Automate Actions in Photoshop with the Script Events Manager
20K views 157 likes 18 comments
Jump to a step in the video (4)
Click a time to play the video from there.
Your choices stick across every tutorial on this device.
The Script Events Manager is the easiest way to automate actions in Photoshop.
It ties any action you have recorded to a Photoshop event, such as opening a document.
Photoshop then plays that action on its own, with no panel to click and no menu to walk through.
If you open dozens of images a day and repeat the same setup on each one, this is where those seconds come back.
By the end of this tutorial you will record an action, teach it a command the Actions panel normally ignores, and set it to run every time a file opens.
The video was recorded in Photoshop CS6, and the Script Events Manager works the same way in the latest version of Photoshop.
Key Takeaways
- The Script Events Manager attaches an action or a script to a Photoshop event. Open Document is the most useful one.
- An action records almost everything you do, but it skips most commands in the View menu, including Screen Mode.
- Insert Menu Item records a menu command the normal recorder will not catch. You pick the command while the dialog is open.
- An action can also record which tool is selected, so the Healing Brush Tool is already active when a file opens.
- Once an event is added, it fires on every matching event until you go back in and remove it.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Step 1: Create an Action in Photoshop
- Step 2: Record the Action in Photoshop
- Step 3: Why Actions Skip the View Menu
- Step 4: Use Insert Menu Item
- Step 5: Open the Script Events Manager
- Step 6: Automate the Action on Open Document
- Step 7: Automate Actions in Photoshop for Tools
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Automate Actions in Photoshop Every Time
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- What the Script Events Manager does and where it lives
- How to create and record an action in the Actions panel
- Why an action ignores View menu commands like Screen Mode
- How Insert Menu Item records those commands anyway
- How to attach an action to the Open Document event
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop CS6 or later. The video was recorded in CS6, and the feature is unchanged in the latest version of Photoshop.
- Any image you can open and close a few times while you test
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Open a file | Ctrl O | Command O |
| Cycle the screen modes | F | F |
| Cancel a dialog or close a menu | Esc | Esc |
Step 1: Create an Action in Photoshop
Open an image first, so you have something to work on. Go to File > Open and pick a photo.
Now open the Actions panel. If you do not see its icon along the right side of the screen, go to Window > Actions.
Click the Create New Action icon at the bottom of the panel. A small window opens.
Give the action a name. In the video it is called Full Screen, because that is what it will do.
Then press Record. From this moment on, Photoshop is watching.
Tip: Open a file with CtrlO (Windows) or CommandO (macOS) instead of walking through the menu.
Step 2: Record the Action in Photoshop
An action records almost everything you do. That is easiest to see with something obvious.
Set the Foreground Color to blue. Photoshop writes down that the foreground was set to blue.
Add a new layer, then fill it with blue. Each one shows up as its own step inside the action.
Press the Stop button, delete the blue layer, click the name of the action, and click Play.
Photoshop runs every step again and rebuilds the same blue layer. That is the whole idea behind an action.
Those blue steps were only a demonstration, so delete them before you go on. If you like this kind of hands-off setup, the time-saving tips in this tutorial pair well with it.
Step 3: Why Actions Skip the View Menu
Here is the part that trips most people up.
With the action still recording, go to View > Screen Mode > Full Screen. Full Screen Mode gives you the whole screen for your image, with no clutter around it.
Look at the Actions panel. Nothing was added.
Actions do not record most of the settings in the View menu, and Screen Mode is one of them.
Press Esc (Windows) or Esc (macOS) to back out, and leave the action recording.
Note: This has not changed. Current versions of Photoshop still ignore View menu commands while an action records, which is exactly why the next step exists.
Tip: Outside of an action, F (Windows) or F (macOS) cycles through the screen modes without touching the menu.
Step 4: Use Insert Menu Item
Open the flyout menu of the Actions panel and choose Insert Menu Item.
A small window appears. Do not type anything into it yet.
Leave that window open and go to View > Screen Mode > Full Screen. Photoshop switches to Full Screen Mode and fills in the command for you.
Click OK. The menu command is now a real step inside your action.
Press the Stop icon, click the name of the action, and click Play to test it. Photoshop should jump straight into Full Screen Mode.
Note: The action records the command, not the result. Photoshop runs whatever that menu item does at the moment the action plays.
Step 5: Open the Script Events Manager
Playing the action by hand still costs you a trip to the Actions panel, which is barely faster than using the menu.
So hand the job to Photoshop. Go to File > Scripts > Script Events Manager.
This window is where you connect a script or an action to a Photoshop event.
The list holds the events Photoshop already knows about, and you can also create your own.
It is one of several scripts hiding in this menu. The History Log is another one worth knowing.
Step 6: Automate the Action on Open Document
Choose Open Document from the list of events. That is the moment you want your action to fire.
Now point Photoshop at the action itself. Pick the set it lives in, then pick the action by name.
In the video the set is a folder called Photoshop Training Channel and the action is Full Screen. Yours will be whatever you named them in Step 1.
Click Add, then click Done.
Open an image. Photoshop takes you straight into Full Screen Mode, with nothing left for you to click.
Warning: The event stays active on every file you open until you turn it off. If Photoshop starts doing something you did not ask for, go back to File > Scripts > Script Events Manager and remove the event.
Step 7: Automate Actions in Photoshop for Tools
Full Screen Mode is only the start. An action can also record which tool is selected.
Say you know a project will be retouching work. Record an action, click the Healing Brush Tool, and press Stop.
Photoshop remembers that choice. Switch to a different tool so you can prove it to yourself.
Attach that action to Open Document the same way you did in Step 6, then open a new image.
The Healing Brush Tool is already selected and waiting. The same thinking drives other hands-off jobs, like cropping and straightening scanned photos in one pass.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Script Events Manager is a built-in tool that connects a script or an action to a Photoshop event. When that event happens, Photoshop plays the action for you. The most common event to use is Open Document.
Go to File > Scripts > Script Events Manager. It sits in the same menu as the other built-in Photoshop scripts. The window that opens lists the events you can attach an action to.
Record the action first, then open the Script Events Manager. Choose Open Document as the event, pick your action set and your action, then click Add and Done. Photoshop runs it on every file you open from then on.
Actions do not record most commands in the View menu, and Screen Mode is one of them. Nothing is wrong with your action. Use Insert Menu Item to add the command instead.
Insert Menu Item lets you add a menu command that the recorder would otherwise ignore. Choose it from the Actions panel flyout menu, then pick the command from the menu bar while the dialog is open. Click OK and it becomes a step in the action.
Go back to File > Scripts > Script Events Manager and remove the event you added. The action itself stays in the Actions panel, so you can still play it by hand. Nothing is deleted when you unhook the event.
Yes. Record an action and click the tool you want, such as the Healing Brush Tool, then press Stop. Attach that action to Open Document and the tool is active as soon as a file opens.
Yes. The video was recorded in Photoshop CS6 and the Script Events Manager is unchanged. It still sits under File > Scripts, and the Open Document event works exactly the same way.
Automate Actions in Photoshop Every Time
One second saved does not sound like much. Multiply it by every file you open this year and it adds up fast.
The pieces are simple on their own. Record an action, patch the gaps with Insert Menu Item, then let the Script Events Manager play it for you.
Watch the full tutorial above to see every step in real time, and comment on the video if you set up an event worth sharing.
Selections and Masking Mastery
Complete course includes 2.5 hours of step-by-step lessons, 6 structured modules, downloadable practice files, and custom Photoshop brushes. Everything you need to master selections and masks in one place.
Keep going
Next, work through the Photoshop keyboard shortcuts cheat sheet and cut even more clicks out of your day.
