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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.

See http://tinyurl.com/25hpy

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