Inspiring

Answered

Can not create An action that will prompt to save as jpg

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
January 2, 2026
13 replies
814 views

I want to create an Action (not a Batch file) that will change the image size and resolution of a .dng file and then do a Save As or Quick Export As or Export As that will stop to enter a file name and default to .jpg. This will work when not creating an Action but the Action will always default to a .psd file in the dialog box.

I have tried the following online suggestions to default to .jpg and they all work when not using an Action but an Action will not create any file type other than .psd.

1. Preferences -> File Handling - check Enable Legacy "Save As"

- Has no effect on Actions

2. In Actions use Insert Menu Item and select Save A Copy or Export.

- Quick Export is set to default to jpg but can not be selected in Menu Item and Export As will not default to .jpg type or use the image size and resolution already chnaged in Image Size. Furthermore there is no Resolution option in Export As and no ability to link Width and Height

3. Change Background to Layer from Background and Flatten the layer and Save As will default to .jpg.

- This works when not using an Action but even though the Action runs the above the file type is still .psd.

I would like to be able to create an Action to quickly to do the following to an individual image:

- change width to 600px no matter what the height is (as in Image Size)

- change the Resolution from 300pdi to 225dpi

- Open a Save As window that is set to Save As .jpg - enter my own unique file name and click Save

- Close and do not Save the original .png file.

Charles

Correct answer Charles_I

Again, just use Save for Web and that isn't a problem. We have explained about resolution so that shouldn't be a showstopper..

Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions. Lots of stuff to learn here. I'm using the accepted solution which is to using the Action Script provided, athough some of the other suggestions have merits too.

Charles

Stephen Marsh

Community Expert

I would like to be able to create an Action to quickly to do the following to an individual image:

- change width to 600px no matter what the height is (as in Image Size)

- change the Resolution from 300pdi to 225dpi

- Open a Save As window that is set to Save As .jpg - enter my own unique file name and click Save

- Close and do not Save the original .png file.

By @Charles_I

I honestly don't understand what the problem is? This can all be performed via a simple action:

Screenshot 2026-01-19 120924.png

C

Charles_IAuthor

Inspiring

The problem is photoshop insists on saving as psd as default. If I want to save the photo with the same name as a jpg the Action works fine. If I want it to pause the popup window to allow entering a file name (which I do) it will not record the save as jpg in the Action so jpg has to be manually selected every time in order to prevent it to save as psd. But the Action Script works for me.

Stephen Marsh

Community Expert

@Charles_I

I'm all for scripting and I'm glad that the script alternative works for you as a work around to creating a correctly formed action.

The 4-step action that I posted a screenshot of doesn't have this issue, it works exactly as you requested, so your action must have been created differently.

Stephen Marsh

Community Expert

ACR can directly save one or multiple selected DNG files to JPEG, retaining the resolution settings:

Screenshot 2026-01-16 131046.png

C

Charles_IAuthor

Inspiring

Interesting. I didn't know this existed and that you can save from here. It works well at saving as jpg but doesn't appear to be able to pause to enter a file name and I doubt it can be run with an Action since that's part of photoshop not ACR. Still a great solution for other stuff. Thanks.

E

ExUSA

Legend

I use Save for Web in my actions, although its easy to script as well. I'm a working pro product photographer and use JPEG for output so pretty much every day I'm using an action to save JPEG files.

C

Charles_IAuthor

Inspiring

Save For Web is great and I use it all the time, but it only saves at Resolution 72 which isn't high enough for this purpose since I need to be able to zoom into the finished jpg to read very fine text in some cases.

E

ExUSA

Legend

That's incorrect. If you use one of the two highest levels of metadata, the document resolution will be saved in the exported image. The resolution IS correct, but unfortunately stripped out if you do not specify All or All Except Camera Data.

You are also misunderstanding PPI resolution. It is IRRELEVANT for on-screen usage. 1 PPI looks exactly the same as 100000000 PPI. The ONLY time this is important is for printing and/or use in a print-based app such as InDesign. Detail on screen is not affected by PPI.

D Fosse

Community Expert

@Charles_I

As already mentioned, include steps in the action to convert to 8 bit and flatten the file first, so that you can use "Save".

Then run the sequence to completion when recording the action, so that .jpeg is actually recorded in the action. This is important! Jpeg will never be a default under any circumstances, it needs to be explicitly recorded.

Then check the "dialog" box when running the action, so that you can enter destination.

Or you can use a fixed outbox-folder and move the files later. This is often simpler.

The only complication is if you have alpha channels. Then you need to have a small script installed to remove them - which again you can call from the action. This is the script in full, copy and paste, call it "remove alpha" or similar:

activeDocument.channels.removeAll();

Export will not be recordable in actions (that's a major shortcoming and showstopper for the whole Export module). You can still use Save For Web, which works.

C

Charles_IAuthor

Inspiring

Thanks for the detailed explanation. It's good to know the limitations of jpeg saving and that Export is not an option at this point. I'm not sure what you mean by "check the "dialog" box" unless you are referring to the pause to enter your own file name. Also, Save For Web would work except that I need to Save in a higher resolution.

K

Ken Curtis

Inspiring

Charles, sounds like we have a somewhat similar background. I did not know about including script in PS actions until another member of this forum suggested I write a script. I forget the nuances now, but if you search for "how to write scripts for use in Adobe Photoshop actions" on the web, you will get some good information. (FWIW, I use Google Chrome and Gemini provided some great reference.)

C

Charles_IAuthor

Inspiring

The script works perfectly. Thanks. The only minor thing is that you can't put Image Options in the Action as it's built into the Save As code and it occurs after the image name dialog box is paused (which I want to enter my own file name) so it requires one more Enter key. Not a big deal, I just wonder if it can be added to the JS since it looks like it's part of the Save As code and can't be added as a separate step..

Thanks for the Gemini code info. I wasn't aware of that site. I'll have to check it out.

K

Ken Curtis

Inspiring

Charles, it's been a long time since I wrote the code, but I use it every day. I suspect that what you need to do is check the space next to the action so the action will pause for user input. The save dialog should give you a chance to rename the file. I probably misinterpreted what you need. Anyway hope you are a happy camper!

PS Stop for User Input.jpg

C

Charles_IAuthor

Inspiring

That's brilliant! Thanks so much Ken. I've downloaded it and taken a look at your Word file. I'm a retired web developer so I know Javascript and of course have used Photoshop for decades so I'm sure I can figure it out. I'll get back to you when I've installed it.

I'm also interested to learn about what you can do with external scripts in Photoshop. I wasn't aware that it was possible to add that kind of functionality.

K

Ken Curtis

Inspiring

Charles, I wrote an action for saving as a JPEG. Perhaps you can incorporate the information in your action. It uses script, but works very well. You can download a zip file from my Google Drive to copy and use as you see fit.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LeHxrHEW_83Hd8FhkFxe4IyAH2jlYLpN/view?usp=sharing

I do not know your capabilities, but hopefully you can use the information to get the results you want.

I will leave the file on Google Drive for a few weeks, so download it now.

C

Charles_IAuthor

Inspiring

It's already at 8 bit depth and there are no channels of any kind that I know of - it's just an image straight out of the camera on the phone.

C

Charles_IAuthor

Inspiring

It has nothing to do with .dng. The problem is the Action will not change the current file format. If I save the file as .png (which I did as a test) the same thing occurs. When the Action goes to Save a Copy it wants to save it as a .png even though it has supposedly already changed the setting to .jpg.

D Fosse

Community Expert

@Sandro Moro

The jpeg file format specification does not support 16 bit depth, layers, transparency or alpha channels.

These properties must be removed from the document first.

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