How to Install ATN Files in Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop is a graphics and image manipulation program from Adobe. It is considered by many to be the premier software of its type. Aside from the built-in capabilities of Photoshop, you can increase the software's abilities by adding actions, brushes and more. ATN or action files in Photoshop are files that provide a way to automatically run a set of recorded steps. Installing ATN or action files is easy, but if you aren't sure what you are doing, it can be frustrating to get the ATN files in the right place in Photoshop.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Visit the link in the References section labeled "Photoshop Actions Collection" and scroll through the list of Photoshop actions.

2. Click the "Download" link for the particular action that you would like to download and install.

3. Select "Save File" from the pop-up window. Click "Desktop" in the save location window on the left side and click "Save" at the bottom. This will save a zip file of the action files to your desktop.

4. Right-click the compressed zip file and select "Open With">>"Compressed (zipped) Folders." This will open the file in a new window.

5. Select "Extract all files" from the left-hand menu. This will open the file extraction wizard.

6. Click "Next" when the wizard opens. Leave the location set as the default in the next window (it will extract the files to a folder in the same location as the compressed file). Click "Next" at the bottom.

7. 
    
   Photoshop action files in a folder

   Select "Show Extracted Files" in the next window and click "Finish" at the bottom. Your extracted folder will now open in a new window displaying your ATN files. Depending on the actions you chose to download, there may be more than one file, but they will look like the screen shot here.

8. Select your action file or files by clicking on them once. If there is more than one, hold "Control" on your keyboard and click each one once. Now click "Control + x" on your keyboard to "cut" the ATN files. Close all windows.

9. Open your Start menu by clicking on the "Start" button in the lower left of your screen. If you are using Vista, it will just be the Vista icon. Select "My Computer" from the right-hand menu. If you are using Vista, it will be labeled "Computer" only.

10. Double-click your main hard drive in the new window. It should be labeled drive C:\. Double-click "Programs">>"Adobe" and locate your Photoshop installation folder. This may vary slightly, depending on which version of Photoshop you are using and what suite it is part of. It will probably be something like Adobe Photoshop CS3 or Adobe Photoshop Technical Communications Suite 2>>Adobe Photoshop CS4.

11. Open your Photoshop installation folder by double-clicking it. Double-click the "Presets">>"Actions" folders to open the Photoshop actions installation location.

12. Press "Control + v" on your keyboard to "paste" the Photoshop action (or ATN) files you "cut" earlier. Next time you open Photoshop, your new actions will be available from your library.

Tips & Warnings

• Install Photoshop brushes, color swatches and more the same way but in their respective Presets folders.
• Never install ATN files in folders other than the Actions folder. Photoshop will not be able to locate them. Look for other download sites for more Photoshop actions

References

• Photoshop Actions Collection