Advice for Photoshop "noobies": a guide to how to create actions

Want to make your life in Photoshop CS or CS2 easier? Yo uneed to learn how to create, save and use your

sets of custom actions. Actions are very useful if you fnd yourself doing the same things over and over

again.

 

 

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/digitalmedia/2006/07/13/automating-photoshop-

routines.html

Try <A HREF = http://tinyurl.com/fktuf> this link instead</a>.

A good guide, but in the editing section he never follows up on this:

 

'Once you have an action, you may decide a certain setting is not right....'

 

(Open a test image, double click on the step in the action that has the wrong settings (e.g

USM), enter your preferred settings, click 'OK', close test image.)

if you don't know how to record an action, you shouldnt be using photoshop

Please.........

 

If you don't know to capitalize the first letter of a sentence, finish a sentence with a full stop, or put an apostrophe in shouldn't, then you shouldn't be using English.

 

The problems I have with actions is that they are stupid. They cannot contain any control structures and are not aware of any of the image parameters such as image size. Javascript scripts are much more flexible. You can accomplish the same things using VBScript or AppleScript but cannot use the Batch Process command in PS.

<b>O</b>h, the typical internet tough guy talking trash about spelling and

grammar....sigh<b>.</b>

 

Regardless, do you not think that recording an action is easy?

I think

<blockquote>

You too can record Photoshop actions. They're helpful and very easy.

</blockquote>

is a better sentiment to find in a thread aimed at beginners than

<blockquote>

What ! You can't record an action ? Stop using Photoshop.

</blockquote>

Be supportive !

Re <i>Steven Muller , aug 03, 2006; 02:37 a.m.<BR><BR>

if you don't know how to record an action, you shouldnt be using photoshop</i>.<BR><BR>THANKS for the good laugh!<BR><BR>Youir comment is like saying one should drive a car if it doesnt have power steering, use a phone unless its a cellphone, dont use a camera unles it is digital!<BR><BR>Actions came out LONG afeter many of us were deeply involved with digital photography. It was'nt in Photostyler, or Photoshop 1, 2.0, 2.5, 3 either. To some of use who spent 600 bucks for Photoshop 2.5 and 3, your comment is oddball. <BR><BR>Actions didnt come out until after layers. It came out with Photoshop 4.0, about 1996. Photoshop 4 also added multiprocessor support. <BR><BR>Actions and multiprocessor support is now a decade old in Photoshop. <BR>In Photoshop 4, yes full bore Photoshop 4 from ten years ago one can record opening files, applying a custom curve, adding saturation, saving in a different file format, etc etc,<BR><BR>Actions has evolved alot since version 4.0.<BR><BR>One doesnt have to have CS or CS2 for actions, IF the actions you want are in older versions of photoshop. <BR><BR>In the printing industry actions are an old powerfull tool some of us have used now for a decade.

DO NOT be afraid to just try some goofy actions just to learn "recording". It takes time and mistakes to learn actions, master recording, etc. A common first mistake is to goof in recording and not save the file, then close it. You really dont want your batch/actions to open up 100 100megs files, and leave them all open at once! Many computers will bog and lockup! <BR><BR>