Archive for category: Random Stories

Original Source: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2018/10/new-framer-x-initial-impressions/

The New Framer X: Initial Impressions

The New Framer X: Initial Impressions

Lachezar Petkov

2018-10-01T13:30:03+02:00
2018-10-01T11:38:55+00:00

The Framer team recently released a new prototyping tool, Framer X, and I was lucky enough to be able to test it during the beta phase. In this article, I’d like to share my thoughts about this new tool and its features. I’ll make a comparison with the “legacy” Framer app as well as other tools, and I’ll discuss its brand new features such as Stacks and Scroll, and its new Code and Design components.

This article is intended for UI and UX designers who would like to learn more about Framer X’s prototyping abilities. Since it is (in many ways) a brand new product, you don’t need to be familiar with the older Framer application to read along. However, a little bit of familiarity with HTML, CSS, React, JavaScript and Node.js are beneficial.

For the purpose of this tutorial, I have also created a prototype which is a Material exploration of the Khan Academy’s app for Android.

Note: I’m in no way affiliated with Khan Academy; I just thought this would make a cool experiment — I hope you’ll agree.

Intro To Framer X

Framer X goes a few steps further than its predecessor in trying to bridge the gap between interface design and software development. Here’s how:

Dear Designers, Meet React

The key difference between the old and the new applications in this regard is the introduction of React and JavaScript / TypeScript, as opposed to using CoffeeScript for programming microinteractions and animations, loading data, and so on.

Framer X’s most important feature: It integrates tightly with ReactJS. (Large preview)

During the beta phase, people wrote some React components that I think show us the potential of how far the tool can take us. For example, you can embed actual media players (that actually stream and play music and video) within your prototypes. Or, you can embed graphs with real-time stock market data. Or how about a component that can translate your prototype’s UI into other languages. And that’s not all: Things are just getting started.

Meet SmashingConf New York 2018 (Oct 23–24), focused on real challenges and real front-end solutions in the real world. From progressive web apps, Webpack and HTTP/2 to serverless, Vue.js and Nuxt — all the way to inclusive design, branding and machine learning. With Sarah Drasner, Sara Soueidan and many other speakers.

Check all topics and speakers ↬

The same React code you write for a Framer X prototype could — at least hypothetically — be used in a production environment after the design phase. This can be especially useful for teams that do a lot of web development in React (and perhaps for teams who write mobile apps in React Native). Personally, I shudder at the thought of me, a designer, writing any code that goes into production, but that might work for others.

“Framer X is more like Unity than like Photoshop. An IDE for design, if you will.”

—The Framer X documentation

The Framer X Interface

If you are already a Framer user, the first thing you’d notice is that the integrated code editor is gone. Instead, if you want to write any code, you can use an editor of your choice. Most people (including myself) seem to go with VS Code.

Framer X (Large preview)

There are four tabs in the sidebar:

Tools
Opens all the layout and drawing tools everyone’s familiar with (shapes, path, text, frames) as well as three new toys we’ll discuss a little later: Stacks, Link, and Scroll.
Layers
Contains, well, the layers of the selected frame, as well as its properties (color, position, border, shadow and so on). This bit is essentially the same as in the old Framer, and very similar to Sketch and Figma.

The Framer X Layers panel. (Large preview)

Components
This is for any Design or Code components you may have in the file you’ve opened.
Store
A new, huge feature in Framer X. It allows users to publish their creations — be it icons and illustrations or interactive code components for others to use. Currently, all components are free of charge, but I’d imagine people will be able to sell their stuff at the store in the future.

The Framer X Store (Large preview)

The Preview and Live Preview buttons are up at the top right corner. As with legacy Framer, you can preview your prototypes within a device picture for more realism, or preview them directly on an actual device, or in a browser.

Recommended reading: Learning Framer By Creating A Mobile App Prototype

Prototyping With Framer X

A Few Thoughts On The Prototype We’ll Create

The Khan Academy Android app isn’t a Material app, so let’s explore how it might look and behave if it was. I want to think of this as if it were a real-world project, so here are a couple of considerations that we’ll see how to handle in Framer X:

The product’s goal is to provide free education for everyone, thus it must be able to run on old and cheap devices. What this means for the design of the prototype is, it has to work on 320dp wide screens.
The design must adapt well when the app is translated into a language more verbose than English.

The first thing I’m going to do is mock up the Home screen. There are four things I want to be prominent:

A search input;
Something that will show me my most recent activity;
Something that will show me my Missions;
Something to notify me if there’s a new Mastery Challenge.

Let’s begin.

Installing Components From The Store

The first two elements I want to have here are the Android status bar and navigation bar. Instead of drawing them myself, I’ll quickly install a component bundle from the store called “Android Kit”. It contains all sorts of (static, not programmed in this case) elements like buttons, cards, switches, bars, keyboards and so on. I got my status bar and my nav bar in seconds:

Adding a component from the Store

Note: Each component is installed per-project.

The Interactive Scroll Tool

Now, if I were doing this in Sketch, I’d continue mocking up the rest of the elements on the same artboard, and if it can’t fit all elements, I’d make it taller. In Framer X, however, things work a little differently. I’ll have the content of the Home screen within a separate frame (screen/artboard) and link that frame so it scrolls beneath the navigation and status bars of the home screen:

Using the Scroll tool

Now when I run a preview, my content is scrollable:

The Scroll tool in action

Awesome! With the underlying work out of the way, I’m ready to increase the fidelity a little bit. First, I want the general style of the app to be soft and welcoming, so I’ll use 4dp (display points) border-radius for my cards and buttons, and the rounded Material icons.

Since having an actual search input is super important for this screen, I don’t want the regular Android App bar and search icon experience. I’ll go for an actual input with a CTA message along with a hamburger icon ala Google Maps.

The app bar and search input for this prototype (Large preview)

If I were to go deeper here, I’d make this bar a code component and write it so it expands to full width on scroll, like this:

The app bar, expanded on scroll (Large preview)

I won’t do that for the purpose of this article, but I have to say I think something as simple would be easier to do in legacy Framer compared to Framer X — at least in this first version.

Linking

Let’s add some basic interactivity to this thing! When I tap on the search input, I want it to pull out a keyboard from the bottom. When I tap on the menu icon, however, I want to pull out a Navigation drawer from the left side.

Whereas in legacy Framer I’d have to write a FlowComponent for this type of thing, it’s now super easy in Framer X and with its new Link tool! It’s similar to other prototyping applications in which I’d select a UI element, link it to a frame, and choose the type of transition I want. I imported the keyboard from the Android Kit component and linked to it from the search input. I set the transition to Overlay and the direction to bottom.

Once you link two frames, you can configure the link through the Links panel. (Large preview)

Because I have too many items in the navigation drawer to fit on a screen, I had to split it into two frames just like the Home screen: one container with a scroll layer linked to a frame with the actual content inside. Here’s how that looks:

The ‘Birdseye’ view of all linked frames in the prototype so far (Large preview)

Interacting with the prototype

Neat! There is a problem with this approach, though, that the Framer team will hopefully fix. When the transition of a frame is set to Overlay, it covers and dims everything beneath it. This isn’t quite what we want when we prototype for Android: The nav bar and status bar have to be above all other screen elements — including the overlays.

Same goes for the Search interface: I don’t want any screen dimming if I want to have filtering options and/or a list of recent queries when the keyboard is pulled out. Hopefully, we’ll see some fixes for these issues in future Framer X versions.

Pinning, Positioning, And Responsiveness

Back to the Home screen of the prototype. Below the search input, I want a list with my recent activity. Just as in legacy Framer and other design tools, you can pin elements within frames so they move and scale exactly as you want them to. Framer X also shows you distances and gaps between elements, snaps them together for you, and so on. Have a look:

Once my frames are pinned appropriately, designing responsively is very easy.

Design Components

I want to add a few more things to the prototype home screen: A Mastery Challenge prompt, a streak counter, list of missions, bookmarks and some UI that allows the user to explore content they might find cool or useful.

Since the recent missions and the bookmarks are going to be cards with very similar content, the best solution Framer X has for me is to use design components. I already mentioned them above (the Material Kit component bundle). Framer X’s design components work similarly to Sketch’s symbols and Figma’s components.

To convert a frame to a component, simply press Cmd + K. This creates a Master from which you can create as many instances as you want:

A Master component and its instance: Any changes applied to the Master are applied to the Instance, but not the other way around.

Anything you do to a Master component will affect its instances, but whatever you do to the instances won’t affect the Master. You can also nest Master components and go as crazy as you like.

So, here are my Recent missions and Explore sections:

Recent missions and Explore sections as horizontally scrollable frames. (Large preview)

Each section is a frame, connected to its own scroll component, and populated with components. The text strings (as well as the bitmap images in the instances) are overrides.

Stacks

Now, what if I’m not sure how to position and distribute all these cards? Well, Framer X’s Stacks feature comes into play here:

I only had to make sure that all items I wanted into a Stack are organized into frames. It works surprisingly well, and you can have components within a stack, as well as a stack within another stack, and so on. It’s huge for anyone mocking up and prototyping lists often!

Drawing Icons And Illustrations

The drawing tools in Framer X are pretty much the same as in legacy Framer. They’re good enough to do a lot, but still somewhat lagging behind Sketch’s: There are no rulers; you can’t convert strokes to outlines; you can’t flatten shapes; there’s no scissors tool.

Code Components

Creating A Simple Code Component

Finally, let’s take a closer look at the code components. Again, these are regular React components (both Stateless and Class) that can be written in either JavaScript or TypeScript (up to you). You can also install third-party libraries to use within your components in Framer.

Let’s try and use the popular styled-components library. This will allow us to style our component using actual CSS syntax within the .tsx file.

First, go to the Components tab → New Component → from Code. After you name your component and confirm, your default system editor (in my case, VS Code) will open an example Framer X component file.

Now go to File → Show project folder, open a terminal in that same folder, install yarn if you haven’t already and add styled-components to your Framer project:

$>yarn add styled-components

The library and its dependencies will be added to your package.json and you’re ready to go.

Here’s the source for my styled-components button, after I replaced the default code in my component’s .tsx file:

The Go button as a code component and its source (Large preview)

Note that the button label is customizable directly through the Framer X interface (because of the Framer library’s PropertyControls feature). Having my button written in code obviously has many advantages. It is customizable, responsive, and interactive. Along with the responsive paddings, it’s super easy to test if the design breaks in other languages.

The responsive Go button, translated quickly by changing the Text property directly in the Framer X UI. (Large preview)

Importing A Code Component From The Store

There’s a lot of video content on Khan Academy, so for my prototype, I want to open a video lesson. Instead of mocking up a ‘fake’ video player, I can directly embed an actual YouTube player in my prototype. There’s already a component in the Store for this purpose:

Playing a Khan Academy video in a Khan Academy prototype

You can fork the code of any Store component and edit it as you like. For now, the only way to do this is to right-click on it in the sidebar, copy its code and paste it in a newly created components’ file.

You can copy every Store component’s code and play with it. (Large preview)

Code Overrides And The Framer library

The Framer JavaScript library has now been ported to work with Framer X and React. As with the legacy Framer library, it provides us with tools (helper functions) to animate our designs and to listen to events (simple things like onClick and onMove, but also advanced events like pinch, whether the device has been rotated or whether an animation has ended, and more).

Code Overrides are bits of code (JS functions) that allow you to change any frame’s or component’s properties. Static changes such as color are applied before you run the preview, directly within the Framer app, and the animations/interactions can be seen in the Preview window or on your preview device.

Let’s have a quick look at one of the simplest and default examples. I drew this simple champions cup illustration for one of the prototype cards, and I decided to animate it:

The static Mastery Challenge card (Large preview)

To add an override, I have to select my target frame (in this case the illustration) and click on the Code menu item in the right sidebar. Now I need to select the override I want from Exampels (selected by default in the drop down):

The Scale code override will provide me with a fun scale animation. I can edit it’s code and adjust as I like.

Remember, overrides are just blocks of code, therefore, they can live in any file within your project. What I just selected was the Examples.tsx file which contains multiple functions for Scale, Rotation, Fade, and so on. I can create my own file and write my own Override functions, or include them in my code components source code — just as long as I keep in mind to use the Override type specifier when I export them.

Here’s the source code for the Scale override I chose:

export const Scale: Override = () => {
return {
scale: data.scale,
onTap() {
data.scale.set(0.6)
animate.spring(data.scale, 1)
},
}
}

In plain English: Set the initial scale value of the frame down to 0.6, then animate the scale to 1 with spring curve. Finally, export it with name Scale and specify that it is an Override.

Once applied, this is the result:

The Mastery Challenge card with some animation

Design Responsiveness

As I mentioned in the beginning, it is essential for this particular prototype to work on small device screens (320dp). This is very easy to test in Framer X (considering you’ve pinned your UI elements properly, as described above). Simply set the Preview mode to Canvas – Responsive:

Framer X makes it easy to test my designs for different screens.

This is super helpful — I am now aware of what problems my designs have on smaller screens, and I’m ready to come up with fixes for the next iteration!

Day And Night Modes

Finally, in Framer you have two themes: Light, called “Day” mode:

Framer X during the day (Large preview)

And dark, called “Night” mode:

Framer X at night (Large preview)

You can switch the two from the Window menu.

Protoype: Final Result

Here are all my frames linked together:

All my frames linked together (Large preview)

And here’s the prototype in action:

What I Like About Framer X

The application performs fast (though the beta choked a little with large project files) and it feels well designed. It’s a new tool, yet at the same time, it feels familiar. It also does give me that sense of it being a ‘design IDE’ and I think the Framer team is taking things in a very interesting direction.

Framer X makes mundane things like linking screens and scrolling fast and easy, as they should be. Though I hope to see even more of that type of thing in the future: prototyping is supposed to be a quick and dirty process, after all. To spend too many hours on a prototype is to miss the point of prototyping.

Having a Components Store is a great idea, and will certainly speed up my design process. I no longer have to spend time hunting down the plugins I need. I can imagine a couple of years from now there will be thousands of components with basically everything I need to put something relatively advanced together — relatively quickly. It may need some moderation in the future, though. I can see people uploading too many simple buttons, each a fork of the other, just because they can.

I like the focus on design systems through the components and the Private Store features. We all know, many teams struggle to collaborate meaningfully and tools like these are an immense help.

What I’m Not Sure I Like About Framer X

What worries me a little is that part of the “super easy playground for experimentation” experience of the original Framer tool is somewhat gone. The new features in X make it very easy to quickly prototype any “standard” feature or screen: you have all you need in the Store. But it is arguably more difficult to explore crazy and weird ideas for custom interactions — at least with this initial product release.

Learning React will be more intimidating to a lot of us, math and logic-impaired designers. For me personally, code reuse is not an option, since none of the projects I’m currently working on are built using web technologies. But even if it was an option, I’m thinking about programming in terms of it being a tool to express my design ideas. I’m not an engineer; using my code for anything but a prototype is not exactly a terrific idea.

Having said that, there’s a lot more documentation on JavaScript and React than on CoffeeScript. There’re also more people to help out, and the React community seems pretty welcoming. I’m very curious to see how Framer X will help designers and engineers collaborate more — if at all.

Framer X In My Toolset

I’ll definitely be using Framer X in production, but I can’t see it completely replacing Sketch for me just yet. In my organization, each designer is allowed to use their favorite tool, as long as it integrates with Zeplin, and Framer X doesn’t. Other things it lacks compared to Sketch (for now) are the pages, the crazy amount of plugins, and the more powerful drawing tools.

I will continue to use the original Framer for custom interactions — at least for the foreseeable future. When prototyping, things need to be done fast, and I also still have much to learn about React.

(mb, ra, yk, il)

Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tympanus/~3/XP_FMUwAy0w/

Inspirational Website of the Week: Nagoya Estate

Super creative card animations make this design unique. Our pick this week.

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Collective #454 was written by Pedro Botelho and published on Codrops.

Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/abduzeedo/~3/TPMQRpnBnE8/beautiful-surf-soul-illustrations-lizzy

Beautiful Surf & Soul illustrations by Lizzy

GisMullr
Sep 28, 2018

I found Lizzy’s beautiful illustrations while looking for some surf related artworks for my daughter’s bedroom. We live at the beach and love the ocean. So I thought it would be a great idea to have an artwork reflecting that on my daughter’s wall. While browsing some surf related hashtags on Instagram I found Lizzy. And I’m really glad I did! Besides finding the perfect artwork for my daughter’s room, I also fell in love with her work. I started to follow her and got to admire the artist even more. Not only she is a super talented and creative person, but you can really feel her love for the ocean and for surfing in her pieces. Her illustrations are beautiful and are filled with style. Oh the style. She captures all the coolness of long boarders and puts it all on her pieces. Lizzy calls her art Soul & Surf illustration. And I totally agree. Her pieces have a Bohemian vibe that all ocean lovers will understand and love.

You can really see her passion for the ocean in her work. And as Lizzy says, the ocean is her master. That relationship is clear on her work. From hang tens to chilling by the beach. From casual surfing to resting in a hammock. Lizzy’s illustrations are simply fantastic. You better put your Beach Boys soundtrack on and take your time to enjoy these images. And make sure to visit the artist’s website for more.

Im Portuguese surfer girl living by the sea in Peniche, Portugal. Since 2013 I’m developing some illustration work inspired in my simple life by the Ocean, and what it represents for me. I see surf as a way for spiritual and self improvement, and the Ocean my great master. The ocean teaches me, and what I draw is a consequence of what I learned from it. Drawing is my way of sharing my truths. I like to call my art “Soul & Surf” illustration. A mix of Bohemian inspirations, ethnical colors and patterns, mandalas, american indian representations, feathers, birds, eyes, geometric figures, retro surf iconography and the classic surf movements are my main representations.

More links:
lizzyartworkshop.com
Instagram
cargocollective.com/lizzyartwork

illustration

Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeBloq/~3/jwz4RM8qpG4/7-tips-for-completing-inktober-2017

Believe it or not it's October next week, and for illustrators that means it's time to pull out your pens for Inktober. If you're not familiar with Inktober, it's an annual challenge created by Jake Parker that calls on artists to create an ink-based drawing every day of the month and share their creations on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #inktober #inktober2018.

The best drawing tablets

Inktober might not sound too difficult on paper, but finding time to ink an image every day for 31 days can quickly become daunting. If you're like us, you'll soon find yourself asking how amazing artists like Lüleiya (who drew the breathtaking illustration above for day one of a previous year's challenge) keep up the pace.

We're still admiring the amazing Inktober 2017 artists who made the whole challenge look effortless, but if you're struggling to get going with Inktober, or if you need a creative pick-me-up, as well as reading our tips on how to get started with ink drawing, we've put together some tips to help you on your way.

01. Follow the prompts

Each day of the month is assigned a single word prompt to provide the starting point for an illustration. These include a range of ideas, such as swollen, gift, muddy. Of course you don't have to stick to these prompts, but they're there if you need them. You can also make your own list of prompts. If you're stuck, check out our article on 20 ways to overcome creative block  for inspiration.

02. Browse the hashtag

If the official prompts aren't working for you, there's always the hashtag to explore for inspiration. Simply type #Inktober or #Inktober2018 into the Twitter or Instagram search box and you'll instantly get a glimpse into how other illustrators are tackling the challenge.

Not only that, but you get to browse social media and not feel guilty that you're wasting time when you should be drawing. It's a win-win. Don't forget to comment on pieces you like with words of encouragement: the support goes a long way to helping other artists persevere.

03. Take your tools with you

You never know when you might grab a spare five minutes, or whether or not you're going to get struck by inspiration, so carrying your ink pens and a notebook with you wherever you go is another way to make Inktober more manageable.

Lugging your tools with you is also just good artistic practice. And seeing as Inktober is as much about refining your artistic discipline as it is about drawing a masterpiece day in day out, you might as well take the opportunity to start two good habits at the same time.

04. Ink from left to right

Time for some straight up technical advice that should save you some headaches further down the road. In this video by Kiara Lashay over on her YouTube channel Kiara's Studio, she recommends working from left to right to avoid smudging when illustrating with ink.

And for all you left handers out there, don't worry. Lashay recommends that you do the opposite and ink from right to left. (Speaking from personal experience as a lefty, I find fountain pens difficult to use in terms of pressure, so maybe markers are the way forward.)

05. Pick a theme

If you like the idea of using the Inktober prompts we mentioned earlier, another way to make the most of them is to pick a theme you can hang them around. We've seen lots of artists doing this over on the Inktober hashtag, and it looks like a genius way to narrow down your decision making over the coming weeks.

Not only that, but by picking a theme you're comfortable with, you get to play to your strengths by illustrating something you care about. This could be anything from Disney princesses to robots – or, as Twitter user Joey Hernandez demonstrates, the TV series Lost.

06. Get ahead

Bit of a controversial one, this. Given that life is busy and that it's hard to make the time for creative side projects, artists need all the help they can get to crank out an ink illustration every day for 31 days straight.

To this end, Windy Iris suggests in the video above that doing some groundwork in the form of preparatory drawing is fair game. As long as you're just sketching ideas in pencil and not actually inking your work it's not breaking the rules… is it?

We're sure that some Inktober purists out there will be marching on Creative Bloq towers with torches and pitchforks for suggesting such a thing, but give yourself a break. Inktober is a long challenge, so it makes sense to get ahead if you want to.

07. Have fun!

We've bleated on and on about how Inktober is great for polishing your artistic skills and discipline, but remember it's also a fantastic opportunity to simply have fun.

Be sure not to go too hard on yourself, and if you need to skip a few days it's not the end of the world. Nothing stalls a creative roll like unnecessary stress, and this pressure will definitely come across in your work. So keep your art looking good by relaxing.

Indeed, Parker says you can take it slower if you like: "You can do it daily, or go the half-marathon route and post every other day, or just do the 5K and post once a week. Whatever you decide, just be consistent with it. Inktober is about growing and improving and forming positive habits, so the more you’re consistent the better."

If you see illustrations you like on social media, make sure you share them with your followers. Hopefully you'll make some new friends along the way and discover exciting artists you've never heard of before.

Related articles:

How to draw a character in pen and inkAdd digital colours to pencil drawingsHow to draw: the best drawing tutorials

Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeBloq/~3/Du0sr5LXYvE/photoshop-actions-912784

Adobe's flagship image editing software Photoshop has a powerful programming language built in that allows you to record tasks as an 'action' and replay the steps to complete the task automatically. Not only can you record your own but you can also import actions, opening up a whole range of effects and time-saving options.

Get Adobe Creative Cloud now

So to add to our collections of Photoshop plugins and Photoshop brushes (not to mention our best laptops for Photoshop buying guide), here are some great Photoshop actions that are free to download and install, for photographers, graphic designers, game artists and more.

You can jump to the section you want right now from the drop-down menu above, but you should definitely bookmark the entire list to check out the rest later – who knows where inspiration will strike. 

Photo filters
01. Mystical Light

‘scuse me while I kiss the sky

Give your photos an other-worldly air with this Photoshop action from Megan Joy. It'll infuse landscapes with a magical purple haze, enlivening any shot with an ethereal purple haze and giving any location the atmosphere of a mysterious fairy dell.

02. Instant Hipster

Get those trendy effects you love with one click

For those times you want to give your photos a one-click Instagram effect, Instant Hipster's the perfect solution. It comes with 10 ready-made filters – Amaro, Mayfair, Hudson, Valencia, X-Pro II, Willow, Sutro, Hefe, Nashville and 1977 – so you can find just the retro effect you need in seconds.

03. Nightmare

…and they were never seen again

If your photos just aren't sinister enough for your liking, this free action should make things a little more unsettling. It's designed to let you easily give your photos a dark, haunting effect. Perfect for creating the impression that you're permanently about to stumble into mortal danger.

04. Cold Nightmare

Damn it, stand still when I’m trying to skewer you

This amusingly-titled action will transform a photo of a perfectly innocent scenario into a window into a dark world. In this example image, the archer probably shooting at a target takes on the look of someone who is definitely trying to kill a human. It’s amazing what some shadows can do.

05. Summer Haze

Get that summer feeling again

If you'd prefer to cheer up your images, take a sunny shot and make it intensely summery with this great turquoise haze effect. Outdoor portraits taken in natural light are most suitable for this filter.

06. Hazy Afternoon

Hazy Afternoon adds a soft gradient colour layer

Perfect for outdoor pictures, the Hazy Afternoon action certainly lives up to its name by creating a soft gradient colour layer. You can use this free action on black and white or colour images, plus you can easily adjust the gradient until you get the exact look you're after.

07. Sun Kissed

Sun Kissed will brighten and tone even the drabbest landscape

Light up any image with this comprehensive collection of sunlight effects that'll brighten and tone even the drabbest landscape. Simply add a bit of a warm tone, or go the whole hog and throw in a setting sun complete with a lens flare effect; it's all there.

08. HDR Action

Ramp up your HDR contrast with these actions

Remove the lack of contrast that comes with HDR photography with this set of four actions; HDR fix Light, Normal, Heavy, and Clicker.

09. Strong HDR Effect

Get vibrant colour effects with this free HDR filter

Alternatively, try getting vibrant colour effects with this free HDR filter from Shutter Pulse. If it works well for you but you’d like more options, it’s part of a set of 30 HDR actions that you can buy for $13.

10. Blue Evening

Add a mysterious atmosphere to your shots with Blue Evening

Blue Evening is the free component of a paid-for set called Touch of Drama, which gives you various ways to add a mysterious atmosphere to your shots. The strength of the blue cast depends on your starting colours, so click through to see a good selection of examples.

11. Night to Twilight

Turn your nighttime images into twilight photos

This set of 11 actions convert your nighttime images into twilight photos by introducing a colour cast and lightening the sky. The effect is rendered using layers, so you can adjust the degree of twilight by reducing the layer’s opacity, making it nice and flexible.

12. Purple Contrast

A bit of purple can give your photographs a dramatically downbeat look

This free Photoshop action washes out some of the colour from an image and gives it a purpley hue. It's a good way to give your photographs a dramatically downbeat look.

13. Bella

Create a romantic, nostalgic feel with a pink cast

This action adds a beautiful warmth to your photographs, bringing out rich tones in hair and skin, and softening colours with a pink cast that creates a romantic, nostalgic feel.

14. Wedding Enhancers kit

These actions are ideal for fixing wedding photography

Photoshop actions are extremely useful for wedding photographers dealing with a huge number of shots. Here you get a set of 11 actions that automatically create common portrait effects, especially around the theme of wedding photography. The set includes skin smoothing and soft filter effects as well as black and white conversion.

15. Photoshop Color actions

Here’s a handy collection of colour treatments

A nice range of colour treatments including rich, grainy black-and-white, bleach bypass, and some heavy casting effects. Great for experimentation.

Next page: Vintage photo filters

16. Vintage Light Leak

Get that knackered old Box Brownie look for free

Sometimes you don't want your photographs to look too good; a little imperfection can add to a shot's charm, and this vintage light leak action is one way to achieve that effect. Send it into action and you can turn any top-end DSLR shot into something that looks like it was taken on an antique camera.

17. Cross-processing ATN

This action lets you cross-process without all the mess

Cross-processing is a traditional photographic technique involving deliberate processing of one type of film in a chemical solution intended for another, resulting in oddly skewed colours and increased contrast and saturation. This free Photoshop action gives you a way to recreate the effect digitally, and is available free for personal use.

18. Cross Processed

Add drama and vivid colour effects to your images

This action adds drama and vivid colour effects to your images by deepening shadows and making colours more saturated. It’s especially good for stormy skies, landscapes, buildings and ocean scenes.

19. Color 024

Create rich, sun-bleached photos that still retain a high level of detail

Digital pictures are crisp and precise, but sometimes they can lack that nostalgic glow of a film photograph. By downloading this free action, you can adjust the colour saturation and create rich, sun-bleached photos that still retain a high level of detail.

20. 2-strip Technicolor

This action simulates the 2-strip look without damaging the original image

Recreate the look of 2-strip Technicolor film by downloading this free action. Popular in the 20s and 30s, 2-strip technicolor film exposed black and white film behind a green filter and a red filter. By merging the green and blue channels in different layers, this action simulates the 2-strip look without damaging the original image.

21. Light Leaks

These gradients are ideal for adding non-destructive vintage effects to your images

This handy selection of light leaks has been created using gradients, making it very flexible for adding non-destructive vintage effects to your images. The free version includes five high-quality leaks, all featuring support for 16-bit colour so you can achieve brighter-than-white highlights. And they work with video, too!

22. Hard Lomo

If you like your lomo action hard, look no further

Deviant Art is a great place to find Photoshop actions, as this example from BlackLaceStock demonstrates. Included here is a set of actions that add a classic lomo-look to your images, akin to applying an Instagram effect.

23. Retro Style filters

These 35mm-inspired effects include some lovely gritty options as well as colour treatments

Chris Spooner is well known for his excellent Photoshop tutorials and giveaways, and he doesn’t disappoint with this new selection of 10 free retro-style Photoshop actions. Each of the effects is inspired by 35mm film and processing techniques, and includes some lovely gritty options as well as colour treatments.

24. Polanoid Generator

Polanoid’s one of those Photoshop actions you’ll use again and again

Turn any image into a Polaroid instantly with one of 10 different effects. It includes colour treatments and shadows automatically, and it's one of those Photoshop actions you'll use again and again.

25. The Mini Collection

There’s plenty to play with in this taster selection

Featuring some impressive retro Photoshop actions, plus a kit of light leaks and some vintage Photoshop brushes, the Mini Collection from FilterGrade is a free taster of its larger $49 FilterGrade bundle.

26. Old Photo

Add colour and contrast with this old photo action

Want to make your images look like they’ve through a time warp? Then get experimenting with this old photo action, which adds colour and contrast.

27. Portrait

Create a vintage effect with a spot of desaturation

Desaturate the colour in your photography with this portrait action, which creates a gorgeous vintage effect.

28. Split Toning

Make those ransom notes really pop!

The area between greyscale and colour is split toning, and adding this slight change to your photos can have a dramatic effect. You can also create retro and abstract images with this technique.

29. Amatorka

Get the action movie look with Amatorka

Create an instant action movie-style colour treatment with a blue-green cast, rich saturation and increased contrast.

30. Set14

Fill your boots with these vintage actions

If you're after a vintage effect for your photography but you're not entirely sure what, nab this collection from DeviantArt user Yeonseb. It contains 14 assorted vintage actions, so you're bound to find something to your liking.

31. Thinking of You

Add a filmic, green-cast and heavily saturated shadow effect

This is another stylised photographic treatment that adds a filmic, green-cast and heavily saturated shadow effect. The end result feels very fashion-orientated.

32. Unspoken

Use Unspoken to heighten details and increase contrast

This simple action creates a beautiful blockbuster film look, heightening details in your photographs and increasing contrast, while introducing a blue/green tint.

33. Vintage

Turn lowlights into colourful highlights with this Vintage action

This simple filter give your photos a tinted, washed-out look with an extra neon touch that'll turn lowlights into colourful highlights.

34. HipstaRev

Get the Hipstamatic look in Photoshop

This set of actions creates Hipstamatic-style images inside Photoshop. The download includes three actions, each of which creates a recognisable treatment including borders and noise.

Next page: Monochrome photo filters

35. Bold B&W HDR

Why should colour pictures get all the HDR fun?

It's not just colour photos that you can apply the HDR treatment to. With this free action you can give any photo a bold, black and white, HDR-style look that'll make it really stand out.

36. Infrared Photography

Add some infrared chill to your pictures

Add the eerie touch of a cool infrared chill to your pictures with this free Photoshop action. This action creates two adjustment layers inside a layer group, allowing you to change the red and blue balance, as well as the contrast.

37. High Key

Turn any photo into a stunning high-key portrait

This action requires a credit if you use it, but offers a very simple way to convert a regular photograph into a stunning high-key portrait with clean lines and an almost dreamy finish, without compromising essential areas of contrast.

38. Lithprint

Lithprint turns photographs into striking lithograph-style images

Create a lithograph-style image from your raw photos. This works best on larger images that have already been given a medium-contrast treatment.

39. Gum Bichromate Print

Emulate the early days of photography with this action

Emulate 19th century gum bichromate prints with this straightforward action that produces beautiful textured effects.

40. Black and White

Get a grainy black and white look that’s heavy on the black

This action adds a punchy, high-contrast black and white effect to your photographs. It produces a nice grittiness with heavy grain and over-saturated blacks. Great for creating a stylised image.

41. Dramatic Sepia

Dramatic Sepia’s contrast curve gives a slightly more refined version of the standard sepia effect

This superb action offers a slightly more refined version of the standard sepia effect by adding a contrast curve to age the final result so that it feels like a faded photograph. Dramatic Sepia offers a great way to communicate a sense of age.

Next page: Touch-up techniques

42. 5 Skin Retouching actions

Sort out your skin the easy way

Want to retouch skin like a boss? This set of retouching actions will give you a head-start, enabling you to heal, mattify and airbrush skin with one click, and also enabling you to brighten eyes and increase their contrast.

43. Express Eye Bright 

Brighten up dull eyes with this quick and easy enhancement

Quickly put a bit of sparkle into dull, dark eyes with this easy eye enhancement action. Simply click on the background layer (or the layer with the eyes you want to sharpen), run the action, and paint on the layer mask to sharpen and brighten the eyes. 

44. Teeth Whitening

Alternatively, just brush your teeth properly, for pity’s sake

Teeth aren't naturally a dazzling white, but sometimes they can appear grey or yellow in photographs, depending on the lighting. This useful action can easily brighten up the smiles of family and friends by giving their teeth a clean, white finish.

45. Bright Eyes

Another way to bring dull eyes to life

This free Photoshop action gives an intense look to blue eyes, as shown above. A great effect for extreme closeups.

46. High Definition Sharpening

This action offers a simple one-click solution to sharpening

The final stage of image preparation should be to sharpen your images according to the final delivery method (you sharpen differently for print or screen). This free action from MCP Actions offers a simple one-click solution to sharpening, with the ability to control the degree of sharpening that’s been applied after the fact by adjusting the opacity and masking of layers.

47. Soft Skin Tones

Smooth skin while retaining textures and colouring

Used in combination with an existing selection or mask, this smooths skin while retaining textures and colouring, saving clean-up time.

48. Remove White Background

Get rid of white backgrounds with these actions

Automatically remove white backgrounds with this suite of three actions that allow for different automated processes to strip out the background of your isolated images.

Next page: Special effects

49. Vectorize Me Babe

Get a vector look without Live Trace

Giving photos a vector look can be hard work; the obvious thing to do is paste them into Ilustrator and use Live Trace, but getting the effect you want can take a lot of fiddling with settings. Instead, use Vectorize Me Babe; put it into action and you'll get an instant vector effect, which you can amplify by simply running the action again.

50. Glitch Effect

Get your glitch on with this fabulous free action

You can't beat the look of stuff recorded onto a knackered old VHS tape, and this free action by Syed Faraz Ahmad does a pretty good job of recreating it, with plenty of glitches and colour smearing.

51. Plexiglass

Plexiglass makes it a doddle to add abstract effects to your photos

Transform your photos into posters, covers or backgrounds for text with Plexiglass, a set of Photoshop actions that make it easy to add abstract effects and borders to any image with a single click.

52. 3D Isometric Map

Why bother with flat maps when you could have an isometric 3D map?

A brilliant action that converts a flat vector map into an isometric 3D map mockup. There are three different styles of map available: sand, ice and grass, and the action also allows you to drop in your choice of buildings, trees, landscape elements and signs.

53. Pencil Draw

Quickly turn a colour photo into a pencil sketch

This action uses contrast to find the edges in your image and automatically render a pencil sketch effect. Start from a full-colour image with no need to convert to black and white first.

54. Stickers and Tapes

Stickers and tape in one package!

Create round stickers with a curl in the corner, or polaroid-style images with clear sticky tape holding them in place. This site requires you to register for free before you can download the action.

55. 1930s Glitter Text

Get a bit of glam with this snazzy effect

Automatically convert your text into a snazzy 1930s-style retro treatment with shiny sequins and a nice 3D effect. It’s also easy to adjust after running the action, as all the layers are retained.

56. Stamp Generator

Please don’t use this to forge postage stamps

Turn an image into a stamp automatically using an included Photoshop brush to define how the frill will sit along the edge of the final artwork.

57. Denim & Leather

If you’re planning your own range of jeans, this is a must

This Photoshop action automatically generates a blue denim texture, 'sews' on a leather patch and embosses your own artwork onto the leather. The nice, simple and effective output could be adapted for a variety of purposes.

58. Spotlight

Make details stand out with this virtual spotlight

Make the focal point of an image really stand out with this action from Christopher Fowler, which will train a virtual spotlight on your picture.

59. Fold Paper

Turn artwork into a virtual mockup with this neat effect

Automatically render your artwork onto a trifold paper design in pseudo-3D, complete with shadows and shading on the image. Ideal for rendering paper designs ahead of presenting them on-screen to clients.

60. Long Shadow

Still doing flat design? Here’s the cherry for your flat cake

This free Photoshop action allows you to create a long shadow from your text content, and you can tweak the shadow’s opacity.

61. Triptych Generator

Create standard triptych panels for print

Generate standard triptych panels for print, with a 3D effect visual triptych generator also available. Print sizes include 1000x600mm, 1300×800, 1600×1000 with 50mm depth at 288dpi.

62. Action 3D

Get a fake 3D effect with this channel-juggling action

This quirky action from JonasFan93 creates a pseudo 3D anaglyphic image by separating out colour channels within your image and offsetting them. This freebie offers a number of different styles that are more suitable for use in printed brochures and website design where you’re aiming for a stylised effect.

63. Outer space

Finally! The final frontier

Create an outer space background automatically complete with space dust and nebulous gases. This action randomly colours the scene to produce a different effect every time.

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