Every Step Goes into an Action

Actions record every single step or operation you perform, which is great—but also potentially frustrating. For example, if you start recording an action and then open a file, every time you run that action it always opens that file. Of course, you generally need a document open to record an action because you need something to work on. What you can do is record your actions on “dummy” documents so none of your important work documents are damaged.

Actions also may require a little setup. For example, if you record clicking a layer named Layer 1, then the action (in effect) records “click the layer called layer 1.” If you run this action on a different document, it will not work unless there’s a layer named Layer 1. If an action includes activating specific layers, you’re better off learning the keyboard shortcuts that let you activate the next layer up, the next layer down, the bottom layer, etc. (see sidebar).

Every operation you perform is recorded, but it’s important to note that it is not recording how long you take to do things. Therefore, you can take your time and make sure you are choosing menu items and clicking tools that you want recorded. Having said that—as we’ll see later—it is possible to edit an action after it’s been recorded.