Photoshop’s Built-In Actions: Textures

Photoshop actions allow you to record a series of steps that you might do numerous times on other images, and then play back that series automatically on a new image. Photoshop CS4 comes with dozens of actions already created for you. In this article, I’ll give a pictorial run-down of Photoshop’s built-in Textures actions.

 

 

See Related Posts at the end to click through to the other built-in action sets.

 

Playing Built-In Actions

To open a non-Default set of built-in actions:

1. Window > Actions
2. Click on the menu icon at the top-right corner of the Actions panel.
3. Look near the bottom of the menu where there is a list of seven sets (such as “Image Effects”).
4. Select a set. It will added below the Default Actions set.

5. Click the gray triangle to the left of the action set you just added, to open the list.
6. Select an action, and click the Play selection button at the bottom of the Actions panel.

You can find more ready-made actions at the Photoshop Exchange.

 

Textures

Each of these actions fills the document with a texture on a new layer. Experiment with blend modes on this new layer to show the layers underneath. Your results will vary with image size.

 

Parchment Paper

This action will prompt you with, “In the Texturizer dialog, load ‘Canvas’. Scaling =71, Relief =1, Light Direction =Top left.”

 

Recycled Paper

 

Sandpaper

 

Wood – Pine

 

Wood – Oak

This action will prompt you with, “In the Texturizer dialog, load ‘Canvas’. Scaling=200, Relief=19, Light Direction=Left.”

 

Wood – Rosewood 1

This action will prompt you with, “In the Texturizer dialog, load ‘Canvas’. Scaling =130, Relief =11, Light Direction =Top.”

 

Wood – Rosewood 2

This action will prompt you with, “Hit OK in the shear dialog box.”

 

Asphalt

 

Bricks

 

Black Granite

 

Cold Lava

 

Gold Sprinkles

 

Green Slime

 

Ink Blots

This action will double the size of your image, adding the extra width to the right of your existing image.

 

Marble

 

Molten Lead

 

Neon Rubber Bands

 

Obsidian

 

Pastel Glass Tiles

 

Psychedelic Strings

 

Rippled Oil

 

Rusted Metal

 

Stained Glass

 

Stucco

 

Sunset

 

Marble