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[ 67 ]- ACTIONS WITHIN AN ACTION
Create an uber-action by stringing together smaller actions. When you want to create
an action consisting of several different moves, it can be helpful to record small chunks
individually to make sure they’re correct, and then record a new action consisting of each
of the smaller actions. While recording, click on the action you want to add in the Actions
panel (Window>Actions), and click the Play button. This becomes especially useful when
you need to make small variations for different uses, but don’t want to re-record all the
elements again. Just be sure to keep your naming conventions clear, organize them in a
folder, and avoid assigning keyboard shortcuts. - GO WITH THE FLOW
Remember shading with pencils on paper? Lightly scrubbing back and forth without lift-
ing the pencil let you create smooth, even gradients without changing pressure. The
Flow setting in the Options Bar for many tools works this way, too. If you need to build
up density on a mask or painted area smoothly, lower the Flow setting and scrub away.
Combined with Opacity, you get a lot of control over subtle, even painting strokes that feel
more natural than using Opacity alone.
or gray, and press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to dupli-
cate the filled layer. Double-click the duplicate layer’s
name in the Layers panel, and rename it “Crop.”
Hold the Option (PC: Alt) key, and click between the
stamped layer and Crop layer in the Layers panel to
clip the image to the Crop layer. Now you can use
Free Transform (Command-T [PC: Ctrl-T]) on the
Crop layer to adjust cropping ratios, and the bottom
fill layer will appear as a mat.
- CREATE A SET OF CROP GUIDES
An alternative to the clipping method for previewing
crops in the tip above is to create a set of crop guides
from the standard aspect ratios. Create a set of blank
layers and group them. On each blank layer, use the
Rectangular Marquee tool (M) to drag out various
crops. The Option Bar lets you choose Fixed Ratio
from the Style drop-down menu. Enter the ratio you
want in the Width and Height fields, and drag out the
crop on a blank layer. Use Edit >Stroke to create the
border. Repeat on a new blank layer for each crop you
want to try. Don’t forget to name each layer with the
aspect ratio. Bonus: Stick this in your Libraries panel! - DROPLETS ARE STILL A THING!
Droplets are tiny files you save outside Photoshop
to run actions and scripts. Use them for repetitive
operations outside Photoshop, such as batching
print conversions. Start by creating your action, and
then go to File>Automate >Create Droplet. Select
where you want to save the droplet, which action to
run, where to save the files, etc. Click OK when done.
Simply drag-and-drop files onto the droplet to run
them. If you keep a library of them, you can move or
copy them around to different file locations and have
the output kept in the same spot.