Got some cool new actions and have no idea what to do with them? Have no fear - the tutorial below will quench your thirst for knowledge and get you up and running in no time. Please keep in mind that these tutorials only apply to versions of Photoshop 7 and newer.
What is an action?
WHAT IS AN ACTION?
An action is basically the Photoshop version of a V.C.R., enabling one to record steps in Photoshop and play them back later on other images. Actions, primarily, are designed to save incredible amounts of time doing repetitive tasks in Photoshop such as resizing, saving, changing images to black and white, and color optimization and correction.
For Example:
You have a folder of over 1000 images that all need to be resized to 500x500 pixels, at 72dpi, to eventually be used on your website. Instead of opening each file by hand, resizing and saving it to a specified folder, you would open only one file, press "Record" to start a new action, do the necessary steps, and then press "Stop" to end the action.
You will now be able to simply press "Play" on any file that you open, and the recorded action will apply all the previous steps to the file.
However, the purpose of most of the actions on our site is to add effects to your images such as black and white, sepia, and vintage looks. All you need to do is download the action, press play and watch your image change. The action will tell Photoshop, step-by-step, what to do with your image, and the desired look will emerge when the action is finished running.
HOW DO I INSTALL AND RUN ACTIONS?
Now that you know what an action can do, it's time to get some and see what the fuss is all about. We here at D.A. are bona fide action junkies, and believe one can never have too many.
In order to run, or "Play", an action, you must install an ".atn" file (this is the file that tells Photoshop what steps to take) in the appropriate folder within Photoshop. On a Windows system, this folder would be:
C:Program Files/Adobe/Photoshop/Presets/Photoshop Actions/
Take a moment to locate the Photoshop Actions folder on your own computer system. You will notice that there are probably already some .atn files there. These files are like the V.C.R. tapes you will eventually "Load" into the V.C.R. (Photoshop) and play.
TO INSTALL YOUR ACTIONS
1. Save the .zip file to your hard drive. You should save this file to an easy to locate location on your computer, such as your desktop.
2. Locate the .zip file that you just saved.
3. Use the appropriate program such as WinZip to extract the files within the zipped folder. You cannot use the files without unzipping them first.
4. Read the instruction file or any directions that were bundled with the actions.
5. Highlight the .atn file and hold down Control+C to copy the file.
6. Navigate to the Photoshop Actions folder that you located earlier.
7. Hold down Control+V to paste the file into the Photoshop Actions folder.
8. Your actions are now installed. Now we must "Load" them into Photoshop. Remember the V.C.R. tape analogy from earlier?
9. Open Photoshop if it is not already opened, and navigate to the "Actions" tab in the upper right hand corner of the window. If you do not see the "Actions" tab, you may open it by clicking on "Windows" in the Photoshop menu, and choosing "Actions".
RUNNING AN ACTION
Your Photoshop actions are now loaded and ready to go. Try out a test file and get a feel for what the actions will do.
1. Open an image file
2. Locate the action you would like to run in the "Actions" menu. By default, this is located in the top right hand corner of the Photoshop program window.
3. Press "Play". This will be the triangular button on the bottom of the "Actions" menu.
4. Watch your file change. Make sure that you are prepared to respond to any input needed from you to complete the action.
5. Save your new file. *ALWAYS* do a "Save As" when saving a processed file. This will insure that your original will not be overwritten. This is very imporatant. If you don't particularly like the effect that the action produced, you can always go back to the original.
Keep in mind that some actions require lots of time to run and some are instant. Be patient, especially when you are running many steps on a very large image.
ABOUT STOPS
Stops are something you will encounter very frequently when using our actions. Basically, what a stop is, is a pause in the action, where Photoshop will ask you to input information necessary to complete the effect. This is very common when actions involve steps that are dependent on the size or orientation of the file. Simply follow the instructions and click "Continue" and the action will carry on doing its thing.
You may also customize our actions using "Stops". Say, for example, you find that the grain is just too intense on one of the black and white actions. You can change the amount of grain that appears by inserting a "Stop" next to the step that tells Photoshop how much grain to add to your photo. This is especially convenient when you will be using the actions for web-sized files, as our actions are only compatible with high-resolution files from pro SLRs.
The absolute most important thing about these actions is that you do not, in any way, change the stops that are already inserted into the action! This cannot be stressed enough. To do this will cause the action to malfunction. The red boxes next to every action set should never be clicked. This happens frequently by accident. If you accidentally click a red box, simply reload your actions from their original location on your desktop, according to the previous instructions and resave them.
HOW TO PREPARE YOUR IMAGES BEFORE RUNNING AN ACTION
Our actions are designed to be finishing touches. That is, they should only be run on images that are already dodged, burned, and color corrected, having good contrast, brightness and tonal range. If your images are muddy, dark or otherwise imperfect, the action may not yield the results you are expecting.
Take a look at the two sets of images to the right. Image 1 is straight out of the camera with no corrections made. When the action "Fine Art Grain" is run, the resulting image is rather bland and dark. Image 2 shows the same image, but with the necessary adjustments made before the action is run. The effect of Image 2 is much more pleasing, yielding the result that the action was intended to create.
Before running an action, make sure that your image is adjusted using either levels, curves, brightness/contrast, or any possible combination of Photoshop tools to get it to your liking. There are volumes of programs on the market now that will automate these tasks without the need for several steps in Photoshop.
If you run an action and do not get the effect you were hoping for, go back and try some adjustments and run the action again. Most of our actions will make a "snapshot" of your image, which will enable you to return to your original in the History pallette should you decide that the effect is not to your liking.
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