Photoshop Tutorials

Archive for the ‘Photoshop Actions’ Category

Looking at how powerful Photoshop can be in terms of photo editing, it’s probably not important if you suck at taking photographs or being labeled an amateur photographer. As long as you pick up a couple of Photoshop photo editing skills, it will still impress those who see it.

Once you have mastered some techniques then you can make an action to replicate it at any time.

Photoshop actions are the best — they save time and make you more productive during post-processing. They can be used to speed up repetitive tasks, make quick work of time consuming edits, and give you a little creative inspiration.

So let’s get to it — open up Photoshop and follow along!

1. FIND YOUR ACTIONS PALETTE

Before you can do anything, you need to have the right tools in front of you. Make sure that your actions palette is activated and visible. It typically shows up as a tab on the history palette, but this may vary depending on your workspace.

If your actions palette is nowhere to be found, you can activate it under the “Window” menu. Once you do this, you should see a palette similar to the one in this photo. If you don’t have any actions defined yet, you’ll probably just see the “Default Actions” set.

Sets are a way to group actions as you see fit. To create a new set, pull down the palette menu and click “New Set…”. Give your new set a descriptive name. Also note that when you import and export actions, it’s the whole set rather than a single action.

2. CREATE A NEW ACTION

OK, you’ve got some sequence of events you want to record and you’re ready to start the action. As an example, I’ll walk through my “Flickr Horizontal” action that I mentioned in the teaser post.

Before we can begin recording the action, we’ll need to create the action. Pull down the action menu and click on “New Action…”. Give it a name and a keyboard shortcut if you want. Now we have a new empty action that we can record to.

3. BEGIN RECORDING THE ACTION

To begin recording the action, simply select your action in the palette and click on the “Record” icon in the lower action menu or select “Start Recording” from the pull-down menu. Once you click this button, every event you perform will be recorded. This includes menu items, adjustments, layer selections, and any of the Photoshop tools.

There’s no need to hurry through your sequence of events, because the action is not time based. If you’re not doing something to the image, it won’t be recorded. So take your time and get it right.

4. DO YOUR STUFF

Now do whatever it is that you wanted to do. Perform all the tasks, clicks, option settings, and image adjustments that you want included in your action.

If you mess something up or if you accidentally skip a step — don’t worry. After recording the action you can go back and edit the steps, add steps, and re-record steps.

5. COMPLETE THE ACTION

So once you’re done with the sequence, its time to stop the action. Just press the “Stop” button at the bottom of the action palette and Photoshop will stop recording.

For some actions, this is the end of the road. But many of my actions are set to require input from the user at specific points along the way.

6. TEST AND REFINE

I usually don’t get my actions right the first time around unless they’re extremely simple. I find that if I run a few different Photoshop files through the action, I usually uncover some mistakes or find the need to insert additional steps to ensure the action runs smoothly. If you find a mistake with one of your steps, just select that step and “Record Again” (via the pull-down menu). Or if you want to re-order some steps, just drag them up or down the list until they land where you want them.

I’ve also noted a few quirks about running actions, such as error messages that can occur if something is not possible to complete. Or the fact that working with multiple files, renaming layers, and selecting layers are cumbersome tasks with actions because Photoshop is looking for specific file names or layer names each time the action is run.

For complex actions, what you’ll end up with are a few extra steps that ensure a robust action that can handle many different files. But hey, it’s an action — who cares?

IDEAS FOR ACTIONS

So… I think that covers the basics of how to create an action in Photoshop. If I missed something or if I didn’t explain something well enough, let me know and we can follow-up in the comments.

These action things are great, but what can you do with them? It can be hard to think of those repetitive tasks when you’re not performing them, so I’ll share a few of my action needs. I would say that my actions are grouped into three main categories: administrative tasks, specific tasks, and creative boosts. Here are a few of the actions in my arsenal.

ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS

These are things that will drive you nuts because they’re no fun at all. Like every time you want to save a JPEG or TIFF file. Or every time you want to downsize for Flickr or email. I use actions to speed up the process and prevent me from making mistakes.

* Resizing and saving for specific destinations
* Basic adjustment layer setups
* Converting color space and bit depth

SPECIFIC TASKS

Actions are good for little items that consist of a few steps. By using an action, it not only bypasses the need to click on menus or type keyboard shortcuts, but it also allows you to set default values that you commonly use.

So all you Photoshop gurus out there, pipe up and give us more examples of what can be done with these things. What are some of your most useful actions that you couldn’t live without?

If your just a beginner I have made a very simple to follow beginners video for you covering some of the basics. I did this for my wife on a Sunday afternoon so you see my mistakes, hear the traffic etc but they will show you the basics and get you up and running quickly.

Click here to watch the video.

Here is the action script for the ebook covers I used in the above tutorial Download here. (zip file 117kb)

If you prefer reading here is a great pdf that will also take you through the basics.

Once you learn the basics our friends over at Watch And Learn Photoshop are releasing a few new products and have also released not one, not two, not three but seven free photoshop video tutorials/tips. Their videos are a lot more professional than my Sunday afternoon effort.

Trevor Morris has put together a great set of free scripts for you.

Below you’ll find more than a dozen free scripts for Adobe Photoshop CS and higher. All scripts are very well commented, making them easy to modify and/or learn from. (I’m also available to do custom scripts.)

Array Generator

This script generates a two-dimensional array of cloned objects based on the selected layer or group. The user interface also allows you to specify the number of rows and columns, as well as the horizontal and vertical spacing between objects.

Black & White Variations

This script converts and saves an image to black-and-white using 20 different methods (although more methods can be added).

Center Layer

As the name implies, this script simply centers the active layer within the document, both vertically and horizontally.

Close Without Saving

A series of scripts for closing all documents, only the current document, or all documents except the current one, without saving changes.

Contract Canvas Selection

This script contracts a selection that touches the document boundaries on one or more sides — something that Adobe Photoshop CS2 and earlier isn’t capable of doing.

Hide All Layers

A simple script that sets the visibility of all layers to off (invisible).

Show All Layers

A simple script that sets the visibility of all layers to on (visible).

Import Folder As Layers

This script combines a series of images from the selected folder into a new document, and then names each layer according to the original file.

Layers to Comps

This script simply creates a layer comp for each layer in the active document.

Rename Layers

This script renames all layers in the active document, including those within groups. The script prompts for a layer name pattern, and then renames and numbers the layers from bottom to top.

Search For Layers

This script searches for layers, by name, and selects the first match.

Sort Layers

This script sorts all layers in the active document alpha-numerically (from top to bottom).

Toggle Layer Visibility

This script toggles the visibility of the current layer (on or off).

View Actual Pixels

This event-based script displays the current document at 100% zoom (actual pixels).

Free Photoshop Plugins

I have decided to compile a list of free Photoshop Plugins, this list
will be constantly updated with the new plugins that I find.

Virtual Photographer (highly reccommended)
Photo-Plugins (great set of plugins for the digital photographer)
Cybia Plugins
Richard Rosemen’s plugins
DragonFly
Flaming Pear free plugins
Redfield Photoshop Plugins
Noiseware Community edition (scroll to the bottom of the page)
Mehdi Plugins (26 free plugins)
3D Shadow By Locas Software
VanDerLee plugins
Harry’s Filters (over 50 free filters)
Simple Filters
HotPixel and BleachBypass by Red Paw Media
Brightness Editor by PowerRetouche
Luce by Antonio Perricone
Xpose, Thredgeholder and Chalkaholic by LittleInkPot
Rolls and Curls by Econym
Flatten and Multifill by BPelt
Paint Machine
Reindeer Graphics free plugins
Graham White’s Filters
Xero Plugins
AAA filters
Filter Factory
Mezzoforce Ice
Unplugged Filters
Murakuma Filters
Neology filters

This is just a simple listing, no details about each of these plugins are posted here, however I will add descriptions and mini
reviews in individual posts (at least for the plugins I consider areworth downloading and using)

enjoy

MSI Photoshop Team
http://www.msiphotoshop.com

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Download a free red eye removal action for Adobe Photoshop. This action was created by site reader “Lonely Walker” and contributed for anyone to download and use. Here’s what “Lonely Walker” has to say about the action:

Red Eye Before & After Example (Right click and save for practicing this tutorial)

Download Red Eye Removal Action

Installing the Action

1. Open Photoshop.
2. In the Actions palette, choose command “Load Actions.”
3. Select file “Remove Red Eye.atn”
4. A new folder, “Remove Red Eye”, appears into the Actions palette.
5. Open two folders, “Default Actions” and “Remove Red Eye.”
6. Drag the acton file “Remove Red Eye” from the “Remove Red Eye” folder into the “Default Actions” folder
7. Delete the empty “Remove Red Eye” folder.

Notes:

* Shortcut for the Action is Ctrl-F5 (Command-F5 in Mac OS).
* Works with any version of Adobe Photoshop, either in Windows or in Mac OS.

To get rid of red eyes (time required – 20 seconds per eye)

1. Pick up a color from the eye’s iris edge, with the eyedropper tool. Be careful to choose an area without the red. (This color becomes the Foreground Color)

2. Select the whole area of the eye iris (avoid touching the white area of the eyeball and eyelids) either with the Magic Wand, Oval Marquee, Lasso or even with the rectangular Marquee tool.

3. Hit shortcut Ctrl-F5 (Command-F5 in Mac OS) and the red eye disappears.

4. If the eye’s pupil (or the whole eye) remains abnormally light, use the Burn Tool (twisted hand icon at the left side toolbar) with the appropriate brush size to cure the problem.

5. Eyes can be processed one by one, or you can make several selections before starting the Action (hitting the shortcut). One eye can be treated several times (if the area wasn’t accurately selected, etc).

6. Action is meant to work with RGB files (TIFF or JPG), but works with CMYK files, too, though some red color remains into eyes in the last case.

Workflow for the very lazy people (time required – 2 seconds per eye)

1. Open file (Foreground Color is the default black).

2. Make selection over the eye iris (try not to hit the white area) with the Rectangular Marquee tool.

3. Ctrl-F5.

It’s fairly easy to record your own Action. To start off, go to the Action’s palette and click on the folder icon. This will create your own set.

Give it a name in the pop up window.

Now you can press the New Action icon.

Enter a name for your new Action (ie. scanned in image size, color balance adjustment, etc.)

Now all you have to do is record your Action by pressing Play. When you have completed all of your Actions (going through your process as you would normally) you can press the Red circle Stop button. You can take your time when recording an Action; it only remembers specific commands, not how much time it took you between steps.

Remember that an Action is just a set of commands or steps that you would take within Photoshop (it can record about anything you can do). You could record an Action to make a simple 2 step image adjustment. By having it as an Action in your Action’s palette, you can just open the other files and instead of having to go through the actual steps it would take to end up with the same result (same process) you can just press one button: Play (on your new action). An Action is basically an automation step to simplify your workflow (for example if there’s a single process you find yourself doing on many of images); it saves lots of time.

Also by recording Actions, you can later automate and batch files – many files all at once with the same Action or sequence/process. This can save you HOURS of work.

Here I am just recording a simple Action as I’m doing the work. I’m creating an Action called imageweb. Once I press record I’m going to the Image: Image Size and changing the resolution to 72 for the web.

Once I press OK the step will be recorded (and anything else I do in the dialog box such as change the image width) in the action step.

When recording an Action you are actually doing the steps you would take on an actual open document and using that as your the master.

Once you have completed your steps, just press stop.

Actions can be as simple as a one-step process but can still save you time (press one button).

Now open another image. With your Actions palette open, select your Action (just the name of it) which should already be there; and press PLAY.

This will run the Action on the document you’re working on. Instant automation. You can see it’s applied the same step that you recorded simply by pressing play.

As a Photoshop user, be aware of this tremendous power. Actions can get really advanced with stops, etc. You can even create and run entire batches to create templates out of a folder of files.

The Outline Action resembles a technique that I see in many magazine titles. It uses a stroked channel to create the three dimensional outline. It also uses the Lighting Effects Filter to help bring it to life and give it a photo realistic quality.

Both Actions use layers to create objects that interact with one another as if they were actual objects by revealing the object in the layer below and casting shadows on the lower layer.

You can click on the original black and whites to view and download the full size versions. Try the Action on these first and make sure you get the same results as in my finals.

Be sure to experiment with different words, different sizes, different shapes and see how it works. We hope you enjoy these Actions.

Here is a bunch of Action sites.

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tools/actions.html
http://www.actionfx.com/
http://www.indigoproductions.com/free_stuff/actions/fifteen_originals.htm
http://www.webteknique.net/photoshop_actions.asp

Have fun,

Expect Success