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Jordan26437343lemp
Inspiring
August 6, 2023
Answered

Action not Working AND Can't Update

  • August 6, 2023
  • 1 reply
  • 1391 views

First of all, perhaps these should be two separate threads, but the issues I'm facing may (or may not) be related so I'm going to try to get it done in one.

 

The first issue is that last year I purchased an effect that uses the Actions function -- I click on the effect and then the Play button at the bottom. This used to work fine, but now, trying it again for the first time in a while, I get an error message stating "The command 'select' is not currently available."

 

The second issue is that I contacted the company I purchased it from and described the issue, and they said that it sounds like my Photoshop needs updating. I checked, and sure enough I'm running 24.0.1 while the most recent version is apparently 24.7. So, I tried updating as recommended, but once again got an error message, this time stating "Can't update Photoshop." No other information provided -- no reason or anything. 

 

So, all of this tells me that something has clearly gone wrong with my copy of Photoshop. Does anyone know how to correct? Thank you.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Stephen Marsh

    This is a critical bit of info. The action probably is working properly, but was never intended for use with a Smart Object layer. 

     

    Edit the Smart Object layer by double-clicking on it, then try running the action on the opened file, then save and close to return to the original Smart Object layer.

     

    Without the requested screenshot, it is hard to help you.

    1 reply

    Stephen Marsh
    Community Expert
    Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 6, 2023

    @Jordan26437343lemp 

     

    It is rarely the case that Actions need to have Photoshop updated.

     

    In this case "The command 'select' is not currently available." is a common issue, it is informing you that there is no active selection and that the Action step is failing as that condition isn't met.

     

    So the question is, why is there no active selection? Are you required to make a manual selection before running the action? Is there something in your file structure that doesn't allow the Action to automatically create the required selection?

     

    EDIT: It could also be a layer selection step that is the problem.

     

    When you receive this error on a file, can you expand the Action steps so that all are steps are expanded and visible with the action panel wide enough to read all content? The action should stop on the command that has the problem and the preceding steps should be visible.

     

    J
    Jordan26437343lempAuthor
    Inspiring
    August 6, 2023

    Thanks! I'm not particularly surprised by your response. Part of me suspected that the rep from the company I bought from was just telling me that to avoid having to deal with the fact that the product I purchased from them is not working properly. 

     

    As for why there's no active selection, please understand that I'm not very proficient in Photoshop, so I take a very minimalist approach with it. That being the case, ALL I am doing is opening the image in Lightroom (which I am much better at), right clicking on it and selecting Edit as a Smart Object in Photoshop, and then once Photoshop is loaded, pressing the Play button to initiate the action. And also keep in mind that this is, as far as I can remember (and I'm pretty sure I'm right), exactly what I used to do when I didn't have this problem. So, yeah, I wouldn't know why there's no active selection because I don't even really know that means! 

    Stephen Marsh
    Community Expert
    Stephen MarshCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    August 6, 2023

    This is a critical bit of info. The action probably is working properly, but was never intended for use with a Smart Object layer. 

     

    Edit the Smart Object layer by double-clicking on it, then try running the action on the opened file, then save and close to return to the original Smart Object layer.

     

    Without the requested screenshot, it is hard to help you.

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