PHOTOSHOP ACTIONS – THE MOTHER OF ALL TUTORIALS
Written and compiled by Danny J. Raphael
version 1.1Btoc – July 2004
FAST TRACK INTRODUCTION
This is the abbreviated introduction. It is intended for those too impatient to read the official introduction (scroll to the first section past the Table of Contents), who want to “get on with it.”
Welcome to PHOTOSHOP ACTIONS – THE MOTHER OF ALL TUTORIALS. This version, 1.1Btoc, supercedes version 1.0B, published March 2004. If you downloaded that version, you may delete it.
A SPECIAL THANKS TO…
• Cameron Nicoll, who single handedly reformatted the entire document in order to create an easier-to-use Table of Contents.
• Pierre-Etienne Courtejoie who offered over 200 suggestions for this edition as well as advice on writing actions for non-English language versions of Photoshop. Pierre, who lives in Belgium, is a moderator at http://photoshoptechniques.com, a well organized and information-rich site if you’ve not had the pleasure of visiting.
• Ron Hirsh, many of whose ideas will be incorporated into ver 2.0.
WHAT’S NEW
• A considerable amount information has been added, especially in the areas of batch automation and How To topics. Within the document new content can be recognized by bold green type. In the Table of Contents new topics are identified by bold black type.
• Some sections were rewritten or fine tuned for the sake of clarity and/or improved technical accuracy.
• Numerous format, spelling and grammar errors were corrected.
• Some topics were reorganized for a more logical flow and to simplify lookup.
TOPIC LOOKUP
Check the newly formatted table of contents on page 2. For other ideas, see page 13.
WHEN YOU SEE Search on XXX (where XXX = a topic ID)
These are not hot (jump) links. If you click on the XXX, nothing will happen.
You will need to copy the XXX into your word processor’s Find function and use this mechanism to ‘jump’ to the applicable section in the document.
TO BE KEPT UP TO DATE, JUST ASK
Send e-mail request PhotoshopActions@yahoo.com if you want to be notified of updates or future versions. I positively promise you will not get any junk e-mail as a result.
As an alternative periodically check www.AtnCentral.com for updates.
QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS, ADDITIONS
I would appreciate hearing from you. Send e-mail to PhotoshopActions@yahoo.com. If applicable please include the document version number (1.1Btoc) and topic reference numbers, e.g., 25.2, 132.7, etc.
ARE YOU NEW (OR FAIRLY NEW) TO PHOTOSHOP ACTIONS?
While a great deal of the content in this tutorial was written specifically for those with little to no action experience, a document this size WILL look intimidating and overwhelming.
Take heart. There is hope.
Scroll forward to section 1.2 on page 31. There you will find links to numerous well written tutorials that are not nearly as comprehensive as this one, but may better serve your immediate needs.
You can come back to this one anytime to fill in the gaps or take you further.
WHO NEEDS THIS?
Anyone, regardless of experience, with an interest in knowing more about actions, batch processing, droplets and where scripting fits in.
There’s something for everyone.
Keep having fun.
~Danny~
Hot off the press. The first book dedicated to Photoshop actions:
Al Ward's Photoshop Productivity Toolkit: Over 500 Time-Saving Actions.
Due late Summer 2004. I’ve preordered my copy.
PHOTOSHOP ACTIONS – THE MOTHER OF ALL TUTORIALS
Written and compiled by Danny J. Raphael
version 1.1Btoc – July 2004
A. TABLE OF CONTENTS (compiled by Cameron Nicoll)
Click on any line item in the Table of Contents to jump to that page.
A. TABLE OF CONTENTS 3
B. INTRODUCTION 7
C. TERMINOLOGY 14
D. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - for newbies 18
E. Tidbits For action heads: did you know? 26
F. Basic Concepts 30
1. LEARNING ABOUT ACTIONS: PHOTOSHOP HELP, WEBSITES, BOOKS, VIDEOS 30
2. WHY RECORD ACTIONS? 34
3. TYPES OF THINGS ACTIONS CAN RECORD 38
4. EXAMPLE RESULTS 38
5. GOOD AND BAD ACTION CANDIDATES 39
6. ACTION LIMITATIONS AND WORKAROUNDS 40
7. WHERE ACTIONS COME FROM 41
8. MISCELLANEOUS GENERAL QUESTIONS 42
G. Compatibility 43
1. COMPATIBILITY WITH NEW OR FUTURE VERSIONS OF PHOTOSHOP 44
2. COMPATIBILITY WITH THE NEW VERSION OF PHOTOSHOP 44
3. COMPATIBILITY WITH PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS ELEMENTSCOMPAT 45
4. COMPATIBILITY WITH PHOTOSHOP LE 46
5. COMPATIBILITY WITH ACADEMIC (EDUCATIONAL) VERSIONS OF PHOTOSHOP 47
6. COMPATIBILITY WITH OTHER PROGRAMS 47
7. COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN WINDOWS AND MACINTOSH VERSIONS 47
8. COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN PHOTOSHOP 5.x AND LATER VERSIONS 48
9. COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN PHOTOSHOP (current) and Previous Versions 49
H. Actions For The Casual User 50
1. ACTIONS PALETTE 50
2. DISPLAYING THE ACTIONS PALETTE MENU 51
3. ACTIONS PALETTE DISPLAY MODE OPTIONS 52
4. LIST MODE 52
5. BUTTON MODE 53
6. ACTIONS PALETTE COMMAND BUTTONS 54
7. ACTIONS PALETTE MENU COMMANDS VS. CONTROL ICONS 55
8. ACTION SETS 58
9. ACTIONS INSTALLED WITH PHOTOSHOP 61
10. LOADING ACTIONS INSTALLED WITH PHOTOSHOP VIA THE ACTIONS PALETTE MENU 61
11. HOW CAN I TELL WHAT THE ADOBE-PROVIDED ACTIONS DO? 61
13. PLAYING ACTIONS I 65
14. EXITING AN ACTION BEFORE IT HAS FINISHED 68
15. RESUMING A STOPPED (PAUSED) ACTION 69
16. PLAYBACK OPTIONS 70
17. SELF-PROTECTION II: VIRUS CONSIDERATIONS 70
18. INTERNET CONSIDERATIONS 71
19. INTERNET: FREE ACTION DOWNLOAD SITES 71
20. INTERNET: PURCHASING ACTIONS 75
21. INTERNET: HANDLING COMPRESSED (.ZIP) FILES 77
22. Storing Action SET FILES: WHERE DO I PUT THEM? 78
23. LOAD ACTIONS 80
24. CREATING A CUSTOM ACTION SET 81
25. RECORDING ACTIONS I: CREATING A NEW ACTION 82
26. ASSIGNING OR CHANGING COLORS 84
27. DUPLICATING (COPYING) AN ACTION 85
28. MODIFYING ACTIONS I 86
29. RENAMING AN ACTION 87
30. DELETING AN ACTION OR ACTION STEP 87
31. MOVING AN ACTION 88
32. MOVING AN ACTION STEP 89
33. ADDING STEPS 90
34. WHEN TO USE THE RECORD BUTTON 90
35. INSERT MENU ITEM COMMAND 91
36. DUPLICATING (COPYING) AN ACTION STEP 93
37. MODIFYING SETTINGS 94
38. RERECORDING SETTINGS IN A STEP 94
39. RERECORDING SETTINGS IN ALL OR MULTIPLE STEPS IN AN ACTION 94
40. CONTROLLING WHICH STEPS PLAY, WHICH DIALOG BOXES DISPLAY 95
41. DISABLING (SKIPPING) AND ENABLING ACTION STEPS 96
42. DISABLING (SUPPRESSING) AND ENABLING ACTION STEP DIALOG BOXES 96
43. ENABLE/DISABLE AND DISPLAY DIALOG CHECKBOX SUMMARY FOR ACTION STEPS 97
44. SUPPRESSING STOP COMMAND DIALOG BOXES 97
45. SAVING ACTIONS 98
46. PRINTING ACTIONS 100
47. OTHER USES FOR ACTIONS.TXT 101
48. SHARING ACTIONS WITH OTHERS VIA E-MAIL, INTERNET, FLOPPY OR CD 102
49. SHARING ACTIONS WITH PHOTOSHOP 5.x USERS AND NON-PHOTOSHOP USERS 103
I. Beyond Basics 104
1. Review of Potentially Dangerous ACTION SET MENU Commands 104
2. KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS: THE BEST PHOTOSHOP-WIDE SUMMARY ON THE WEB 104
3. KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS: ASSIGNING AND UNASSIGNING 105
4. ACTION KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS: COMMANDS.ATN AND PHOTOSHOP DEFAULTS 107
5. KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS: WHY ARE NO F KEYS AVAILABLE FOR ASSIGNMENT?? 110
6. ACTION KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS: ASSIGNING DUPLICATE SHORTCUTS ACROSS ACTION SETS 110
7. SELECTING MULTIPLE ACTION SETS, ACTIONS AND ACTION STEPS 111
8. MODIFYING ACTIONS II 112
9. COPYING VS. MOVING ACTION SETS, ACTIONS AND ACTION STEPS 112
10. COPYING (DUPLICATING) BLOCKS OF COMMANDS, ACTIONS OR ACTION SETS 112
11. MERGING TWO ACTIONS USING MOVE OR COPY 113
12. DELETING A BLOCK OF COMMANDS 113
13. RECORDING ACTIONS II 114
14. ACTIONS THAT PLAY OTHER ACTIONS: HOW TO RECORD THE ACTION STEP 115
15. Actions That Play Other Actions: WHY BOTHER? 116
16. Actions That Play Other Actions: Staying Out Of Trouble 116
17. SWITCHING AMONG IMAGES 117
18. INSERT PATH 118
19. PLAYING ACTIONS II 118
20. PLAYING AN ACTION, SLOWING IT DOWN FOR LEARNING OR DEBUGGING 118
21. PLAYING PARTS OF AN ACTION 120
22. PLAYING MULTIPLE ACTIONS IN AN ACTION SET: LESS FLEXIBLE METHOD 120
23. PLAYING MULTIPLE ACTIONS IN AN ACTION SET: MORE FLEXIBLE METHOD 121
24. PLAYING MULTIPLE ACTIONS FROM DIFFERENT SETS 121
25. STOP COMMANDS 121
26. ENABLE/DISABLE CHECKBOX: DANGER LURKS AT THE ACTION AND ACTION SET LEVELS 125
27. DISPLAY DIALOG CHECKBOX: DANGER LURKS AT THE ACTION AND ACTION SET LEVELS 126
28. WORKFLOW: WHERE DO ACTIONS FIT IN? 129
29. MANAGING THE ACTIONS PRESETS FOLDER \Presets\Photoshop Actions 129
30. ACTION PALETTE ORGANIZATION ACTIONORG 131
31. ACTION NAMES AND ACTION SET NAMES 132
32. PROS AND CONS OF BUTTON MODE 134
33. PROS AND CONS OF LIST MODE 135
34. EXAMPLES OF ACTIONS PALETTE ORGANIZATION: BUTTON MODE 136
35. EXAMPLES OF ACTIONS PALETTE ORGANIZATION: LIST MODE 138
36. LOADING ACTION SETS – FASTER AND EASIER METHODS 148
37. BACKUP AND RECOVERY 149
38. BACKUP NIRVANA-THE ACTIONS PREFERENCES FILE: Actions Palette.psp 151
39. BACKING UP THE ENTIRE ACTIONS PALETTE ALL AT ONCE 152
40. MIGRATING ACTIONS TO A NEW VERSION OF PHOTOSHOP (SAME MACHINE) 153
41. MIGRATING ACTIONS TO A NEW MACHINE 154
42. OTHER USES FOR Actions Palette.psp 155
43. RESTORING THE ENTIRE ACTIONS PALETTE 155
44. RESTORING ACTION SETS FROM Actions Palette.psp USING TASK MANAGER 156
45. RESTORING ACTION SETS FROM Actions Palette.psp BY PULLING THE PLUG 157
46. RESTORING ACTION SETS FROM Actions Palette.psp AFTER MANY CHANGES 157
47. RESTORING ACTION SETS FROM Actions Palette.psp – NOT! 159
48. WRITING ACTIONS 159
49. WRITING ACTIONS OUTSIDE OF PHOTOSHOP 162
50. BEFORE YOU HIT THE NEW ACTION BUTTON… 162
51. WRITING ACTIONS THAT ARE COMPATIBLE WITH PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 163
52. WRITING ACTIONS FOR COMPATIBILITY WITH NON-ENGLISH VERSIONS OF PHOTOSHOP 164
53. Writing Actions – Using Keyboard ShortcutS to Move Among Layers 167
54. BATCH AUTOMATION - INTRODUCTION 170
55. BATCH AUTOMATION – THE BEST BOOK RESOURCES ON BATCH AUTOMATION 170
56. BATCH AUTOMATION – PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 170
57. BATCH AUTOMATION – THE BASICS 171
58. BATCH AUTOMATION – FILE > AUTOMATE > BATCH DIALOG 174
59. BATCH AUTOMATION – REVIEW OF STEPS 178
60. BATCH AUTOMATION – WHEN IS A SAVE AS… COMMAND NEEDED? 179
61. BATCH AUTOMATION – STOP FOR ERRORS 179
62. BATCH AUTOMATION – TERMINATING AN IN PROGRESS PROCESS 180
63. BATCH AUTOMATION – THE SEQUENCE OF IMAGES PROCESSED 180
64. BATCH AUTOMATION – SINGLE ACTIONS VS. MULTIPLE ACTIONS 180
65. BATCH AUTOMATION – MULTIPLE FOLDERS IN, ONE FOLDER OUT 181
66. BATCH AUTOMATION – MULTIPLE FOLDERS IN, MULTIPLE FOLDERS OUT 181
67. BATCH AUTOMATION – FOLDER OR FILE BROWSER? 183
68. BATCH AUTOMATION – FILE > SAVE AS… vs. SAVE FOR THE WEB FOR .JPG 183
69. BATCH AUTOMATION – LIMITATION: SELECTIVE IMAGE ROTATION 185
70. BATCH AUTOMATION – SIZING ALL IMAGES REGARDLESS OF ORIENTATION 185
71. BATCH AUTOMATION – AUTOMATING THE SCAN PROCESS 186
72. BATCH AUTOMATION – RENAMING FILES 187
73. BATCH AUTOMATION – Renaming Files and Not Having to Start at 001 187
74. BATCH AUTOMATION – WORKAROUND: PLUG-INS WHOSE SETTINGS DON’T RECORD 188
75. Batch Automation – Why Stop Commands are a No-No 190
76. BATCH AUTOMATION – WORKAROUND: WHEN A STOP COMMAND IS NEEDED 190
77. BATCH AUTOMATION – LIMITATION: INSERTING FILE NAME 191
78. BATCH AUTOMATION – RAW CONSIDERATIONS 192
79. BATCH AUTOMATION – RAW FILES AND DR. BROWN’S IMAGE PROCESSOR 192
80. BATCH AUTOMATION – MOST COMMON ERRORS USING FILE > AUTOMATE > BATCH 192
81. BATCH AUTOMATION – TUTORIAL LINKS 193
82. BATCH AUTOMATION - DROPLETS 194
83. Batch Automation – Droplets vs. File > Automate > Batch 197
84. Batch Automation – THE CONVENIENCE OF A DROPLET AND FLEXIBILITY OF BATCH 197
85. BATCH AUTOMATION – Making Actions and Droplets Play Faster