Time-Saving Techniques

Stop Repeating Yourself: How Photoshop Actions Can Cut Your Editing Time in Half
Workflow & Automation

Stop Repeating Yourself: How Photoshop Actions Can Cut Your Editing Time in Half

Last year I timed myself doing a standard skin retouch pass on a portrait. Frequency separation, a curves adjustment, a sharpening layer, and my usual export setup. Eleven minutes. Not bad. Then I multiplied that by the 40 portraits in the batch I was working through. That’s over seven hours of the same eleven steps, in the same order, every single time. I already had an action for most of it.

Master Photoshop Actions and Automation to Save Hours on Your Editing Workflow
Workflow & Efficiency

Master Photoshop Actions and Automation to Save Hours on Your Editing Workflow

Master Photoshop Actions and Automation to Save Hours on Your Editing Workflow When I first started doing professional retouching work, I was spending eight hours on tasks that could be done in two. The culprit? Repeating the same steps over and over—creating adjustment layers, naming them, adjusting curves, desaturating backgrounds. Then I discovered Photoshop actions, and honestly, they changed everything about how I approach my workday. If you’re not using actions yet, you’re leaving money on the table.