Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
If there's a “finishing move” you like to do in Photoshop (after you're done tweaking
the image in Lightroom), you can add some automation to the process, so once
your photos are exported, Photoshop launches, applies your move, and then resaves
the file. It's based on you creating an action in Photoshop (an action is a recording
of something you've done in Photoshop, and once you've recorded it, Photoshop
can repeat that process as many times as you'd like, really, really, fast). Here's
how to create an action, and then hook that directly into Lightroom:
Step One:
We start this process in Photoshop, so go
ahead and press
Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E)
to open an image in Photoshop (don't
forget, you can follow along with the same
photo I'm using here, if you like, by down-
loading it from the site I gave you back
in the topic's introduction). What we're
going to do here is create a Photoshop
action that adds a nice, simple softening
effect to the image, and you can use it on
everything from landscapes to portraits.
(When I post a photo using this technique
on my blog, I always get emails asking:
“How is it that the image looks soft, but it
still looks sharp?”) Because this technique
is repetitive (it uses the same steps in the
same order every time), it makes it an
ideal candidate for turning into an action,
which you can apply to a different photo
(or group of photos) much faster.
Step Two:
To create an action, go to the Window
menu and choose
Actions
to make the
Actions panel visible. Click on the Create
New Action icon at the bottom of the
panel (it looks just like the Create a New
Layer icon in the Layers panel and is
circled here). This brings up the New
Action dialog (shown here). Go ahead
and give your action a name (I named
mine “Soften Finishing Effect”) and click
the Record button (notice the button
doesn't say OK or Save, it says Record,
because it's now recording your steps).
Continued
