21.09.2024
Home / Instructions / How to load an action into Photoshop? Using actions in Photoshop How to add an action

How to load an action into Photoshop? Using actions in Photoshop How to add an action

There is a special function - action. With its help, you can significantly reduce the time spent working on a layout. If, for example, you need to repeat the same actions, you can “remember” them in the program thanks to this option. Then you won't have to click many times to select filters and effects. It will be enough to press one button. Figure out how to install an action in Photoshop, how to enable it, how to create it yourself, and what, in general, it is.

You can make it or download it from the Internet, and then add it to Photoshop. This feature is useful when working with large-scale projects. It will also be useful if you need to edit a large number of images.

Actions will save you a lot of time when working with Photoshop

An Action is a specific set of actions and commands that is saved in a file. It has the extension .ant. It can be loaded into Photoshop and used as needed.

For example, you need to change several drawings or photographs. Apply a texture, make a shadow, add a gradient, adjust the contrast. If you manually do this with each image, it will take a lot of time. In order not to waste it, you need to learn how to use actions in Photoshop. Then you will apply all the parameters instantly by simply selecting the desired function.

You can write Action yourself if you know the sequence of commands. Similar files are also available on the Internet on specialized sites. To find them, enter the query “download actions for Photoshop” into any search engine. See if what you need is in the search results. Or install a collection of these files right away.

You can take, for example, action, which turns a photo into a drawing. Or makes a flickering sign out of an ordinary inscription. Or creates an interesting and unusual background from a monochrome sheet.

Why choose what range to set the glow if you can take the experience of designers and artists? You will skip long hours of processing and get the final result straight away. And for this you don’t need to learn to use graphic editors.

How to install the action?

  1. Open the “Window” menu and click on “Actions”. A panel of the same name will appear. It can also be called by the keyboard shortcut Alt+F. These buttons turn the tool on and off.
  2. It may already have pre-installed functions. Their list is in the “Default” section.
  3. Click on the small icon that looks like several horizontal lines with a black arrow. It's in the upper right corner of the tool. Do not confuse it with an icon that resembles the rewind button in a player. They are located nearby.
  4. Select "Load".
  5. Specify the folder where the ant file is located.
  6. Confirm installation.
  7. You can simply drag the Action into the Photoshop window.

The action will appear in the list. You can use it immediately. If it doesn't appear, try restarting the program.

How to use the action?

These functions are activated in the same Actions panel in which they were loaded.

  1. Click on the layer.
  2. Turn on the Actions panel.
  3. Select the one you need from the list of actions.
  4. Click on the “Perform active operation or command” button. It looks like the Start or Play icon - a triangle with its apex pointing to the right.
  5. Wait until all settings are applied.

How to make your own action?

Here's how to record an action in Photoshop:

  1. Open the Actions panel.
  2. Click on the button with horizontal stripes. She's on the top right. The operation menu appears.
  3. Click on “New Action”.
  4. In the “Name” field, write the name of the future action.
  5. From the Set list, select which directory the action should be in.
  6. To create your own section, select “New Set” in advance in the operations menu.
  7. You can set keyboard shortcuts to call this function.
  8. When everything is set up, click “Record”.
  9. Start executing commands and actions for the action. Add levels, masks, adjustment layers. Do what you planned.
  10. After that, click on the “Stop” button. It looks like a square. Located at the bottom of the panel. A similar option is found in the operations menu.
  11. Save the processed drawing. Go to File - Save for Web.
  12. The action itself will be placed in the main program directory in the \Presets\Actions subdirectory.
  13. You can remove it or get rid of its individual parts. To do this, in the list of operations, select the desired action or command inside it and click on the image of the trash can. This cannot be done while recording.

It's useful to learn how to add an action in Photoshop. It will help you finish your layout or drawing much faster. You won't have to waste time on the same commands. You can immediately see the result without selecting parameters yourself. Why do boring and monotonous work? If you haven’t found a suitable action, or your set of actions is too specific, you can record it as an action file and fully use it.

Action games are indispensable assistants any Photoshop master. Actually, an action is a small program that repeats recorded actions and applies them to the open one. at the 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.

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 learn 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, in the Operations palette menu there are several more useful commands for installing an action in Photoshop.

  • Clear— removes all actions from the palette, making it completely empty.
  • Restore- returns the palette to starting 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!

Photoshop is a universal program that is used by many users. Her possibilities seem limitless. It provides a variety of tools to make file editing easier. More and more often, users are working with actions. What is it? How to install an action in Photoshop? All this will be discussed further below. Even a beginner can master the procedure for working with actions and loading them.

Action is...

The first step is to understand what you have to deal with. Action - what is it anyway? Maybe there is no need to download these components?

In fact, Action is useful feature"Photoshop". Translated from English, this name sounds like “action”. The tool allows you to create step by step notes all changes made to the image. Designers and just people who value their time use Actions very actively.

But not everyone knows how to install an action in Photoshop. What will it take? What should every user be aware of?

Preparation

The first stage is preparation. The thing is that if we are talking about an installed action, then you will have to implement some actions. Actions performed directly on the image during operation do not require any downloading. They are initially displayed in the corresponding window.

How to install an action in Photoshop? To do this, you will have to download the tool. You can easily find suitable actions on the World Wide Web.

Preparation for installation is sometimes described in the form of short instructions. Namely:

  1. Find suitable “actions” for Photoshop. It is important to maintain compatibility with one or another version of Photoshop.
  2. Download the document to your computer. Typically the downloaded file is saved as an archive.
  3. Unpack (if necessary) the action into a convenient place. The document, ready for further work, is in .ATN format.

Everything is ready for further action! How to install actions in Photoshop CS6? Just a few simple steps and it's done! Even a beginner can cope with the tasks.

Download instructions

Let's assume that the user's prepared Actions are stored on the "Desktop" of the computer. How to install an action in Photoshop?

Some actions will help bring your idea to life. It is recommended to pay attention to the fact that the names of the folders, depending on Windows versions are changing. But the general meaning remains the same.

To install actions in Photoshop, you need:

  1. Copy all documents in .ATN format to the clipboard. You can use the Cut command.
  2. Find a suitable folder for downloading actions. English-language versions of the program allow you to move previously copied documents to the address: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop\Presets. For Russian-language "Photoshop" you will have to go to: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop\Presets.
  3. Find and open the Actions folder. In Russian versions it is called "Photoshop Operations".
  4. Paste the previously copied Actions into the mentioned folders. You can simply drag them with the cursor from the desktop to the specified addresses.

This is where the main actions end. How to install an action in Photoshop? It is such an algorithm that helps bring the idea to life. But often work with the tool does not end at this stage. There are a few more simple steps you need to take.

Final stage

Now all that's left to do is start working with Actions. How to install an action in Photoshop SS? What about any other version of the application? When all of the above steps have been taken, the user needs to:

  1. Launch Photoshop. You can do this in advance, before loading documents in .ATN format into the previously specified folders.
  2. Open the menu item "Window" - "Operations". This function can be activated using the Atl+F9 key combination. In the English version of the program, the tool is located in Window-Actions.
  3. A list with “actions” will open. You will need to click on the small button in the upper right corner. It is designed in the form of 3 horizontal stripes with an arrow pointing down.
  4. Select "Load Actions".
  5. The Actions root folder will open in the list. This is where the “actions” were previously loaded.
  6. Select the desired tool and click on "Download".

The selected document appears in the Actions list. Now it’s clear how to install an action in Photoshop. You can continue working with the tool.

It should be noted that Photoshop version does not play a special role for the manipulations performed. All versions of the program use the same algorithm of actions.

Before you know how to install an action in Photoshop, let's figure it out what is action. If you are a photographer or do graphic design, they will help save your time and are one of the most convenient tools in your arsenal. Indeed, they allow you to transform your photos with one click. This guide is for those who are not yet familiar with the wonderful world. In this article you will learn what actions are, what they are for and how to use them.

What are Photoshop actions?

Actions in Photoshop are files in .ANT format, simply put, an action is a sequence of actions recorded by its author. This sequence can be repeated at any time, which allows you to achieve the final result without performing each action separately.

How can Photoshop actions be useful?

2 . After downloading the archive file with the action, you need to unpack its contents. A new folder is created containing the .ANT file with the action.

3 . This file can be dragged directly into the Photoshop window or you can use the Operations(Actions), and select the command from the drop-down list Load operations.

That's all - all that's left is to load the actions into Photoshop and get to work.

Using Actions

Now that the selected actions are in your program, using them is as easy as 1-2-3.

  1. Select the layer you want to apply the action to.
  2. In the Operations panel ( Actions) highlight the one you want to use.
  3. Click the play button on the bottom panel.

Voila! Whatever layer you choose, it will be transformed in accordance with the applied operation, and this happens almost instantly.
With just a few clicks, you can achieve a professional look for your photos without spending a lot of time.