P: Export As does not support Actions or scripting

[Leonavr]

There is no way to record an action so that I can automate Export As dialogue box. What I want to do is to record an action which will save one image in three formats via the Export As dialogue box and the action should remember the settings i input for each dimension. Previously Save for Web did this, but now you are calling it legacy so i expect Export As to be accessible same way via actions as Save for Web was. Thank you.

[Kukurykus]

It saves them to a folder with '-assets' suffix, located next to file of open document. If that has no path yet then to the folder created on desktop. To get rid of the '-assets' suffix (before you launch Photoshop) change appropriate lines of codes in filemanager.js you find at end of:

'C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2021\Required\Plug-ins\Generator\assets.generate\lib' to:

        if (this._config.hasOwnProperty("base-directory")) {
            basePath = path.resolve(this._config["base-directory"], documentName/* + "-assets"*/);
        } else if (documentDirectory) {
            basePath = path.resolve(documentDirectory, documentName/* + "-assets"*/);
        } else {
            basePath = null;
        }

[r-bin]

Export As doesn't support actions, yet. Add your vote here: Export As does not support Actions or scripting

By @J453

some information is here How do I quickly export a layer as a png file in Photoshop with extendscript

[Kukurykus]

That's where from I took my tip (Oct 18, 2021) for the user (after I learnt it from you) 😉

[rterry1]

How very "Adobe" of Adobe that nearly 2 years later this critical bug still exists!

[trashcaneron]

Wait. You can't record "Export As" as a custom action? Why not? How is this still a problem 6 years later...

You also can't batch "Quick Export" 

There's a section on the left hand side of "Export As" that implies you could do multiple images simultaenously. But no such luck. 

[trashcaneron]

Oh you can still use "Save For Web" but it's incredibly slow...

You can also set your quick export option, assign a hotkey, and go through things pretty quickly.

[Stephen Marsh]

Wait. You can't record "Export As" as a custom action? Why not? How is this still a problem 6 years later...

You also can't batch "Quick Export" 

There's a section on the left hand side of "Export As" that implies you could do multiple images simultaenously. But no such luck. 

By @Leonavr

Adobe know that users wish to record Export As into an action or use it via scripting. It's a work in progress. 😐

You need to select multiple layers to Export As with multiple images. For a single layer image with 3 different sizes, you would need to dupe the layer twice, select all 3 layers and right-click Export As in the layers panel (not from the File menu, it's contextually dependent). Illustrated in this topic:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/export-as-how-do-you-define-exact-pix...

[trashcaneron]

Remember when Save for Web became a Legacy tool? That was in... 2015? Seems a pretty basic feature to be trying to figure it out for 7 years. After Effects can do all of these things. Another work around? Flatten your Photoshop files (annoying, but you can automate that - you need to do this because not all FX exchange between the two programs), bring all your PSDs into After Effects, create a comp for every photoshop file (one click), use RD comp setter to change the duration to 1 frame (one click after options set), change your default export settings to whatever image type you want (no vectors though, sorry), change your export path, select all your comps, add to render queue, hit go and watch your renders go faster than Bridge's Image Processor or "Export To" to "Export As" or Dr. Brown's OG Image Processor Pro. And again, Quick Export can do this to some degree, too. You just need to manually export each image. There are a lot of ways to achieve a more professional jack knife for exporting and it's pretty wild how far off Photoshop is right now... 

When I started using Dr. Brown's stuff in the OOs (late 90s maybe!?), I always assumed that Adobe would eventually integrate the very obviously missing tool. Now Photoshop does a killer job exporting lighter weight PNG w/ alpha. Dr. Brown's IPP was last updated almost 10 years ago. It still works, but it's not as good with its compression (or efficiency). But it'll save you time elsewhere if you don't need to tweak compression, etc. Ditto for Save For Web (Legacy). I haven't tested how AE compares with their stock settings, but I imagine it's closer to Photoshop then it is to Dr. Brown. 

Also, the community for scripting and plug-ins in After Effects for utilitarian purposes is leagues ahead of Photoshop. You'd be able to do your resizes in a jiffy @Stephen Marsh

Point being: really wild this isn't a thing. Maybe the most active (and aged) thread I've seen complaining about a piece of Adobe software that is broken.

[Kukurykus]

Any change you know what RD stands for?

[FaceAaA]

Allow "Export as" to be added to an action for quickly processing and exporting as file types other than jpeg or psd. 

Using poorly written scripts or plugins to solve for this is troublesome. It makes no sense to not be able to batch process in other file formats.

[Stephen Marsh]

Upvoted, I too would like to use Export As in Actions or poorly written scripts to overcome limitations with Actions.

[Earth Oliver]

More than 7 years now and Export As is still not Actionable, nor are there any presets for optimizing our workflows. 
Will EA ever leave beta? Will it ever reach feature parity with SFW?

Has Adobe given up on this tool? Have they given up on the professional community who need this tool for getting their jobs done? Is this what we should expect moving forward?

[Stephen Marsh]

Bump, here it is with Photoshop 2024 released - but still no ability to use Export As in actions or scripting.

Even the most basic feature of actions "Insert Menu Item" which doesn't record any parameters, is still a no-go:

Even this simple thing would be an improvement, let alone being able to record action or script parameters for more meaningful automation than simply running a menu command.

[Earth Oliver]

I think they just gave up on it, @Stephen Marsh. There's no other possible reason. Even though the panel is being regularly updated, they don't seem to give a toot about anything workflow related. It's sad to see, but this is what i've come to expect these days. Deliver a MVP and then wait 10 years to make it useful. We're at year 8. Just a few years to go!

[idimtsas]

Save as, does not include .jpg anymore!

[Stephen Marsh]

Save as, does not include .jpg anymore!

By @idimtsas 

JPEG is a rather restrictive format, requiring: A flattened image (no floating layers), 8 bpc, no alpha channels. If the current file doesn’t meet this criteria, then one has to Save a Copy, or enable Legacy Save As in your File Handling Preferences/Settings.

If your file is in 32 bpc mode, then it needs to first be converted to 16 or 8 bpc before Save a Copy/Legacy Save As can list JPEG.

Note that Export As silently performs background conversions so that JPEG is always available without having to take extra steps.

[Darkroomdevil]

To save an image as a jpeg or png from an action, and have it save to your current folder

• Create an action, add any image prep steps 
• File > Save As (specify type and all details)
• Create a Folder and put your image in it
• Close image (if you don't to have to do it later)
• End/Save action

Now make sure the dialog box is checked in the Save As part of the Action and go and delete the folder that the action points to. The action will now save to the current folder.

Backstory ... So that I don't accidentally overwrite the image I am working on, I copy the image for output (my shortcut for duplicating the image is Control++(plus key). From there I crop for my output and if saving to jpeg I hit F12. The action added copyright info, flattens if needed, converts to 8 bit and sRGB, then Saves As to the current folder which gives me the opportunity to rename as needed. This has worked perfectly for years and then a few weeks back, the action started saving to the original folder that was chosen when creating the action. I had previously figured out how to create the action so it worked as intended, and now it was broke. Spent two solid days looking for and testing workarounds and just discovered if I delete the destination folder in the action, now it works. 🙂

This is a big deal for my workflow, so just wanted to share somewhere where it might be a help.

[Darkroomdevil]

It worked once, and now it doesn't work, tried to delete my posted solution until I really figure it out but can't see where that option might be. Sorry!

[Darkroomdevil]

And I just got it to work again ... When it didn't work I had the action looking for a folder I had deleted off of my Windows desktop. I just updated the action to look on a networked drive and it worked! 🙂 Fingers crossed! Haven't tested on a local drive, I assume that system mapped folders like the desktop are what break this solution.

[AXXXXXXXXX]

PS 2025 - 10 YEARS LATER - STILL NOTHING - RIDICULOUS

[D Fosse]

I'd have to agree - it's really strange that the Export module seems to just have been left hanging in an unfinished state. It's not just actions. They once promised that Save For Web would not be removed until all relevant functions had been included in Export As. I still use Save For Web.