HOW TO INSTALL AND RUN PHOTOSHOP ACTIONS

For: Photoshop 6 and higher
Level: Easy

WHAT IS A PHOTOSHOP ACTION?

Actions are small files that contain recorded series of Photoshop commands. They are usually used to automate certain repetitive tasks. Moreover, as you will experience in PanosFX.com, actions can be used to apply some very complex effects to your images within a few seconds.

WHERE DO I SAVE THE ACTION FILES?

The actions which are available on my site are compressed in zip format. You will need a typical decompressing utility to unzip the files. You don't have to save the files in Photoshop's preset folders. A good habit is to create one or more folders anywhere in your hard disk in advance, where you will be storing Photoshop actions. The file format for a Photoshop action is: filename.atn

WHAT IS THE ACTIONS PALETTE?

The actions palette is a special Photoshop 'window' that allows you to manage actions. Even if you are new to Photoshop you won't find it difficult to familiarize yourself with the basics of the actions palette. If the actions palette is not visible select Window > Actions from the main menu to access it. 

HOW DO I LOAD & RUN AN ACTION?

The image below shows the actions palette and highlights the 4 steps you need to  follow, in order to load and run an action.

 

• Click the little arrow in the upper-right palette corner (arrow 1) to open the actions options flyout menu (CS3 users see the image below).

• Select "Load Actions" (arrow 2). Navigate to the folder where you saved the actions and load the action file.

• The actions set appears as a folder in the actions palette.  If necessary, click the little triangle on the left of the folder icon (arrow 3) to expand the actions of this set. A set may contain one or more actions that produce different effects.

• Finally click an action and then click the Play button (arrow 4).
  
  NOTE: If you click on the actions set instead of an action within the set, the Play button will appear grayed out!

Another approach is to decompress the .atn files in a folder of your preference, run Photoshop and then drag the action thumbnails to the Photoshop work area. The actions will be loaded automatically in the actions palette.

The action palette has remained almost the same in Photoshop CS3 & CS4. Notice that there is a change in the little triangle at the upper right corner which opens the action options flyout menu:

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