Photoshop Actions

AstroZombie

At the risk of looking inept, I learned something new today and thought I would post it here. I actually checked with a couple of our contract artists on IM and they were not aware either so I am sure that there are probably one or two here who can benefit from me coming forward regarding my ineptitude.

What I learned from my co-workers today is that in Photoshop there is something called "actions" which allows you to record an action and then play it back. What this could be useful for is things like saving out a batch of files in a different format, adjusting a group of images (to the same spec), etc.

I cannot believe for the past several years I have spent the time doing these actions the hard way (one at a time) when I could have recorded myself doing one and then automated the rest. Those of you who would like to point and laugh at my ignorance to this basic Photoshop function please feel free However, I would appreciate if those of you who learned something new from this post said something as well.

MoP

Yeah, I started using actions last year for saving out merged TGA files while working on PSD textures that weren't supported in the model viewer I was using. Just hit F12 and it saved a nice TGA for me, much faster than going through the menus.
I've used actions for some layer effects before too, just simple stuff like duplicating, changing mode and opacity, then merging down back to one layer. Simple, but definitely a great time-saver if you're doing lots of repetetive stuff.

Then again I also just discovered that Maya has a "PSD File" node that I've been overlooking, I was working with TGA's and using my F12 action for saving a working copy, when I could have just been using the PSD all along!
Although I guess that might have taken longer to refresh, and use more RAM... hmm.

Ruz

he he same here. have increased my workflow speed a lot since I started using it. very handy.
I use it a lot for mirroring my textures, so I paints one side and then press f2 and actions does the rest

ElysiumGX

i've always used actions for borders, resizing, and playing with channels when i have a folder full of images and don't want to remember the same settings over and over. also handy for creating quick effects like fire, metal, and snow...and animations. i think the version i use now has something called droplets.

Eric Chadwick

They are great. Biggest beef I have is Nvidia's DDS saver just uses the most recent settings, doesn't let you specify DXT5 vs DXT1 via the Action. Oh well, I asked Nvidia but they have other fish to fry.