How to Make a Matte Photoshop Action

What You’ll Be Creating

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a Photoshop action to add matte photo effects to your photos. I will explain everything in so much detail that everyone can create a good matte effect, even those who have just opened Photoshop for the first time.

What You’ll Need

To recreate the design above, you will need the following resources:

• Stock Image

1. How to Start Creating an Action

Step 1

First, open the photo that you want to work with. To open your photo, go to File > Open, choose your photo, and click Open. Now, before we get started, just check a couple of things:

1. Your photo should be in RGB Color mode, 8 Bits/Channel. To check this, go to Image > Mode.
2. For best results, your photo size should be 2000–4000 px wide/high. To check this, go to Image > Image Size.
3. Your photo should be the Background layer. If it is not, go to Layer > New > Background from Layer.

Step 2

Now go to Window > Actions, and in the Actions panel click on the menu icon in the top right-hand corner, choose New Set to create a new set, and name it Matte. Then, click on the same menu icon again, choose New Action to create a new action, and name it Matte as shown below:

2. How to Make the Matte Adjustments

Step 1

In this section, we are going to make matte adjustments to the photo. Press D on your keyboard to reset the swatches. Then, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map to create a new gradient map adjustment layer and name it Overall Contrast.

Step 2

Now change the Blending Mode of this layer to Overlay.

Step 3

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels to create a new levels adjustment layer, and name it Overall Brightness.

Step 4

Now Double-click on this layer thumbnail and, in the Properties panel, enter the settings below:

Step 5

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves to create a new curves adjustment layer and name it Color Look.

Step 6

Now Double-click on this layer thumbnail and, in the Properties panel, enter the settings below:

Step 7

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Vibrance to create a new vibrance adjustment layer and name it Overall Vibrance/Saturation.

Step 8

Now Double-click on this layer thumbnail and, in the Properties panel, set the Vibrance to +20 and Saturation to +7.

Step 9

Press Control-Alt-Shift-E on your keyboard to make a screenshot, and then press Control-Shift-U to desaturate this layer. Then, go to Filter > Other > High Pass and set the Radius to 2 px.

Step 10

Now change the Blending Mode of this layer to Hard Light and name it Overall Sharpening.

3. How to Turn the Result Black and White

Step 1 

In this section, we are going to turn the result black and white. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Black & White to create a new black and white adjustment layer and name it Black & White.

Step 2

Now change the blending mode of this layer to Color.

You Made It!

Congratulations, you have succeeded! You have now learned how to create a matte Photoshop effects action. Here is our final result: