Adobe Photoshop CC

Actions
• What is an Action
• Why we use them
• Best Practices

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What is an Action

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Actions in Photoshop allow you to record yourself
while you work so you can play them back later on
other images.

Remember the VCR, VHS, Cassette?

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Why do we use them?

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Actions in Photoshop have changed the way I edit entirely. I
rarely start my post processing without them and will hardly
finish an image without them.

Workflow automation with actions allows you to edit more….

• Efficiently
• Accurately
• Deliberately
• Predictably

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Best Practices with Actions

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Actions can be intimidating at first.

• They don’t bite

• Anything can be undone
• If it fails, just start over
• Annotate everything!

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Actions can record just about anything in Photoshop, but some
steps are better left out of actions.

• Masking with brushes

• Selections are okay (Think Luminosity Masks)
• Blend If is okay

• Avoid flattening work without making a duplicate copy first

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If you are making them for yourself:

• You know how you operate so using them shouldn’t be a

problem

• Modal Control Stops may not be necessary

• You can be sloppy…

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If you are making them for others:

• You have to consider foreign language versions of Ps

• You can’t cut corners

• You should include modal control functions (will be

discussed during the course)

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Ready?

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