- Photoshop User Guide
- Introduction to Photoshop
- Photoshop and other Adobe products and services
- Photoshop on the iPad (not available in mainland China)
- Photoshop on the iPad | Common questions
- Get to know the workspace
- System requirements | Photoshop on the iPad
- Create, open, and export documents
- Add photos
- Work with layers
- Draw and paint with brushes
- Make selections and add masks
- Retouch your composites
- Work with adjustment layers
- Adjust the tonality of your composite with Curves
- Apply transform operations
- Crop and rotate your composites
- Rotate, pan, zoom, and reset the canvas
- Work with Type layers
- Work with Photoshop and Lightroom
- Get missing fonts in Photoshop on the iPad
- Japanese Text in Photoshop on the iPad
- Manage app settings
- Touch shortcuts and gestures
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Edit your image size
- Livestream as you create in Photoshop on the iPad
- Correct imperfections with the Healing Brush
- Create brushes in Capture and use them in Photoshop on the iPad
- Work with Camera Raw files
- Create and work with Smart Objects
- Adjust exposure in your images with Dodge and Burn
- Auto adjustment commands in Photoshop on the iPad
- Smudge areas in your images with Photoshop on the iPad
- Saturate or desaturate your images using Sponge tool
- Content aware fill for iPad
- Photoshop on the web (not available in mainland China)
- Common questions
- System requirements
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Supported file types
- Introduction to the workspace
- Open and work with cloud documents
- Generative AI features
- Basic concepts of editing
- Quick Actions
- Work with layers
- Retouch images and remove imperfections
- Make quick selections
- Image improvements with Adjustment Layers
- Add a fill layer
- Move, transform, and crop images
- Draw and paint
- Draw and edit Shapes
- Work with Type layers
- Work with anyone on the web
- Manage app settings
- Generate Image
- Generate Background
- Reference Image
- Photoshop (beta) (not available in mainland China)
- Generative AI (not available in mainland China)
- Common questions on generative AI in Photoshop
- Generative Fill in Photoshop on the desktop
- Generate Image with descriptive text prompts
- Generative Expand in Photoshop on the desktop
- Generative Fill in Photoshop on the iPad
- Generative Expand in Photoshop on the iPad
- Generative AI features in Photoshop on the web
- Content authenticity (not available in mainland China)
- Cloud documents (not available in mainland China)
- Photoshop cloud documents | Common questions
- Photoshop cloud documents | Workflow questions
- Manage and work with cloud documents in Photoshop
- Upgrade cloud storage for Photoshop
- Unable to create or save a cloud document
- Solve Photoshop cloud document errors
- Collect cloud document sync logs
- Invite others to edit your cloud documents
- Share files and comment in-app
- Workspace
- Workspace basics
- Preferences
- Learn faster with the Photoshop Discover Panel
- Create documents
- Place files
- Default keyboard shortcuts
- Customize keyboard shortcuts
- Tool galleries
- Performance preferences
- Use tools
- Presets
- Grid and guides
- Touch gestures
- Use the Touch Bar with Photoshop
- Touch capabilities and customizable workspaces
- Technology previews
- Metadata and notes
- Touch capabilities and customizable workspaces
- Place Photoshop images in other applications
- Rulers
- Show or hide non-printing Extras
- Specify columns for an image
- Undo and history
- Panels and menus
- Position elements with snapping
- Position with the Ruler tool
- Web, screen, and app design
- Image and color basics
- How to resize images
- Work with raster and vector images
- Image size and resolution
- Acquire images from cameras and scanners
- Create, open, and import images
- View images
- Invalid JPEG Marker error | Opening images
- Viewing multiple images
- Customize color pickers and swatches
- High dynamic range images
- Match colors in your image
- Convert between color modes
- Color modes
- Erase parts of an image
- Blending modes
- Choose colors
- Customize indexed color tables
- Image information
- Distort filters are unavailable
- About color
- Color and monochrome adjustments using channels
- Choose colors in the Color and Swatches panels
- Sample
- Color mode or Image mode
- Color cast
- Add a conditional mode change to an action
- Add swatches from HTML CSS and SVG
- Bit depth and preferences
- Layers
- Layer basics
- Nondestructive editing
- Create and manage layers and groups
- Select, group, and link layers
- Place images into frames
- Layer opacity and blending
- Mask layers
- Apply Smart Filters
- Layer comps
- Move, stack, and lock layers
- Mask layers with vector masks
- Manage layers and groups
- Layer effects and styles
- Edit layer masks
- Extract assets
- Reveal layers with clipping masks
- Generate image assets from layers
- Work with Smart Objects
- Blending modes
- Combine multiple images into a group portrait
- Combine images with Auto-Blend Layers
- Align and distribute layers
- Copy CSS from layers
- Load selections from a layer or layer mask's boundaries
- Knockout to reveal content from other layers
- Selections
- Get started with selections
- Make selections in your composite
- Select and Mask workspace
- Select with the marquee tools
- Select with the lasso tools
- Adjust pixel selections
- Move, copy, and delete selected pixels
- Create a temporary quick mask
- Select a color range in an image
- Convert between paths and selection borders
- Channel basics
- Save selections and alpha channel masks
- Select the image areas in focus
- Duplicate, split, and merge channels
- Channel calculations
- Get started with selections
- Image adjustments
- Replace object colors
- Perspective warp
- Reduce camera shake blurring
- Healing brush examples
- Export color lookup tables
- Adjust image sharpness and blur
- Understand color adjustments
- Apply a Brightness/Contrast adjustment
- Adjust shadow and highlight detail
- Levels adjustment
- Adjust hue and saturation
- Adjust vibrance
- Adjust color saturation in image areas
- Make quick tonal adjustments
- Apply special color effects to images
- Enhance your image with color balance adjustments
- High dynamic range images
- View histograms and pixel values
- Match colors in your image
- Crop and straighten photos
- Convert a color image to black and white
- Adjustment and fill layers
- Curves adjustment
- Blending modes
- Target images for press
- Adjust color and tone with Levels and Curves eyedroppers
- Adjust HDR exposure and toning
- Dodge or burn image areas
- Make selective color adjustments
- Adobe Camera Raw
- Camera Raw system requirements
- What's new in Camera Raw
- Introduction to Camera Raw
- Create panoramas
- Supported lenses
- Vignette, grain, and dehaze effects in Camera Raw
- Default keyboard shortcuts
- Automatic perspective correction in Camera Raw
- Radial Filter in Camera Raw
- Manage Camera Raw settings
- Open, process, and save images in Camera Raw
- Repair images with the Enhanced Spot Removal tool in Camera Raw
- Rotate, crop, and adjust images
- Adjust color rendering in Camera Raw
- Process versions in Camera Raw
- Make local adjustments in Camera Raw
- Image repair and restoration
- Image enhancement and transformation
- Drawing and painting
- Paint symmetrical patterns
- Draw rectangles and modify stroke options
- About drawing
- Draw and edit shapes
- Painting tools
- Create and modify brushes
- Blending modes
- Add color to paths
- Edit paths
- Paint with the Mixer Brush
- Brush presets
- Gradients
- Gradient interpolation
- Fill and stroke selections, layers, and paths
- Draw with the Pen tools
- Create patterns
- Generate a pattern using the Pattern Maker
- Manage paths
- Manage pattern libraries and presets
- Draw or paint with a graphics tablet
- Create textured brushes
- Add dynamic elements to brushes
- Gradient
- Paint stylized strokes with the Art History Brush
- Paint with a pattern
- Sync presets on multiple devices
- Migrate presets, actions, and settings
- Text
- Filters and effects
- Saving and exporting
- Color Management
- Web, screen, and app design
- Video and animation
- Printing
- Automation
- Troubleshooting
Work efficiently by easily recording actions for frequently performed tasks.
Topics in this article:
Keep in mind the following guidelines when recording actions:
You can record most—but not all—commands in an action.
You can record operations that you perform with the Marquee, Move, Polygon, Lasso, Magic Wand, Crop, Slice, Magic Eraser, Gradient, Paint Bucket, Type, Shape, Notes, Eyedropper, and Color Sampler tools—as well as those that you perform in the History, Swatches, Color, Paths, Channels, Layers, Styles, and Actions panels.
Results depend on file and program setting variables, such as the active layer and the foreground color. For example, a 3‑pixel Gaussian blur won’t create the same effect on a 72‑ppi file as on a 144‑ppi file. Nor will Color Balance work on a grayscale file.
When you record actions that include specifying settings in dialog boxes and panels, the action will reflect the settings in effect at the time of the recording. If you change a setting in a dialog box or panel while recording an action, the changed value is recorded.
Most dialog boxes retain the settings specified at the previous use. Check carefully that those are the values you want to record.
- Modal operations and tools—as well as tools that record position—use the units currently specified for the ruler. A modal operation or tool is one that requires you to press Enter or Return to apply its effect, such as transforming or cropping. Tools that record position include the Marquee, Slice, Gradient, Magic Wand, Lasso, Shape, Path, Eyedropper, and Notes tools.
If you record an action that will be played on files of different sizes, set the ruler units to percentages. As a result, the action will always play back in the same relative position in the image.
- You can record the Play command listed on the Actions panel menu to cause one action to play another.
When you create a new action, the commands and tools you use are added to the action until you stop recording.
To guard against mistakes, work in a copy: At the beginning of the action before applying other commands, record the File > Save As command and select As A Copy. Alternatively, you can click the New Snapshot button on the History panel to make a snapshot of the image before recording the action.
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Open a file.
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In the Actions panel, click the Create New Action button , or choose New Action from the Actions panel menu.
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Enter an action name, select an action set, and set additional options:
Function Key
Assigns a keyboard shortcut to the action. You can choose any combination of a function key, the Ctrl key (Windows) or Command key (Mac OS), and the Shift key (for example, Ctrl+Shift+F3), with these exceptions: In Windows, you cannot use the F1 key, nor can you use F4 or F6 with the Ctrl key.
Note:If you assign an action the same shortcut that is used for a command, the shortcut will apply the action rather than the command.
Use the Color field to assign color for display in Button mode.
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Click Begin Recording. The Begin Recording button in the Actions panel turns red .Note:
When recording the Save As command, do not change the filename. If you enter a new filename, that new name is recorded and used each time you run the action. Before saving, if you navigate to a different folder, you can specify a different location without having to specify a filename.
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Perform the operations and commands you want to record.
Not all tasks in actions can be recorded directly; however, you can insert most nonrecordable tasks using commands in the Actions panel menu.
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To stop recording, either click the Stop Playing/Recording button, or choose Stop Recording from the Actions panel menu, or press the Esc key.
To resume recording in the same action, choose Start Recording from the Actions panel menu.
Record tools in actions
Photoshop lets you record tools such as the brush tool in your action. To enable this feature, choose Allow Tool Recording from the Actions panel menu.
A couple of items to keep in mind:
- When recording a tool, choose your brush as part of the action or Photoshop uses the currently selected brush.
- If you are recording the action to play back at a different size, set Photoshop's measurement units to percentage and don’t define the brush size as part of a brush preset.
From an expert: Tool recording
Howard Pinsky
http://iceflowstudios.comThe Insert Path command lets you include a complex path (a path created with a pen tool or pasted from Adobe Illustrator) as part of an action. When the action is played back, the work path is set to the recorded path. You can insert a path when recording an action or after it has been recorded.
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Do one of the following:
Start recording an action.
Select an action’s name to record a path at the end of the action.
Select a command to record a path after the command.
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Select an existing path from the Paths panel.
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Choose Insert Path from the Actions panel menu.
If you record multiple Insert Path commands in a single action, each path replaces the previous one in the target file. To add multiple paths, record a Save Path command using the Paths panel after recording each Insert Path command.
Playing actions that insert complex paths may require significant amounts of memory. If you encounter problems, increase the amount of memory available to Photoshop.
You can include stops in an action that let you perform a task that cannot be recorded (for example, using a painting tool). After you complete the task, click the Play button in the Actions panel to complete the action.
You can also display a short message when the action reaches the stop as a reminder of what needs to be done before continuing with the action. You can include a Continue button in the message box in case no other task needs to be done.
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Choose where to insert the stop by doing one of the following:
Select an action’s name to insert a stop at the end of the action.
Select a command to insert a stop after the command.
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Choose Insert Stop from the Actions panel menu.
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Type the message you want to appear.
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If you want the option to continue the action without stopping, select Allow Continue.
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Click OK.
You can insert a stop when recording an action or after it has been recorded.
By default, actions are completed using the values specified when they were originally recorded. If you want to change the settings for a command within an action, you can insert a modal control. A modal control pauses an action so that you can specify values in a dialog box or use a modal tool. (A modal tool requires pressing Enter or Return to apply its effect—once you press Enter or Return, the action resumes its tasks.)
A modal control is indicated by a dialog box icon to the left of a command, action, or set in the Actions panel. A red dialog box icon indicates an action or set in which some, but not all, commands are modal. You can’t set a modal control in Button mode.
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Do one of the following:
To enable a modal control for a command within an action, click the box to the left of the command name. Click again to disable the modal control.
To enable or disable modal controls for all commands in an action, click the box to the left of the action name.
To enable or disable modal controls for all actions in a set, click the box to the left of the set name.
You can exclude commands that you don’t want to play as part of a recorded action. You can’t exclude commands in Button mode.
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If necessary, expand the listing of commands in the action by clicking the triangle to the left of the action name in the Actions panel.
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Do one of the following:
To exclude a single command, click to clear the check mark to the left of the command name. Click again to include the command.
To exclude or include all commands or actions in an action or set, click the check mark to the left of the action or set name.
To exclude or include all commands except the selected command, Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) its check mark.
To indicate that some of the commands within the action are excluded, the check mark of the parent action turns red.
You can insert many non-recordable commands into an action using the Insert Menu Item command.
You can insert a command when recording an action, or after it has been recorded. An inserted command doesn’t execute until the action is played, so the file remains unchanged when the command is inserted. No values for the command are recorded in the action. If the command opens a dialog box, the dialog box appears during playback, and the action pauses until you click OK or Cancel.
When you use the Insert Menu Item command to insert a command that opens a dialog box, you cannot disable the modal control in the Actions panel.
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Choose where to insert the menu item:
Select an action’s name to insert the item at the end of the action.
Select a command to insert the item at the end of the command.
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Choose Insert Menu Item from the Actions panel menu.
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With the Insert Menu Item dialog box open, choose a command from its menu.
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Click OK.
You can tweak the settings of any specific command within an action, add commands to an existing action, or step through an entire action and change any or all settings.
Overwrite a single command
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In the Actions panel, double-click the command.
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Enter the new values, and click OK.
Add commands to an action
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Do one of the following:
Select the action name to insert a new command at the end of the action.
Select a command in the action to insert a command after it.
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Click the Begin Recording button, or choose Start Recording from the Actions panel menu.
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Record the additional commands.
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When finished, click the Stop Playing/Recording button in the Actions panel or choose Stop Recording from the panel menu.
Rearrange commands within an action
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In the Actions panel, drag a command to its new location within the same or another action. When the highlighted line appears in the desired position, release the mouse button.
Record an action again
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Select an action, and choose Record Again from the Actions panel menu.
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If a modal tool appears, use the tool to create a different result, and press Enter or Return, or just press Enter or Return to retain the same settings.
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If a dialog box appears, change the settings, and click OK to record them, or click Cancel to retain the same values.