Photoshop Tutorial For Actions

In this Photoshop tutorial, I'd like to express how important Photoshop Actions can be by saving you time and making your work more consistent.

Let's describe what an action is first.

An action is essentially a recording of things you do in Photoshop, which can then be played back at any time. Most everything can be recorded as an action.

So, for example, something as simple as creating a document (which is one of the things I use Actions for). Anything that you find yourself doing repeatedly is a good candidate for an action.

Let's say that I need to create a 400 x 100 banner, frequently. Instead of having to remember the dimensions, and settings like background, I can simply create an action called "Small Client Banner". Then, whenever I want to create that banner, I simply click that action.

Fortunately, this Photoshop tutorial is very simple. Launch Photoshop. Click the Window menu and select Actions (you can also press Alt/Option + F9).

This opens the Actions panel. Click the 'Create new set' button in the Actions panel. I do this to keep things organized. Name your set something like 'Create New Banners'.

Next, click the 'Create new action' button and name your action something descriptive, like "400x100" or "Client A Small Banner".

As far as Photoshop tutorials go, that's about as easy as it gets. From this point on, whatever you do will be recorded as an action (and NOT in real time) until you press the 'Stop recording' button.

Just create a new document how you normally would, with all the settings for your 400x100 banner (or whatever else you're doing). Once you have the blank document created, click the 'Stop recording' button and your action is made.

Now, whenever you want that size document created, just select that action and run it! I love the time savings and consistency created by using actions like this.

Ken walker is a National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) member and professional Photoshop trainer. He has created over 40 hours of Photoshop video tutorials. You can see some of his video training and Photoshop tutorials on his site, KillerPhotoshopTechniques.com. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ken_D_Walker