In coin image editing there are a lot of tasks that are repetitive, and can be made into actions. If you’re only editing one image at a time, maybe using actions seems like more work that they’re worth. If you’re like me, often editing hundreds of coin images a day, doing many of the same standard things to every image, then actions are a necessity. Is anyone using PS actions, and if so, how are you using them? For my own coin image editing, I've found there are more tasks that can be automated than tasks that need my own personal editing choices, so I’ve made custom action sets, based on the kinds of coins I'm photographing. There are a lot of advantages to this. This is my list of HSP coin imaging action sets. The image below is my RAW COIN EDITING action set opened. First, and foremost, it directs my workflow. These eleven individual steps are built around what requires my input, and what can be automated, so I don’t have to do anything other than the tasks I need to perform personally. They are a working check list, keeping me on an ordered, efficient, step by step, image editing process. A to Z. Front to back. Nothing is missed or forgotten. The image below is the BATCH-CLONE LAYER CLEAN UP action expanded, to show the six tasks the action does that I would otherwise have to do for each image. The actions fill in all the mundane steps between each personal editing task. Things like file set up, adjustment layer creation, auto fill, reset the view and select the appropriate tool. Stuff that doesn’t require any personal brainpower, just extra time. Actions speed up my overall editing by replacing the tasks that I would do manually for each image, with a click of a button. I have several actions that have over 50 tasks. You'll notice many of the actions start with the word BATCH-. In my workflow I usually open and edit 10 images at a time, so I batch apply my actions to all 10 images at once. They save me time. A lot of time. Finally, they give me consistent image quality over hundreds of images, for all the reasons above. This is priceless. In the end, this kind of automated process means I can fully edit images, like the shot below, in less than 2 minutes. If anyone is interested in these actions let me know.
Really nicely done. What version of PS are you using? I have an old version (CS2) which I use a little for coin image editing. Mostly I use advanced viewers, FastStone and IrfanView, for editing. Adobe wants $240/yr for the privilege of using the current version of PhotoShop ... too much for amateurs. Cal
Thanks, I use the paid CC version. I have to keep current for various reasons, mostly so my files will work with anyone I send them to. I think these actions would likely still work with CS2. I'm not familiar with the other software you mentioned. Do you find editing easy with them?
I don’t think the CS2 version of PS has “Actions”. It does have Automate and Scripts sections, but I’ve never used them. Both FastStone and IrfanView are free. I use FastStone most of the time, but use IrfanView for jp2 images, which it handles much more quickly than FastStone. IrfanView is the main image viewing/editing software used by the Newman Portal, which is how I learned about it. Compared to PS, FastStone is limited. For example, it can only work with one image at a time. Doing things like clone eraser using one image as source and another as target aren’t possible, and there are no layers. But for cropping, single image clone/heal, color and lighting adjustment, inserting simple text, file format conversion, etc., it works great. It has a batch mode, which I use a lot for scanned images … very quick to crop, rotate (right-angles only) and format-convert a big group of images. Cal
