Actions are automated sequences of commands in Photoshop which you can then re-use on other images with a single mouseclick.

They’re like macros in other programs and they can save you a great deal of time if you find yourself repeatedly carrying out the same processes.

This is the Actions palette in Photoshop CS4.Photoshop comes with a range of actions already in the ‘Default Actions’ folder. We’ve created a new folder underneath called ‘Rod’s Actions’. This folder currently contains three Actions: one called ‘Screen layer’, one called ‘Soft Light layer’ and another called ‘Multiply layer’. To run an Action, you click on it to select it and then click the ‘Play selection’ button at the bottom. If you expand an Action, as we have done with the ‘Soft Light layer’ Action, you can see all the commands which were recorded to make up the Action. These aren’t directly editable – they’re really for reference. If the Action doesn’t work as intended, it’s usually quicker to record a new one.

To record an Action: (1) click the ‘Create new Action’ button and choose a name for the Action; (2) Photoshop is now in ‘record mode’, so you carry out the sequence of commands that will go to make up the Action; (3) when you’ve finished, click the ‘Stop’ button (the red square). And that’s it.