After Capture Action
Creating an Action to Add a Copyright Symbol
This exercise details how to create an action that can be turned into a droplet for use in the “Using Photoshop Actions with Lightroom” article in the June 2009 issue of After Capture magazine. Be sure to see that article to learn how to use this action in Lightroom. Here’s a link in case you missed the magazine.
Understanding the Actions Panel
Actions are accessible in the Actions panel, as shown in the figure below. If you have trouble locating it, choose Window > Actions.
The Actions panel is usually grouped with the History panel. If you don't see it, choose Window > Actions.
When you look at the Actions panel you notice that Photoshop comes loaded with some predefined actions called Default Actions that allow you to do all kinds of things. This group is called an action set. Photoshop comes with other predefined action sets that are located at the bottom of the panel menu, which is opened by using the button below the panel’s Close button. To make the actions in these action sets accessible you need to load the sets into the Actions panel.
Creating the Action
Actions are easy to create. You simply tell Photoshop to record everything you do and save those steps. Create a simple action that you can use to place a copyright symbol (©) in the middle of a 4 x 6 file. Doing this insures that any proof prints made from these files are clearly labeled with the copyright symbol, making them unsatisfactory for reproducing if they fall into unscrupulous hands.
Note: If you want a copyright symbol action for images with dimensions other than 4 x 6 (Web images, for example), follow these steps using a test file that is the correct dimensions. You’ll also have to reduce the font size accordingly.
The Actions panel has a Record button, a Play button, and a Stop button — just like a little tape recorder. And that’s exactly how it works. Specific steps on a sample file are recorded and then played back on other files.
Follow these steps:
1. Create a new file. Choose File >New, and give it the following properties: Width = 6 inches, Height = 4 inches, Resolution = 300, Color Mode = RGB Color/8-bit, and Background = White. If you created the “4 x 6 @ 300 white” preset in the New File dialog box earlier, use it to quickly create this file.
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2. You’re going to use white type so you need to change the background layer’s color so you can see the type. Choose Edit > Fill. When the Fill dialog box opens choose 50% Gray from the Contents Use menu and click OK to fill the layer with 50 percent gray.
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3. Before you record a new action, create an action set for your custom actions so they don’t get mixed in with the default actions. This makes it easier to find them later. Go to the Actions panel and click on the Create New Set button at the bottom of the panel. Name the new set My Actions and click OK. (This name can always be changed later by double-clicking it in the Actions palette.)
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4. Collapse any of the default action sets that are open because you don’t need them.
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5. Now it’s time to create your action. Select any tool from the Tools panel (other than the Type tool), and click the Create New Action button. The New Action dialog opens, as shown in the figure below. Name the action Copyright Symbol. Be sure to choose My Actions from the Set menu.
The Function Key menu is used to assign a shortcut key to your action, which you don’t need here. The Color menu is used to assign a color when working in Button mode.
The New Action dialog box allows you to name your action and choose in which action set it will be stored.
6. You’re ready to begin. Click the Record button. Now every step will be recorded as part of the action. Follow the next steps exactly, otherwise your action may not work correctly later.
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7. Select the Type tool (T) and click in the center of the image to activate the tool in the image. Go to the Tool Options bar and set the following attributes for the Type tool. Change the font to Times New Roman. Change the font size to 200 pt on the options bar. Click on the colored swatch on the options bar and change the text color to white.
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8. Now you can create the copyright symbol. Press Alt+0169 (on the numeric keyboard) (Alt+G) to create a copyright symbol. When you see the copyright symbol, click the Commit Edits button of the right side of the Tool Options bar. It looks like a check mark. (The circle with a diagonal line through it is used to cancel edits.)
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9. Use the Move tool to position the symbol in the center of the image.
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10. Go to the Layers palette. Notice that the type is on its own layer. Reduce the opacity of the type layer to 30 percent by clicking in the Opacity box and typing 30. I added a drop shadow to mine so that if it gets positioned on a light area of the photo the dark shadow will make it visible. If you want to add one, choose Layer@@–>Layer Style@@–>Drop Shadow. Adjust the sliders in the dialog box until you like the shadow and then click OK.
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11. You’re almost done. You just need to flatten the text layer into the background layer. Choose Layer@@–>Flatten Image.
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12. You need to record a step that saves the file, otherwise, when you run it on groups of files they will all open in Photoshop and stay there. Choose File@@–>Save As and save the file as a JPEG with Quality of 12 to your Desktop. Name it Test.jpg. You can throw it away when you finish this exercise.
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13. Okay, all of the steps you need are recorded so stop recording before doing anything else. Click the Stop button on the Actions palette. You can also close the 4 x 6 copyright test file you just created.
The new Copyright Symbol action is now in the My Actions action set. Here the action is expanded so you can see each step. The third step, Set current layer, is expanded so you can see the exact settings that were used to create the action.
Your new action should look like the Copyright Symbol action in the Figure above. Notice that each step is recorded as part of the action. You can see where I clicked the twirly beside Set current layer to reveal the exact settings for that individual step.
The settings you used in this exercise are general. Try creating variations of this action for different types of work. Experiment with the font size, color, and layer opacity. Also try adding a drop shadow by choosing Layer @@–> Layer Style @@–> Drop Shadow. (If you use a drop shadow, instead of lowering layer’s the Opacity value, try lowering it’s Fill value to preserve the opacity of the shadow A value of 0 shows the drop shadow effect without the type.)
