Moving Actions

[MikeFromMesa]

I have Photoshop on two computers. On my desktop I mainly use the Beta but I also have the regular Photoshop release on my desktop and laptop. What I would like to do is move the actions I have created on my desktop to the laptop so I don't have to recreate them. How can I do that?

I searched online and found some explanations, but none of them actually seem to work. For example one posting said to go to Applications/Adobe Photoshop/Presets/Actions and copy the proper actions, but I can't find my newly created actions in the Beta version of that location. It has Photoshop's actions, but not mine, and the actions shown in that folder exactly match the actions shown in the same folder for the regular version of PS which does not have my new actions.

Where can I find my actions so I can copy them to the laptop?

[jane-e · Accepted solution]

@MikeFromMesa 

If you haven't saved your Action Sets (folders), save each Set as an .atn file first using the panel menu. Sets contain Actions and Actions contain Steps. The Set is the Folder. Use the Load Actions command on the other computer.

Details here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/playing-actions.html

TIP: When I save them, I drag the folder the ATN files are in to the Sidebar so I can get to the files quickly from Finder later.

Ask again if you need more details.

Jane

[Sef McCullough]

Lol @jane-e I didn't see your reply here before I replied - sorry for the redundant post!!

[MikeFromMesa]

I just got a chance to try this and it worked great. Thank you.

[jane-e]

You're welcome, and I'm glad it worked for you  @MikeFromMesa . 🙂

Jane

[Sef McCullough]

Hi @MikeFromMesa ,

The easiest way to move your actions between computers is to first save them to an easy to find location on the first computer, like your desktop, then transfer and load them on the second computer.

If you have multiple action sets, you might want to create a new set and move them all into that one first.

1. In the actions palette drop-down, go down to Save Actions... , then choose an easy location

2. Transfer that .atn file to the second computer

3. Again in the drop=down, go to Load Actions... ,  and viola!

Couple of actions workflow tips:

Since I use dropbox, my Creative Suite Assets folder syncs between computers. It's handy.

I keep a year folder in there with all my action sets for that year.

Every time I create a new action, I make sure to save out that action set again so the latest version is saved.

If Photoshop crashes, or you reinstall, any unsaved actions will be gone for good!

Let us know if that solves it, or if you have more questions.

And if it does, feel free to mark this as the solution to make it easier for others to find.

Sef