Custom Actions

Why Your Photoshop Presets Are Probably Working Against You (And How to Fix That)
Workflow Optimization

Why Your Photoshop Presets Are Probably Working Against You (And How to Fix That)

There’s a file on my desktop called “DO NOT USE - OLD PRESETS GRAVEYARD.” It contains 47 presets I built between 2009 and 2016 that I eventually stopped trusting, each one a small monument to a lesson I learned the hard way. A sharpening preset that looked perfect on my old 27-inch iMac and then destroyed edge detail on every asset I sent to a client’s retoucher in New York. A batch-resize action that worked flawlessly on JPEGs and silently corrupted embedded ICC profiles in TIFFs.

Why Your Photoshop Presets Are Probably Fighting Your Workflow (And How to Build Ones That Don't)
Workflow Optimization

Why Your Photoshop Presets Are Probably Fighting Your Workflow (And How to Build Ones That Don't)

The first time I realized my presets were working against me, I was three hours into a 200-image e-commerce job for a Chicago ad agency. I’d built what I thought was a bulletproof export action: sharpen, resize to 2000px on the long edge, convert to sRGB, save as JPEG at quality 10. Clean. Logical. The problem was the client’s web platform wanted 1600px, their email team wanted 800px, and their print vendor wanted TIFFs at 300 DPI.

Building Custom Presets That Actually Stick: My Framework for Reusable Photoshop Workflows
Workflows

Building Custom Presets That Actually Stick: My Framework for Reusable Photoshop Workflows

Building Custom Presets That Actually Stick: My Framework for Reusable Photoshop Workflows I’ve been using Photoshop for over a decade, and I can tell you with confidence: most people build presets wrong. They create them once, use them twice, and then forget they exist. The difference between a preset that gathers dust and one that genuinely transforms your workflow comes down to intentionality and testing. Why Your Current Presets Probably Aren’t Working Let me be honest.

Building Custom Photoshop Presets That Actually Save You Time
Workflow Optimization

Building Custom Photoshop Presets That Actually Save You Time

Building Custom Photoshop Presets That Actually Save You Time I’ve watched a lot of creators accumulate hundreds of presets they never use. Their Curves panel becomes a graveyard of “maybe someday” adjustments. Here’s the thing: custom presets only work when they solve actual problems in your real workflow. Let me show you how I build presets that stick around and actually get used. Know What Problem You’re Solving Before you save anything, ask yourself: “Am I doing this adjustment sequence more than twice a month?