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Launch Photoshop as you read this so you can try out some of the techniques I'll be discussing. The Actions palette may already be visible on your screen, or you might see its name tab in the palette well on the far right side of the options bar. If you can’t locate it, go to the Window menu and choose Actions to bring up the palette.
Let’s start with the controls on the bottom of the palette. Starting on the left, there are buttons for Stop, Record and Play, which are styled so they look very similar to any standard VCR, CD or DVD player (see illustration below). Next we have some standard Photoshop UI buttons for adding a new Set of actions (a folder containing several different actions); the New button for creating a new action or making a copy of an existing one; and the humble Trash icon, used for deleting items from the Actions palette.
If you have not created any of your own actions yet you’ll see a folder at the top of the palette called "Default Actions.atn", which is a group of actions created by the Adobe team that ship with Photoshop. In the illustration on this page, you can see several other sets that I have created for my own use. These include specific Actions used in the production of images for both “Real World Digital Photography” and “Photoshop CS Artistry”.
If you click on the small triangular icon next to an Action Set, you can see all the actions in that set. If you click on the triangle icon next to the name of an action, you can see all the different commands that have been recorded for that action. Finally, if you click on the triangle icon next to a command, you can see the details of each setting that was used for that command. This could be specific Levels adjustment numbers, or the type characteristics if you added text, or the size of the image and the resolution if it was resized.
On the left-hand side of the palette are two columns. In the first one, you’re likely to see some checkmarks next to each action or each command contained in an action. The checkmark controls whether or not an action is active and can be played. When applied to an action command, it controls whether or not that specific step is included when the action is played on an image. Being able to turn specific steps on and off is a very useful way to customize how an action affects an image.
In the second column in from the left you will see a red box with a row of four dots in it. This is the icon that indicates that a “stop” in included in an action, or, if you see it next to a set, in actions that are contained in the set. The stop icon for a set or an action is red and for an individual action command, it is gray. A stop is a pause that is programmed into the action that allows the user to change the settings in a dialog. Once the settings have been entered, the action can continue. Stops allow you to use the same action on several different images, even if you need to use different settings. Stops can also be programmed to display instructions on how a file needs to be set up in order for the action to run successfully. This is useful in situations where you are creating actions that other people may be using. I'll cover how to create message stops later in this tutorial.
Copyright 2003, 2004 by Katrin Eismann, Seán Duggan Tim Grey. All Rights Reserved
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