Photoshop Tutorial: Actions in Photoshop CS2

"Actions" is a series of steps or operations.

Photoshop Actions Is a series of steps, operations or modifications that is been already recorded once creating an action.
Actions may apply after that to as many pictures or designs as you want creating the same effects in one-steps.

Well this is cool right! , Also you may save as many as hundreds of steps in your action …

Action Types:
Two types of actions you need to know, one of them is the Full automated action and the other is Modifying Actions.
oFull automated: this action is an action that you recorded and you will not need to do any modification on it after saving.
oModifying Action: is an action that may stop for your input while playing this action after saving it, don't worry this steps that stops for any modification is selected by you.

Now We will run over for how you can make your own simple action, When you know how you make a simple action and understand how it really works then, you can create you own actions depends on your work needs.

This action that we will create now is an action to modify any type of images to change it from a dark image too more lighting image.

I created this action to help do my work faster, Appling this action with any dark image I need to work with and it takes 1 sec now to work with any unready image "before this action it takes about 5 min to get any image ready to work with, imagine how long it may takes to modify like 40 images without using actions? ".

Step1:
•Open any image you want to start with. Open any image that already has dark parts to see the deference after appling the new action.

- Take a look at the image before applying your new action.

Step2:
•Go to the action palette, If you can't find it:
Just Go to: Window Menu > Actions.
•Click on the pop-up Menu (the small arrow on the right of the window), Then Click New Set … this new Set is like a new folder contains all your new actions created by you.

-Take a look at the attached image.

•Now a pop up window will ask you to put your new set name, write your name for example, you can make as many sets as you need, every set contains as many actions as you need.

-Take a look at the attached image.

•Now in the action palette choose new action. Then name it new action for example.

Step3:
•Now you will create the first step in your action, actually this is an obvious step you will apply in every action you create.

•This step is to duplicate the image layer, this way you will modify the copy not the actual image,

•Select the image layer and click Control J or command J if you using a Mac.

•First you will notice that a new step added to your action, with a layer via copy name.

•Second you will notice that there is a recording icon in the action palette, it means that you are now recording a new action.

Step4:
•We will add 2 steps to lighting the image,

•First we will add a curves adjustment:

Image > adjustments > curves, now modify your curve to light you image. (Drag the curve from the meddle)

•Second step is to do a hue\saturation effect to light up the image by modifying brightness scale.

-Take a look at the attached image.

Step5:
•Your action is now finished; Just Click on the stop recording icon and your Action is ready "this action is saved in your new set folder".

Note: now you can apply this action to any image, HOW?
-Just open the image you want then select the new action and click play in the action palette .

I hope you find this tutorial useful for you. Until next time,
Thanks for reading,