Kevin kubota actions.

[tatonkaowashee]

I was thinking about buying some of his actions. How many people use these actions? If you own them, which ones are must haves?

[splitfyre]

Not worth it. Learn what you need first and then you can create your own actions.

[Irreverent]

I sort of agree with splitfyre.

The problem I see with buying actions is that unless you understand what they are doing, then essentially you just become a "button pusher" when editing. That is, rather than learning how to correctly use the tools in Photoshop so that you have the knowledge to apply exactly the right technique to a given image, you instead develop a memory for which actions give you a close approximation to what you are looking for, and thus you end up relying on those actions to do all your work for you and the process becomes mechanical rather than creative. You end up with images that have nothing in the way of your personal touch in them. More trouble then arises if you are looking to achieve a particular effect not addressed by your action collection, and you have no idea how to bend Photoshop to your will to bring your vision into being.

With that said, I appreciate that actions are incredibly useful and do have their uses. They can be great timesavers and some actions out there are a real workflow booster.

I just don't think they are a viable alternative to learning Photoshop and making it do what you want.

[snedigity]

I have nought two sets of his action and have been very pleased. I am pretty good with photoshot but it is just another tool to speed things up. Mama shans is a set that I would suggest to anyone. Just my $.02

[tatonkaowashee]

Thanks for your input. I do agree that it is important to not rely on actions to heavily. I feel that I have a pretty good grasp on Photoshop, I was just looking for a way to boost my workflow.

So that being said, what do you do to have a speedier workflow?