Edit Log

Do you know what a Photoshop edit log is? Did you know that Photoshop will make one for you if you want?

A bit of background - have you ever spent some time aimlessly messing about with a picture and when you were done thought - "wow - that looks great - gotta do that again on this other shot".

The only problem is that you've forgotten some of the steps and cannot reproduce the same results - very frustrating, isn't it?

Trust Photoshop to have an answer for you ... you can set the program to log every adjustment and every keystroke and save it as a text file wherever you want it saved on your computer.

Now isn't that totally useful?

Setting Up The Edit Log

Setting up the Edit Log is simple - go to ...

Edit > Preferences > General (Windows)

or

Photoshop > Preferences > General (Mac)

This panel is at the bottom of the General tab - put a check mark in History Log and then select Save Log Items To: Text File and choose a location.

You can choose the Edit Log Items in the drop down list - there's not much point in doing this unless Detailed is selected.

My file is saved to the desktop because it is easy to find it there.

That's it - you're done. Every time you open Photoshop the Edit Log will be activated.

How It Works

Here is an image that has been modified and the steps as they are appear in the Edit Log.

This is the image that'll be used ...

It's too dark, little Libby's nose and ears are just a bit too pink and it needs a crop.

Open The Original

2011-12-04 16:54:45    Photoshop launched
        Reset Brushes of current application
        Reset Tool Presets of current application
2011-12-04 16:54:59    File _6202233.ORF opened
        Open
            C:\Users\Richard\Pictures\20110620\_6202233.ORF
            As: Camera Raw
            Model: “Olympus E-300”
            Settings: Image Settings
            Space: sRGB IEC61966-2.1
            Depth: 8 Bits/channel
            Scale: 1
            Resolution: 240
            Resolution Unit: Pixels/inch
            Output Sharpen For: None

Original Image

First Entires in the Log

Crop The Image

	Crop Crop To: rectangle Top: 4.1 cm Left: 10.38 cm Bottom: 25.62 cm Right: 24.45 cm Angle: 0° Target Width: 0 pixels Target Height: 0 pixels Target Resolution: 0 per cm
Libby Cropped	Log Entries For Cropping

Duplicate Layer and Change Blend Mode

Change Blend Mode to Screen

Duplicate Layer
        Duplicate current layer
            5
    Blending Change
        Set current layer
            To: layer
            Mode: screen
    Master Opacity Change
        Set current layer
            To: layer
            Opacity: 94%
        Set current layer
            To: layer
            Opacity: 67%
        Set current layer
            To: layer
            Opacity: 100%

Blend Mode Change

Log Entries For ...
Duplicate Layer
Blend Mode to Screen

With this step I also changed the opacity of the top (Screen) to see if it would have a positive effect. It didn't so I changed it back to 100% Opacity.

Paint Out The Pink

Set Foreground Color
        Duplicate Layer
        Duplicate current layer
            5
        Select brush
    Brush Tool
    Brush Too
        Set Foreground Color
            To: HSB color
            Hue: 208°
            Saturation: 0.392
            Brightness: 94.118
    Brush Tool
    Brush Tool
    Brush
        Hide current layer
        Show current layer
        Select brush
    Brush Tool

Paint Out The Pink

Log Entries For ...
Painting out the Pink in
Libby's eyes, nose and ears.

The log entries for this step were very, very long and covered many, many, many pages. The entries for Hide and Show current layer made it easy to evaluate before and after painting over the pink part of Libby's eyes, nose and ears.

There is a lot of really useful information in the edit log - it can kind of be a tutorial on its own!

Conclusion

That's all there is to it and it can be very useful in a whole bunch of different situations.

Give it a try - it may be exactly what you are looking for ...

Page Links

Set Up

How It Works

Open Original
Crop
Blend Mode
Paint

Photoshop Tutorials

Home Page

Essential Skills

Photoshop CS5 Levels Curves Layers Histogram Blend Modes Dodge and Burn Brush Settings Brush Settings II Edit Log Exposure Problems

Selecting Stuff

Lasso Tools Quick Mask Channels Color Range Pen Tool CS5 Masking

Digital Editing

Cloning Color Changing Color Correction Crop Tool Photoshop Actions Advanced Blending High Dynamic Range Line Drawings Remove Shine Reflections Photo Restoration Change Hair Color Shadows Highlights Watercolor Conversion Retro Comic Effect Vibrance

Glamorizing

Simple Makeover Change Hair Color Tooth Whitening Skin Smoothing Retouching Digital Makeover High Key

Other Stuff

Order Links Contact Me About

Enjoy This Site?
Then why not use the button below, to add us to your favorite bookmarking service?

Return to top

Use the Contact Form to ask questions, provide feedback or comments.

Questions are good - so are comments - or requests!

Return to Photoshop Tutorials from Edit Log