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Hi all --
I want to create an action that selects each of the primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. The attached shows the script Adobe created when I selected the orange hues 15-44. I have tried multiple times to record the rest of the colors the same way, but things always break down and the resulting script is unusable.
Can I edit this in a text editor? You know, copy this code 11 more times and then change the numbers and names accordingly?
Scott
Also, why are the colors expressed in LAB format? I was using RGB, and now I have to go and learn a new color system for no apparent reason.
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That appears to be the Actions Panel, so why are you talking about Scripts? (Though Scripts may indeed provide a better approach.)
What is the actual goal here?
»Also, why are the colors expressed in LAB format? I was using RGB, and now I have to go and learn a new color system for no apparent reason.«
Assuming there is »no apparent reason« to understand Lab would seem to miss the point, Lab is the PCS after all.
RGB numbers do not describe actual color appearance unless they are accompanied by a Color Space definition, usually an ICC Profile.
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Regarding scripts in place of actions, ask him if he is French 😉 If not then that's probably mistake.
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The menu appears to be in english in the screenshot, but it is a possibility.
In any case it seems likely that Scripting might provide a better approach.
But I am not certain what the ultimate goal is because the screenshot does not seem to show tertiary colors; and if isolating primary and secondary colors is the goal I wonder if simply using the Channel Calculations or Selections based on the Channels might not be easier.
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French ancestry from around the Norman invasion of England.
I asked three questions:
1) Can I edit this in a text editor?
2) You know, copy this code 11 more times and then change the numbers and names accordingly?
3) Also, why are the colors expressed in LAB format?
I honestly don't care whether they're called actions or scripts or macros. To me, those are marketing terms that mean "do this." And I don't care if they're called primary (red/green/blue), secondary (cyan/magenta/yellow), or tertiary colors (orange, yellow-green, green-cyan, cyan-blue, blue-magenta, magenta-red), either.
I want to divide the 360 hues into 12 selections of 30 contiguous hues each. For example, hues 345 - 14 are red, 15-44 are orange, 45-74 are yellow, etc. Technically, every pixel would fall into one of the 12 categories unless they are pure gray or black or white.
I also don't care whether the chosen pixels are called selections or masks or rimmadimnmas. Again, marketing terms that mean "these ones."
The reason why I want to do this is so that I can manipulate the colors. The reasons why I want to change the color are irrelevant and vary. For example, the reason could be that the neighbor's dog is yapping, I hate orange, let's add some gray to all the pixels with hues between 105 and 135.
All that being said, my primary question remains:
1) Can I edit this (the actions) in a text editor?
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@scotwllm – I'll break up my reply using quoted blocks, as you touch on many good points...
French ancestry from around the Norman invasion of England.
The question regarding French was that annecdotally, the French version of Photoshop used the term "script" for both Actions and Script based automation. This does not make any sense to me personally. Actions and scripts in the English version are two separate and very different things. Some people are very casual in their use of these terms, however for clarity and factually, they are not the same thing.
I asked three questions:
1) Can I edit this in a text editor?
2) You know, copy this code 11 more times and then change the numbers and names accordingly?
3) Also, why are the colors expressed in LAB format?
Specific concise answers to your three questions:
1) Actions can't be directly edited in a text editor
2) I believe that you should look into makng the selections based on the Hue/Saturation command, which is based on hue values and offers 6 default hue ranges. This is not "out of the box" and will require a little bit of work to convert the hue adjustment into a selection, however, it is easy enough to put into an action or script.
3) The short answer is that Adobe designed the command to work this way. Lab is device independent and more precise than a device dependent based HSL model.
I honestly don't care whether they're called actions or scripts or macros. To me, those are marketing terms that mean "do this." And I don't care if they're called primary (red/green/blue), secondary (cyan/magenta/yellow), or tertiary colors (orange, yellow-green, green-cyan, cyan-blue, blue-magenta, magenta-red), either.
These are technical terms, not arbitrary labels or "marketing speak". Action is a specific technical term for a specific technical feature that is totally different to a script. Script is a specific technical term for a specific technical feature that is totally different to an action. Petty semantics? I don't believe so.
To quote the classics:
"When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less." - Humpty Dumpty
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"Some people are very casual in their use of these terms." together with "I honestly don't care whether they're called actions or scripts or macros." let me think this nation inherits it in gen.
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Edit: I apologize, it appears it was I who misunderstood the term.
For me a question remains: Why Selections instead of live effects (Adjustment Layers, Blend if-settings, …)?
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2) You know, copy this code 11 more times and then change the numbers and names accordingly?
Scripts can be edited as text; so if you should start using Scripts you could record the operation with ScriptingListener.plugin and then edit the recorded code accordingly (creating a function that takes the intended values as arguments instead of duplicating the complete code for each time it should be used).