Actions

Leontine78

Leontine78

New member
I bought soms actions this morning....but there's only a atn file and no png files or metadata files.
How can I use them...? There is no manual there and I am a peanut in these things.
 
You have to load the actions into Photoshop before you can use them. I have CS6, so the process may be a bit different if you have a different version of the software. This is what I do:

Open the actions window: windows > actions

Click the button in the upper right that looks like a bunch of lines with a downward facing triangle

Select "load" and navigate to that atn file in the dialog box that pops up. The actions should now show up in your actions window.

To run the action, select the one you want with a single mouse click and then click the sideways triangle in the bottom bar of the actions window.
 
If she's asking about the PNG I'd assume she's running PSE of one version or another since it uses one to show the action in the menu.

And I wish I could help, but it's been forever since I had to load an action into PSE. :(
 
Pretty sure the new photo actions are for Photoshop ONLY not PSE. All I have to do is double click the action and it'll automatically load (CS5) and just hit play in my action palette to run it.
 
The descriptions say that it was created for Photoshop CS versions... I don't know if they'd work in PSE.
 
maybe you can use one of the preview images and save it as a png and create a metadata file and then try to install it like you would normally install actions for PSE and see if it works...

I can tell you though, that the actions are grouped into a folder so you won't be able to make individual adjustments in PSE like you can in PS... you'd only be able to adjust the opacity of the whole action folder
 
I did just load Urban Beauty into PSE11... it works, however you will get a lot of messages about adjustment layer created in the full version of photoshop and cannot be edited in elements... so, it did apply an action, but probably not to the full power as Erin intended.
 
Shoot, I didn't check the descriptions.
Fortunately I only bought one set to try. I use PSE9 by the way.
 
FlirtatiousBrat said:
Pretty sure the new photo actions are for Photoshop ONLY not PSE. All I have to do is double click the action and it'll automatically load (CS5) and just hit play in my action palette to run it.
Click to expand...

Hey, I'm just curious about this because I have a system for storing my .atn files. When you load them this way--by just double clicking--does it make a copy of the file and store it somewhere? What exactly happens to the .atn file?
 
ltarbox said:
Hey, I'm just curious about this because I have a system for storing my .atn files. When you load them this way--by just double clicking--does it make a copy of the file and store it somewhere? What exactly happens to the .atn file?
Click to expand...

I didn't know you could do this either - curious as to this too....
 
pretty sure the .atn file isn't copied b/c when I go look into the adobe actions folder in applications there's only the default actions. It must read from the path where you load it
 
Whenever I double-click one, it stays where it is... it just loads itself into Photoshop as well. If I were to delete it from PS, I'd still actually have the PS file--whether it's an .atn, .aco. abr, etc. It just wouldn't be loaded when I start up PS anymore. HTH!
 
ltarbox said:
Hey, I'm just curious about this because I have a system for storing my .atn files. When you load them this way--by just double clicking--does it make a copy of the file and store it somewhere? What exactly happens to the .atn file?
Click to expand...

I had to look this up because I didn't know and it made me curious, but it looks like Photoshop doesn't make a duplicate copy of the .atn file. Instead the settings are copied into your Actions Palette.psp preference file which is what Photoshop uses to populate the Actions Palette every time you open the program. So you can store and move your files anywhere you want since Photoshop doesn't refer to the original file but you should probably keep a copy of them as a backup in case something happens to the preference file. This seems to be the case whether you you double-click or load within the palette so I'm not sure how you install them matters.
 
Are the actions only going to be for full photoshop? I was hoping for some that would work in PSE since that's what lots of people use.
 
Sorry I didn't see this earlier today so thanks to everyone who chimed in. The actions are created for Photoshop. I don't currently have PSE myself, but it's something I'm going to get so I can make actions for everyone who runs on that too. Lightroom presets will be coming down the road as well!

I'm very sorry anyone was having a hard time with this!
 
Nettio said:
I had to look this up because I didn't know and it made me curious, but it looks like Photoshop doesn't make a duplicate copy of the .atn file. Instead the settings are copied into your Actions Palette.psp preference file which is what Photoshop uses to populate the Actions Palette every time you open the program. So you can store and move your files anywhere you want since Photoshop doesn't refer to the original file but you should probably keep a copy of them as a backup in case something happens to the preference file. This seems to be the case whether you you double-click or load within the palette so I'm not sure how you install them matters.
Click to expand...

Thanks for doing the research Lynnette. I think I'll probably change the way I do things for actions. :)
 
Last edited:
Nettio said:
I had to look this up because I didn't know and it made me curious, but it looks like Photoshop doesn't make a duplicate copy of the .atn file. Instead the settings are copied into your Actions Palette.psp preference file which is what Photoshop uses to populate the Actions Palette every time you open the program. So you can store and move your files anywhere you want since Photoshop doesn't refer to the original file but you should probably keep a copy of them as a backup in case something happens to the preference file. This seems to be the case whether you you double-click or load within the palette so I'm not sure how you install them matters.
Click to expand...

I really learn something new every day! Thanks for the research, Lynnette! I always physically copy my ATN files to the actions folder and keep a duplicate for storage (and I tag the preview in LR). Thanks, Meghan for the idea!
 
Nettio said:
I had to look this up because I didn't know and it made me curious, but it looks like Photoshop doesn't make a duplicate copy of the .atn file. Instead the settings are copied into your Actions Palette.psp preference file which is what Photoshop uses to populate the Actions Palette every time you open the program. So you can store and move your files anywhere you want since Photoshop doesn't refer to the original file but you should probably keep a copy of them as a backup in case something happens to the preference file. This seems to be the case whether you you double-click or load within the palette so I'm not sure how you install them matters.
Click to expand...

I have a folder for all of my actions/presets and when I want to install, I have the action palette open in photoshop and just drag&drop the action to install. Once they are installed, I keep a copy of Photoshop settings mentioned by Lynnette, along with the copies of my actions.
 
I also have a folder for all my photoshop actions and Lightroom presets... I only keep a few actions in my actions folder so I don't drag down the speed of PS too much... to "install" them I just double click on it and it automatically installs into my palette for me to use... so easy peasy :)
 
heathergw said:
I also have a folder for all my photoshop actions and Lightroom presets... I only keep a few actions in my actions folder so I don't drag down the speed of PS too much... to "install" them I just double click on it and it automatically installs into my palette for me to use... so easy peasy :)
Click to expand...

I do this too! My folder is stored "close" to my scrapbooking stuff folder so I can get everything going that I need for a layout quickly!
 
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