Actions In Photoshop -- Part II

Article and Photography by Ron Bigelow

www.ronbigelow.com

Photoshop CS2 Used in this Tutorial

Moving Actions

To move an action, the action is simply dragged and dropped into its new location in the Actions palette.

Action Sets

Figure 1: Creating an Action Set

To help organize actions, action sets can be created in the Actions palette. These sets are essentially folders where actions can be placed. To create a set, the action or set just before where the set to be created is to be placed is chosen. Then, the Create new set icon at the bottom of the Actions palette is clicked (see Figure 1).

Figure 2: New Set Dialogue Box

The New Set dialogue box appears as shown in Figure 2. Once the new set is named, the set will be created in the Actions palette as shown in Figure 3 (this new set has been named the Sharpen Set).

Figure 3: The Sharpen Set Added to the Actions Palette

Actions can be moved to or created in a set. Figure 4 shows the Sharpen action after it has been moved to the Sharpen set.

Figure 4: Sharpen Action Moved to Sharpen Se

Deleting Actions, Action Steps, or Sets

Figure 5: Deleting an Action, Action Step, or set

To delete an action; action step; or set, the action; action step; or set to be deleted is selected. Then, the Actions palette pop-up menu is clicked and Delete is chosen (see Figure 5).

Duplicating an Action or Set

Figure 6: Duplicating An Action

To duplicate an action or action set, the action or set to be duplicated is chosen. Then, the Actions palette pop-up menu is clicked and Duplicate is chosen (see Figure 6)

Figure 7: Duplicated Action in Actions Palette

The duplicated action or set will be placed below the original in the Actions palette (see Figure 7).

Saving a Set

Figure 8: Saving a Set

A set of actions can be saved (only sets can be saved, not individual actions). To save a set, the set to be saved is chosen. Then, the Actions palette pop-up menu is clicked and Save Actions is chosen (see Figure 8).

Figure 9: Save Dialogue Box

The Save dialogue box appears as shown in Figure 9. The set is saved in the same manner as any other file.

Loading a Set

Figure 10: Loading a Set

To load (i.e., open) a set, the Actions palette pop-up menu is clicked and Load Actions is chosen (see Figure 10).

Figure 11: Load Dialogue Box

The Load dialogue box appears as shown in Figure 11. The set is loaded in the same manner as any file is opened.

Button Mode

Figure 12: Moving to Button Mode

An alternative way to display actions is to use the Button Mode in the Actions palette. To move the Actions palette into Button Mode, the Actions palette pop-up menu is clicked and Button Mode is chosen (see Figure 12).

Figure 13: Button Mode

The Actions palette will now appear as shown in Figure 13. Repeating this procedure will move the Actions palette back out of Button Mode.

Batch Processing with Actions

Figure 14: Batch Dialogue Box

One of the most time saving uses of actions is batch processing. Batch processing allows multiple images to be processed through the same steps. When batch processing is utilized with an action, the action can be applied to multiple images at the same time. For instance, fifty images could all be sharpened with the Sharpen action by invoking the batch command just once.

To batch process a set of files, choose File/Automate/Batch. The Batch dialogue box will appear as shown in Figure 14. There are numerous fields on the dialogue box:

Set: Allows the action set to be chosen.
Action: Allows the action within the chosen action set to be chosen.
Source: Allows the files that are to be batch processed to be chosen in fours ways:
- Folder: Batch processes files in a chosen folder.
- Import: Batch processes files that are imported from a camera or scanner.
- Opened Files: Batch processes the files that are open in Photoshop.
- Bridge: Batch processes files that are chosen in Adobe Bridge.
Choose: If Folder is chosen in the Source field, allows the selection of the folder containing the files to be batch processed.
Override Action “Open” Commands: Overrides any "Open" commands in an action that refer to files other than the files to be batch processed. To use this option, the action must have an "Open" command. If it does not, no files will be opened. This option should be checked. Otherwise the action will process the image that was used to create the action rather than the images that you wish to process.
Include All Subfolders: Batch processes files in all subfolders of the chosen folder.
Suppress File Open Options Dialogs: Prevents File Open dialogue boxes from being shown. The default or previously used settings will be used instead. This option should be checked. Otherwise, the Camera Raw dialogue box will open each time an image is processed.
Suppress Color Profile Warnings: Prevents color warnings from being shown.
Destination: Allows the destination of the processed files to be chosen. There are three options:
- None: The files are not saved. Instead, they are left open.
- Save and Close: Overwrites the files in their original folder.
- Folder: Saves the files to a chosen folder.
Choose: If Folder is chosen in the Destination field, allows the selection of the folder where the files will be saved after batch processing.

Override Action "Save As" Commands: Overrides any "Save As" commands in an action. This insures that the files are saved to the folder chosen in the Batch dialogue box. To use this option, the action must have a "Save As" command. If it does not, no files will be saved. This option should be checked. Otherwise the action will save the file to the same folder that was used when the action was created.
File Naming: Allows naming rules to be used when the files are saved.
Errors: Allows error processing to be handled in two ways:
- Stop for Errors: Stops the processing of the files.
- Log Errors to file: Does not stop the process. Instead, the errors are logged to a file, and an error message appears after the batch processing has been completed.

Once the Batch dialogue box has been completed, clicking the OK button will start the batch processing of the files.

Summary

Actions are a great time saving tool and should be used by any photographer that wishes to automate part of his workflow.