Photoshop Actions: Automate Your Workflow
Photoshop Actions are one of the most underused time-savers in the program. An Action is a recorded sequence of steps that you can replay on any image with a single click — or batch-apply to an entire folder of images. If you find yourself repeating the same steps over and over, an Action is the solution.
What Actions Are Good For
- Resizing and exporting multiple images to web-ready specs
- Applying a consistent color grade or filter look across a series of photos
- Adding a watermark to multiple images
- Converting a folder of images to a different format
- Any multi-step process you repeat regularly
How to Record an Action
Step 1: Open the Actions Panel
Go to Window > Actions (or Alt/Option-F9). The Actions panel shows all available actions and sets.
Step 2: Create a New Action
Click the New Action button (the page icon at the bottom of the panel). Give your action a name and optionally assign a keyboard shortcut. Click Record.
Step 3: Perform Your Steps
Photoshop is now recording everything you do. Perform all the steps you want to automate — resizing, adjusting, saving, etc. Work carefully and efficiently; every step will be recorded.
Step 4: Stop Recording
Click the Stop button (the square) in the Actions panel. Your action is saved and ready to use.
Running an Action
Select the action in the Actions panel, open the image you want to apply it to, and click the Play button (the triangle). The entire recorded sequence runs automatically.
Batch Processing with Actions
To apply an action to an entire folder of images: go to File > Automate > Batch. Choose your action, set your source folder (the images to process) and destination folder (where to save the results), and click OK. Photoshop will process every image in the folder automatically — one of the biggest time-savers in the entire program.
Using Pre-Made Actions
You don't have to record everything from scratch. Adobe provides built-in actions (check the Actions panel menu to load them), and there are thousands of free and paid actions available online — for photo retouching, color grading, special effects, and more. Download, load into Photoshop via the Actions panel menu, and run on any image.