Creating an Action

We'll start off by making one of the simplest actions imaginable, but one I frequently use nonethless, a 1 pixel black image outline. I use this action for creating thumbnails for lovely tutorials such as this. Start by opening Photoshop and creating a new document. I made mine 150x150 pixels in the example. Change your foreground color to black (pressing 'D' will do this quickly).

Go to the Actions Palette and create a new action by clicking the . Name the action "1 px outline" or whatever you please. Click the to start recording your action.

Press Ctrl+A (Mac: Cmd+A) to select all and then go to Edit>Stroke. Select 1 px and Inside for location. Press Ctrl+D (Cmd+D) to deselect your selection. You might notice a faint one pixel border around your image. It's pretty hard to see. As a final step to your action, press Ctrl+S (Cmd+S) and save your file as any name. (Often you will not want to have a save funtion in your action, but for the batch process we will be doing, this is a good idea). Then press in the Actions Palette to end your action. Your action is now complete. You are now able to apply your action to any open file you want by selecing the action in the Actions Palette and clicking the button. We don't want to use it quite yet though, we'll use it in a Batch Process.

Running a Batch Process

In order to run a Batch Process you will need some pre-made files to apply your action to. To the left are four borderless thumbnail images taken from the Spoono Spotlight that you may use. Right-click on each, choose Save Picture As, and save them to a new directory.

Back in Photoshop, go to File>Automate>Batch. In the menu that pops up, locate your action in the Action drop-down. Choose Folder in the Source drop-down and browse to find your folder with the four images. Make sure Destination is set to None (which it should be) and press OK.

Four images will flurry about the screen and in a few seconds the Batch will be complete. The images will remain open and if you zoom in on them you will notice nothing less than a one pixel black border around all of them. You don't have to worry about saving them because they have already been saved during the Batch.

So that's about it. No you can consider yourself a batching fool.

Tutorials: Photoshop

Title/Description

Level

3D Globs
Make those big trendy 3D globs using nothing but Photoshop.

Beginner

Actions and Batching
Save your precious time by automating tasks by using Actions and Batching.

Beginner

Box Art
Learn how to turn 2D artwork into a 3D software box, hardcover book, or other object.

Intermediate

Brushes
Create custom brushes and learn to use Photoshop's powerful brush engine.

Intermediate

Chromage
Make oh so smooth chrome effects.

Advanced

Colorburst
Learn how to make simple, eye-catching colorbursts.

Beginner

Colorize
Colorize is a artistic effect used by a lot of graphic designers to detail pictures.

Intermediate

Fire Text: Tutorial
Set your text ablaze with burning wrath.

Intermediate

Grunge: Tutorial
Create grungy background effects.

Intermediate

Ice Text: Tutorial
Learn who to chisel your own ice text.

Intermediate

Keyboard Shortcuts: Tutorial
Find out about all of Photoshop's lovely shortcut keys.

Beginner

Lighting Effects: Tutorial
Create realistic-looking plastic objects by using powerful lighting effects techniques.

Intermediate

Masking: Tutorial
Hide parts our your layers with style by using Photoshop's powerful masking features.

Intermediate

Micro Buttons: Tutorial
Learn how to make micro buttons in Photoshop.

Beginner

Neon Glow Text: Tutorial
Make neon text like that often found on commerical signs.

Intermediate

Outlines
Create suave outlines the old-fashioned way.

Beginner

Paths: Tutorial
Use paths to create smooth and editable selections.

Beginner

Seamless Water Texture: Tutorial
Make a very stylish and useful water texture.

Intermediate

Texture Wrapping: Tutorial
Learn how to realistically wrap a texture around an object.

Intermediate

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