I really regret that I didn’t write this lesson at the beginning of the blog introduction. After all, I missed such an important topic for a beginner. And the fact that this lesson is 27th on the list can somehow confuse my readers, because this is a very simple lesson, I would say the basics of Photoshop!
Before we learn work with actions, you need to find out what these “action games” are.
Translated from English, “Action” means “action”. But this doesn’t explain anything to us :) Actions make it possible to save image processing stages and later apply them to many others. If you have worked with Lightroom, then it has an analogue of actions - presets. Oh, I already wrote on my blog.
Now let's figure out how to install and use them!
To begin with, I advise you (click to download) several actions and learn from them. In general, actions come in two formats: ATN and ZXP, but in this lesson we will consider the first type, since it is easier to install and I recommend using them in the future.
Step 1. Before you start working with actions, or as they are “called” in Russian-language Photoshop – “operations”, they need to be installed. Open the operations window (Window->Operations).
Step 2. Now let's install them directly.
Step 3. As we see, the actions have been installed and now we can safely use them.
In order to use operations, you need to select the name of the action with the left mouse button (it will be highlighted in blue) and click on the triangle.
As a result, I processed the photo with one click.
What can they be used for?
For example, you had a photo shoot and you need to process the photos. Usually this process takes a considerable amount of time, and with the help of actions you can process the photo once, save your settings (I’ll tell you how to do this in the next lesson) and use ready operations while processing other photos.
Working with graphic editors causes a lot of trouble. Especially if users want to initialize additional tools into their respective programs. Next, we’ll try to figure out how to install the action in Photoshop. What will it take? We will try to fully understand all this. Walkthroughs will help shed light on the relevant topic. Installing the action will not cause any real difficulties.
Action is...
What is a Photoshop action? This tool can greatly facilitate working with a graphic editor.
An action is a sequence of actions recorded by the user. Such tools allow you to achieve this or that result without performing certain actions step by step. For example, using an action, a person can quickly add a watermark to an image. Very comfortably!
But how to install an action in Photoshop? There are different options for the development of events. Below are all possible manipulations to solve the problem.
Initialization methods
How to install an action in Photoshop SS? As already mentioned, users can cope with the idea in different ways. It all depends on the preferences of each user.
Today there are the following methods for installing actions:
- standard (correct);
- manual;
- custom.
The first case is in great demand. It allows you to avoid unnecessary problems and failures when working with the tool.
Standard solution
How to install an action in Photoshop CS6? Let's start with the simplest layout. It is used by the majority of users. This is a normal tool initialization.
To do this you will need to perform the following manipulations:
- Find a ready-made action. This is a document in .atn format. It is in this interpretation that a person will be able to load the tool into the application.
- Open Photoshop.
- Go to the "Window" menu item. It is located at the top of the dialog box.
- Go to the "Operations" section.
- Click on the button responsible for expanding the functional menu of the toolkit. This is the control in the upper right corner of the Operations section.
- Click on the line that says “Load operations...”.
- Specify the path to the previously unpacked file with the action.
- Confirm the procedure.
After a few seconds the tool will be loaded into graphics editor. You don't need to do anything else. If you wish, you can restart Photoshop and start working with the action.
Important: To quickly go to the Operations menu, you can press the Alt + F9 key combination.
Manual initialization
The second step is manual installation. This option is often used, but it can lead to errors.
It is proposed to act in the following way:
- Unpack the finished file with the action. It must be in .atn format.
- Close Photoshop. This is extremely important point. If this operation is neglected, the installation of the tool may occur with errors.
- Double-click on the previously prepared document with the action.
- Wait a while.
Usually, this technique does not cause any difficulties. If at the time of initialization the user was working in Photoshop, he will have to restart the utility. Only after this the tool will be pumped.
Custom method
How else can you install an action in Photoshop? The last suggestion is to carry out all the manipulations yourself. The technique is not as popular as previously proposed instructions. It can lead to errors, and in some cases this solution does not work at all.
Instructions for “custom” initialization of an action look like this:
- Unpack the finished action.
- Copy the file to your computer's clipboard.
- Open the folder in which Photoshop is installed. Usually it is located on drive C, in “Program Files” / “Adobe” / “Adobe Photoshop” / “Presents”. We need the Actions section.
- Paste an action from the clipboard.
- Launch Photoshop and wait a bit.
In this tutorial I will tell you how to install action in photoshop. This and many others photoshop lessons you can find in the section Photoshop for beginners .
First of all, let's figure out what an Action is - this is a ready-made set of commands, when launched over open photo manipulations are carried out, which ultimately leads to one or another result. To make it more clear what we are talking about, let's try to launch an action, which is already installed by default in the Photoshop program. The window with actions can be enabled in the menu "Window -> Operations" (Window -> Actions) or through the combination "Alt + F9".
A new palette will open. Where by default there will be a set of operations that are supplied by Adobe along with the program. There is a folder "Default Operations" in which the actions are listed. At the bottom of the palette there are special buttons for recording your own action, creating folders, creating steps and deleting.
Using these actions we can process a photo. For example, let's use the Quadrant Colors action. Open the photo, click on the action and at the bottom of the palette click on the Play icon. Changes will occur and we will receive a finished processed image. By the way, many steps have manual controls, so don't be alarmed if a window pops up asking you to specify parameters.
If you now look at the “History” palette, you will notice that lines with actions have appeared there. The action in this case starts a sequence of actions that leads to the final result.
If you click on the arrow to the left of the operation name, you can open the steps that will be performed on the photo. Here you can adjust each step to suit yourself, add new step or delete it.
Through this palette you can record your own actions or upload third-party ones. As for third-party ones, they have the extension *.atn
Actions are located on the computer at the address: C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC\Presets\Actions. It is into this folder that you can immediately copy new files. But this is not always convenient, so we will install it through the program itself. In the operations palette, click on the special icon in the upper right corner and go to the “Load operations” item.
There are many additional actions for Photoshop. Many of them are made by professionals and are sold for money, some are made by amateurs and can be downloaded for free, and you can also find pirated copies. In any case, no matter how you get them, you will encounter a problem -how to install an action in photoshop.
You can find out more about actions in Photoshop in, where I explained in detail what they are and how to use them.
There is one way to install an action in Photoshop - through the menu Palette Operations. Here's how to do it:
Step 1
If you don't have it open yet Operations palette, do it. To do this, select the command Window - Operations or use the key combination Alt + F9. The following palette will appear:
Step 2
Open the palette menu and select the command Load operations.
Step 3
An Explorer dialog box will appear in which you need to specify the path to the action file saved on your computer. It must be in the format ATN. Click the Download button.
Step 4
After loading, the action will appear in the list of all available operations. All! It is ready to use.
In addition, there are several more in the Operations palette menu useful commands in relation to installing an action in Photoshop.
- Clear— removes all actions from the palette, making it completely empty.
- Restore- returns the palette to initial position by default, i.e. leaves only a folder on the palette Default Operations.
- Replace- this is almost the same as Download. The difference is that when loading a new action this command removes all other operations from the palette, i.e. All that remains is the one you downloaded.
- Save— if you made any changes, for example, removed an unnecessary one from a set of actions, save this result so that you can load it in the future.
If you notice an error in the text, select it and press Ctrl + Enter. Thank you!
Actions are indispensable assistants for any Photoshop master. Actually, an action is a small program that repeats recorded actions and applies them to the open one. this moment image.
Actions can perform color correction of photographs, apply any filters and effects to pictures, and create covers (covers).
There are a huge number of these assistants on the Internet, and choosing an action for your needs will not be difficult, you just need to type in a search engine a query like “download actions for...”. Instead of the ellipsis, you must enter the purpose of the program.
In this tutorial I will show you how to use actions in Photoshop.
And they are extremely easy to use.
First you need to open a special palette called "Operations". To do this, go to the menu "Window" and look for the corresponding item.
The palette looks quite normal:
To add a new action, click on the icon in the upper right corner of the palette and select the menu item "Load Operations".
Then, in the window that opens, look for the downloaded action in the format .atn and press "Download".
The action will appear in the palette.
Let's use it and see what happens.
We open the folder and see that the action consists of two operations (steps). Select the first one and click on the button "Play".
The action has started. After completing the first step, we see the screen of our tablet, on which you can place any image. For example, here is a screenshot of our website.
Then we launch the second operation in the same way and as a result we get this nice tablet:
The whole procedure took no more than five minutes.
That's all, now you know how to install an action in Photoshop CS6, and how to use such programs.
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