Photoshop Automator Actions v.5
Mac OS X’s Automator provides a friendly, flowchart-like front end for the incredibly powerful AppleScript capability built into most applications and the Mac OS itself. Ben Long has created a set of 95 Automator Actions that use Photoshop CS4 and CS5 to make changes to images dropped into a folder — a tremendous timesaver when you have lots of images to process. (There are also versions for Photoshop CS2–CS3.)
The basic collection, which includes 30 actions, is free. The extended collection costs $20.
Some of our favorites are:
- Contact Sheet
- Change Mode
- Add Watermark
- Flatten Document
- De-Interlace
- Auto Levels
- Change Resolution
- Reduce Noise
- Dust and Scratches
- Shadow/Highlight
- Smart Sharpen
- Assign Color Profile
- Resize Image
- Rename from EXIF
- Save as TIFF
- Save as JPEG
- Copy IPTC to Spotlight Comments
The package also includes sample workflows and a 79-page manual describing the actions and an introduction to using Automator. You can download the actions and read all about them at www.completedigitalphotography.com/?p=339
Jeff Gamet is a contributing editor for Design Tools Monthly, the executive summary of graphic design news. He is also the morning editor and reviews editor for The Mac Observer and iPodObserver.com, and contributing writer for Layers Magazine and Photoshop User. He writes the InBrief column for InDesign Magazine, and is the author of “The Designer’s Guide to Mac OS X,” from Peachpit Press
When Jeff isn’t writing about the graphic design world, he’s talking about it on the Design Tools Weekly podcast with co-host Jay Nelson. He also talks about Apple and the Mac world every week on The Mac Observer’s Apple Weekly Report.
Jeff studies, tests and reviews new software and technologies for the Macintosh community as well as the design and print industries. He is a former Pre-press specialist, and has nearly 25 years experience with computer technology. Jeff trains, lectures and consults on techniques for more efficiently using Mac OS X in creative environments throughout the country.
In the rare moments when he can get away from his MacBook Pro, Jeff spends his time climbing and biking in the Colorado mountains.