How to set Actions in Photoshop
 

How do you set actions in photoshop? Like if you want to make alot of images into a certain size and certain quality. thanx :)

first you click on the top right black arrow on the actions/history toolbar and select "new action". Name your new action and click the "record" button and then go to "file", "open" and open your image. Modify it however you want and close the image then click the stop button on the toolbar. To playback the action on a file or a folder of files you must now go to "file", "automate" >batch. select your folder and your set!!! Hope that helps.....

choose "create new action" on the actions pallette and name your new action, press record and go through the motions of resizing the image to just one of the images then press stop to stop recording it.
then go to the automate tab under "file" and choose "batch". Find the folder of your images and the folder you want to put the resized images in and pres ok.

Is there an echo in here?? hehehe....

Nice. :)

lol beaten by a few seconds!.. i thought ganja was supposed to slow you down ninjasaurus :)

Nice :)


lol, I couldn't help it after the echo question. :)

hehhehehe :)

Ninjasaurus..... lol, i like that...

you guys rule! thanx alot for the help fellows =]
just one more question
in the batch window, underneath the first "choose" option it has 3 different options. what exactly does "override actions open command" and "overwrite action save as command" mean?

it means that if part of the action you recorded involved opening the file or saving it you can override that part to save to a different folder as specified in the batch processor. Normally i don't open or save files when im recording the action, i just use the batch dialog box to specify which to open and where to save..

automation has probably saved me more time than any other feature in PS.. glad to let someone else get to have a coffee while they watch the computer take 5 min to do something that would have taken them a repetitive hour... :thumbsup


yeah ninjasaurus is cool, i think if i ever decide to make an alter ego nick that would be it :)

I wrote this on April 11, last year... I hope it helps.

http://gofuckyourself.com/showthread...+and+PhotoShop (I won a GFY shirt because it was so informative)





Ok, I just learned, (on my own) how to record actions and play them back to an entire folder of images in PhotoShop6.

It's extremely simple, (my instructions may not be) and it's a powerful tool for any webmaster.

I may over explain, but it's all very simple if you just follw my instructions.


--------------------------------------------
First put all the photos that you want thumbs for into a file folder, create a sub-folder called thumbs.

Then go into PhotoShop6 and open a single image. click on the actions tab, next to the history tab on the right side of your screen.
Toggle off the default setting.

Next, click on the little tab called "CREATE NEW SET". If you don't know which one it is just put your mouse over those tiny icons and after a second a description appears (kinda like what the 'alt' tag does in html.)

A window opens wanting you to name this new set. I called mine "THUMBNAIL 75 PIXELS"

OK, So far all you have done is opened an image, toggled off the default action, and created a new set.

Next click on "CREATE NEW ACTION" (again just hold your thumb over the tiny icon, if you don't know which icon it is).
Name this action, "CANVAS RESIZE" and hit "RECORD"

You are now recording your actions.

Click on:
Image > image Size
Change the setting to 75 pixels wide and the resoulution to 72 (or less) hit "OK"
Your image will resize, and the actions tab will record the action.

Then click on:
Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen >

This will sharpen your thumb, and the actions will record it.

Next save the file, and close it.
Go to the Actions and click on the black square to stop recording.


CONGRATULATIONS! You just made an action.

Ok, it's pretty much useless unless you apply it to an entire folder.


Ok, so now click on:
File > Automate > Batch
Your set, "Thumbnail 75 pixels" , and action "Canvas Resize" should already be selected. If not, select them from the drop down menus.

Next click on the source folder you want to create the thumbnails from.

Next click on the destination folder you want to save the thumbnails to (remember the "THUMBS" subfolder that you created at the beginnin?). At this point you can choose to save them as lowercase file names.

My settings were:
document name + .jpg

Hit "OK" and sit back and watch as 1000s of thumbnails are created.


Ok some of you are saying, but that's the same as if I just create the thumbnail gallery option of automate in PhotoShop6.

Yes and No.
It creates the thumbs without the pages.

I build my own pages, so I ususlly have to delete all the newly created photo shop pages anyway. PLUS, I can add a shrarpen action, and if I want, I could resize the canvas, so that all my images are square without distortion. The possibilities are endless.

To make them square:
All you would do is (while recording) before you save the file, go into Canvas > Resize > and change the Height to "75". If you build you galleries on white backgrounds, make sure white is your bg color when you resize the canvas.

This will make them 75 by 75 square undistorted, so it will be easier to build your pages.


I haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure you could add your watermark to them during the recording stage.

I was pretty excited to discover this, (even though I'm sure I'm not the first) I just thought I would share it with you.

PHOTOSHOP 6 RULES!!!