What is the best elements "action" for photo POP

[oldbutgood]

I have been surfing different photographers for sale actions looking for the great action to make a photo pop and look oh so professional and amazing. Any Suggestions out there??? or free actions for that matter....

Thanks in advance!

[Diana]

I don't believe there's an action that will successfully make all photos pop. You just have to try them out to see what works for the type of photos you take. There are quite a few actions for Photoshop Elements. Here are a few links to try:

http://www.graficalicus.com/graffishop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1&zenid=b7fa188ea58b466687adaad2da3c5822

http://www.panosfx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=12&id=29&Itemid=53

http://coffeeteaphotography.blogspot.com/2007/09/photoshop-elements-pse-actions-and.html
(There's a color pop action in her CoffeeShop Barista set)

http://apieceofcakeblog.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/color-pop-for-pse/

http://www.ezactions.com/support.aspx

http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2008/04/reproduce-a-pw-action-in-photoshop-elements/
(I love her "Fresh & Colorful" technique to make a photo pop, but sadly the action is for Photoshop only, however, she does give the manual steps to do it in Elements)

http://www.alibony.com/pse/20090103colorpop.htm
(this isn't an action, but it's a pretty quick manual technique)

Hope you find something here.

Diana

[Aussie Nan]

Here's what I try a lot, and if that doesn't do the trick then I go experimenting further.


Duplicate the image
Change blending mode of duplicated layer to either overlay or soft light
Reduce opacity of duplicated layer until you get the result you want.

It works surprisingly well on a number of images.

[Simenon]

See the post by TonyW on using LAB color space in Smart Curves to achieve color pop.

http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40088&highlight=smart+curves

~ Simenon