Introduction to the Photoshop Actions Panel

Photoshop Actions are a great way of automating tasks you perform often. Photoshop Actions consist of one or more commands that play with a single click. Their ease and speed will significantly increase the speed you work with Photoshop and improve your consistency when editing multiple images. You use and record Actions using the Photoshop Actions Panel. To see the Actions Panel, navigate to the Window menu and choose Window > Actions.

Actions Panel — Open Panel

When the Photoshop Actions Panel opens, you will notice that Photoshop comes with a default set of Actions. Think of a “set” of Actions as being the same as a folder of Actions. Photoshop stores and organises all its Actions inside folders which it calls sets. You can see all the Actions contained in the Default set by clicking on the disclosure triangle to the left of the folder icon. It is important to remember that all Photoshop Actions must be stored inside an Action Set. Actions cannot be stored loosely on the Photoshop Actions Panel. Therefore, when you create your own Actions, you must either create a new folder (or Set) to save them or save them inside an existing Set.

In addition to the Default Actions that you see when you first open the Photoshop Actions Panel, Photoshop has many more Actions that you can load into the Actions Panel. To view and load the additional Actions into the Photoshop Actions Panel:

Actions Panel — Open Panel

1. Click on the fly-out menu icon at the top-right of the Actions Panel;
2. Scroll down the fly-out menu to the section that contains the additional Actions;
3. Click on the name of the Action Set you want to open;
4. The Action Set will now appear in the Actions Panel.

Using Actions from Photoshop Actions Panel

Let’s load one of the Sets into the Actions Panel and have a play with some of the Actions.

1. Open an image into Photoshop;
2. Click on the fly-out menu icon at the top-right of the Actions Panel;
3. Scroll down the fly-out menu to the section that contains the additional Actions;
4. Choose Image Effects from the list of Action Sets;
5. Image Effects will be added to the Actions Panel. If you do not see the list of Actions in the Set, click on the disclosure triangle to the left of the Set icon;
6. Click on Aged Photo to highlight the Action;
7. Click on the Play button icon at the bottom of the Actions Panel. Clicking on the Play button will tell Photoshop to play all the steps of the Action;
8. When the Action is finished, you will see the result on the open image.

Actions Panel — Play Aged Photo

You can also play any Action by selecting Play from the Action Panel fly-out menu.

Apply a different Action

If you do not like the effect an Action has had on your image, and you want to apply a different Action, you need to remember that Photoshop Actions will add on top of each other. To illustrate this on the image that is still open and with the Aged Photo Action applied:

1. Open the Image Effects Action Set;
2. Click on Soft Focus and click on the Play button;
3. You’ll now see the extra Layer created by this additional Soft Flat Color Action.

Actions Panel — Soft Flat Color

Often, this is not the result you want. More often, you wish to revert the image to its original state before trying a new Action. To return the image to its original state, press F12 or select File > Revert. Or delete the new layer(s) created by the Action. Now that you have the file back to its original state, try a different Action:

1. Press F12 or select File > Revert;
2. Click on Sepia in the Actions Panel;
3. Click the Play button at the bottom of the Actions Panel.

See the steps of an Action

If you want to see all the steps that make up a particular action, you can click on the disclosure triangle to the left of the specific Action. To see all the steps in an Action:

1. Click on the Action to highlight it;
2. Click on the disclosure triangle to the left of the Action name;
3. This will expand the Action and show you the individual steps;
4. Click on the exposure triangle next to any of the steps to see the different instructions contained in that step.

Actions Panel — Individual Actions

Playing Photoshop Actions that include a Stop command

Many Photoshop Actions contain a Stop command. This Stop command will pause the Action and allow the user to provide some information before allowing the Action to proceed. For example, an Action may contain the crop command. Since each image is different, the Action can’t know where to apply the crop. With this difficulty in mind, the creator of the Action will add a Stop command to allow input from the user. Let’s look at one such Action:

1. With an image open and the Actions panel open, click on the fly-out menu icon;
2. Select LAB — Black & White Technique from the list of Action Sets;
3. In the Actions panel, click on the disclosure triangle to open the LAB — Black & White Technique set;
4. You will notice there is only one Action in the set. Click on it and click on the Play button at the bottom of the Actions Panel;
5. A message box will open. You now have the choice of stopping the Action or continuing once you have read the instructions. Click Continue;
6. The Hue/Saturation dialogue opens for you to make adjustments;
7. Adjust the settings and click OK when you’re happy with the look;
8. The Action continues to its completion.

Actions Panel — Stop Message

Resetting the Actions Panel

If you have been experimenting with the Actions Panel and it has become a bit of a mess, you can quickly revert it to the default state. To reset the Actions Panel to the default state:

1. Click on the Actions Panel fly-out menu;
2. Click on Reset Actions and click OK;
3. Only the Default Action Set will now be visible. You can open any saved Action Set again by selecting it from the Actions Panel fly-out menu.

Actions Panel — Resetting

If you created your own Actions and did not save them, resetting the Actions Panel will delete your unsaved Actions.

Using Button Mode in the Actions Panel

If you want to declutter the Actions Panel and make it easier to use, there is the option of Button Mode. To enable Button Mode:

Actions Panel — Button Mode Menu

1. Open the Actions Panel (Window > Actions);
2. Click on the Actions Panel fly-out menu;
3. Select Button Mode at the top of the fly-out menu.

Actions Panel — Button Mode

The list of available Actions will change to colour-coded buttons. A single click on any of these buttons will instantly play the Action. To switch back to the default view, repeat the steps above and deselect Button Mode.

Note, you cannot record an Action while the Actions Panel is in Button Mode.

Conclusion

Photoshop Actions are a great time saver and one of the best ways to ensure your work is consistent across many images. If you have never used Photoshop Actions, I would encourage to open the Actions Panel and go exploring. Once you are comfortable navigating your way about the Actions Panel, you can move on to creating and using your own Actions.

Originally published at https://fstoptraining.com on February 5, 2020.