An action is a series of tasks that you play back on a single file or a batch of files—menu commands, panel options, tool actions, and so on. For example, you can create an action that changes the size of an image, applies an effect to the image, and then saves the file in the desired format.

Actions can include steps that let you perform tasks that cannot be recorded (for example, using a painting tool). Actions can also include modal controls that let you enter values in a dialog box while playing an action.

In Photoshop, actions are the basis for droplets, which are small applications that automatically process all files that are dragged onto their icon.

Photoshop and Illustrator come with predefined actions installed that help you perform common tasks. You can use these actions as is, customize them to meet your needs, or create new actions. Actions are stored in sets to help you organize them.

You can record, edit, customize, and batch-process actions, and you can manage groups of actions by working with action sets.

1. If necessary, select objects on which to play the action, or open a file.
2. Do one of the following:

   • (Illustrator) To play a set of actions, select the set name, and click the Play button  in the Actions panel, or choose Play from the panel menu.

   • To play an entire single action, select the action name, and click the Play button in the Actions panel, or choose Play from the panel menu.

   • If you assigned a key combination to the action, press that combination to play the action automatically.

   • To play only a part of an action, select the command from which you want to start playing, and click the Play button in the Actions panel, or choose Play from the panel menu.

   • To play a single command, select the command, and then Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) the Play button in the Actions panel. You can also press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS), and double-click the command.

In Photoshop, to undo an action, take a snapshot in the History panel before you play an action, and then select the snapshot to undo the action.

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 A Copy command (Illustrator) or record the File > Save As command and select As A Copy (Photoshop). Alternatively, in Photoshop you can click the New Snapshot button on the History panel to make a snapshot of the image before recording the action.

1. Open a file.
2. In the Actions panel, click the Create New Action button , or choose New Action from the Actions panel menu.
3. 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.

   Color

   Assigns a color for display in Button mode.

4. Click Begin Recording. The Begin Recording button in the Actions panel turns red .
   Important: 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.
5. 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.

6. To stop recording, either click the Stop Playing/Recording button, or choose Stop Recording from the Actions panel menu. (In Photoshop, you can also press the Esc key.)

To resume recording in the same action, choose Start Recording from the Actions panel menu.

Not all tasks in actions can be recorded directly. For example, you can’t record commands in the Effects and View menus, commands that display or hide panels, and use of the Selection, Pen, Paintbrush, Pencil, Gradient, Mesh, Eyedropper, Live Paint Bucket, and Scissors tools.

To tell which tasks cannot be recorded, watch the Actions panel. If the name of the command or tool doesn’t appear after you perform the task, you may still be able to add the task using commands in the Actions panel menu.

To insert a nonrecordable task after you create an action, select an item within the action after which you want to insert the task. Then choose the appropriate command from the Actions panel menu.

1. 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.

2. Choose Insert Stop from the Actions panel menu.
3. Type the message you want to appear.
4. If you want the option to continue the action without stopping, select Allow Continue.
5. Click OK.

You can insert a stop when recording an action or after it has been recorded.

1. 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.
2. 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, in Photoshop the check mark of the parent action turns red; in Illustrator the check mark of the parent action becomes dimmed.

1. Choose Playback Options from the Actions panel menu.
2. Specify a speed, and click OK:

   Accelerated

   Plays the action at normal speed (the default).

   Note: When you play an action at accelerated speed, the screen may not update as the action executes—files may be opened, modified, saved, and closed without ever appearing on‑screen, enabling the action to execute more quickly. If you want to see the files on‑screen as the action executes, specify the Step By Step speed instead.

   Step By Step

   Completes each command and redraws the image before going on to the next command in the action.

   Pause For __ Seconds

   Specifies the amount of time the application should pause between carrying out each command in the action.

It is easy to edit and customize actions. 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.

The Batch command lets you play an action on a folder of files and subfolders. You can also use the Batch command to populate a template for data-driven graphics with different sets of data.

1. Choose Batch from the Actions panel menu.

2. For Play, select the action you want to play.

3. For Source, choose the folder on which to play the action. Or select Data Sets to play the action on each data set in the current file.

   If you select a folder, you can set additional options for playing the action.

4. For Destination, specify what you want to do with the processed files. You can leave the files open without saving the changes (None), save and close the file in their current location (Save And Close), or save the files to a different location (Folder).

   Depending on the Destination option you select, you can set additional options for saving the files.

5. Specify how you want Illustrator to handle errors during the batch process. If you select Log Errors To File, click Save As, and name the error file.

6. Click OK.

   Saving files using the Batch command options always saves the files in the same format as the original files. To create a batch process that saves files in a new format, record the Save As or Save A Copy command, followed by the Close command, as part of your original action. Then choose None for the Destination when setting up the batch process.
   To batch-process using multiple actions, create a new action, and record the Batch command for each action you want to use. This technique also lets you process multiple folders in a single batch. To batch-process multiple folders, create aliases within a folder to the other folders you want to process.