BLACK AND WHITES
COLOR TWEAKS
EVERYTHING ELSE
Feel the closeness of the city. It’s all skyscrapers, steel, and too little space. This muted, highlight compressing, and cool-toned action will conjure all the feelings of being amongst the brick, stone, and iron.
See user-submitted images using Detroit in our Recipes section.
Standing under that red light, listening to music, watching your picture slowly form as you wonder if this time you nailed your burning and dodging. Bring back the look of the glory days of the darkroom with this Black and White conversion, similar to the look of a lith print from an infrared negative.
Check out this Photoshop video tutorial to see just how Lith-E-Yum! works.
See how other photogs are using Lithe-E-Yum! at Totally Rad Recipes.
That feeling when your image finally appears, and you know you got it right. You pull it out of the chemicals and rinse it. You’re hoping that this is it, that this time everything came together, and you’ve finished your print. Just like Lith-E-Yum!, In-Faux-Red brings back the days when editing was done in the dark instead of on a computer. This action recreates the look of an image shot through an opaque infrared filter on classic Kodak HIE film.
Check out this Photoshop video tutorial to see just how In-Faux-Red works.
Check out what other users are doing with In-Faux-Red at the Recipes section.
Make your images look like a photographer took them with dirt under his fingernails. This punchy B&W conversion has rich grays, contrasty skin tones, and good retention of detail. Brooklyn gives your pictures that reportage look that normally only comes from being in the middle of the action in some gritty back alley halfway around the world.
Check out what other users are doing with Brooklyn at the Recipes section.
It is the feeling you get when you see that old black and white picture in the back of an antique shop. You’re drawn to it. You wonder about its history, the vignette around the edges, the warm black and whites, the soft highlights and shadows. Homestead reminds us of history, the look of an image from a different time.
Check out what other users are doing with Homestead at the Recipes section.
That last cookie that fell into your glass 15 minutes ago, by now it is just soggy crumbs and creamy milk. It’s going to be your last bite, and you’re going to love every second of it. Milk and Cookies delivers that same pleasure with its soft, luminous highlights. You can’t go wrong when using this one with soft, even frontal light.
Check out what other users are doing with Milk and Cookies at the Recipes section.
It kicks ass and takes names. It is an Italian sports car. It is a handmade pair of shoes. Nothing comes close to its soft tonal scale, prominent details, and exceptional retention to highlights and details. Once you try it out on a difficult photo, you won’t ever go back.
See how other photogs are using B.A.M.F. at Totally Rad Recipes.
It’s high noon on the mountain, and the world is all harsh highlights and cool tones as the bright sun bounces off the snow. Bullet tooth uses harsh contrast, slightly desaturated color, and cool tones to deliver a look similar to the bleach bypass technique used in recent films.
See how other photogs are using Bullet Tooth at Totally Rad Recipes.
This. Is. SPARTA!!! Alright, this warm, rich-toned, action with its slight glow, crisp midtone details, and desaturated blues and greens, isn’t going to kick you into a bottomless pit. It will however make your pictures look better than King Leonidus’ abs.
See how other photogs are using Sparta at Totally Rad Recipes.
This is Sparta’s kinder, gentler cousin (I apologize for the historical inaccuracy of this description). Its golden, desaturated colors and soft highlights call up visions of Elysium fields of wheat. (You didn’t realize just how historically inaccurate this was going to get, did you?)
See how other photogs are using Troy at Totally Rad Recipes.
Remember when you’d show up to your grandma’s house, and she would always have your favorite treat waiting for you? That’s Grandma’s Tap Shoes. With its extra warm color palette, midtone detail, and a soft overall tonal scale, it captures that fuzzy feeling of summer afternoons at grandma’s.
See how other photogs are using Grandma’s Tap Shoes at Totally Rad Recipes.
It’s a little slice of Americana, with the men working the grill, and women in polka dots chatting by the pool. Pool Party delivers a vintage-y, slightly soft, cross-processed feel with its warm highlights and cool shadows.
See what other users have been up to with Pool Party at the Totally Rad Recipes section.
Think of slightly faded pictures in an old photo album, and not your jeans from the 80′s. Acid Washed uses slightly pink highlights, and cyan in the midtones and shadows to create its pleasant, vintage effect.
Check out user-submitted recipes using Acid Washed in the Totally Rad Recipes section.
You’re reading a book, your back resting against your favorite tree, on your favorite hill, in your favorite field. With its warm, luminous highlights, cyan shadows, and soft palette and tonal scale, Lux (soft) gives an image the feel of that perfect, lazy afternoon.
See what other users are up to with Lux (soft) in the Recipes section.
Lux (hard) gives off the same impression of its softer cousin, but this time instead of a book, you’re 20 years younger, and you and your best friend are daring each other to see who can climb higher in that great, old oak. Has the same effect as Lux (soft) but adds a little snap to the contrast.
Check out what other people are doing with Lux (hard) at Totally Rad Recipes.
With its highlights spilling into other tones giving it a warm backlit feel, bumping up the overall exposure, and adding a dash of warmth; Flare-up golden makes us feel like we’re a kid again, playing hide and go seek at the end of a summer day.
Check out user-submitted images using Flare-Up (golden) at the Totally Rad Recipes section.
Flare-up faded is just like its golden cousin, except it trades in that feeling of warmth, for an overall faded creamy look. If Golden is a game of tag at the end of the day, Faded is an afternoon nap under your neighbor’s oak tree.
See user-submitted examples using Flare-Up (faded) at the Totally Rad Recipes section.
Have you ever stopped and just stood in front of a store window, some object pulling in all of your focus, screaming for your attention? This is what the Get Faded family does for your pictures with its faded color palette and multiple color tweak options. Combine this action family with textures for stunning results.
See how other photographers have used Get Faded in the Recipes section.
That stuck up den mother across the street who won’t share her secret tapioca recipe. You try and you try, but no matter what you do hers is just better. A Better Web Sharpen gives you a secret ingredient of your own. No matter what your friends are using to sharpen their images for the web, yours will be better. Oh, and her secret is a little bit extra vanilla, but be careful not to overdo it, you’re welcome.
See user-submitted images using A Better Web Sharpen in our Recipes section.
Snap! Crackle! Pop! These actions do the exact opposite of everyone’s favorite cereal made from cardboard. The Sharpening Family will keep your images from being bland, and bring out all of those crispy and delicious details.
See how other photogs are using The Sharpening Family at Totally Rad Recipes.
It’s just like the cure-alls sold by snake oil salesmen in the old west. Except Can-O-Whoopass actually will do everything. It simultaneously dodges shadows, burns highlights, and increases local contrast over the whole photo. This action is so magical we shouldn’t let you use it without waving a wand while yelling in Latin.
See user-submitted examples using Can-O-Whoopass at our Recipes section.
Crush is just like that old friend who always lifts you off the ground with a giant bear hug, but instead of crumpling your rib cage, Crush pushes your image’s shadows together for a pleasant, darkening effect.
See what other photographes are doing with Crush in our Recipes section.
With a smile, wink, and a well-timed joke this smooth talking action will soften even the harshest picture’s noise. He is a man for all seasons, and you can adjust his strength for any situation by changing his layer’s opacity.
Check out user-submitted images using Smooth-O-Matic at the Totally Rad Recipes section.
Select-O-Sharp is that friend who spent 20 years in college getting one specialized degree after another. Sure, she is terrible when you land on the pop culture wedge in Trivial Pursuit, but when the question falls into her area of study, there are none better. In this case, Select-O-Sharp’s subject of choice is allowing you to selectively sharpen any specific part of your image.
See what other users have been up to with Select-O-Sharp at the Totally Rad Recipes section.
Select-O-Pop is Select-O-Sharp’s fun loving sister. Just as brilliant, but instead of working on her third Ph.D. she spent her summer picking up on gondoliers in Venice. She lets you selectively lighten up areas of your photo, and she isn’t afraid to clip your highlights. Some of her favorite places to work are on eyes, jewelry, and shiny things.
Check out user-submitted recipes using Select-O-Pop in the Totally Rad Recipes section.
Highlight Separator is like a cute lifeguard at the beach. He rescues the details in your image’s bright spots, without altering the overall tonal range, or causing any additional clipping in those pesky highlight and shadow areas.
Check out user-submitted recipes using Highlight Separator in the Totally Rad Recipes section.
Shadow Separator is that hunky lifeguard, Highlight Separator’s twin brother. He does everything his twin can do, but he does it to your shadows.
See how other photographers have used Shadow Separator in the Recipes section.
Vertical stripes, empire shoulders, that neon mini, your favorite heels. Burn-Out uses a subtle, auto vignette to do for your pictures just what your favorite clothing tricks does for you. It draws the attention exactly where you want it.
See user-submitted recipes using Burn-Out in our Recipes section.
Punch Out!!! If you’re a guy who grew up in the late 80′s and early 90′s, you just flinched. Then you probably flashed back to spending your golden years wanting to smash your Nintendo because of the boxing game of the same name. Simply put, Punch-Out!!! is the Mike Tyson of contrast snapping actions.
See what other photographers are doing with Punch-Out!!! in the Recipes section.
She is that friendly barista that brightens your day with a smile and a quick joke. Claire-ify adds a nice little bump in contrast while lightening the midtones. This action is a great way to create a flattering portrait while making the image snap.
See user-submitted examples using Claire-ify in the Recipes section.
Capture a little slice of paradise by using Wish You Were Here. It utilizes an innovative L.a.b. based method for pumping up the blues and greens in your image.
Wish You Were Here is super-easy to use. See just how easy in this Photoshop video tutorial.
See how other photogs are using Wish You Were Here at Totally Rad Recipes.
All of those beautiful blues you see while sitting on a beach sipping a Mai Tai, or three, wrapped up into one little action. Greetings From Paradise deepens the blues of an image without touching the other tones. For extra delicious results, mix one part Greetings From Paradise and one part Wish You Were Here.
Greetings From Paradise is super-easy to use. See just how easy in this Photoshop video tutorial.
See what other users have been up to with Greetings From Paradise at the Totally Rad Recipes section.
Knock Knock, it’s an action that will finally let you cut the orange out of your photos, but still be able to save the warmth.
See how easy Orange You Glad… is in this Photoshop video tutorial.
Check out what other people are doing with Orange You Glad I Didn’t Say Banana? at Totally Rad Recipes.
That weathered look of an old leather briefcase, a broken in pair of boots, your grandfather’s pocket watch. Sometimes new, crisp, and clear isn’t always better. For those times you just need to Go With The Grain, and create images with the character and look of high-speed film .
See what other users are up to with Go With the Grain in the Recipes section.
This is your first camera. That one your grandparents got you for Christmas when you were eight. It was cheap, and what the pictures lacked in clarity and color, they made up for with character. P.O.S. lens introduces minor flare, softens and burns the edges, and slightly increases the overall contrast while reducing the local contrast to recapture the look of your first toy camera.
See user-submitted recipes using P.O.S. Lens in our Recipes section.
The f/zero family is the action version of your dad’s crowd stopping whistle. It allows you to emulate the tilts and swings of a perspective control lens all inside of Photoshop. Use it to create selective focus and depth of field to draw attention exactly where you want it.
Want to see f/zero in action? Check out this f/zero video tutorial.
All of the examples on this page were enhanced with the f/zero Super HQ conversion.
Check out user-submitted recipes using The f/zero Family in the Totally Rad Recipes section.
This one allows you to see what you want to see without ending up three sheets to the wind. Use Beer Goggles to selectively sharpen and soften your image to subtly draw attention to the important details, while downplaying everything else.
Check out what other users are doing with Beer Goggles at the Recipes section.
Your favorite pair of jeans, worn from countless hours of working in the garage, doing yard work, miles of hikes, road trips, boat trips, and lazy afternoons. Use the grunge textures of the Dirt Family to capture that worn feeling in your photographs.
See user-submitted examples using The Dirt Family at the Totally Rad Recipes section.
