Copyright 2003 Ling Nero. All Rights Reserved.
Updated 10/28/2003
This document has two purposes: (1) as a reference to create Photoshop actions that can be run readily in Photoshop Elements; (2) as a guide to duplicate certain Photoshop-only techniques (e.g. Fade) in Elements.
The companion writing_elements_compatible_actions.atn file can be used as a standalone tutorial in how Photoshop actions are converted to run in Elements. This reference elaborates on the information presented in the tutorial.
Section 1 has practical information on basic guidelines to create Photoshop actions that can be run from within Elements. Section 2 has step-by-step direction in how to rewrite certain Photoshop-only techniques using only tools found in Elements. Section 2 has a companion ATN file which demonstrates the techniques.
Photoshop Elements' internal actions player is limited in several ways. Some of the guidelines below are mandatory if the action is to be compatible with Elements. Other guidelines are generally good ideas for creating actions compatible with all language versions of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.
While Elements has many hidden capabilities that can be accessed through Photoshop Actions, it simply does not have everything Photoshop has. The following Photoshop features are not present in Elements and for which I know of no workarounds.
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ACTION NAME |
1-64 characters. May consist of only lower case letters and the underscore character. An invalid name: Sharpening Action #2 (Contains spaces, a number, a special character (#) and upper case characters). A valid name: sharpening_action |
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ACTION FILE NAME |
The file extension must be .atn and in lower case. Additionally, if the set contains actions that call another action (in the same set), the file name must consist of only lower case letters and the underscore character. |
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STOP commands |
Always specify "allow continue" when a Stop command is inserted into an action. Why? Elements has no Actions Palette and, therefore, no Play button with which to resume a paused action. Any manual tasks such as color choices or making selections must be completed before the action starts. In these cases a Stop command can be executed at the beginning of the action informing the user of any requirements and the option to stop (to perform the required manual task) or continue, if it has already been completed. For example "Click Continue if a foreground color has been selected. Otherwise click Stop, select the color and play the action again." |
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Calling another action |
In Elements, you can only call another action in the same set. In other words, you cannot create a common set of generic actions, then write a separate set of actions which use the generic actions in the common set. You'd have to embed all the actions you'd need to call in the same set. |
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Layers Palette Management |
So actions are less likely to fail when played under language versions of Photoshop different from the one used to record the action, use the following keyboard shortcuts in lieu of dragging and dropping layers within the Layers Palette.
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The following Photoshop Techniques are not available in Elements. There are always more than one way to do things, however, and you can usually achieve the same effects using only tools available in Elements.
The companion writing_elements_compatible_actions.atn file has examples of how these actions are converted to run in Elements.
A Fade is usually applied after performing some filtering effects on the image. For Elements, you have to duplicate the layer before applying the effect and fade:
As there's no separate Fade dialog in Elements, you generally can not allow the user to adjust the Fade settings during the action. You can, however, restructure the action so that the Fade effect is presented in a separate layer. Then the user can change the layer blending mode and opacity to control the fade effect. You can present the Fade in a separate layer by omitting the Merge Down (last) step above.
Elements has no direct way to invoke Curves, Channel Mixer, or Selective Color. The only way to use these features is through adjustment layers via a Photoshop Action. There are limitations, however. Just like Photoshop the "display dialog" checkbox must be turned on when the action is recorded to cause the adjustment layer dialog box to be displayed in Elements. The Elements user, however, only gets one chance to make setting changes in the adjustment layer dialog. After clicking OK, double-clicking the adjustment layer icon DOES NOT open the dialog box like it does in Photoshop.
While the Channel Mixer and Selective Color Adjustment Layers are the same in Elements as in Photoshop, the Curves Adjustment Layer has further limitations. Elements supports the RGB color space only, therefore only the RGB version of a Curves adjustment layer is permitted. Furthermore, although curves for R, G or B can be specified when an action is recorded, under Elements only the curve for the RGB composite can be modified. Elements does not permit access to individual color channel curves.
A common Photoshop technique (at least one I came across time and again in converting actions) is to save the current layer as an alpha channel, perform some adjustments on the alpha channel, then load the alpha channel as a mask. Elements has alpha channels and almost all image adjustments (e.g. levels, hue/saturation, filters, etc) can be recorded in a Photoshop Action and run properly in Elements. But since some image adjustments, namely Curves, Channel Mixer, and Selective Color, can be done only through adjustment layers, they cannot be applied directly to the alpha channel.
The workaround is to:
Elements has no direct way to add a layer mask, but can do so via a Photoshop Action. It does not, however, allow an action to add a layer mask using the Reveal Selection option. Elements only allows adding a layer mask with Reveal All.
The workaround is to add the layer mask with Reveal All, then manipulate the mask to add the proper selection:
Elements has no direct way to add a layer mask, but can do so via a Photoshop Action. It does not, however, allow an action to add a layer mask using the Hide Selection option. Elements only allows adding a layer mask with Reveal All.
The workaround is to add the layer mask with Reveal All, then manipulate the mask to add the proper selection:
Elements has no Select > Color Range. To duplicate a Select > Color Range for Midtones, we have to extract the midtones through a curves adjustment to a grayscale luminosity layer.
The workaround is to:
The resultant selected pixels are the same as those selected by Color Range Midtones.