Running Actions ABOVE other grouped actions

[me_you15]

<p>Ok folks, I am trying to run an action ABOVE a GROUP that is in another action-</p>

<p>In other words, I want to run an action which as a group in it- leave te group active, so that I can use the layers I n that group t adjust things- bu I want to run another action immediately above this action without having to flatten the first action. But when I try to do this- what happens is that some layers will dissappear in my original action, and some of hte layers i nthe second action will end up below the group of the first action</p>

<p>Is this making sense? Florabella actions for photoshop has it so you can run an action- and run another action above the first, and run as many as you want- erach action has a group in it- but I'm unsure how to gwet my actiosn to play aboe an action with a group in it- becuase thep roblems I mentioned occur-</p>

<p>in the following video you'll note that she runs an action, then immediately runs another one right on top- the second one is right around 1:18 of the video- Somehow she gets her actiosn to run above a group- Then she runs another one above that at around 1:58 or so- she runs several infact- I've tried stamping my image above the group, and running an action above that- but that doesn't work either- there must be soem trick to this- getting actions to run ABOVE an action with a group in it? </p>

<p>http://www.florabellacollection.com/video-tutorial-9---florabella-trinity-photoshop-actions.html</p>

[pete_s.]

<p>It's not hard.</p>

<p>For instance lets say you wanted to create an action that produced a soft glow effect around highlights.</p>

<p>One way to do that is to select all highlights in the image. Then create a new layer based on the selection. Run a gaussian filter on that to blur the highlights. Change the layer blending mode to softlight. And lower the opacity to say 20%.</p>

<p>However if you've already have an image with a bunch of layers and layer groups from previous actions you can't do that.</p>

<p>So the first step in your action is to select all layers, duplicate them and then flatten the duplicated layers. Now you have a starting layer your action can work on. Then you do the whatever you need in your action and then at the end of the action you remove the starting layer you created.</p>

<p>As an alternative to duplicating all layers and then flatten you can also just duplicate the bottom layer only (which is the untouched original image). Move it to the top and then let the action work on it. And finally remove the starting layer in your action.</p>

<p>I don't know if it is possible to hide what the actions are doing (I only run my own actions). But if it's not, you could have a look at some premade actions and you can see what steps the action consists of.</p>

<p> </p>

[me_you15]

<p>Thanks Pete- I tried making a stamped layer of the group- and could run another action over the first group that way- but I run into an issue where if I take one of the top layers, make a correction, such as erase part of the effect- like erase or mask out where 'lighten' is (like makes it out from a face, or whatever) then go to my lower/first group, and try to adjust some layers, the face doesn't get adjusted (the part I erased in top layers)</p>

<p>However, this only happened when I erased from one of the layers which I changed the mode to LAB (then back again to RBG after it ran)- I'm afraid I just don't understand layers and masks and groups that well I guess- not sure why that one layer would act like that on lower group beneath it</p>

[me_you15]

<p> think I figured it out- I had to do a really weird work-around- while recording the action, Ihad to make a group for my second action, put the layers into the group folder,, then delete just the group folder- leaving the layers intact, then make another group folder- (I also have to make a stamped layer on my first action set before running the next action set)- for some weird reason this seems to work- Wish I knew more about layers/groups etc- but oh well- If I didn't delete the group folder- and create another one, when I ran the action both my first action set and second would be linked together- in other words, I would collapse the top group folder, and my first group would be inside the top group folder (I guess- I would collapse the top folder and the base, bottom group folder would 'dissappear'- I just assumed it was inside the top group folder)</p>

<p > <br>

I know it sounds weird, but that is what was happening- but since doing the workaround, I can collapse the top group folder, and work on the base/first group folder layers, edit the layers I need to, then expand top group and edit those as well-</p>

<p > <br>

I don't think I'll ever get the hang of groups, folders, layers etc- within actions-</p>

<p > <br>

Not sure why that all happened like that- but it seems to be working now- tried it on several action sets that I have- and it's working now- I can run one, then another right on top Not even sure how I stumbled on that solution- or why it works, but it's working now- I'm sure there's an easier way- but it's not big deal to do it this way-</p>

[pete_s.]

<p>Good that you figured out a way to make it work. It's a little hard to understand exactly what you are seeing.</p>

<p>One thing to keep in mind is that an action as a list of steps you want done, in <strong>exactly</strong> the way it is described in the action.</p>

<p>If you for instance add a layer in your action, where that layer will end up (for instance inside another layer group) depends entirely on what layer you happened to have selected at the time BEFORE starting the action.</p>

<p>I think your workaround perhaps just made you start from a layer on top, regardless of what was selected when you started the action.</p>

<p>Layer groups is just a group of layers. It's just an organizational tool.<br /> If you for instance was working on retouching a face. You'd keep adding a bunch of layers to do some retouching on the eyes. Perhaps that ended up being 10 layers. Now you put those in a group and call the group "eyes" and then you have an easy way of turning on and off all retouching on the eyes and also adjust the strength by changing the opacity. Now you also know which layers belong to the eyes. That becomes very important when you have perhaps added 50 to 100 layers.</p>

<p>When you make a new action keep in mind that you can edit them as well. You don't have to record them from scratch every time. You can copy and past all individual steps in the action. Copy and paste between actions. You can also run through them step by step so you can see exactly what happens. You can also temporarily disable a step inside an action.</p>

<p>Which I had a good resource for you that would explain how layers work, together with groups, layer masks, clipping masks, layer blending modes etc. I just can't remember anymore how I learned them myself.<br /> It is however considered advanced photoshop skills so don't feel bad for not knowing everything there is to know - nobody does.</p>

<p>BTW, if you do find yourself doing a lot retouching or localized editing like adding effects on certain parts of the image, cloning and stuff like that I very highly recommend getting a intuos wacom tablet. It makes all the difference in the world. The biggest difference between using a pen on the tablet versus a mouse is probably that the wacom pen is touch sensitive - the harder you press the stronger the effect. Personally I use both the pen and a regular mouse but I never "paint" with the mouse.</p>

[pete_s.]

<p>EDIT: I said the wacom pen is touch sensitive which may be misinterpreted. Pressure sensitive is what I mean. It's actually sensitive to how you tilt the pen as well. Wacom Intuos Pro are the ones to look at.</p>

[me_you15]

<p>Hey thatnks Pete- Yeah I work with a mouse- just got used to it- I can get pretty precise with the mouse- enough for what I do anyways- I don't ever do any precise masking or anything- for more complicated selections I sue luminosity masks and feather the mask slightly- I have a ten step luminosity mask action I run which makes pretty good selections based on luminosity levels-- I just subtract where not needed-</p>

<p>I didn't realize you can copy paste between actions- that will save me loads of work as I use many of the same masks, layers for a number of actions- I just learned I can actually run another action within an action I'm creating- for instance, I am creating action #11, at any point of recording, I can run action # 4- 5 or whatever and it will record that and incorporate action 4 into the new action- pretty cool- didn't realize that could be done-<br>

Wish I had learned photoshop years ago though- back when I was able to grasp things better- But I grew up in generation where there weren't any personal computers really- All we had for toys were sticks and twigs- rocks too- kids today know more than I do about computers- phones etc- oh well- I'm slowly picking it up-</p>