In a Beginner’s Guide to Workflow Automation you will learn all about the art of creating Actions in Photoshop. While this isn’t the most fun topic in the world, it is a bit on the nerdy side; it will unlock a whole new world for you in Photoshop. I have spent the last seven years perfecting the techniques to make highly efficient Actions in Photoshop. As a matter of fact, the Zone System Express started out as a set of Actions and morphed into something I never imagined.
Whether you’re interested in speeding up your workflow or making Actions that you can profit from, this course will give you the knowledge to get started! This course is everything I wish I had seven years ago when I started my Workflow Automation journey in Photoshop!
What you will learn:
- What are Actions?
- Why use them?
- What you need to know before you start making them
- How to make, modify, and perfect the art of making your own Actions
Along the way, we will build several Actions that are specifically designed to teach you the core fundamentals of effective Action creation!
Lessons
Lesson 1 Intro to Workflow Automation
Lesson 2 The Actions Palette
Lesson 2: In this lesson, we will break the Actions Palette down. This is the “control center” for creating, managing, and using your Actions. While the information in this lesson may seem fundamental, I implore you to watch it prior to moving onto the next lesson. It will set the foundation for the rest of […]
Lesson 3 Our First Action
Lesson 3: We are about to create our very first Action! We are going to make a Curves Layer Dodge and Burn Action. This will set you up with a Dodge Curve and a Burn Curve. This is a powerful method for dodging and burning as it allows for the Luminosity Blend mode so your colors […]
Lesson 4 Modifying Actions
Lesson 4 In this video, I will go into the weeds of the Action we created in Lesson 3. While it certainly could run without modifying it, I will show you how to edit dialogs within the recorded Action’s steps to minimize the amount of work PHotosho has to do when it runs the Action. […]
Lesson 5 Black and White Action
Lesson 5 In lesson 5, we will create a Black and White Action with an HSL adjustment under it. This will allow you to convert your image to grayscale and use the Color data to manipulate the outcome. While it is a helpful Action, this lesson will also teach you how to modify your actions […]
Lesson 6 Modal Dialogs and Actions
Lesson 6 Modal Dialogs are any windows that pop up when you tell Photoshop to do something. For instance, selecting the Gaussian Blur from the filters menu prompts you to select you pixel blur size. That is an example of a modal dialog. In this lesson we will create a “Save For Web” action that […]
Lesson 7 Duplicating Actions
Lesson 7 One of the most time-saving things I ever figured out with Action creation was duplicating Actions. Not only can you duplicate an Action, but an Action set, and even a single Action step. It is a valuable tool. Couple the duplication with the modifying of Actions from Lesson 4 and you have yourself […]
Lesson 8 Conclusion Workflow Automation
Lesson 8 (there are two bonus videos after this lesson) The “to be continued” conclusion! We covered a lot of territory in this course and I want to let all of that settle before we dive into more advanced topics that will be discussed in a future f.64 Elite Course. Here we will look at […]
Lesson 9 Bonus 1 Installing Actions
Bonus Video 1 Hindsight is so 20/20. It occurred to me after making the entire course that I failed to mention how to install the Actions into Photoshop. This brief course will show you how to install your actions in Photoshop. The Skinny: Double click a .atn file and it will auto install in Photoshop Drag […]
Lesson 10 Bonus 2 Saving Action Files
Bonus Video 2 Psshhhhhht, I can save an Action Blake… duh! Of course you can, but I wanted to make this video to show you that it is imperative to save your actions in the Root Folder of Photoshop so Photoshop will pull them up in the Actions Palette. Windows C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC 2017\Presets\Actions […]