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 198
86. SCRIPTING 199
87. ALTERNATIVES TO ACTIONS, SCRIPTING AND BATCH PROCESSING 202
J. HELP — ACTIONS 204
1. HELP! INTRODUCTION 204
2. HELP! Deleting Photoshop Preferences: A common cure 205
3. HELP! PLAY (►) IS GRAYED-OUT 205
4. HELP! PLAY (►) IS GRAYED-OUT (2) 206
5. HELP! WHEN I CLICK PLAY (►) NOTHING HAPPENS 206
6. HELP! WHEN I CLICK PLAY (►) NOTHING HAPPENS (2) 206
7. HELP! WHEN I CLICK PLAY (►) ONLY PART OF THE ACTION RUNS 207
8. HELP! WHERE DID ALL THESE DIALOG BOXES COME FROM? 207
9. HELP! "No files are selected in the File Browser" 207
10. HELP! ACTIONS PALETTE: I CAN’T OPEN THE ACTIONS PALETTE MENU 208
11. HELP! ACTIONS PALETTE: IT WOn’T STAY IN BUTTON MODE 208
12. Help! PLAY BUTTON: I CAN’T FIND IT 208
13. Help! PLAY BUTTON: IT’S GRAYED OUT 209
14. HELP! “Can't load action because there is not enough memory.” 209
15. HELP! GENERAL SELF-HELP APPROACHES 209
16. HELP! WHAT SETTINGS SHOULD I USE? 211
17. Help! This Action Runs REALLY Slow 211
18. HELP! THE ACTION IS FINISHED, BUT WHAT DO I DO NOW? 212
19. HELP! HOW DO I UNDO THIS MESS? 212
20. HELP! DO I HAVE TO START OVER? 213
21. HELP! I DOUBLE-CLICK AN .ATN, PHOTOSHOP OPENS, BUT I CAN’T FIND THE ACTIONS 214
22. HELP! RESTORING ACTIONS – ADOBE PROVIDED (Default.atn) 214
23. HELP! RESTORING ACTIONS – ADOBE PROVIDED (FROM \Presets\Photoshop Actions) 215
24. HELP! RESTORING ACTIONS – ONES I WROTE OR MODIFIED 215
25. HELP! RESTORING ACTIONS – RECEIVED VIA E-MAIL OR THE INTERNET 216
26. HELP! FINDING ACTION SET FILES (.ATN) ON MY HARD DISK 216
27. HELP! FINDING ACTIONS ON MY HARD DISK 216
28. HELP! FINDING ACTIONS MISFILED IN THE ACTIONS PALETTE 217
29. HELP! FINDING LOST ACTIONS - A CLUNKY BUT FUNCTIONAL METHOD 217
30. HELP! E-MAIL ATTACHMENTS (RECEIVING) 218
31. HELP! E-MAIL ATTACHMENTS (SENDING) 218
32. HELP! COMMAND NOT AVAILABLE 219
33. HELP! FILE, BRUSH, TEXTURE, PRESET OR OTHER FILE NOT FOUND 220
34. HELP! THESE AREN’T THE RESULTS I EXPECTED 221
35. Help! Text Action Worked Under PS7, But Not Under CS 222
36. Help! I Can’t Move An Action From One Action Set To Another 223
37. Help! I Recorded A Stop Command AND IT HAS NO DISPLAY DIALOG CHECKBOX 223
38. Help! Nested Action Fails. I Changed An Action Or Set Name 224
39. Help! Nested Action Fails, but I Did Not Change the Action or Set Name 224
40. Help! SAVE FOR THE WEB IS PUTTING DASHES IN MY FILE NAMES 225
41. Help! SAVE FOR THE WEB IS CUTTING OFF MY FILE NAMES 225
42. Help! Missing Actions: They’re Unzipped, but Not in the Actions Palette 226
43. Help! (Mac OSX) KEYBOARD SHORTCUT ASSIGNMENTS AREN’T WORKING 226
K. HELP – BATCH PROCESSING AND DROPLETS 226
1. BATCH AUTOMATION HELP – “A COMMAND WAS CANCELED OR STOPPED WHILE BATCHING” 227
2. BATCH AUTOMATION – CONVERTING TO .JPG WITHOUT THE ANNOYING DIALOGS 227
3. BATCH AUTOMATION HELP – “NO MESSAGES ARE SELECTED IN THE FILE BROWSER” 228
4. Batch Automation Help – “Photoshop cannot recognize the file extension” 228
5. Batch Automation Help – command not available 228
6. BATCH AUTOMATION HELP – NO FILES IN DESTINATION FOLDER (1) 229
7. BATCH AUTOMATION HELP – NO FILES IN DESTINATION FOLDER (2) 229
8. BATCH AUTOMATION HELP – ONLY ONE FILE IN DESTINATION FOLDER 229
9. Batch Automation Help – Automate > Batch is Grayed Out 230
10. Batch Automation Help – EXIF data: It’s GONE! 230
11. Batch Automation Help – I Can’t Restart a STOPPED Action to Crop! 230
12. Batch Droplet Help – Photoshop CS: Droplets Stopped Working 231
L. HOW TO 232
1. HOW TO: ADJUSTMENT LAYERS, BYPASSING NEW LAYER DIALOG 233
2. HOW TO: ADJUSTMENT LAYERS, ADD AS A GROUPED LAYER 233
3. HOW TO: DISTRIBUTE AN ACTION WITH A CUSTOM .ACV SETTING 234
4. HOW TO: USE BATCH PROCESSING FOR IMAGE FOLDER TO FOLDER COPY 235
5. HOW TO: MERGE MULTIPLE LAYERS INTO ONE LAYER WITHOUT COLLAPSING THEM 236
6. HOW TO: How To Select Tools You Can’t Normally Select 236
7. HOW TO: CONDITIONALLY EXECUTE AN ACTION (IF-THEN-ELSE) 237
8. HOW TO: RECORD FILE > OPEN WITHOUT HAVING TO SPECIFY A FILE NAME 237
9. HOW TO: RECORD FILE > SAVE AS WITHOUT HAVING TO SPECIFY A FILE NAME 237
10. HOW TO: HOW TO INDICATE WHEN BATCH AUTOMATION IS FINISHED 238
11. HOW TO: WRITE AN ACTION TO CONVERT .TIF TO .JPG AND SHARPEN 238
12. How To: Fix Hot Pixels USING THE PATCH TOOL 239
13. How To: Fix Hot Pixels USING COPY/PASTE 240
14. How To: Fix Hot Pixels USING COPY/PASTE AND MEDIAN 241
15. How To: PLACE HORIZONTAL & VERTICAL GUIDES AT 33%, 66% (RULE OF THIRDS) 241
16. How To: AUTOMATICALLY PLACE GUIDES AT the Center of an Image 242
17. How To: AUTOMATICALLY CREATE CONTACT SHEETS AND PRINT THEM IN ONE ACTION 243
18. HOW TO: Create 3 Image Sizes and Put Each Size Into a Separate Folder 245
19. HOW TO: POPULATE A LAYER MASK (OR ADJUSTMENT LAYER) WITH IMAGE LUMINOSITY 246
20. HOW TO: Populate File > File Info Keywords Field 246
21. BATCH AUTOMATION – ADDING COPYRIGHT AND URL TO FILE > FILE INFO 247
22. How To: Create a File From Each Layer in an Image 248
23. How To: Convert .jpg To .psd and Save .psd Files In Same Folder As .jpgs 249
24. How To: Create a Selection 1/4" From Each Edge of an Image 249
25. How To: Batch Process Images From Multiple SOURCE Folders 251
26. HOW To: CREATE A NULL ACTION 252
27. How To: Adding Text, LogoS, SignatureS, COPYRIGHT to Images - Introduction 252
28. How To: TYPE A COPYRIGHT SYMBOL © 253
29. HOW TO: BATCH ADD CUSTOM TEXT TO EACH IMAGE 254
30. HOW TO: BATCH ADD THE SAME TEXT TO EACH IMAGE 255
31. How To: Create a WATERMARK 256
32. HOW To: CREATE A SIGNATURE BRUSH 256
33. HOW To: USE A SIGNATURE BRUSH TO SIGN IMAGES IN BATCH – METHOD 1 AUTOMATIC 257
34. HOW To: USE A SIGNATURE BRUSH TO SIGN IMAGES IN BATCH – METHOD 2 MANUAL 260
35. How To: Batch Process A Signature With A Layer Style 264
36. How To: Create a Custom Shape for a Signature and apply it through Batch 264
M. Excercises 265
1. EXERCISE 1: CREATE NEW ACTION “STOP ACTION 1” 265
2. TESTING ACTION “Stop Action 1” 267
3. EXERCISE 2: RECORD NEW ACTION “Duplicate My Image” 268
4. TESTING ACTION “Duplicate My Image” 269
5. EXERCISE 3: ASSIGNING A KEYBOARD SHORTCUT TO “Duplicate My Image” 269
6. EXERCISE 4: INSERTING A DUPLICATE IMAGE COMMAND IN AN ACTION 270
N. APPENDICES 271
1. TESTING ENVIRONMENT 271
2. SUMMARY OF ACTION AND ACTION PALETTE OPERATIONS 272
3. KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS: LAYERS PALETTE RELATED (HANDY FOR ACTION WRITING) 278
4. ACTIONS ARE NOT FILTERS OR PLUG-INS (and vice versa) 278
5. NUANCES OF APPLYING SAVE FOR THE WEB VIA BATCH OR DROPLET 283
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY 286
7. Submitting Suggestions And Corrections 287
8. CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 288
9. ABOUT THE AUTHOR 290
10. ** HOW YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ** 293
I. INTRODUCTION
B. INTRODUCTION
UP
To paraphrase Tim Plumer’s introduction in his article “Take Advantage of Photoshop Actions,” have you ever had a task in Photoshop where you apply the same steps in the same order over and over? After many repetitions of these mindless and time consuming tasks, they become boring and error prone because they don’t engage our imaginations nor require creativity. Practice doesn’t make perfect. It results in wasted time.
If this sounds familiar you have probably wondered, “Instead of having to enter these steps manually each time, isn’t there a way they could be recorded and played back automatically with the touch of a button?”
The good news: “Yes, there is.” All it takes is utilizing functionality built into Photoshop called Actions, the subject of this tutorial.
SINCE THERE ARE DOZENS AND DOZENS OF ACTION TUTORIALS ON THE NET, WHY ANOTHER ONE?
I discovered Photoshop actions in 2001 and was quickly hooked. After plowing through Photoshop’s related help topics I sought additional knowledge through books and Internet tutorials. Although I found numerous tidbits and golden nuggets in a number of places, I was surprised by the absence of a comprehensive information resource on the subject.
One day in early 2003 a close friend, Harry Ellerton (whom I was helping with an action problem) suggested I write a tutorial on actions, so I did and here it is.
WHAT MAKES THIS ONE DIFFERENT?
• Two words: Breadth and depth. Most Internet tutorials are relatively brief and coverage in books is limited, whereas this tutorial attempts to be comprehensive, almost to a fault.
• There was a conscious effort to include reasons Why — practical information, if you will — along with the What and How details.
WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH BY WRITING IT?
• As one who was (and sometimes still is) technology challenged, one goal was to provide a resource that would enable action rookies to gain confidence through knowledge (“If I can do it, you can do it”) as well as help them avoid and/or deal with situations that frequently stymie new users.
• To provide renewed hope for those who have tried playing actions or engaged the File > Automate > Batch or Create Droplet dialogs, but hit a wall and gave up.
• To inspire those who have considered writing actions to take the leap, despite natural feelings of anxiety. Again, “If I can do it, you can do it.”
• To help those with action experience become more effective Photoshop users by sharing less well known capabilities and techniques.
• To be able to more quickly reply to commonly posted action-related questions on various forums by cutting and pasting prewritten answers.
• To inspire those with action writing skills and expertise to come forward and share their best practices and pearls of wisdom. While this tutorial is comprehensive, I can assure you there many methods and skills yet to be documented.
CAUTION (AND ENCOURAGEMENT) TO ROOKIES
Although I made a conscious effort to make this as rookie friendly as possible, regardless of your Photoshop or action experience level there will surely be times when you get overwhelmed by the technical minutia, techno-babble or shear volume of information. That’s to be expected and if it happens, say to yourself, “This is normal. No big deal.”
Don’t give up. It’s a signal to give your brain a rest. After a few hours or days of mental vacation, give it another read and if the light bulb still doesn’t come on, engage http://www.google.com/ and initiate a search using applicable keywords. My bet is if you read descriptions and examples on a subject written from different perspectives than mine, you will eventually get it and soon be on your way again. If that doesn’t work, send me an e-mail (see below) and I’ll be glad to help.
WITH ALL DUE RESPECT TO MAC USERS
Although I used a Mac from 1990 until it died in 2002 (a Mac II-ci running System 7) and liked it a lot, you’ll quickly discover this is written primarily from a Windows perspective. Why? Because Windows has been my main platform for several years.
Not to worry, however. From an actions perspective there’s almost no difference between the Windows and Macintosh implementations and Mac-specific tidbits I discovered along the way are included.
With regard to shortcut references, here’s the standard translation:
Windows Mac
Ctrl Cmd (“Apple” key)
Alt Option
Right-click Control
Important: You will need to be able to decipher Windows path notation like this:
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop 7.0\Required\Default Actions.atn
Translation: Use the Macintosh Sherlock search function to locate file Default Actions.atn.
Assumptions
• Your action experience ranges from none to a lot and you want to learn more about actions.
• You will read this document on your monitor (it’s WAY too long to print), enabling you to switch back and forth with Photoshop.
• Although this has been distributed in .htm format, you will open it at some point with a word processing program such as Microsoft Word and leverage features such as Split-screen and Find.
• You have an Internet connection which will enable you to reference the numerous Web resources cited.
• While the items in the following list should not be construed as requirements, having these skills and knowledge in these areas will be beneficial regardless of the program you’re trying to learn:
o The ability to use the mouse to choose commands from menus
o An understanding of what Drag and Drop is and how to do it
o How to size, move, hide and show windows (under Windows or Mac OS)
o What function keys (also known as F keys, PF keys or program function keys) are and where they are located on the keyboard
o The ability to use the search (find) function in a word processing program or a browser
o How to locate files on your computer using Windows’ or the Mac OS find file function
o What a file name extension is, e.g., .jpg, .psd, .atn, etc.
o Understanding what it means when you read something like
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop 7.0\Required
o Folder (also called a directory) basics: what they are, how to create them and how to move files into, out of and between them
o How to download files from the Internet
o How to attach a file to an e-mail message and how to save a file attached to an e-mail message
WHAT’S THE FOCUS OF THE SUBJECT MATTER?
Photoshop actions.
There is some discussion of writing and playing actions under Photoshop Elements and links are provided to sites where additional information can be found on this subject.
There is no content addressing ImageReady actions. They are incompatible with their Photoshop cousins.
There is detailed coverage of compatibility (and incompatibility) with other versions of Photoshop and non-Photoshop programs.
HOW IS THE CONTENT ORGANIZED?
• Terminology: Understand these terms and the race will be 35% won.
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)- For Newbies: Questions asked and problems encountered by most rookies are addressed or references are provided to detailed answers elsewhere in the document.
• Tidbits for Action Heads: Did You Know? Another FAQ-like section that should be of interest to more experienced action users.
• Basic Concepts: Foundational questions like “What are actions?”, “Why write them?”, “Who writes them?”, “What can they do (and not do)?” are addressed.
• Compatibility: Questions are answered regarding compatibility of actions across Photoshop versions, between academic and standard versions, between Mac and Windows versions, with Photoshop Elements, Photoshop LE and non-Photoshop programs.
• Actions for the Casual User: Actions from soup-to-nuts for those who consider their skills to be somewhere between none and intermediate.
• Beyond Basics: While these topics aren’t necessarily more difficult to comprehend than those in Actions for the Casual User, they may be of less interest to those just getting started with actions. In addition to new topics, some topics introduced previously receive additional coverage. Caution: In this section many methods are presented in general terms rather than step-by-step format used in the previous section. Don’t miss finding out how to load multiple .atn files at one time, recovering deleted actions when you don’t have backup files or how to easily transport your entire action collection from one version of Photoshop to another.
• Help - Actions: Topics related to action-specific errors or problems.
• Help - Batch Processing and Droplets: Topics addressing problems frequently encountered by batch and droplet users.
• How To: Basic instructions for constructing actions to complete common tasks.
• Exercises: Step-by-step instructions on how to create a few simple actions.
• Appendices: If you write actions take note of the comprehensive tables summarizing keyboard shortcuts and Actions Palette operations.
Content COMMENTS
• Photoshop CS considerations and differences: Although this document is primarily based on Photoshop 7, Photoshop CS related topics and tidbits are being added with each revision. It will be interesting to see how clever action authors fold new CS capabilities like layer comps and layer subsets into future actions.
• Some content was purposely duplicated. This was done in instances where it seemed appropriate to reinforce previously mentioned warnings or to avoid having to scroll back 100 pages for a two-line description.
• Where’s the Actions Palette diagram — or any diagrams and screenshots for that matter? Despite urgings from someone whose opinions I greatly respect, Michael Herbert, I chose not to include a graphic of the Actions Palette. As noted previously the assumption is you are reading this on your monitor and have easy access to a Photoshop session and/or the Internet, where numerous Actions Palette diagrams are available.
• Embedded links: Shortly before this document was posted for download, embedded Internet links were validated. Over time some will go stale. Don’t shoot me, okay?
• Accuracy: While considerable effort was made to ensure the content of this document is correct and up to date, there are no doubt errors, critical omissions and inaccuracies that slipped through the cracks. If you find any, I’d would appreciate you not only pointing them out, but offering corrections if possible. Search on SUGGESTIONSCOMMENTS
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
• Photoshop Help, books and Internet tutorials. To get an idea of how fragmented information sources are, check the bibliography and section listing links to action tutorials.
• Forums at sites such as http://www.dpreview.com/, http://www.retouchpro.com/ and http://www.adobeforums.com/.
• Personal observation and experiences, courtesy of The School of Hard Knocks, where I’ll always be in the third grade.
Conventions
• Question/Answer format: Okay. I’ll admit it up front. Not all the questions came from forums I’ve perused. Many were inspired by personal experiences of which many were painful, some were joyful and all were memorable.
• The font used for this document (Courier New): Sorry if it stirs memories of an IBM Selectric typewriter, but using it made it easier to compare and verify subtle differences in links and file paths.
• Section and question numbering: This was my first swing at organizing and writing something this voluminous. Hopefully the combination of content index and numbering scheme will make finding information fairly easy.
• Search on KEYWORDTAGS: These are ALL CAPS special keywords that refer to other sections in the document. The original intent was to embed links in the text to enable click-on-link/jump-to-a-related-topic functionality. It didn’t work out, so I implemented the blue KEYWORDTAGS as a not-so-high-tech substitute. They are meant to be copied/pasted into a Find dialog box. While not elegant, they will work.
• Important: The bold, red type is meant to get your attention. I didn’t overuse it.
• Action Set Names, File names and C:\paths\folders: Colored and italicized for easy visual distinction.
• File path names are based the default Windows Photoshop installation here: C:\Program Files\Adobe
• Keyboard shortcuts: Alt + Ctrl + Shift + E means “While simultaneously holding down the Alt, Ctrl and Shift keys, hit the E key.”
• Commands (italicized): Desaturate, Save Actions…
• Commands selected from menus: Menu > submenu > command
• Photoshop 5.x = 5.0 or 5.5
• Photoshop 7 = 7.0 or 7.01
FINDING WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR
• If you’re using Microsoft Word to view this document, click on any line item in the Table of Contents to jump to that particular page. In topic headings, click on the UP link to return to the Table of Contents.
• If you’re using a word processing program which supports split screen viewing, try displaying the table of contents in the top window and content detail in the bottom window.
• If you’re using a browser, open one instance of the document for the index and another for the content, a two window equivalent of split screen.
• Regardless of what program type used to open the document, use its Find function to search on KEYWORDTAGS or other keywords.
TESTING ENVIRONMENT
• Windows 2000, SP3
• Photoshop 7.01
Some testing was done by friends running other versions of Photoshop under Mac OS or other versions of Windows.
Acknowledgements & CREDITS
They are numerous and well deserved. Check them out in the appendix.
THE NEXT EDITION
At the moment I plan on compiling a version 2.0 which will be in PDF format with working jump links, but doing so will depend to some degree on the feedback received on this interim document. If there is to be a second version, I will be looking for others who are interested in submitting content for it, especially in the areas of batch processing, droplets, action development tips, techniques and testing. Example actions illustrating your expertise or written contributions would be most welcome, too.
No writing experience required. (Does it look like I have writing experience?)
Have no fear. I gladly share credit.
==================================
FEEDBACK IS WELCOME AND ENCOURAGED
==================================
SUGGESTIONSCOMMENTS
If you have suggestions, corrections, opinions, questions, comments, or version 2.0 content ideas you’d like to submit for consideration, I’d like to hear from you.
Send e-mail to:
♣ In the e-mail text please specify The version number of this document (1.1Btoc)
♣ For each correction, suggestion, comment, etc. specify the section reference number from the document to which you are referring, e.g.,
24.6 – This is incorrect. You CAN teach an old dog new tricks.
37.3 – There’s another way to do that, and here it is…
77.5 – This isn’t clear to me: What do you mean by “xxx…”
125 – Photshop is misspelled.
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HOW YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
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After you’ve read through this tutorial, please check out the last page.
OKAY, CAN WE GET ON IT?
Yeah, I guess it’s about time to do that.
C. TERMINOLOGY
UP
Learning just about anything in Photoshop (or any other subject) is less difficult if you have a firm grasp on the jargon. Actions are no different. Rather than burying a glossary at the end of this document, I thought it prudent to tackle terminology at the outset.
If you’ve spent any time working with computers, by now you know making the slightest error when carrying out a procedure will yield somewhere between zero and incorrect results. The purpose of this section, then, is to define and distinguish among these terms that are often misused and easily confused because they look a lot alike. Mastering these distinctions will lead to a better understanding of action concepts and techniques as well as avoid terminology related errors.
If you feel a little intimidated after the first read this section, relax. That’s to be expected. Find comfort knowing that this is just the beginning. As you gain experience with actions and progress through this tutorial where terminology used correctly and consistently, the meanings and distinctions among terms will become clear. By all means refer to this section anytime you feel the need.
Before getting into the terms themselves it will be helpful to mentally divide where action-related object can reside. Some terms refer to objects that reside inside Photoshop’s Actions Palette. The reset refer to objects that reside outside Photoshop, which can be the Desktop, anywhere on a hard disk, a CD, floppy disk, as a file attachment to an e-mail message or an Internet site. Understanding where an object resides will be helpful in grasping concepts such as these that will be addressed later:
• How to get actions into Photoshop whose sources are outside Photoshop, e.g., Internet download, file attached to an e-mail message, a CD that accompanies a book, etc.
• How to get actions out of Photoshop for purposes such as printing action or sharing them with others by e-mail or upload to an Internet
Terms related to objects within (I) the Photoshop window:
o Actions Palette
o Actions Palette Menu
o Action Set
o Action Set Name
o action
o Action Name
o action step
Terms related to objects outside (O) Photoshop:
o .atn
o .atn file
o Action Set File
o Action Set File Name
To aid in visual distinction all of the above (except .atn, .atn file, action and action step) are capitalized throughout this document.
The following definitions are not intended to be in alphabetical order nor match the order of the list above. Most are further explained in subsequent sections.
• Actions Palette: Photoshop has many palettes, for example, Tools, Layers, Brushes, etc. The Actions Palette is one of them. In this palette you will find Action Sets, the actions they contain and all action-related commands and controls, represented by icons at the bottom of the palette or choices in a popup menu.
• Actions Palette Menu: This popup menu lists all action related commands. To display this menu click the black triangle (►) at the top-right of the palette.
• Action Set: Action Sets reside in the Actions Palette and their purpose is to provide a means of organizing actions just like folders are used to organize files under Windows or Mac OS. Action Sets can be created, deleted, copied and renamed at any time, and can contain zero, one or more actions. For organizational purposes Action Sets can be moved (repositioned) within the Actions Palette. Actions can be added to or deleted from Action Sets as well as moved from one Action Set to another.
Unlike Windows or Mac OS where you can have folders inside of folders, Photoshop only supports one level of Action Set, that is, you cannot have an Action Set inside of another Action Set.
Important: Action Sets, which again can only reside in the Actions Palette, are frequently confused with Action Set Files (.atn files), which reside outside of the Actions Palette, typically on your hard disk. Search on WHATSTHEDIF
Important: Photoshop can only play actions that reside in Action Sets.
• Action Set Name: A name assigned to an Action Set when it is created. Similar in concept to folder names, Action Set Names are used to visually distinguish one Action Set from another. Action Set Names can be changed at any time, but be careful if you do this (Stephen Marsh). Search on RENAMEPROBLEMS.
• Action: An action is the result of recording one or more Photoshop operations or commands and their respective settings or options. While technically an action can consist of zero steps (this is a Null Action), that is the exception. Actions range from simple (from one to just a few steps) to the very complex (literally hundreds of steps).
An action is created in a way similar to recording an audio or video tape. When Record Mode (as it’s called) is initiated, Photoshop captures nearly everything you do in what is called steps or action steps), including such things as choosing commands from menus, typing characters into text boxes, choosing among options or dragging sliders in dialog boxes, picking foreground and background colors, making selections with selection tools, etc. Record Mode is terminated by clicking Stop (■) at the bottom of the Actions Palette.
When one plays an action (playback is initiated by clicking Play (►), also located at the bottom of the Actions Palette) Photoshop automatically executes the steps with the same settings and in the same sequence as they were recorded.
Commands and operations applied with an action are not subject to sequence errors or setting changes that could occur if one attempted to manually apply them with mouse clicks and/or typing on a keyboard. Think of an action as “a step-by-step recipe that Photoshop plays automatically without variation.”
While actions are very powerful, unfortunately they can’t do everything. Search on CANTDOEVERYTHING
• Action Name: A name assigned to an action when it is created. Similar in concept to individual file names, Action Names are used to visually distinguish one action from another. Action Names can be changed at any time, but be careful if you do this (Stephen Marsh). Search on RENAMEPROBLEMS
• Action Step (often abbreviated step): The recorded details of Photoshop operations or commands such as:
o Applying a filter, e.g., Unsharp Mask or Gaussian Blur, and their associated settings such as Radius, Amount, Levels, etc.
o Levels, Curves, Threshold, Invert, Desaturate, Hue/Saturation, etc.
o Changing layer characteristics such as opacity, blend mode or layer name.
o Adding, duplicating, moving, merging or deleting layers.
o Adding, deleting or applying layer masks.
o Opening, closing, saving or printing files.
An action step can also be (what’s known as) a Stop Command, which displays an on-screen message.
• Action Set File: A file that resides outside of the Actions Palette (on a hard disk, a floppy disk or a CD). An Action Set File is created when a Save Actions… command is applied to an Action Set, effectively copying the contents of the Action Set into the Action Set File.
Action Set Files can be transported by e-mail (as attachments), CD or floppy disk, or uploaded to or downloaded from Internet sites. When an Action Set File is loaded into the Actions Palette, it is converted to an Action Set at which time the actions inside it are available to be played. Actions cannot be added to or deleted from an Action Set File, nor can actions inside an Action Set File be played. Actions can only be played when they reside inside Action Sets in the Actions Palette.
• Action Set File Name: The name assigned to an Action Set File. On Macs and Windows-based computers .atn must be the last four characters of the file name. On most Mac/Photoshop combinations an Action Set File Name (including the .atn suffix) can be no longer than 31 characters.
• .atn file: See Action Set File.
• .atn, .ATN: (1) The file name extension assigned to Action Set Files that distinguishes them from other file types. Although file name extensions are not usually required for files in the Macintosh environment, .atn is required for Action Set File Names.
(2) It is not uncommon to see atn and ATN (with or without the leading period) used in written communication to represent action, Action Set, and/or Action Set File. In these cases one must evaluate context to discern the intended meaning. To avoid potential problems of this nature the generic application of atn and ATN will not be used in this document.
So, why so much confusion about terminology? Some of it is probably the result of two frequently used commands from the Actions Palette Menu that in my view are mislabeled: Save Actions… and Load Actions…, both of which will be addressed in much more detail later.
When Save Actions… is selected, Photoshop actually saves an Action Set. In this case a more appropriate menu choice would be Save Action Set… A Load Actions… command actually loads an Action Set File, hence Load Action Set File… would be a more intuitive menu choice. Alas, the menu choices are what they are. Knowing how they should have been labeled will perhaps make things a little less confusing.
Finally, I invented two terms above: Action Set File (.atn), Action Set File Name. Why? To have a means to reference these distinct entities and distinguish them from other action-related objects.
D. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - for newbies
UP
1. Q: Can Photoshop actions run under Photoshop Elements?
A: Yes, with a little help. Search on ELEMENTSCOMPAT
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2. Q: I’m trying to write a simple action to automatically convert all files in a folder from .psd format to .jpg format using File > Automate > Batch, but with each image a dialog box is displayed requesting .jpg options. What am I doing wrong?
A: Once you know the trick, it’s a pretty easy fix. Search on OVERRIDESAVEAS
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3. Q: How do I transfer actions from my old version of Photoshop, say Photoshop 6, to a new version, say Photoshop CS?
A: Easy stuff. Search on NEWPSVERSION
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4. Q: How do I transfer actions from my old computer to my new computer?
A: Again, a fairly simple process. Search on NEWMACHINE
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5. Q: Where’s a good place to learn about actions?
A: Photoshop’s built-in help topics on actions are very informative. In Photoshop press F1 and search on Automation Tasks or Actions.
If I may be so humble this tutorial is pretty good, too.
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6. Q: Besides this tutorial are you aware of other action tutorials on the Internet?
A: Yes, indeed. There are many. Search on ACTIONTUTS
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7. Q: Where does Photoshop save the actions I write? Are they in an .atn file like the ones I download from the Internet?
A: Actions you write are NOT save in an .atn file unless you specifically engage the Save Actions… command to do that. Each time you shutdown Photoshop the contents of the Actions Palette, which includes all the actions you write, are save in a preferences file named Actions Palette.psp. Search on FINDINGPSP
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8. Q: I’ve got a folder full of images (some portrait, some landscape). Can an action be used to automatically apply a copyright and/or signature to all of them?
A: Yes. The action is invoked through a process called batch processing, which enables it to apply the apply a copyright and/or signature to all images in a designated folder. If the action is written using the correct method, image orientation is irrelevant. Search on BATCHPROCESSING, INSERTCOPYRIGHT
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9. Q: I’ve seen atn, .atn, .ATN and ATN used in reference to actions, such as, “Hey, how about sending me that cool sharpening ATN.” What’s all this .atn business mean?
A: See section III. TERMINOLOGY above.
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10. Q: What’s the difference between an action and a filter and a plug-in?
A: On the surface this may appear to be an easy question to answer, but it isn’t. For a comprehensive side-by-side comparison search on ACTIONFILTERPLUGIN
Here’s the abbreviated version…
While filters and plug-ins are similar in many ways, actions are in a league of their own.
Generally speaking filters and plug-ins are invoked through menus (usually, but not always, the Filter or File menus and sometimes custom menus) and perform specific functions which cannot be modified by users beyond dialog box settings. You need to have programming skills to create a plug-in.
Actions:
• Are invoked through the Actions Palette, the Automate > Batch dialog, by keyboard shortcuts or indirectly through droplets.
• Can be written by those without background in computer programming.
• Have no limit to their degree of modification.
• Can be shared with others as long as they were not purchased or there are no restrictions on distribution specified by the author.
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11. Q: Can Photoshop actions run under Photoshop LE, Corel PhotoPaint, Metacreations Photo-Brush, Micrografx Picture Publisher, Ulead Photo Impact, Jasc Paint Shop Pro, Gimp, etc?
A: No. Non-Photoshop applications cannot play Photoshop actions and Photoshop cannot play action-like Productivity Scripts and Corel Script Files written using programs such as Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8 and Corel PhotoPaint, respectively.
The LE in Photoshop LE stands for Limited Edition, which among other things translates to, “Does not support actions.”
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12. Q: Where is the Actions Palette?
A: Press F9 or choose Actions from the Window menu.
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13. Q: How do I display the Actions Palette Menu?
A: Click the black triangle (►) located at the top-right of the Actions Palette.
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14. Q: I click and hold on the black triangle (►) located at the top-right of the Actions Palette to display this menu, but it doesn’t open. What am I doing wrong?
A: You have probably exceeded a menu threshold. Search on NOACTIONS
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15. Q: How do I save (backup) my actions?
A: Click on (highlight) the Action Set Name of the set whose actions you want to save and choose Save Actions… from the Actions Palette Menu. Search on SAVEACTIONS
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WHATSTHEDIF
16. Q: What’s the difference between an Action Set and an Action Set File (.atn)?
A: The biggest distinction is where each resides (see “Location” in the table below.
CharacteristicAction SetAction Set File (.atn)LocationResides in the Actions PaletteResides outside of Photoshop, e.g., hard disk, CD or floppy disk or InternetContainsOne or more actions One or more actions, but they are in a different format than actions inside Action SetsRestrictions what characters can be included in the nameNoneThe last four characters must be “.atn”Actions can be added, deleted, modified or renamedYesNoActions can be moved for organizational purposesYes. Actions can be moved within an action set or between different action setsNoCan be moved within the Actions Palette for organizational purposeYesNot applicable since an .atn does not reside in the Actions PalettePhotoshop can play actions fromYesNoPhotoshop will open if double-clickedNo. This will open the Action Set Option dialogYes, as long as Photoshop is not already openCan be transported via e-mail, CD, floppy disk or Internet upload or download process?No. An Action Set must be converted to as an .atn first using the Save Actions command.Yes
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17. Q: Can you recommend sites where I can download actions?
A: Yes and there are many. Search on ACTIONSITES
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18. Q: What do I do after I download an Action Set File from the Internet or get one attached to an e-mail message?
A: Load it into the Actions Palette. Search on LOADACTIONS
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19. Q: What do I do with a .zip file?
A: First you must “unzip” it. Search on UNZIPFILE
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20. Q: When the .zip file is unzipped, what do I do then?
A: Load the .atn file(s) it contains into the Actions Palette. Search on LOADACTIONS
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21. Q: How do I play an action?
A: Like many functions in Photoshop, there are a couple ways to play an action. The most common is: Select (highlight) the Action Name and click Play (►). Search on PLAYACTION
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22. Q: Why does nothing happen when I highlight an Action Set Name and click Play (►)? (DaveC)
A: Because you cannot play Action Sets. You can only play actions. Click on the Action Name, then click Play (►) and you’re in business.
It is possible to play all actions in an Action Set if that’s what is desired. Search on NESTEDACTIONS
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23. Q: Play (►) is grayed out. Why?
A: You have selected (highlighted) an Action Set Name, not an Action Name. When an Action Name is selected, Play (►) will be available.
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24. Q: Can I suppress some or all of those annoying messages or dialog boxes that display every time I run an action?
A: Yes, and it’s pretty easy to do. Search on MSGSUPPRESS
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25. Q: How can I share actions from my action collection with others?
A: Search on SHARINGACTIONS
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26. Q: What’s the best way to organize my actions?
A: The best way is the way that works best for you. The options are practically unlimited. Search on ACTIONORG
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27. Q: What’s the best way to learn how to write actions?
A: Study actions written by others and start writing actions yourself. Search on ACTIONTUTS and ACTIONWRITE
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28. Q: How do I move an action from one Action Set to another Action Set?
A: Click on the Action Name (NOT the Action Set Name) and Drag and Drop the action into the destination Action Set.
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29. Q: How do I copy an action from one Action Set to another Action Set?
A: While holding down the Alt key, click on the Action Name (NOT the Action Set Name) and Drag and Drop the action into the destination Action Set.
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30. Q: How do I print the steps in an action?
A: Search on PRINTSTEPS
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31. Q: My friend has a Mac. I’ve got Windows. If Photoshop is open and she double-clicks an .atn, the Action Set File gets loaded into the Actions Palette. When I double-click an .atn file, Photoshop opens, but no new actions. Why?
A: This is one of those rare Mac/Windows differences. Some Windows users can get similar results using an obscure method. Search on OPENWITH
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32. Q: If I want an Action Set File to be listed on the Actions Palette Menu, where does it need to be saved?
A: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop 7.0\Presets\Photoshop Actions
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33. Q: What’s the benefit of .atn files being in
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop 7.0\Presets\Photoshop Actions?
A: It simplifies the Load Actions process. Clicking the Action Set File Name on the Actions Palette Menu initiates the process of copying it into the Actions Palette and saving it as an Action Set, bypassing the Load Actions… process.
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34. Q: Do .atn files I download from the Internet or get via e-mail have to reside in
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop 7.0\Presets\Photoshop Actions?
A: No. Technically it does not matter where an Action Set File resides on your hard disk. Search on WHERETOPUTACTIONS
Remember, an .atn file is useless to Photoshop. It must be converted to an Action Set before actions in it can be played. Search on LOADACTIONS
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35. Q: When I opened Photoshop for the first time, there’s an action set named Default in the Actions Palette. Where did it come from?
A: When Photoshop is installed on your computer, the installer puts this action set into the Actions Palette.
If you ever have to reload this action set, here’s where Default Actions.atn resides on your hard disk:
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop 7.0\Required\
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36. Q: Besides Default Actions.atn, where are the other Adobe provided action sets located on my hard disk?
A: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop 7.0\Presets\Photoshop Actions
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37. Q: How do I create a new Action Set of my own?
A: Click NEW SET () at the bottom of the Actions Palette.
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38. Q: Can I have an Action Set inside an Action Set and, if so, how many levels of Action Sets can I have?
A: No, you can not have an Action Set inside an Action Set: Action Sets within Action Sets are not permitted. In other words Photoshop allows only one level of Action Sets. Search on ACTIONORG
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39. Q: On my computer I save my Photoshop files in the following folder and have recorded several actions that specify this path in SAVE commands:
C:\MyDocuments\My PS Images
I just got a new computer and now all my data files are on D:\. Is there a way I can use, say, Microsoft Word (or any other program) to “find and replace” all occurrences of C:\ with D:\ avoiding the daunting task of rerecording all these actions?
A: No. There is no way to modify actions outside of the Actions Palette. You’ll need to manually rerecord the SAVE commands one by one. Sorry about that.
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40. Q: I’ve developed quite a few custom Curves settings and saved them as .acv files. Now I want writes actions that include these Curves, but don’t want to have to distribute the individual .acv files with the actions. How can I do that?
A: Search on CURVESETTINGS
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41. Q: I’m trying to automate the process of acquiring an image from my scanner, but it doesn't seem to work. After clicking RECORD I choose File > Import > Epson 3200. The scanner starts, but the step does not record in the action. Is this an invalid Action process?
A: No, it’s not an invalid process per se, but sometimes scanning operations cannot be recorded directly.
Try this: Be sure the scanning process is complete and the window to the scanner interface is closed. When you click OK, that may cause the step to record in the action. (RonHirsh)
If it does not this is a situation where the File > Import > Epson 3200 command has to be inserted (not recorded) into the action. (TonyK) Search on INSERTMENU
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42. Q: What question should be a frequently asked question, but isn’t?
A: I would say, “Is there an easy way to backup all my Action Sets in the Actions Palette without plowing through the Save Actions dialog for each one?”
The good news: Yes there is. You won’t believe how easy it is. Search on ACTIONSPREFERENCEFILE
E. Tidbits For action heads: did you know?
UP
Before I started doing research for this document I’d probably written 200-250 actions of various types and flavors. (Note: Don’t confuse quantity with quality. I’ve still got a LOT to learn about crafting quality actions.) One of the unexpected benefits of this experience has been learning a whole lot I didn’t know previously.
While hardened action addicts may classify some items from this next list in the categories of “Already knew that one,” “That’s nice, but so what?” or “Trivia,” many were real blockbusters for me. Hopefully you’ll find at least a few golden nuggets among them.
ACTIONHIST
DID YOU KNOW…
1. The Actions Palette first appeared in Photoshop 4, succeeding Photoshop 3’s Commands Palette? Photoshop 3 Command Sets (as they were called) could not be loaded into Photoshop 4’s Actions Palette? Actions written under PS 5.x could not be played under PS 4, just like PS 5.x cannot play (or even load) actions written with later Photoshop versions. Looks like “Déjà vu all over again,” as Yogi Berra once said.
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2. Pressing the TAB key will show/hide all palettes and Tool Bar and SHIFT + TAB toggles the palettes? These comes in handy when you need to see an uncluttered screen while developing actions – or doing anything else for that matter.
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3. F5, F7 and F9 will show/hide the Brushes, Layers and Actions Palettes respectively if they are not docked in the palette well and just show them if they are docked? (DougC)
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4. You can mass load multiple Action Set Files (as in as many at a time as you like) all at once into the Actions Palette vs. one-at-a-time using the Load Actions… command? Search on LOADFAST
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5. You can mass load multiple Action Set Files from a .zip file WITHOUT unzipping it? Search on LOADFAST
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6. If Photoshop is open, you can load an Action Set File by opening it using Window’s Open With command or double-clicking on it in Mac? In some cases this works on Windows, too. Search on OPENWITH
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7. There are at least three ways to copy (duplicate) an action?
Search on BIGTABLE
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8. When an action is played you can prevent Photoshop from expanding it in the Actions Palette by choosing Accelerated among the Playback Options. Search on PLAYBACKOPTIONS
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9. You can select tools like the Move tool that normally cannot be selected in an action? Search on Selectmovetool
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10. If you assign an Action Name in the New Action dialog or change it in the Action Options dialog, the name is restricted to 31 characters, but if you double-click an Action Name in the Actions Palette the name can contain up to 64 characters?
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11. If you assign an Action Set Name in the New Set dialog or change it in the Set Options dialog, the name is restricted to 31 characters, but if you double-click an existing Action Set Name in the Actions Palette the name can be up to 64 characters in length?
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12. Under Windows .atn files with file names as long as 199 characters (203 characters if you count the .atn file name extension) can be converted into Action Sets and loaded into the Actions Palette using the Load Actions… command? It’s unlikely you’ll ever need a 199 character Action Set Name, but it is possible.
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13. Under Windows 2000, XP and XP/PRO you can put over 1,100 5-step actions in a single Action Set? (I stopped trying to add more after 1,100 reasoning that it was doubtful anyone would ever need that many and there’s little value in knowing the exact maximum.)
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14. If you’re quick with the mouse it’s possible to check or uncheck the Enable/Disable or Display Dialog checkboxes for a given step while an action is running?
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15. If you’re quick with the mouse it’s possible to reposition the active window or an on-screen palette while an action is running?
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16. In order to quickly determine actions to which keyboard shortcuts have been assigned, display the Actions Palette in Button Mode?
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17. When the Actions Palette is in Button Mode the button that’s clicked to launch an action will turn red if the corresponding action executes a Stop Command and the user clicks the Stop button in the dialog, and that clicking that same button (turned red) will resume the paused action?
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18. The maximum number of characters permitted in a Stop Command message is 255?
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19. You can terminate Record Mode or halt a running action by clicking Stop (■) or the Esc key?
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20. You can execute Insert Stop and Insert Menu Item commands even when Record Mode is active?
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21. To expand/collapse all actions and all Action steps with an Action Set, Alt + click on the Show/Hide Triangle to the left of the Action Set Name?
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22. To expand/collapse all steps within an action, Alt + click on the Show/Hide Triangle to the left of the Action Name?
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23. You can replace the Adobe provided actions in default action set Default.atn with your own actions? As long as Default.atn resides in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop 7.0\Required\, Photoshop does not care what actions it contains.
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24. A given keyboard shortcut, such as F5 or Shift + F3, can be assigned to (and will play) multiple actions? Search on DUPSHORTCUTS
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25. If you accidentally turn on (or leave on) Record Mode and record numerous commands you don’t want, there is an easy way to delete them? Click (highlight) the first unwanted command, then, while holding down the Ctrl key, click the last unwanted command, selecting the range. Finally drag the selected commands to the Trash ().
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26. If you have numerous Action Sets in your Actions Palette, they can be backed up all at the same time without a single trip through the Save Actions dialog? This same technique can be used to transfer the contents of your entire Actions Palette to your new computer or to a new version of Photoshop. Search on ACTIONSPREFERENCEFILE
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27. For learning or debugging purposes there’s a real easy way to play an action one-command-at-a-time that doesn’t involve Playback Options? Search on 1STEPATATIME
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28. Although you cannot record strokes of the Stamp tool (also known as the Clone tool) in an action, a Patch Tool repair can be recorded which may enable one to automate fixing hot spots in a folder of images?
F. Basic Concepts
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This section is primarily intended for those with little or no experience with actions. The topics addressed are intended to build foundational knowledge and skills by answering questions such as:
• “What is an action?”
• “Why would I want to record one?”
• “What can actions do (and not do)?”
1. LEARNING ABOUT ACTIONS: PHOTOSHOP HELP, WEBSITES, BOOKS, VIDEOS
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1.1 Q: Before reading further is there anything I should know?
A: I found the help topics in Photoshop 7 to be well organized and very informative. To those interested in actions (or Photoshop automation in general) I would highly recommend reading these.
Press F1 to display Photoshop’s Help function and then choose Automating Tasks from the topic list on the left.
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ACTIONTUTS
1.2 Q: Are there Internet tutorials on actions you would recommend?
A: Here are a few sites worthy of mention. The first few are outstanding. Those in the second group are quite good; the rest are worth a look.
NOTE: If you’d like to submit links to action tutorials to be considered for future updates of this document, I welcome your recommendations. Search on SUGGESTIONSCOMMENTS
Best of the bunch:
DigitalIguana.com - http://tinyurl.com/ywkwd or
http://www.digitaliguana.com/Handouts/DPIX2001/DPIX%20-%20Actions%20-%20COLOR.pdf
Seán Duggan, Katrin Eismann (Signature action, batch processing, droplets):
http://www.digitalphotobook.net/tutorials/actions/actions_1.html
Trevor Morris:
http://user.fundy.net/morris/redirect.html?photoshop21.shtml
PDF version: http://user.fundy.net/morris/downloads/Actions.pdf
University of Texas (PDF):
http://technology.communication.utexas.edu/dv/PDF/ps_a_automation.pdf
Rob Dublin’s tutorial (PDF):
http://www.hookbuilt.com/nypc/actions.pdf
Transcontinental (PDF):
http://www.transcontinental-printing.com/cust/training/pdf/PhotoshopActionsBatchProc.pdf
VERY GOOD:
“Take advantage of PS Actions,” Tim Plumer: http://tinyurl.com/2283j
One of the better ones:
http://www.chainstyle.com/photoshop/webhelp/tutorials/basics/anatomy_of_an_action.htm
Scroll down to the Photoshop section. This is a 3-part series.
http://www.soniacoleman.com/Tutorials/tutorials.htm
More Trevor Morris handiwork:
There are always a lot of goodies at About.com:
http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/photoshopactiontip/index.htm
http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/photoshopactions/
How to create a watermark action.
http://www.riecks.com/forphotogs/copyrightaction.html
Roger Cavanagh’s site:
http://www.rogercavanagh.com/actions/14_creating.htm
HONORABLE MENTION:
Click on Tutorials button near the top of the window.
http://www.benwillmore.com/tips/012301tip.html
Ben Wilmore: Action tips
http://www.michielsen.info/photoshop/actions/index.htm
Courtesy of Leo Michielsen. Very good screen shots.
http://www.dpandi.com/actions/
Drew MacCallum's. Great for a beginner. Step-by-step.
http://www.ddj.com/documents/s=2932/nam1012433951/index.html
Excerpt from Donnie O’Quinn’s Photoshop in a Nutshell. This is a good summary of action development considerations.
http://www.myjanee.com/tuts/centeract/centeract.htm
A tutorial on how to write a simple action that marks the center of an image.
http://www.retouchpro.com/tutorials/actions/index.html
This tutorial is richly illustrated.
http://www.lonestardigital.com/action.htm
How to assign a keyboard shortcut to an action. Good screenshots.
http://www.outbackphoto.com/workflow/wf_19/essay.html
Includes an example of record actions within an action.
http://www.shutterfreaks.com/Tips/GettingStartedPS.html
Good graphics to guide you along the way.
http://www.xkeys.com/resources/action7.php
How to quickly record four actions. Forget the “x-keys” instructions at the end if you like.
http://www.betterphoto.com/photocourses/_samples/PSautomation.asp
By Jim Mioke; a lot of detail and graphics.
http://www.digital-foundry.com/photoshop/workshop/actions_intro.shtml
Although written for PS 4, the concepts are the same and there’s some good basic info. Describes how to create a sepia toned image from a color photo.
http://www.rice.edu//fondren/erc/howto/photoshop.html#actions
From Rice University.
http://depts.washington.edu/trio/comp/howto/pieces/images/pshopaction/index.shtml From University of Washington.
might be helpful:
http://www.dotproject.org/articles.php?action=read&id=8
Quick and basic.
http://www.photoshopcafe.com/tutorials/actions/actions.htm
A quickie overview.
http://www.rogercavanagh.com/actions/10_batch_action.htm
Basic overview.
http://www.psmeg.co.uk/pages/tutorials/actions.htm
Basic overview.
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GOODBOOKS
1.3 Q: What about books?
A: Until February 2004 I had yet to see a book dedicated to actions. Most books give actions give actions minimal coverage, seldom more than a few pages.
These are the exceptions that provide the most in depth coverage I’ve found so far:
Photoshop in a Nutshell (based on Photoshop 5)
Photoshop 6 Shop Manual (based on PS 6)
Both were authored by Donnie O’Quinn and have comprehensive sections on actions (in general), the Actions Palette, action related commands and batch processing. Though brief, the presentation on droplets is the best I’ve seen anywhere, too.
Speaking from the perspective of action and batch automation related topics only, the content of each is nearly identical except for slight version differences. The Source/File Browser option in the File > Automate > Batch dialog is the only topic not addressed because this feature was not introduced until PS 7. The rest is fully applicable to PS 7 and later versions.
Despite being written for older Photoshop versions, I highly recommend either of these not only for the action and batch processing content, but for their overall breadth, depth and exceptionally useful information on Photoshop topics from A to Z. Look into second hand editions at used book sites like http://www.half.com/ and Amazon.com’s zShops (used books).
The second book that stood out action and batch processing-wise was Photoshop 7 Bible Professional Edition by Deke McClelland. Note, this is not the standard edition of PS Bible, which sadly has practically no useful content in these areas. P7BPE has Source/File Browser content as well as practical information and examples missing from the PS Shop Manual above.
The Hidden Power of Photoshop CS by Richard Lynch (2004) has a very informative section on batch automation and goes into actions for ImageReady as well.
Although not yet published as of this update, keep your eyes open for the first book I’ve seen dedicated to Photoshop actions: Al Ward's Photoshop Productivity Toolkit: Over 500 Time-Saving Actions. Al’s site, www.ActionFX.com, has been around for years and he’s recognized far and wide as one of the pioneering action gurus. He’s written numerous articles about actions and maintains the actions section of the NAPP Website. I’ve preorder his book at Amazon.com. It is expected to be available sometime the second half of 2004.
Search on HELPBIB
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1.4 Q: How about Google USENET discussion groups?
A: Like the Google Web searches, the discussion groups are a GOLD MINE of information. http://groups.google.com/
Use search arguments such as:
Photoshop actions
Photoshop “action tutorial”
Photoshop automation
Photoshop “batch processing”
You’ll be reading for weeks, if not months.
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1.5 Q: How about videos?
A: To date I’ve only seen one video devoted to actions, Unleashing the Power of Actions, produced and distributed a few years back by Scott Kelby. This video is no longer being offered for sale at http://www.photoshopvideos.com/, but it occasionally shows up for sale in eBay auctions. I bought a copy via eBay, watched it twice and sold it.
Although the breadth of content was sufficient, those looking for meaty content and useful tidbits will find the technical depth shallow. In all fairness adequate coverage of actions in a 1-hour video is impossible. Even so, I would have preferred fewer topics and more depth. This video would be suitable for those seeking a visual highlight film of action capabilities without fear of being buried in technical detail.
Speaking of Photoshop videos, sometimes fairly recent ones are available at public or school libraries or can be rented from video stores. If you are able to view Unleashing the Power of Actions for a nominal rental fee or, better yet, for free, that would be the way to go.
2. WHY RECORD ACTIONS?
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2.1 Q: Why would anyone want to record an action?
A: Here are some typical reasons.
To leverage frequently used Photoshop features or functions
Each person uses Photoshop differently. Actions can essentially customize Photoshop to meet individual requirements.
Knowledge preservation
Since actions consist of recorded steps, once created the steps are available for as long as the action exists. If a key member of the staff wins the lottery and retires to Tahiti, the actions he wrote and used in his work (if they were good ones) will make his departure a little less painful. They can be played by others and will yield the same results.
The ultimate do-over
Since each time an action is played its commands are applied in the same sequence, an image created by playing one or more actions can be recreated in the event the modified image is lost or damaged IF the original image and actions applied to it are still available.
To accurately capture sessions of exploration or creativity (KentC)
If you’re into photo-art (and who isn’t? LOL) have you ever been in “Trial and Error Mode” where you’ll try this, undo that, apply something here, tweak something there and all of a sudden end up with a GREAT result? Then it hits you: “How the heck did I DO THAT?” The degree of success in recreating a particular effect depends on factors such as memory, ability to interpret and manipulate History Palette states, the number of states recorded before history rolls over and perhaps a little (or a lot) of luck. If you click Record New Action () just before launching into creative mode, this will ensure all steps leading up to that inspirational result are dutifully recorded thus eliminating memory and luck as factors in the reconstruction process. While you may end up with a lot of throw-away steps using this approach, at least you’ll have all the steps. Eliminating unneeded steps is more efficient and yields more accurate results than starting from scratch, especially on complicated effects.
Note: Photoshop CS introduced a new function called the History log which tracks a great deal more detail than an action can, but the log cannot be converted into an action.
Benchmarking:
Some actions are written for the purpose of benchmarking (performance comparison). A set of actions is executed on computer A and timed. The same set of actions is played on computer B (or computer A which is configured differently) and timed. The elapsed times are compared for throughput analysis or troubleshooting purposes. (PierreC).
To save time and increase productivity
Using actions has the potential to achieve significant gains in productivity by utilizing the power of today’s computers. For example converting file formats or applying a complex multi-step sharpening process to hundreds of images are daunting tasks that would take hours — possibly days, if done manually, but can be performed automatically by actions in a fraction of the time. (TonyK)
Increase action development and maintenance productivity (TonyK)
Editorial comment: I’m about to launch into some techno-babble, so don’t worry if your eyes glaze over a bit. Most people won’t have a use for this level of sophistication, while others may be intrigued by the possibilities.
Suppose you have 50 actions and each must play the same 10 commands at the outset. One way to accomplish this would be to record (or copy) the 10 identical steps into each of the 50 actions.
Another approach would be to write a separate action consisting of the 10 commands. Then, record (or copy) a single command in each of the 50 actions that calls the 10-step action.
Here’s how the called action model pays off. Suppose when Adobe comes out with Photoshop 11 you decide to replace step three of the 10-step sequence with a new command. Using the called action model, a single change to the called 10-step action is all that’s needed: swap out the old step three with the new step three. No changes are necessary for the 50 individual actions since they call the modified 10-step action. In the model where each of the 50 actions contain the 10 individual steps, step three would have to be swapped out 50 times, once for each action. Ugly.
Search on NESTEDACTIONS
To aid those less skilled
Actions can be used by entry-level personnel until they have sufficient knowledge/experience to manually complete tasks faster than actions can achieve them.
Process compliance
Some actions are purposely created to apply commands without user input or variation. Consistent results are produced each and every time.
Other actions allow users to modify settings or select options as the action plays. Playing actions of this nature ensures the same commands are applied each time, while allowing for setting variations.
Standards or documentation compliance
If you are an ISO9000/9001 compliant facility or are involved in forensic photo enhancement, it is frequently a requirement to accurately document changes made to an image or group of images. (TonyK)
Simplify making choices among various methods
If you haven’t discovered it yet, you will in time: For a given result there can be multiple methods of achieving it in Photoshop. Sharpening an image is a good example.
Besides Sharpen > Unsharp Mask, other sharpening methods have been developed, each with its own set of pros and cons and optimal target image characteristics – not to mention unique steps. Here are some common sharpening methods: High Pass sharpening, Luminosity sharpening, Overlay sharpening, Edge sharpening and Multi-pass sharpening. Among these are variations as well.
Being able to play an action for each method relieves one from memorizing individual techniques and variations. It also simplifies the process of applying different techniques and evaluating the results side-by-side.
To share knowledge
Since actions can be e-mailed or posted on Websites for download, they provide a convenient and portable way for sharing techniques with Photoshop users worldwide.
To learn more about Photoshop (self-directed learning)
Studying actions can be a great way to learn different techniques. By looking under the hood and studying actions written by others, those new to Photoshop as well as experienced users can discover not only better ways to create actions, but new ways of applying the limitless combinations of Photoshop commands, filters, options, settings, blend modes, etc. (TonyK)
Personally I’ve found a close correlation between studying (and writing) actions and a more rapid ascent of the steep and seemingly never ending Photoshop learning curve.
To enable those new Photoshop to explore artistic capabilities
Since taking over administration of the DPReview Retouching Forum Action Collection, which contains numerous actions developed for the purpose of creating photo-art, it has come to my attention how many fairly novice Photoshop users make use of the photo-art actions. These actions inspire some users to engage in a creative activity while they learn basic Photoshop skills. They’re able to apply effects and achieve results without knowing how to write actions.
As a teaching supplement
Sometimes I craft an action to generate a multi-layer image that serves as the basis for a tutorial. Having an action do this setup relieves me of having to document the construction process and ensures students start with the same image.
Just for the fun of it – and maybe make a buck or two!
Some people like to build model airplanes; others enjoy woodworking. Why not write actions? A few folks (Fred Miranda and Mike Finn come to mind) earn well-deserved revenue for developing well crafted and useful actions and making them available for purchase.
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2.2 Q: What characteristics of actions make them appealing?
A: Appealing aspects include:
• Actions are feature rich. Most tasks one performs in Photoshop can be preserved in an action.
• Actions are easy to organize, modify, duplicate, backup and restore.
• The Photoshop implementation of actions is fairly straightforward.
• Learning to use actions is not difficult. There are numerous How to Use Actions tutorials on the Internet.
• Learning to write actions is not difficult. No formal computer programming background is required.
• It’s easy to share actions with others.
3. TYPES OF THINGS ACTIONS CAN RECORD
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3.1 Q: Can you give some examples of what kinds of things can be recorded in an action?
A: Actions can record most commands that can be chosen from Photoshop’s menus or invoked by the corresponding Photoshop keyboard shortcut, settings made by selecting from a pull-down menu, option choices, keying in text or numeric values into a field, adjusting a slider, etc., for example:
• Opening, closing, printing files
• Applying filters from Sharpening to Blurring, adding Noise and Film Grain, Emboss, Colored Pencil, Clouds, Plastic Wrap, etc.
• Adding adjustment layers and layer masks
• Changing color space modes, e.g., from cmyk to rgb, rgb to grayscale
• Changing file format, for example, .jpg to .tif
• Easily switching among predefined Window > Workspace definitions
• Dialog box settings specified by dragging a slider or typing in a value
• Adding, modifying or deleting layers, channels, layer masks or alpha channels
• Changing layer characteristics (blend modes, opacity percentage, etc.),
• Moving layers up or down in the layers palette
• Applying a gradient or displacement map
• Applying layer styles
• Duplicating images
• Changes to image resolution and canvas size
• Manipulating type layers
• Selections made with any of the selection tools
…and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
4. EXAMPLE RESULTS
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4.1 Q: Why all the fuss?
A: Here are just a few examples of how one might use actions:
• If you don’t have Photoshop CS yet, to assign a keyboard shortcut to frequently used commands (or command variations) that were not assigned a native Photoshop shortcut, such as View > Clear Guides, Edit > Stroke, Alt + Merge visible, etc. Note: You can do this in Photoshop CS without actions.
• To automatically remove (or reduce) noise, sharpen and apply color correction to each image generated by scanning a roll of negatives.
• To generate textures of various types (wood, marble, stone, carpet-like, grass, etc.), frames (oval or rectangular), mattes, buttons, drop-shadows, 3-D and text effects.