FAQ

Loading an Action

The most frequently asked question I receive is: "Now that I have this action, what do I do with it?" All actions on this come in zip folders, and you need a program that unzips it, such as WinZip or StuffIt Expander to extract the ATN file.

Once unzipped, we recommend placing all your actions in a common folder. This folder can be placed anywhere on your system, but probably should not be in your Photoshop® subdirectory so that it does not become orphaned if you upgrade to a new version and uninstall the old one. In Windows, for instance, you could create a special folder under My Documents called "Actions." 

Once you have placed actions into that folder, open Photoshop, open the actions palette, click the small triangle in the upper right hand corner to access the fly-out menu, and choose "Load Actions." Using the file dialogue, navigate to wherever you have placed our actions, e.g. "\my documents\actions". Click the "Load" button in the dialogue and your actions are in the actions palette.

There is a simpler way that is not as organized, but it is one that I use all the time. After unzipping your action, simply drag and drop it onto the actions palette in Photoshop. (The Actions Palette must be open for this to work.)

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How to run an action and interact with it.

In the Actions Palette (or "Panel", as it's known in CS4), click on the action set you wish to run. Click on the arrow next the set and you'll see one or more actions within the set. Click on the action you wish to run, and the steps in the action will be performed. Often you'll see a screen that offers you the option to continue or stop. If you press stop, you'll be dropped out of the action and nothing further will happen. If you press continue, you'll be offered an instruction and some sort of interaction to perform on your image, after which the action will resume or end. Finally, many actions operate on layers. This means that you can adjust the effect after the action is completed by changing the opacity or even the blend mode. This makes actions very powerful interactive tools.

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When an action doesn't work

Sometimes an action doesn't work. If you have an early version of Photoshop, it may be that the action makes calls to functionality that does not exist in your version. (Many of our descriptions indicate which versions they work with.)

If you have a recent version of Photoshop, here are a few things to check.

First, make certain you haven't changed the name of the Background layer which should be the bottom layer on the stack. Some actions requires this naming convention, and if you've changed the name to, for instance, Layer 0, the action fails.

Second, make certain that you were on the background layer when you initiated the action. If you had a curves layer selected, the action will try to affect that, and it won't work as expected.

Third, see if your image is in 16-bit mode. If so, the action make by making calls to filters that are unavailable in this mode. Take these steps:

-Image|Duplicate (This duplicates your image)
-Image|Mode|8-bit ... (This changes your new duplicate image to 8-bit)

Now try to run the action again.

Are actions cross-platform compatible?

Yes. Actions developed on the Mac are compatible with Windows systems and vice-versa. (Really, an action is just a set of instructions to Photoshop® calling on various functions, just like macros in a spreadsheet program, and the actions file is a format Photoshop® uses to call these steps.) The only compatibility issue is between various Photoshop® versions (PS7, CS, CS4, etc.), not the operating system under which it's running.

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Photoshop® Elements

Actions can be used in Photoshop® Elements if the action consists of steps supported in Elements, but they cannot be written within the program. Texas Chicks Blogs and Pics contains version-specific instructions for installing actions in PSE. 

I am happy to post actions converted for Photoshop® Elements on this site, but do not have time to translate and test them. I welcome the efforts of anyone who wishes to do so. 

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Using these Actions in Commercial Images

We've received a number of questions from professional designers and photographers wanting to know if they can use these actions in their commercial work. As long as you have rights to the original image, how you use these actions is up to you.

An action is really a series of instructions to Photoshop® to perform various steps in a set sequence. Some call for decisions from the users, others don't. No action does anything you couldn't do on your own if you had the time, knowledge, and patience. So have at it.

You may not repackage these actions as your own work, whether for free or for sale, nor may you cross-post them on another website without permission of the action's developer. Besides the investment of my time and expense in developing this site, my other problem with cross-posting is that both the developer and I use control over the distribution rights and versions of the action.

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