Photoshop actions are a series of steps that will achieve a specified result (kind of like Photoshop Cruise Controls). Every copy of Photoshop comes with a set of commonly used actions, such as:
Aging a photo.
Vignetting.
Sepia toning.
Text effects.
Different textures.
and the list goes on and on.
The advantage of using Actions is that you can eliminate repetitive tasks and let the Action do it much more quickly.
Let's say, for instance, that you a a nut about Sepia Toned pictures and you just can't wait to get rid of all that distracting color information on all of your pictures. There is an action that will do that for you quickly and efficiently.
Write Your Own!
It is surprisingly easy to write a Photoshop Action, especially a simple 2 or 3 step process.
You can also write a very complicated multi step technique if you feel so inclined.
Rather than give written step by step instructions on how to write an action, the following video will make it much easier to follow along and understand the process.
There are a couple of things you need to know first.
You can stop an action to provide an instructional comment anywhere you wish.
You can open menus and make manual modifications anywhere in you wish in the steps.
To do these things you just need to know how to add a Stop and/or a Menu Item in your action.
The Palette
The recording controls are at the bottom of the Action Palette.
The three that are highlighted in blue are the ...
Stop Recording/Playback Button.
The Start Recording Button.
The Play Button.
and the yellow one is the Start New Recording button.
Options
The Options menu is where you go to enter a Stop and Menu Item.
This will all become clear after you have watched the Video so let's get going ...
