Install and Run Actions in Photoshop CS4

Installing actions into Photoshop CS4 (or any other version of Photoshop CS, I believe) is easy.  Unless you’ve never done it before! So here is a step by step for those of you new to using actions in the “big” Photoshop.

• You will most likely download your Photoshop actions from the internet or receive them via email.  Either way, you’ll need to save them onto your computer.  Where to save it? I recommend creating a folder in your Documents for all actions, templates, textures, etc.  Why?  For several reasons.  It will be easy to locate them when you upgrade to the next version of Photoshop, for one.  Also, most of us backup our documents somehow.  It would be a shame to lose your actions if you store them somewhere on your computer that’s not backed up.  I have a folder called Photoshop Toys that contains all sorts of fun stuff that I’ve found over the years:
• The inside of my actions folder looks like this.  I like to keep actions organized in folders with the creator’s name, so that I know who to give credit for if necessary.
• Now, open Photoshop and look at your Actions Palette.  If you don’t see it in your workspace, go to the Window and select Actions, or press Alt+F9.
• With your actions palette active, look for the small drop down arrow with horizontal lines.  See where the yellow arrow is pointing in this screen shot?  Click it.

• Next, the following menu will pop up.

• Select Load Actions, which is next to the yellow arrow.
• Use the following dialog box to navigate to the location of your saved actions.
• The action will now appear in your Actions Palette – you don’t need to restart or anything!

• To use the action, locate it in your actions palette.  If the action is in a folder, click on the arrow next to it to open the folder.  Highlight the action itself, not the folder, and press the play button, which is the triangle under the yellow arrow. 

• In most cases, you should run actions on flattened images.  This means that your image should only have one layer, and this layer is named background.  Not sure?  Look at your Layers Palette.  The Layers Palette of a flattened image looks like this:
• If your image is not flattened, right click on one of the layers in the Layers Palette and select Flatten.  It will look something like this, pre-flattening:
• Need more help?  I provide personal support in the Texas Chicks Forum.  Purchase a 30 support ticket here, or buy one of my actions.  30 days of installation support is included with the purchase of an action.