Learn how to save time and automate with Photoshops action and batch features. photoshop, tutorial, actions, batch, automate Actions and Batch Processing are Photoshop's little tools for saving you precious time whenever you find yourself doing repetitive operations. Actions record a set of operations you perform and Batch Processing allows you to perform any action on numerous files. pict1.gif173192Picture 1 1 Creating an Action

We'll start off by making one of the simplest actions imaginable, but one I frequently use nonethless, a 1 pixel black image outline. I use this action for creating thumbnails for lovely tutorials such as this. Start by opening Photoshop and creating a new document. I made mine 150x150 pixels in the example. Change your foreground color to black (pressing D will do this quickly). pict2.gif173192Picture 2 2 Name the action 1 px outline or whatever you please. Click the ../general/record.gifRecord to start recording your action. pict3.gif173192Picture 3 3 Press Ctrl+A (Mac: Command+A) to select all and then go to Edit>Stroke. Select 1 px and Inside for location. Press Ctrl+D (Command+D) to deselect your selection. You might notice a faint one pixel border around your image. It's pretty hard to see. As a final step to your action, press Ctrl+S (Command+S) and save your file as any name. (Often you will not want to have a save funtion in your action, but for the batch process we will be doing, this is a good idea). Then press ../general/stop.gifStop in the Actions Palette to end your action. Your action is now complete. You are now able to apply your action to any open file you want by selecing the action in the Actions Palette and clicking the ../general/play.gifPlay button. We don't want to use it quite yet though, we'll use it in a Batch Process. pict4.gif173159Picture 4 4 Running a Batch Process

In order to run a Batch Process you will need some pre-made files to apply your action to. I chose 4 borderless thumbnail images that were going to be used for the Spoono Skillet. pict5.gif173192Picture 5 5 Back in Photoshop, go to File>Automate>Batch. In the menu that pops up, locate your action in the Action drop-down. Choose Folder in the Source drop-down and browse to find your folder with the four images. Make sure Destination is set to None (which it should be) and press OK. pict6.gif173192Picture 6 6 Four images will flurry about the screen and in a few seconds the Batch will be complete. The images will remain open and if you zoom in on them you will notice nothing less than a one pixel black border around all of them. You don't have to worry about saving them because they have already been saved during the Batch.

So that's about it. Now you can consider yourself a regular batching fool.