Loading Actions

You can begin using actions even if you've never made any of your own, because Photoshop already includes many actions. You see them in the Default Actions folder that appears in the Actions palette by default. You can add more built-in actions by choosing a built-in action set from the bottom of the Actions palette menu (Commands, Frames, and so on) (Figure 17.1); if you choose one, you add another actions folder to the Actions palette.

Figure 17.1. The commands on the Actions palette menu play a major role in managing actions. Additional built-in action sets are available at the bottom of the palette menu.

If you want to add actions that you've downloaded or obtained from Web sites, colleagues, or friends, choose Load Actions from the Actions palette menu, select the action set (it may have a .atn filename extension), and click Load.

On the Actions palette menu, you can also choose Replace Actions, which removes all existing actions from the Actions palette and then loads the action set you select. Choose Reset Actions to restore the Actions palette to its default state.

On Mac OS X, you can load an action set file into Photoshop by double-clicking the file outside of Photoshop.