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Action Overwrites Files - help!

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
November 7, 2019
8 replies
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I have an Action that does what I want - flip, rotate and save a selection to a folder. However, the action keeps overwriting previous files. I just want them all saved and and named sequentially. I would love suggestions on how to do this or if actions cannot do this other ways that can. Thanks!

Actions and scripting

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Correct answer D Fosse

When you record the action, make sure the file name is not highlighted in blue. If it is, the file name is recoreded in the action and will overwrite. If it is not highlighted, the name is not recorded, and will not overwrite.

To un-highlight, it is usually enough to just click away from the path and back again.

S

Stephen36166996qt6s

Participant

Hi,

I have had exactly the same problem. It wastes so much time and you end up going round in circles continuously redoing all your work. The only way I have found to work around the problem is to copy each file with explorer the first time you save it to a different directory to the one saved into from Photoshop.. The one in the Photoshop directory continues to be happily overwritten for reasons I've been unable to figure out why, but the original copied and saved in the other directory remains safe.

Cheers

haralds64176918

Known Participant

The problem is Adobe! Finally understanding this would perhaps lead to a solution by Adobe. I edited several images yesterday and set an action to save to a different folder. Each image overwrote the previous one. And it didn't matter if the file name was selected or not when saving to the action.

The procedure was as follows:
Open the image
Specify a section and confirm the selection
-- Start action recording
Mode: 8 bit
Convert to profile sRGB
Save to another folder
Close
--- End action recording ---

The file name was not changed when the action was recorded. It is highlighted when the save dialog is called up. The highlighting disappears when the target folder is selected. Nevertheless, all images were saved with the same file name.

However, it makes no sense if all images are saved with the same file name. This result must therefore be regarded as a clear error, and I am not familiar with this from previous years.

I recently noticed that PS reacts differently from day to day. The same action, the same procedure leads to a completely different result today. The same steps as described above now produce an action that works exactly as it should. And it doesn't matter whether the file name is selected or not when saving the action! I have tested both.

Stephen Marsh

Community Expert

@haralds64176918

Please provide screenshots of the action save step expanded with the panel wide enough to view all content and also of the batch settings.

T

Tünde32163378rga4

Participant

I have the same problem. I am using PS from 1997. Yesterday it is worked, today not. I didn't change everything, but when I made an action always overwrite the only one file. I hate it. I try to reinstall photoshop, I try to reinstall the op system. I am using Mac. And yes. Yesterday working, today not. I am totally angree... I try to solfe the problem more then 12 hours. Hate it, hate it, hate it.

Stephen Marsh

Community Expert

@Tünde32163378rga4

If you have read this topic thread, you'll know that you can record a fixed filename and path, or only a fixed path in an action. The recorded fixed path and or path + filename can be overridden using Automate > Batch.

K

KLArbor

Participant

I had the same issue and I've used this 100's of times before without issue, this really irritated me. The fix I found is while recording during the Save portion (Save for Web > Save > Save Window Opens), there is a drop down below the file name that says "Settings:" - it is set to "Default Settings" you need to change this to "Custom" and it will work as expected saving each file under its original file name separately. When recording the save portion I save the first image to a new file folder to not overwrite any of my existing files to be safe.

GNBeraldo

Inspiring

Hi,

I have solved the problem by pasting the exact name of the file I am working on during the recording of the action.

Let me explain: I copy the name of the file, then, in Photoshop, I open the file, I record the action and just before clicking the "save" button (export > save for web") I paste the file name and then I click save. See the attached files, these are taken from some actions I have written. I don't know why, but if I find the "custom name" written, the action keeps writing over the same file.

I hope I am clear enough and I hope this could be useful for someone! Peace on earth!

C

Crispix396

Participating Frequently

I wish people would admit that this is a glitch, a known error, and try to escalate so it gets fixed instead of just trying to post other programs you should use to get around this. Ive been hunting for FIXES and all the mods just keep acting like they have no clue what it is and post alternate program workarounds. Adobe, just fix it. I had a whole project, 85 photos, multiple actions run, many many layers, and at the end, I just needed it to save the image in a new folder and close the original images, no need to save. Took about 3 hours to run the actions, get done, look in new folder, 1 image... I would 100% understand (maybe) if I had typed in a custom name, but an "Action" esp a "Batch Action" should not be only useable on a single file ever.

Thanks @GNBeraldo for at least posting a decent workaround.

Stephen Marsh

Community Expert

I wish people would admit that this is a glitch, a known error, and try to escalate so it gets fixed instead of just trying to post other programs you should use to get around this.

By @Crispix396

I am not aware of any known bug. This is a known error - user error. An action can either be recorded with a save path and filename - or only save path.

If you believe this to be a bug, posting your OS and version/build of Photoshop would be helpful to see if this can be reproduced.

Bojan Živković11378569

Community Expert

Easy solution to use action as it is: use File > Automate > Batch instead of Image Processor Pro. You must correct one mistake: you have Copy step at the begining of action and it is causing error message. Record step like Select > All before copy step in order to make action work or exclude first three steps which are not necessary for action to work and deliver what you need as end result. You will see during batch process several Save dialogues where you can name your files as you want.

By the way, you can make things to work and using IPP but that will require to split your action into several actions and to avoid save step in your action plus to correct problem with Copy step / exlude it from action along with next two steps, too complicated I think.

Here is how your Batch dialogue should look like:

seabirdmanAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thank you and JJ. I am learning Actions and related things as I try and solve this problem. I do so appreciate your kind patience.

JJ - It behaves such that it makes me select a name. I tried leaving that blank and would not progress.

Bojan - The copy step is key - that is where I copy my objects selected from my large source image.

I want to just drag my selection through the image over my ROI, hit F13, have the 8 images that my Action creates saved, drag to another ROI, hit F13 and have those 8 images saved with no overwrites. I am building a CNN to identify birds and the CNN likes as many instances of the objects to be found - hence my flipping and rotating. I may add other image mods to my action but for now I am happy with just the 8. I can do more later using batch or other automation. My source image is 33,000 by 12,000 and contains around 700 birds that I want to turn into 700x8 birds in one folder to use to train my CNN. Finder can rename images nicely and sequentially but I cannot get it to do that as files come into the folder from PS Actions.

Bojan Živković11378569

Community Expert

Easy solution, again: Save steps can save each version in separate folder with no overwrites, are you aware of that? I mean you can create 8 folders on your drives and record 8 Save steps to save files one after another in different folders with file named after document name. Is that OK for you? Later rename and merge files if you need that step for what you can use Bridge to automate that process. You will need to re-record Save steps.

If you want to keep Copy step then record step to create selection before it.

JJMack

Community Expert

Then you need to recode a Save As step for some image file type like jpeg that only records the destination folder in the action step no file name so the step will default the file name to the current documents name. You can batch that action and override the destination folder using options. If you expand your actions save as step so you can reads the settings recorded you will see it has a file name and extension recorded into the step's settings. You do not want that. Do not set the file name when you record the step. Do not alter the file names field in the save as dialog. If you do that will be recorder into the action step. You want the step recorded with no file name set just the folder set like the action:

Actions you use with the Image Processor and Image Processor Pro need no Save steps saving files types is a function these scripts provide. The actions should not have save steps.

JJMack

Bojan Živković11378569

Community Expert

You probably have hardcoded file name and photohop is always saving file with the same name what is causing to overwrite existing file. Can you expand step to save and post screenshot? Or upload action somewhere and post link so we can examine and modify it if necessary.

Below is screenshot with the difference, second action will always overwrite existing file and you will always end up with single file in your batch process.

In my opinion your best option is to download and use Image Processor Pro https://sourceforge.net/projects/ps-scripts/files/Image%20Processor%20Pro/v3_2%20betas/ which is free and to avoid save step because you can save images using interface in Image Processor Pro.

seabirdmanAuthor

Participating Frequently

Agreed - I have hard coded the names in my Action. I didn't see how not or force it to default to sequential name. I wish there was a character I could put before the extenstion name that did this renaming with no overwriting. But I couldn't find a way to force that. Here is my Action: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ji3l4a60hlo1o66/Set%201.atn?dl=0 Really appreciate this. While I have been stymied I have tried to get Apple Script and Automator to do this within Apples Preview - with no luck.

L

Lumigraphics

Legend

Are you creating new files or modifying existing files? You may need to add a script to change file names as you go.

seabirdmanAuthor

Participating Frequently

I want new files of a copy of an object from a larger "source" image. My Action copies, rotates, flips, and resizes just as I want. But when I go to the next object of interest and run the Action - it overwrites the previous 8 images I created. I would be happy with these images just to default to a sequential name or anything really that does not overwrite. That is where I am stuck -- thank you!

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