How to Use the Action Button in Adobe Photoshop CS3
The action button in Adobe Photoshop CS3 is like a recording tool. It tracks all of your movements during the "recording time," that is, every move you make to a given photo or image, it will duplicate on a separate image exactly. Action is similar to creating a template. Actions are most useful when you have batch photos to edit and you wish to get them done in less time, or if you are performing a certain application that you wish to duplicate again. You can also download pre-made actions to be applied to multiple photos in the same fashion.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Open a file that you wish to perform the recording actions on. Before doing any editing, located the Action tab, which should be on the right-hand side tool palate. If you cannot find the actions tab, access it through through the Window tab at the top of the page and select Action from the drop-down menu, or use the keyboard command alt + f 9.
-
2
Click "Create new action" when the Actions window appears on your screen. You will then be prompted to create a name for your action, and if you desire, set a keyboard command to trigger it. Using the drop-down menu to the right of "function key" choose a key and Shift or Ctrl to command it. Press "Record."
-
-
3
Perform your action. From now on, everything thing you do to the image will be recorded into the action, such as cropping, channel mixing and level adjustment. Remember, the action you are recording should be one that you wish to duplicate on other shots. You can perform as many edits as you need during the recording, as it will all be recorded. When finished, press the "Stop" button on the Actions window.
-
4
Apply the action to a folder that contains all the photos that you wish to apply the action to. Click "File," "Automate" and "Batch." A Batch window should now appear on your screen.
-
5
Set the the Action under the "Play" section to the action that you just created (it will be under the name you created).
-
6
Set the drop-down menu to the right of "Source" to "Folder"and click the "Choose" button to select the folder containing the photos you wish to perform the action on. This allows your original files to remain untouched. If you wish to save the processed photos over the originals, check-mark the "Override" box.
-
7
Click "OK" to perform the action and process the photos. When the action is finished, you will find the processed photos inside their destination folder.
-
8
Load an action. The Action command also gives you the opportunity to load action sets downloaded (or taken from a friend) to be applied to your photo sets. This is only necessary if you are looking for a specific action or have already downloaded one. The file must be in the ATN file format before importing. On the "Actions" tab, click the drop-down arrow in the top right corner and select "Load Action." Choose your downloaded action, and hit "OK." When the action has loaded, hit "Save," and proceed with steps 4 to 7 above.
-
1
