I Heart Photoshop Actions
I have a pet peeve: I hate doing small tasks repetitively. I’ll spend an hour figuring out how to automate something rather than just sit down and do it, even if it would have only taken half an hour to do it the long way. Even knowing this, I’ll still spend the hour to figure out the most efficient way to do something. Why?
Because the very next time I have to do a similar task, I can automate it! We all do this, though in different aspects of our lives, and for different reasons. A good example of this is Bill Pay. We all have the same bills to pay each month, so rather than sit down once or twice a month to write out checks, and plan a visit to the post office, we automate it through our bank accounts, saving us time. So why not apply this thinking to Photoshop?
When I open a file, I pretty much go through the same process, in the same order each time. Whether it’s applying levels or curves, or using noise reduction, cropping or resizing, we all have certain tasks that we repeat within Photoshop when dealing with a large majority of our photos.
Actions are Photoshop’s way of dealing with repetitive tasks. It’s basically a macro recorder, that can be set to record anything you do to an image. You can then run that macro of tasks on another photo, or even a batch of photos, automatically. You can also tweak it, deleting steps that you made in error, or setting something to open a dialog box giving you a choice (say to resize to x pixels by y pixels) rather than applying a hard setting. So what does this all mean to you?
Time saved, and lots of it. I have an action that creates a black and white image from a color image using the LAB mode method. This involves changing your image from RGB to LAB mode, selecting the Lightness channel, then creating a new layer and copying that Lightness channel data onto this new layer (so as not to destroy the original color image), and finally convert this all back into RGB. Sounds complicated? Would you believe that in the time it took me to write that, I could have actually processed dozens of photos?
It’s true. In fact, I have that action available for download. It’s part of a set of actions I created years ago, called PShizzy Action Set 2 (or PAS2 for short). In fact, I used that B/W action so much, I gave it a shortcut (did I forget to mention, actions can have shortcuts, like anything else in Photoshop), which is Shift + F10. Feel free to download it here and kick the tires on it. But that’s actually not the point of this post.
PAS2 is dated, and I’d like to come out with PAS3, not just because my own processes have changed over time, but because now, I’d like to actually involve you all in the process. So this is your chance to voice your opinion. Leave a comment, let me know what you’d like to see in PAS3. I won’t be able to please everyone, but if there’s a big demand for certain actions, I’d be glad to make one. And remember, actions can be edited very easily, so even if my actions don’t work just right for you, you can always tweak them to your hearts content. See why I love Photoshop Actions?
First, Thanks. I have been wanting to learn how to create actions due to the time it takes to make almost identical tweaks to multiple files. Could you walk me thru this as well as how to apply to a batch of files.
I would be eternally grateful.
By the way I use the old version CS so I don’t even know if this is even possible.
Thanks in advance.
Lawrence,
I believe we tested PAS2 back to Photoshop CS back when it first came out, but I can’t guarantee it will all work.
Creating actions isn’t as daunting as it sounds, but I already see an “I Heart Photoshop Actions 2″ post coming in a few days.
Thanks,
Max
I will be reading this regularly to learn all I can and glad to have the resource. Thanks
Max, I’m all over actions– only problem I have with them probably has more to do with my own pickiness about my post work. So far, I find it a PIA to find ways to use very many of my actions on batches of files, since (at least with my own shots) most groups of images need various amounts of curves, color, sharpening, etc.
I do love using ‘em, though (and droplets, too)– I’ve got some I put together to do the more utilitarian type of stuff like setting up multiple layers with masks, with stops inserted for brushing, etc. Kind of a more ‘prepping for editing’ type of approach.
I’d really like to hear your thoughts about getting around the dilemma of the ‘individual needs for files’ thing, though.
And masks– I friggin love those things, too. Probably my favorite thing about PS. Your blog needs to include those somewhere down the line, too.
Meanwhile, I’ll be checking out my own wish list to give you some ammo for PAS3..
Cheers,
TD
Great to see you step out into the blogosphere. As others have stated, this blog is bound to become one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing your insights and knowledge.
Randy
I love actions, used to batch – action my way through entire events before posting. Dare I mention Lightroom?
Excellent question. Yes, I use and enjoy Lightroom, for specific purposes. My only qualm with it is that it does not support plugins (re: Noise Ninja). Regardless, if the people want it, I will gladly go through some Lightroom stuff. I created a few galleries with it and liked the results.
Hi. Your blog just keep getting better. My request for the PAS3 is an action that prepares the photo for the web. Resizing, levels, colors, contrasts etc, sRGB, and sharpening. It would be great if the action created adjustment layers with a preset that would be OK, but could be tweaked to perfection before converting to correct colorprofile and sharpening.
Regards,
Erik