100 Free Photoshop Actions (And How to Make Your Own)

Josh Johnson on Jul 27th 2010 with 147 comments

Photoshop actions can be extremely useful timesavers when you find yourself performing the same steps over and over on an image. They’re also an excellent way for photographers to quickly and easily pass on their favorite techniques to others. Today we’ll be looking at how you can make your own, and showcasing 100 fantastic free Photoshop actions to use straight away!

In recent years, DeviantArt has become a huge storehouse for photographers to upload and share Photoshop actions. We sorted through thousands and thousands of these to bring you 100 of our favorite sets, some containing as many as forty or fifty actions in a single download.

For beginners, we’ll start off with a brief explanation of how to create and install Photoshop actions and then move onto our huge list of actions that are free for you to download and use.

We have also published a fantastic article explaining how to make your own Lightroom Presets, with 100 amazing examples. You can read the article here!

Creating Photoshop Actions

Recording an action in Photoshop is incredibly simple. Simply open up the “Actions” palette and hit the new action button seen in the image below.

This should pop open a new window containing various options for the action. Here you can name the action and place it in a set. You can also assign a keyboard shortcut that will activate the action immediately in Photoshop. This is quite handy for those actions you find yourself using on a daily basis.

Once you hit “Record” in the window above, all that’s left is to carry out the steps you’d like to be recorded in the action. Keep in mind that selection sizes, saving and other very specific steps will be replicated exactly in the action. Try to keep your steps generic enough that they’ll work on the full range of images you’ll need the action to apply to.

When you’ve finished carrying out all the desired steps, hit the “Stop” button in the action menu. Then hit the “Play” button to perform the action on another file.

Installing Photoshop Actions

There are multiple ways to install Photoshop actions. For starters, you can drag the downloaded actions into the “Actions” folder contained within the “Presets” folder in your Photoshop application folder. Note that actions placed here may require a Photoshop restart to appear in the actions menu.

Alternatively, you can hit the little arrow on the right of the actions menu and click on the “Load Actions” option. This allows you to navigate to any actions on your computer and load them instantly into Photoshop.

Now that you can install Photoshop actions and even create your own, download a few of the free options below and start making your images look amazing with a single click!

100 Free Photoshop Actions

Polaroid GENERATOR V1

Cross-Processing ATN

Stick it action

Vintage Action

set 28

Portrait Action

PS Action 12

+ Action 11

Action 01

RedLipsAction

Peace and Love Action

sa-cool actions 2.06

Vintage Effect – Ps Actions

50 Photoshop Postwork Actions

image enhancing ps actions

Old Photo Action

photoshop actions – 33

photoshop actions – 48

Photoshop Action Set o1

photoshop actions – 67

Vintage Photo

Photoshop Dream Blur Action

Photoshop Action: Diabolic

Wedding Theme Action

Black and White ps actions

Lith Print Action

HDR Fantasticalizers

Black And White

HolgaRoid Generator BW

My first actions set

Cool photo effect action

Comics Photoshop action

Pack Actions 01

Powerful Colors 3.2

Clouds Effects 3.5

Photoshop Action 2

Photo Coloring II

Gum Bichromate Print

Black white sepia PS action

Vintage dream ps actions

photoshop actions – 11

rather large set of actions

Photoshop Action 15

Photoshop Action – Color 024

Photoshop Action 9 Pack

30 photoshop actions

Split toning

Photographers Toolkit 3

clarity – photoshop action

Skin Glow Enhancement

Photoshop Action: Regressive N

retro

3D.Action

Lovely Action

Photoshop Action 05

ACTION 3D

Action Pack 1

photoshop actions – 46

Pinkish Action

Photoshop Action – Bright Eyes

1

NAME

Retro Vintage Actions

Pencil Draw Photoshop Action

PS Action 14

InFection

HDR Fake Action

Variety Pack Actions .3

Sedrah Photoshop Action No2

Vivid Blur

Sepia actions

colors Actions

Vintage Action Pack

PS Action 3

Drawing Effect Adobe Action

Vintage Film Effect

landscape and sky action

Photo Coloring VII

NoiseLess Black And White

Photoshop Action 23

Vectorize me babe ATN

Action .7

IR effect look

Watermark Photoshop Action

Action Pack 4

Photoshop Action 3

Copyright Action

300 action

photoshop action no.7 HIGH KEY

PS Action Set 02

Old Black and White

Colorfull action

Action : I — Old Photo.

Color Action

Dreamy Light Action

draindrops

hard light action PS

Action 2

Action 03

action 2

Share Your Actions!

The actions above range in quality from fun and homegrown to serious and professional. Think you can do better? We’d love to see any Photoshop actions that you’ve created and made available for download. Just leave a link below along with a brief explanation of what the action does.

Also be sure to tell us which of the action sets above were your favorites. There are a ton to choose from and it would be great to hear your thoughts on which work the best for your needs!

100 Free Lightroom Presets

We have also published a fantastic article explaining how to make your own Lightroom Presets, with 100 amazing examples. You can read the article here!

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By Josh Johnson

Rollover to read this author's bio or click through to see a full list of posts by this author.

Joshua Johnson is a Designer/Writer with over six years of experience working with a major international marketing agency. He is also the Editor of Design Shack, a web design and development blog. Check out his recent work and follow him on Twitter: @secondfret.

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kurt
kinda takes the being creative side out of everything if u ask me

http://www.peewee1002.co.uk Peter Sawyer
Maybe………… but if a client wants a style for 30-50 images an action is going to save you lots of time.
For the odd photo doing it yourself can often be the best way.

http://www.peewee1002.co.uk Peter Sawyer
Ah I almost forgot to thank you for this roundup. There will be afew I will use Im sure of it.

David T.
Negative comments like yours kinda take the fun out of life if u ask me.
Great roundup of actions, thanks for taking the time to collate them all, this is very inspirational! :)
Stephen
Creating an action in itself is being creative and is economic for reproducing a certain look even if it just to remember the process you followed
http://pinjaman1.blogspot.com/ Pinjaman
Thanks for the tutorial!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lil-ellen/ Elena
Thank you for this article! I LOVE actions!!! ^^
Romannumeralus
What a helpful group of actions! Thank you!
http://smii.wordpress.com SMII
I like
shaun
In a lot of cases, the afters looked worse than the befores. To be honest, I would be embarrassed using these actions/effects on my photos.

Becky
I completely agree!

James
The link for “Drawing Effect Adobe Action” is broken. Would love to learn how that was done…

Katherine
Yes I would love to learn how to do that effect. Please fix the broken link. As at today it is still broken :-( Thank you for the other wonderful actions.

http://www.jonruby.com Jon
I’d love to see the Drawing effect Adobe Action, if it gets fixed.

VWXYZ
I went through Google Image search with the picture used and came to this:
http://refont.com/photoshop-action/show.php?id=ZHJhd2luZ19lZmZlY3RfYWRvYmVfYWN0aW9uX2J5X3RlY2hub2ZpYnJl&img=images/drawing_effect_adobe_action_by_technofibre.jpg&PHPSESSID=2d1aee9c0275d82e2451105807076c33
It is quite the shady site if you ask me, but they host the action.
It is a very clever action indeed, definitely worth the look!

Gleisberry
Thank you, VWXYZ. I tried the link you gave but they must have removed it since then. When I clicked on the download button, I got an html page rather than the action.
What I did was Google ‘drawing_effect_adobe_action_by_technofibre’ and got several hits that way.
Here is one of those links for anyone who wants the atn.:
http://chomikuj.pl/Canonek74/FOTOGRAFIA/Actions/Drawing_Effect_Adobe_Action_by_technofibre,110869274.atn

http://www.ecoversuiteelite.com ebook cover software
Great list really useful thanks – can’t personally pick a favourite, they’re all awesome. :)
Also check out these actions too – photoshop actions – pretty sweet for product stuff! There’s a few available on the blog for free.
Doc
So, you basically cherry-picked the “most popular” category off of DeviantArt? I love actions as much as the next guy, and I love DeviantArt too, but at least do a little searching for what YOU feel are the best, across the whole web, and showcase them for us to see. Don’t just regurgitate a section on someone else’s website.
Sorry, I don’t mean to be critical, but I could have just gone here and called it a day:
http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/applications/psactions/?order=9

Dick
There are no deviations in this category.

Jailton
Great!!
Leyal
Seriously great pack! Thx for this helpful article.
http://mahmoudhermes.wordpress.com Mahmoud Hermes
Really thank you soooooooooooooooooooooooooo much great collecation today i am going to download to seee. but thanks any way we neeed moree
OiL
Thank a lot
1 in this action
” Drawing Effect Adobe Action ”
Can’t Download U_U

http://www.kornbrasil.com EdpeppeRs
yep.. the best one i can’t download.. =/
Nicole
I downloaded this one a while ago from the source site, but it’s not working because it’s in Spanish. Don’t go to the trouble of downloading it.

Luis
Hello Nicole,
Have you got it still? I have photoshop in spanish so maybe I can make it work. Can you post it or send it to me please?
I would really like to try this Drawing Effect.
Kind regards,
Luis

Chrissy
Can any/all/some of these be used with Elements 8??
Many thanks
http://shaneparkerphoto.com Shane Parker
It annoys me to no end when people do this. Why didn’t the author just instruct us to go to deviantart and pick the actions that appeal to us? There are a ton of actions posted that either don’t work, have horribly bad outcomes, no instructions or only work in certain environments (one of them is so poorly made that it actually tries to grab a photo from the users local HDD which only exists on the original machine the action was created on!)
C’mon tuts+, you’re better than this!
http://www.the-su.com the-su
I love this action collection.
really helpful and beautiful!
http://www.vaporizerkits.com Zephyr Ion
Great action collection! There are so many, it’s difficult to weed through :P
Adriana
Thanks a lot!! This is very helpful indeed!!!
Mandy
I love this articles and thanks soo much! :)))
People need to take a chill pill~ Nobodys forcing you to download them. ;p
http://www.wilhelmmeister.de/blog Wilhelm Meister
Big Thankyout for that!
http://toribloger.com/ toribloger
great action collection! thanks for you work
ileana
i love it! very very thanks!
marionjoy
thanx for making these available .. i agree with mandy
Isaac
the first vintage link doesn’t work :(
http://www.thedphoto.com/ Diana Eftaiha
i love photoshop actions – 33
just waht i was looking for
http://henrymaxm.com/ henrymaxm
Beautiful tutorial! Thank you! :)
mhafis
very best and nice
http://malda malda
how can i dowload it ?! :O
http://www.brushdirectory.com/actions/ Free Photoshop Actions
Great actions, some of these are great on my photography work.
tridest
Hello bro,
it was awesome and really helpful, but i do really interesting with HDR Fantasticalizers but it’s gone from deviantart, so would you mind to help me where i can get it?
thanks :)

Mau
Hey here is the HDR actino, http://forfie.deviantart.com/art/HDR-Tools-66904781

http://www.blogeffekt.com blogeffekt.com
wow, great collection of very nice photoshop actions, will also write an article about it
adamstar88
http://forfie.deviantart.com/art/HDR-Tools-66904781
Nick
If any one Could find these for me that are above , that would be great.
PS Action 14
PS Action 3
Drawing Effect Adobe Action
Colorfull Action
if you get these you can email me at rs246photo@aim.com
P.S. i am planing on putting one download link here so you don’t go to each individual Link.
http://www.heyfaces.dk/ Camilla Hey
Thanks a lot :-)
Dragi
Thank you for this large set of actions. For sure I will share some of mine with you.
Terry
Some great actions here .Doe’s anyone have a action for a jigsaw with more than 20 pieces I have a 20 piece one but am looking for more.
OSCAR
THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!
http://vasare.co.uk vasare
That’s great thanks for sharing :)
Rhyno
Very Like it & Thx U So Much,,,Its make easy For My Job !
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scherry-shahid/ sherry
Great actions!
I used a few of these and here are the results:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scherry-shahid/5611061878/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scherry-shahid/5611093018/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scherry-shahid/5610506455/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scherry-shahid/5611077610/in/photostream
This is the first time i have tried vintage actions and i am loving it!
anto elfaz
Great list really useful thanks
http://www.kolowicz.wordpress.com Chris
Very helpfull – thank You!
Ayoteck
Lovely job, at least it’ll save a lot of time. Thanks a bunch.
http://www.alherabd.com shohid
wow…! what a exquisite actions these are!. I think these will be path who are expert.
thanks
rsidebo
Hi all, I am new to Photoshop CS5. I haven’t used any other version. I have been using Corel PrintShop ProPhoto X2. I’ve learned quite a bit, but have been having some problems with some of the actions i am trying. I’m hoping you all would be willing help me.
When an Action tells me to “fill with a paper” I can’t figure out how to do it. I’ve searched help, all the menus and still I haven’t been able to figure it out. I can fill with a pattern or color, but I am lost about filling with a background paper. It tells me to drag it in, but it won’t. Please help!
Thanks for all these free actions. I am learning so very much! Ruthe
Stephanie
How do I download these actions,. I am new to this. any help would be greatly appreciated.
crystal
Thank you to those that make actions! saves so much time, and thank you for SHARING THEM XOX
http://www.photosbydinendra.co.uk Dinendra
I am new to “actions” – grateful if some one could direct me in the direction of how to use actions – I have downloaded an action and want to know what should I do next – in terms of transferring the “action” into my image?
Thanks
http://grapherphoto.com Dan
Great list! I just made an action that mimics film on my site… check it out if you like vintage/old looking photos!
Ken M
Hi, I am new to PS myself but I have loaded and run an action to create an ebook cover.
With Actions I have used, you open up the Action and there will be say 2 steps.
Select Step 1 and press the Play button at the bottom of the actions.
Do not press anything while an action is playing!
After the action has completed, you load your image. Adjust it, do whatever.
When you are ready, simply select Step 2 and again Play.
Dont touch anything. Just let it do its magic.
When complete you have your finished image…
Enjoy!
Azadeh
tnx alot for sharing these great actions …
http://www.roughlyrefined.com Brad
Pity so many are no longer available.
But thanks, theres still a few good ones left.
http://baterya.com baterya
these are great wonderful.. thanks.. these are helpful especially to those who are not good in photoshop like me woot
http://pluskb.com/ balamurugan
hi this is very useful for web designers
by
pluskb
http://pluskb.com/ suresh
Hi, I am new to PS myself but I have loaded and run an action to create an ebook cover.
With Actions I have used, you open up the Action and there will be say 2 steps.
Select Step 1 and press the Play button at the bottom of the actions.
Do not press anything while an action is playing!
After the action has completed, you load your image. Adjust it, do whatever.
When you are ready, simply select Step 2 and again Play.
Dont touch anything. Just let it do its magic.
When complete you have your finished image…
by
pluskb
Nagaraj
some are the free downlodedd actions are not instalising and playing in adobe photoshop SC2 version,
how can face this
http://loanstudentconsolidation.com Samuel
Yeah, great presentation, but your image very slow to loading in my computer
http://www.heatherljonesphotography.shutterfly.com Heather
will this work for elements as well?
Julie
A lot of these actions have HORRIBLE outcomes. Yuck!
Anant
Thank you !
http://mckinleyphotography.org Joanna
These are great! I will share them and add some as well when I get mine together! :-)
Alejandro
Holy crap! Thanks a lot!! This will save me a LOT of time!!
stella s
Thank you !!! much appreciated!
Azhar
Thank so Very Gooddddddddddddddddd
& Action Is Verry Nice
http://www.wegotactions.com Kirk
Hey Josh,
Really nice post. There are some AMAZING actions here.
And for those who feel like using Photoshop actions is ‘cheating’, it can be a real blessing if you have hundreds of photos you have to turn out for a client. If nothing else, you can use them as a starting point. Personally, I think actions are a great way to infuse the creativity of someone else into your work.
M
Are these actions compatible with Photoshop CS 8?
http://... Mikki
I’m so grateful for the actions that each of your creative minds have offered up! I think they are awesome. I am gonna jump right in & see if I can do your awesome creativity some justice! I’ve got my fingers crossed I can figure this out! : ) Again…thanks
bonar
mantap gan!
Anabela S
Thank you for providing all of these actions. They really are fantastic. :)
oraba
Thanxxxxxxxxxxxx
:)
they are fantastic Actions
thanx again
prashant shrestha
make a photoshop of mine
kevin lee mextro
ples buddy….. i dont know how to use this dawnload file……. who can send me a video tutoriel 4 Installing Photoshop Actions files…….. ples if u help me u can use cam tasia screan recorder. ples buddy help me,,,
-Kevin-
http://fourfourradio.wordpress.com FourFourRadio
Thanks for the colection!
Just starting adeep house blog and this collection of actions is going to SERIOUSLY make my life easier! While making the Blog look better than EVER!
Safe Safe x
jojo
nice & good…… thank :)
http://risingspiritphoto.com Jane
Great actions, thanks! Here are some free photoshop cs5 actions I created, on my photography website:
http://risingspiritphoto.com/photoshop-actions
http://venosvision.com alveno
Cool actions. Can’t wait to use them.
James
I really like these actions and they are very good for time saving and creating a wide range of effects on a collection of photos. Well done.
P.S. When will there be more actions being posted
Shauna
I really want to try the “Vintage Action” The one at the top of the page. But every time I try to open it it says the link is no longer available. Anyway way we could get that back? So many amazing actions! Thanks :)
Rochelle
how do I share an action that I have made?
erwin
Thanks for sharing..its very usefull
http://moderncreativestudio.com JILLIAN
Love every single one of these and love the fact that you have shared them EVEN MORE!!:) Thank you!
Dwcheeks
These are a great time saver – Thank you !
Laura
These are wonderful! Maybe someone already asked this, but are these actions solely for PS, do any of them work for Elements?

Amy
I have photoshop 5.5 and it is saying these actions are not compatible with my version. Anyone know how to fix this??

http://www.ckfotography.com CK Fotography
Best part about this website is that it gave instructions on creating your own actions.
guillermo josé abreu pérez
Muchas gracias por lo que vi voy a disfrutar mucho con estas Action.
http://facebook srikar
I will share this with my co-graphic designer
raey iz
Wow! The photos was really nice after edit it!!!!!!!!!
Mohsen Shariat
Tank you fron biutiful action
http://www.the-gill.com/ GarryGill
———————-AWESOME
———————-AWESOME
———————-AWESOME
———————-AWESOME
———————-AWESOME
———————-AWESOME
———————-AWESOME
———————-AWESOME
———————-AWESOME
———————-AWESOME
Emily
Thank you, this is going to be a big help!
http://www.TheSecretSolved.com Christine R
Couldn’t leave the site without saying a big “thank you”. There’s a few of these are going to save me hours… and hours.
Thanks again.
Myra
The generosity of the artists is VERYmuch appreciated.
http://www.ml-camera.com mlcamera
Thanks !!!! f
http://www.manvitas.com Avinash
Its very much informative, Thanks for the post.
fred
thank you!!!
http://www.wonder-fulmoments.com Michal
Excellent!! Thanx!!
ProSign
thanks!! :)
azher
nice collection
http://www.oomoxx.com Johann
Awesome collection, thank you so much! That really helps a lot saving time!!
Kennedy
Hello,
I’d like to download the “Drawing Effect Adobe Action”, but the link is broken. How can I find this action? Please advise.
Thanks
http://lailaninda.blogspot.com nindasho
Thanks a lot!
It’s really useful for me!
gg
good
rio
thx for all of this actions :D
FARHAN MALIK
you did a very great job !!
its very much helpful …
http://Iran-Yazd mohammad
Hello
Oh, very good large set of Photoshop actions
Carol
I love the Vintage Photo. Can you tell me if it’s possible to run this effect, but retain the color? Thanks for any help!
Egyptian Girl
Awesome =]]
suhaib curls
Thankssss it s very helpful for me……..
suhaib curls
Thankssss it s very helpful for me……..to my post prodection works
ake
thx
farzad
beauty full
Rajesh
This is the best photoshop help blog tool I ever seen, Thank you guys
asmaa
perfect!!!!!!!!!
http://meetgirlfriend86.wordpress.com/ ways to find a girlfriend
Hello there! This blog post could not be written much better!
Looking through this article reminds me of my
previous roommate! He always kept talking about this.
I will forward this information to him. Fairly certain he will have a very
good read. I appreciate you for sharing!
by
awesome…!!,thanks for sharing……
ralph
awesome!!!!!!
:D
thanks !!! :D
http://jjwun-bigbang.tumblr.com/ jjwunvip
me at PS Action 12 …
A;FDSJLKAS TAEYANGGG !!!
bane
great
http://www.facebook.com/david.hay.731 David Hay
Great list, I made a step and repeat action that I use for work all the time. You can download it for free from http://davidhay.org/Tutorials/download-free-step-and-repeat-photoshop-action.html
http://www.facebook.com/neha.khanna19 Neha Khanna
Awesome actions provided. I installed some of them and posted the resulting photographs onto my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/mylitejokes
http://www.thebackpackchronicles.com joan | the backpack chronicles
wow these are wonderful! love this collection. i just heard about the benefits of photoshop actions and this is amazing. Thanks for sharing!
bee
yes
Vijay S
Sharing is caring… Thanx for Sharing…!
amilyshurtz
I’ve read some article says that there are a number of
picture styles which can be used when shooting in modes such as manual,
aperture and shutter priority. The creative control modes can only be used as
their own independent modes, but you can increase or decrease the level of
their affect.
SUP BCHS
thanks so much for this…
Airwolf
WOW…is there any way that we could download all of these actions in 1 file instead of having to download 100 of them separately?
Thom Elliott
What a fabulous collection. I know have to decide which ones are for me. I was tempted to download all of them, however I do not want to be a “pig” about it. I will also look into the Lightroom presets. Thanks for your fantastic contribution.
mubarok
Awesome and this is the best Photoshop helpful for us.thanks 4 sharing carry on.
مشاعر مهكره
Thanks
RadovanUhler
thanks
Youfes Joseph Aloui
Hi How are U
Thnx You Help Me A lot But the link of “Drawing Effect Adobe Action” is Missed

100 Free Photoshop Actions (And How to Make Your Own)

Creating Photoshop Actions

Installing Photoshop Actions

100 Free Photoshop Actions

Share Your Actions!

100 Free Lightroom Presets

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