Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers - Martin Evening [313]
If you have just recorded an action and are having trouble getting it to work, you can inspect it command by command. Open a test image, expand the action to display all the items, select the first step in the action, hold down the key and click on the Play button. This allows you to play the action one step at a time. You need to have the key held down and keep clicking the Play button to continue playing the remaining steps. If there is a problem with one of the action steps then double-click the relevant action step in the list to re-record it. You will then need to make sure that action step is selected, keep the key held down again and click on the Play button to continue.
Recording ruler units
For actions that involve recording the placement of objects or drawing of marquee selections, it is a good idea to record setting the ruler units as part of the action. For example, if you go to the Photoshop preferences and choose ‘Units & Rulers’, you can set the rulers to ‘Percentage’. By recording this as part of an action, any subsequent placement of Photoshop guides, placement of the type tool or use of the marquee tools can be recorded relative to the proportions of the document. When you then replay an action, the action should work effectively no matter what the size or proportions of the image.
Volatile actions
One thing you have to be aware of is that although actions will remain stored in the Actions panel after you quit Photoshop, a newly installed or created action can easily become lost should you suffer a computer or program crash before you quit. Photoshop actions can also become lost if you trash the Photoshop preferences or uninstall Photoshop. It is therefore always a good idea to take the precaution of saving any newly created or newly edited action sets so you don't lose them! These can be saved anywhere you like, but the Photoshop CS5/Actions/Presets folder is where they need to be stored if they are to be seen listed at the bottom of the Actions panel fly-out menu (see Figure 15.1).
Limitations when recording actions
Most Photoshop operations can be recorded as an action, such as image adjustments, History panel steps, filters, and most Photoshop tool operations, although you should be aware that tools such as the marquee and gradient fills are recorded based on the current set ruler unit coordinates (see sidebar on recording ruler units). Avoid using commands which as yet cannot be recorded within an action, such as brush strokes. These go beyond the scope of what can be scripted in Photoshop.
Actions only record changed settings
One of the problems you commonly face when preparing and recording an action is what to do if certain settings are already as you want them to be. Actions only record a setting as part of an action if it actually changes something. For example, let's say you are recording an image size adjustment where you want the image resolution to end up at 300 pixels per inch, but the image is already defined in the Image Size dialog as being 300 pixels per inch. In these situations, Photoshop doesn't record anything. To resolve a problem like this you have to deliberately make the image size something different before you record the step. Then when you change the pixel resolution this will get recorded. In this particular example, you would go to the Image Size dialog and temporarily make the image, say, 200 pixels per inch, then record setting the resolution to 300 pixels per inch and when you are fnished, delete the 200 pixels per inch step from