If you've been following along from the very beginning of our look at Photoshop actions, give yourself a pat on the back because we've covered a lot of information! If you skipped everything and jumped right to this page, well, that's okay, too, but you've missed a lot. We looked at what actions are, we explored the Actions palette, we learned the difference between an action and an action set, we looked at the Default Actions set that Photoshop loads automatically for us as well as the additional sets that install with Photoshop, we learned how to see exactly what's going on inside an action by playing through it one step at a time, and we learned how to edit an action! And let's not forget all the little extras we've covered, like how to view the details of an action, including the specific details of each step, how to show and hide dialog boxes when playing an action, how to turn individual steps on an off, and even where to find Photoshop's "classic" default actions if you're using Photoshop CS2! At this point, we've covered pretty much everything we need to know about actions, which means we're ready to record our very own actions in Photoshop!

In this section, we'll look at how to record a simple "Soft Glow" effect as an action. Once we're done recording it, you'll be able to instantly apply the effect to any image you want! Here's the image I'll be using:

Let's get started!

Step 1: Create A New Action Set If Needed

As I mentioned previously, all actions must be placed inside an action set. You can have hundreds of actions in a set or a single action, it makes no difference. All Photoshop cares about is that you place all of your actions inside action sets. Back when we looked at how to edit an action in Photoshop, we learned that to create a new action set, all we need to do is click on the New Action Set icon at the bottom of the Actions palette. It's the icon that looks like a small folder, since action sets are really just folders that we store actions in:

This brings up the New Set dialog box where you can enter a name for your new action set. I've already created a new action set, which I named "My Actions". If you've already worked through the "Editing An Action" section of these tutorials, you'll most likely have already created a new action set as well, in which case there's no need to create a new one here. If you haven't yet created your own action set, go ahead and create one now. We can see in the screenshot that I've entered the name "My Actions" for my set, but of course you can name your set whatever you like:

Click OK when you're done to exit out of the dialog box, and if you look in your Actions palette, you'll see your new set appear below any other action sets you currently have loaded into Photoshop. Since I'm using the same set that I created previously, we can see that I also have the "Improved Photo Corners" action, which we edited earlier, already available inside the set. If you just created a new set, your set will appear empty for the moment:

Keep in mind that you don't have to create a new action set every time you want to create a new action. As long as you already have an action set to place your new action in, you can place as many actions inside the set as you like. It's a good idea, though, not to place any of your own actions inside any of the sets that are installed with Photoshop, like the Default Actions set, the Image Effects set, the Frames set, and so on. Keep the actions you create yourself inside your own action set or sets.

Step 2: Create A New Action

Now that we an action set to place our new action in, let's create our action! To create a new action, click on the New Action icon at the bottom of the Actions palette:

This brings up the New Action dialog box. Here, we can enter a name for our new action, as well as choose the action set to place the action in. Since we'll be recording the steps needed to create a simple soft glow effect, I'm going to name my action "Soft Glow". Directly below the input box where you entered the name of your action, you'll find the Set option. This is where we select which action set to place the action in. If your new action set is not already selected, select it from the list. Here, we can see that I'll be placing my "Soft Glow" action inside the "My Actions" set:

You'll notice a couple of other options at the bottom of the New Acton dialog box. The Function Key option allows you to assign a keyboard shortcut to your new action if you wish, using any of the Function Keys, along with the Shift key and / or the Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) key. Personally, I wouldn't bother with this since it's already very easy to play an action simply by clicking on the Play icon in the Actions palette. You'll also find a Color option here, allowing you to assign a color to your action. This is only relevant if you're viewing your actions in Button Mode, which there's no need to get into here. You can safely ignore the Color option, and I would ignore the Function Key option as well, but that's just me.

Step 3: Click The "Record" Button

When you're done, click on the Record button in the top right corner of the dialog box:

As soon as you click on the Record button, you'll see your new action appear in your action set inside the Actions palette. You'll also see that the Record icon at the bottom of the palette has turned red, letting you know that you're now in record mode:

Remember, there's no reason to panic. Yes, we're now in record mode, but this isn't like recording a movie. Actions are not recorded in real time. All Photoshop is going to record are the actual steps we perform, not how long it takes us to complete them.

Okay, let's begin recording the steps for our action!