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Technique 8: Creating Actions
Save Time By
Creating action sets
Recording and playing actions
Getting rid of actions you don’t need
Loading action set libraries
What happens when you want to repeat certain actions over and over again? For instance, suppose you need to convert 50 images from RGB to grayscale? Well, you could open every image and then choose Image>Mode>Grayscale 50 times, but that would take a long time and be very tedious. Instead, you can record a mini-program, known in Photoshop as an action, and play it, simultaneously applying the action to the entire folder of 50 images. In a few seconds, an action can perform the repetitive task that would take an hour.Also, while actions are great for performing repetitive tasks, you can use actions to automate any process you can come up with in Photoshop. Suppose you create a cool effect that changes a regular old black letter B into a stunning B that has the appearance of translucent liquid blue gel. You can record the steps that create this effect, and then play them back, instantly transforming any letters you want.An action can consist of anything from a keyboard shortcut to a complex series of commands that trigger other actions. You can create actions in Photoshop or ImageReady. The Actions palette (see Figure 8-1) is used to record, play, edit, save, delete, and load other actions. And, to make using actions easier, you can assign keyboard shortcuts to them.
Figure 8-1: Use the Actions palette to create actions, mini-programs that can save you lots of time and increase productivity.
As shown in Figure 8-1, Photoshop comes with several actions already loaded into the Actions palette. Some of these actions include Sepia Toning (which re-colors a layer to look like it is sepia toned), Water Reflection (which adds a wavy-looking reflection to type), and Vignette (which creates a frame around a selection).This technique takes you through the process of recording and playing actions, as well as grouping the actions together into action sets. You also find out how to load the extra action sets that ship with Photoshop and where to find action sets available for download on the Web.
