on doing this edit.

This is what you will see when you finish running the action.

To add some directional light, make your background color black and your foreground color a nice peachy/orange (I used #f3c77a).  The action should set this for you, but if it doesn't then you can do it manually.

Click G to get your gradient tool and make sure you select the orange foreground to black background option.

This is how Photoshop should be set up.

This is how PSE should be set up.

Now we will add some lighting "magic".  Make sure Layer 1 is active, and click on the top area where you want the light to start and drag down where you want the light to end.  As you can see in the screenshot above, I had the gradient tool selected and started at the top upper-left corner and dragged it down diagonally across her body.  Play around with the tool until you get a nice glow.  

You can adjust the opacity of  this layer, but I kept it at 100% because I like some haze.

Go back and adjust each layer's opacity if needed, and use the layer masks if you want to remove part of the enhancements.  Have fun!  Please read this tutorial for additional tip/tricks.

Download the free CoffeeShop Photoshop/PSE Sun-Kissed Butter action.  You can also download it here.  These links directly download to your computer.

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop Actions or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

For complete info on installing all of my actions, click here.

View the original article here

CoffeeShop Rays of Light Photoshop/PSE Action!

type="html">

Today I wanted to share my newest free action, CoffeeShop Rays of Light.  This action automatically enhances the light in your images.  I have a step-by-step CoffeeShop Rays of Light Action UnWrapped tutorial posted here if you want to learn how to do this without the action or are just curious what is happening "under the hood".

This action should be run on images that have light coming through objects like trees, mountains, and buildings.  It automatically selects the light in your image and you adjust the amount and color of the rays.  

CoffeeShop Rays of Light Action Tutorial:

Open your image.   This picture is perfect for this action since there is some sun peeking through tree branches.

Start the action.  The first prompt will ask you to add a radial blur effect to the light.  I keep the Amount to 100, Blur Method on Zoom, and the Quality on Good.  Simply drag the Blur Center to the brightest area, in this case the sun in the upper right-hand corner.

To make the rays look more realistic you might need to blur them.

I dialed up the Gaussian Blur to 27 in this image and I can really see a difference.  You can also blur this effect after the action finishes running if you wish.

These are the layers you will see after the action is finished.  The Adjust Contrast was renamed Adjust Color and Contrast in the final action.  :-)  You can adjust the opacity of the Light Rays layer to add a more subtle effect.

If you want to add some color to your light rays, turn on the top Light Ray Color layer and adjust the color and opacity to taste.

If you want to add more contrast you can click on the Adjust Color and Contrast layer (a levels adjustment layer) and adjust the sliders to add more contrast.

If you want a Matte-type of edit, slide the bottom-left black Output Levels adjustment slider to the right and slide the top-left shadow slider to the right.  See screenshot above to get an idea of settings.

You can also use this layer to add color.  I changed the RGB setting to Blue and added more blue to this image.  I love playing with the Blue/Red/Green sliders.  :-)

I hope you have fun playing with this action!  Download the free CoffeeShop Rays of Light Action. You can also download it here.

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop Actions or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

For complete info on installing all of my actions, click here.

View the original article here