How to Create an Orton Effect Photoshop Action

Photoshop actions are the fastest way to add complex Photoshop effects to your images. In this tutorial I will show you how to create an action to add the popular Orton effect to a photo. The Orton effect is a dreamy glow often added to landscape images to make them look magical. By creating an action, you'll be able to add it like an image filter.

Follow along with us over on our Envato Tuts+ YouTube Channel:

How to Create an Orton Effect Photoshop Action

Step 1

Open your photo in Photoshop (I used this photo from Envato Elements). Make sure it's a background layer, and then open the Actions panel and create a new action. Give it a name and start recording.

Step 2

Duplicate the background layer by pressing Control-J. Add a Black&White adjustment to remove the colors.

Step 3

Add a Levels adjustment. Use it to reduce the number of shades in the picture, creating a high contrast between the dark and bright areas.

Step 4

Go to the Channels tab. Right-click the Red channel and duplicate it. Name the copy alpha. Hold Control and click the thumbnail of alpha.

Step 5

Return to the Layers tab. Hide both adjustments. Go to Select > Inverse and remove the selected area from the background copy. Deselect (Control-D).

Step 6

Time to add the actual Orton effect. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Adjust the Radius. Don't try to make it perfect yet—we'll adjust it in a moment.

Step 7

Adjust the Opacity to mix the blurry layer with the sharp layer below.

Step 8

To enhance the dreamy glow effect, we can brighten the layer. Add a Brightness/Contrast adjustment, clip it, and increase the Contrast.

Step 9

Usually when there's a lot of glow in the photo, the shadows get a little overexposed. We can simulate this effect by adding a Selective Color adjustment. Make the Blacks slightly brighter and slightly bluer.

Step 10

When you're done, remove the hidden adjustment layers and stop recording.

The best thing about Photoshop actions is that you can reuse them on many photos in almost no time, and you can still adjust the effect to your needs afterwards. It's as if you've just created a Photoshop filter of your own!

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Soft Focus 3 Photoshop Action

Make your photo soft and dreamy by adding this beautiful image filter.

Good Job!

Now you know how to create photo effects in the form of Photoshop actions. If you want to learn more about creating Photoshop effects, try these tutorials as well:

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