FirstAction07

[Damien Symonds]

Part 7: Take it for a test drive

Let’s try it out! Open another photo, choose the action, and press Play:

Because we put a pause in the action at the Duplicate step, it will stop to allow you to name the file. By default it simply puts “copy” at the end of the existing file name. Here, I’ve replaced that with “-FB”:

Next, it pauses at the Unsharp Mask step. For this photo, I’ve increased the Amount, and decreased the Threshold a little. Of course, I make these decisions on a photo-by-photo basis.

That’s it! The small duplicate copy of the photo saves to the folder on your desktop, and closes. You’re left with the original full-size file, which you can close, edit, or admire at your leisure.

Notes:

If you don’t like my suggestion for making a “landing folder” on your desktop, then you can simply add a pause at the Export step in the action, and it will allow you to choose your destination for each image:

If you don’t feel the need to rename your images for Facebook, then don’t bother with the pause on the Duplicate step. That’ll save you some time.

Once you’ve uploaded your images to Facebook, delete them. I mean, why bother keeping them? If, for some strange reason, you needed to upload them again in the future, you can just make them again from the full-size files. Don’t let your computer get cluttered with unnecessary files. (Read more)

Have fun!

I hope that worked for you, and you feel empowered to try recording other actions.

Don’t be discouraged if it takes you several attempts to record an action – I don’t think I’ve ever got one right the first time! Keep practicing, and you’ll feel more and more confident.

Once you become familiar with the actions panel, you’ll be able to edit your actions, and analyse other people’s actions, and learn plenty. I’ve written a bit more general info here which should help.