If you studied the lessons from the operations in Photoshop, starting from the very first, let’s remember all the material that was passed – and it was very much! If you immediately switched to this lesson, it’s okay, but you missed a lot of useful information.

We examined what operations are, studied the contents of the operations panel, learned the difference between the concepts of “operation” and “set of operations.” We also worked with default operations that are automatically loaded into the program, and with additional sets of operations that originally come with Photoshop.

We learned how to play the operation step-by-step to better understand what is happening at each stage of the operation, and finally, we looked at how to make changes to the operation and edit it. Do not forget about the small useful digressions that we made during the course of the study, for example, how to view the details of the operation, including the details of the steps, how to display or hide the dialog boxes during the operation, how to enable or disable individual steps of the operation and even where Find the default standard operations in the version of Photoshop CS2!

Thus, we have studied enough material to try to record your own operation in Photoshop!

In this lesson we will look at how to record the operation to create a soft glow effect. As soon as we record it, we can apply this effect to any image! Below is a picture from which I will work:

Image that I will use when writing an operation

Let’s start!

Step 1: Create a new set of operations if necessary.

As I mentioned before, all operations should be placed inside the set of operations, it does not matter how many operations will contain the set – hundreds or just one. The main thing is that all operations are located inside any set. In the lesson on editing operations, we learned that to create a new set of operations, just click on the icon “Create a new set of operations” (New Action Set), located at the bottom of the operations panel. This icon is similar in shape to a small folder, because in reality, operation sets are nothing more than folders where the operations themselves are stored:

Record operations in Photoshop CC

To create a new set of operations, click on the icon “Create a new set of operations”, located at the bottom of the operations panel

This action opens the “New Set” dialog box, where you can enter a name for the new set of operations. I have already created a new set of operations and called it My Actions. If you studied with me a lesson on editing operations in the program Photoshop, then, most likely, also have already created a new set of operations, so it makes no sense to create it again. If you have not created a new set of operations, then do this. The screenshot further shows that I named the new set “My operations”, but you, in turn, can come up with any other name you want:

The New Set Dialog Box allows you to enter any name for your new set of operations

After entering the name, click OK to close the dialog box. If you now look at the operations panel, you will see that there is your new set, located below the other sets currently loaded in Photoshop. Since I will use a set of operations that I created earlier, we can see in it the operation “Corners for the photo-enhancement”, which we edited in the last lesson. If you created a new set just now, then it will be empty for you:

A new set of operations appeared in the Operations panel

Keep in mind that you do not need to create a new set of operations whenever you want to create a new operation. After you have created a new set of operations to place a new operation in it, you can also have other operations in the set – as long as you want. It’s also good to remember not to place your own operations inside the sets of operations that were originally loaded into Photoshop, such as “Default operations”, “Effects for the image”, “Frames”, etc. Keep your own operations in the new sets that you yourself created.

Step 2: Create a new operation

After we have created a set of operations for placing a new operation in it, let’s create the operation itself. To do this, click on the icon “Create a new operation” (New Action) at the bottom of the operation panel:

To create an operation, click on the icon “Create a new operation ”

This action will open the New Operation dialog box, where we can enter a new name for our operation and select a set of operations for the subsequent placement of the operation in it. Since we will record the steps necessary to create a simple soft glow effect, I’ll call the operation Soft Glow. Right under the data entry window, where you entered a name for your operation, is the “Set” option. Here we can select the set in which our operation will be placed. If your new set of operations is not selected, select it from the list. In my case, it’s clear that I put the Soft Glow operation in My Operations:

Enter a name for your new operation and select the set where you place it

At the bottom of the New Operation dialog box, you can see several more options. The Function Keys parameter allows you to assign a specific key combination if desired, using any of the function keys together with the Shift or Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) key. As for me, I would not pay attention to this parameter, because it is very easy to lose an operation by simply clicking on the “Run Operation” icon located on the operations panel. The “Color” option allows you to assign a certain color to your operation, which will be visible only when viewing your operations in the “Button Mode” mode, but this does not apply to the topic of this lesson. Therefore, you can easily skip the “Function key” and “Color” options and continue working, but this is just my opinion.

Step 3: Click on the “Record” button

When you are done with the parameters, click on the “Record” button located in the upper right corner of the dialog box:

Press the “Record” button to start recording a new operation

As soon as you click on the “Record” button, you will see that your new operation appeared inside the “My operations” set of operations on the operations panel. You will also see that the record button at the bottom of the panel has turned red indicating that the recording has started:

Our operation appeared on the operations panel, and the record button turned red

Remember that there is no cause for concern. Yes, the recording started, but it’s not like recording a movie. Operations are not recorded in real time. All that Photoshop will record is the steps that we lose, and it does not matter to us how much time it takes to complete the steps.

So, let’s start recording steps for our operation!

Step 4: Take a picture

As a first step in creating a soft glow effect, I’m going to tell the program to take a snapshot of the original image before applying the effect. In fact, you do not need to record the creation of the snapshot as the first step of the operation, but since this step will subsequently allow us to quickly cancel the effect, it does not hurt to include this action in the operation. Thus, in the recording mode, I’m going to switch to the “History” panel for a while, which by default is located next to the “Actions” panel, and click on the icon “Create a new snapshot” located at the bottom panels:

Creating an image snapshot is the first step of Operation Soft Glow

As a result of this action, a new snapshot of the image will be added to the History panel:

At the top of the History panel, a snapshot of the image appeared

Now if you need to cancel the effect after performing the operation, I can simply switch to the “History” panel and click on the picture.

I will switch back to the Operations panel, and we will see that in the Soft Glow operation, the first step is to make a Make snapshot. Our first step was successfully recorded:

In the operation there was a first step

Step 5: Copy the background layer

Now, after we have found a way to quickly cancel the effect, we can start creating it! The first thing we need to do is create a copy of the Background layer. The background layer is the layer that contains the original image, and at the moment this layer is the only one in the layers panel. In order to create a copy of it, go to the “Layer” menu at the top of the screen, select “New” and then “Layer via Copy”. A faster way to copy a layer is to press Ctrl + J (Win) / Command + J (Mac).

Any of the above methods allows us to create a copy of the background layer (or at least a copy of any currently selected layer, in our case it is a background layer). If we look at the layers panel, we will see that now there are two layers. The background background layer is at the bottom, and a copy of the background layer called “Layer 1” is above it:

A copy of the background layer called “Layer 1” appeared on the layers panel

If we take a look at the Operations panel, we see that the second step was added to the Soft Glow operation – Layer Via Copy:

In the operation there was a second step – “Copy to a new layer”

Record operations in Photoshop CC

Step 6: Rename the new layer

Before we continue, let’s rename this layer. I do not like common layer names, such as “Layer 1”, and I think that more clear and informative names should be given to the layers. To rename a layer, double click on the layer name, then type a new name and press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) to confirm the changes. In the future, we apply the “Gaussian Blur” filter to this layer, so I’ll call this layer “Gaussian blur”:

Double click on the name “Layer 1” and type in a new one – “Gaussian Blur”

When you look at the operations panel, you will see that the third step was added to our operation “Set current layer”. The name of the step, in fact, tells us only that something is being applied to the currently selected layer, but if we reveal the details of the step, clicking on the triangle to the left of its name, it becomes clear to us that during execution step to the selected layer will be given the name “Gaussian Blur”, as we wanted:

In the operation appeared the third step – “Set current layer”

Step 7: Change the blending mode of the new layer to “Overlap”

Until now, despite the fact that we have already recorded three steps in our operation, the image in the document window has not changed and looks still. It’s time to fix this. We are going to change the blending mode of the new layer. After selecting the “Gaussian Blur” layer, find the “Blend Mode” option at the top of the layers panel, which looks like a drop-down box with the current “Normal” value. Click on this drop-down box to open it and then select the Overlay mode from the list of modes that appears:

Change the blending mode of the “Gaussian Blur” layer to “Overlap”

The application of the overlay mode “Overlap” gave the image in the document window a greater contrast and increased the saturation of the colors:

The image became more contrasted and saturated

Let’s look again at the “Operations” panel, where the fourth step appeared in our operation, also called “Set current layer”. If we expand the step to see the details of its execution, we will see that in the course of its execution the overlay mode “Overlap” will be applied to the selected layer:

In the operation “Soft Glow” appeared the fourth step – “Determine the current layer”

We successfully added the fourth step to Operation Soft Glow. It remains to write a few more steps, and we will have a ready effect, which we can apply to any image in the program Photoshop, when we just want to!

Step 8: Apply the “Gaussian Blur” filter

To create a soft glow effect, we need to blur our image on the “Gaussian Blur” layer. To do this, go to the “Filter” menu at the top of the screen, select “Blur” and then “Gaussian Blur”. This action opens the “Gaussian Blur” dialog box. Move the slider that controls the blur radius at the bottom of the dialog box to the right to increase the blur that will be applied to the layer, or to the left to reduce it. As the slider moves, follow the image on the screen and select the blur radius so that the desired result is visible. I will choose a blur radius equal to 13 pixels, which will give my image the desired effect:

Create a soft glow effect by selecting the desired blur radius in the Gaussian Blur dialog box

Click OK after selecting the blur radius value to confirm blurring of the image and exit the dialog box. Below is my image after applying the “Gaussian Blur” filter:

Image after applying the “Gaussian Blur” filter

If we look at the Operations panel, we’ll see that the fifth step, Gaussian Blur, was added to Operation Soft Glow. When viewing the details of the step, you will notice that each time the operation is performed, the blur radius will automatically become 13 pixels:

In the operation appeared the fifth step – “Gaussian Blur”

It’s great, but what if the next image to which we want to apply our effect has a radius of 13 pixels that does not work? What if you need a larger or smaller blur radius value to achieve the desired result? Perhaps we should tell the program to display the “Gaussian Blur” dialog box each time it performs the operation, where we could choose the blur radius for the image ourselves, if necessary.

As we already know, we can easily enable or disable dialog boxes during the operation, simply by clicking on the icon of the dialog box to the left of the step name. By default, all the icons of the window tumblers are empty. This means that during the operation, the dialog boxes associated with the corresponding steps will not appear on the screen.

Since I want the “Gaussian Blur” dialog box to be displayed every time I perform the operation, I click on the empty window toggle icon to the left of the step name. When I do this, an icon appears in the form of a small gray dialog box, indicating that the “Gaussian Blur” dialog box now appears on the screen when you perform the operation:

Click on the icon of the dialog box to the left of the “Gaussian Blur” step so that the corresponding dialog box appears on the screen during the operation

Step 9: Reduce the opacity of the layer to 65%

To complete the operation, let’s reduce the opacity of the “Gaussian Blur” layer so that the effect is not so obvious, but the colors are too saturated. In order to reduce the opacity of the layer, select the “Opacity” option in the upper right corner of the layers panel, just opposite the “Overlay mode” parameter. By default, the Opacity setting is 100%. Click on the small arrow to the right of the value “100%”, resulting in a scale with a slider. Move the slider to the left to reduce the opacity to 65%:

Use the small slider to reduce the opacity of the “Gaussian Blur” layer to 65%.

Important Note : As the slider moves to reduce the opacity of the layer, do not release the mouse button until you move the slider to the desired elevation.

Whenever you release the mouse button, Photoshop will treat this action as a separate step of the operation, as a result of which you will get several steps to reduce the opacity of the layer. For example, if you move the slider to 90%, release the mouse button, then move the slider to 75%, again release the button and then reach 65% and again release the button, you will get 3 steps: one – reducing the opacity of the image to 90%, the second – up to 75% and the third – up to 65%. If this happens to you, wait for the operation to finish recording, then click on the extra steps if you do not need them, and move them to the trash can icon at the bottom of the operation panel for deletion.

Even more important note : if you are working in the version of Photoshop CS, do not use dynamic sliders to reduce the opacity of the layer when recording operations. If you try to reduce the opacity of the layer to 65% with this slider, you will get 35 separate steps, each of which will reduce the opacity of the layer by 1%. Therefore, no sliders-regulators when writing operations, otherwise you will then have to delete a lot of unnecessary steps!

So, after reducing the opacity of the layer, you have finished recording all the steps necessary for the operation! Let’s look at our “Operations” panel, where we can see the last appeared step called “Set current layer”. If we expand the step to view the details, we will see that during the last step the opacity of the layer will be reduced to 65%

The operation has the last step.

Below is my image after reducing the opacity of the layer and completing the “Soft Glow” effect:

Wedding photo after applying the effect of “Soft glow.”

Step 10: Stop the recording operation

We have finished recording our operation, and now we need the Photoshop program to stop recording. To do this, click on the “Stop” icon, located at the bottom of the “Operations” panel:Click on the “Stop recording” icon to finish recording the operation

And so we did it! We have successfully recorded our first operation, and now we have the effect that we can apply to any image! Let’s quickly see that our operation works as expected. I will open another image in Photoshop:

A new image opened in Photoshop

In order to play a new operation, I will select it inside the “My operations” set on the operations panel and then click on the “Execute operation” icon located at the bottom of the panel:

Select the “Soft Glow” operation and then click the “Execute Operation” icon on the operation panel

As soon as I click on the “Execute Operation” icon, the program will start playing the steps by first creating a snapshot of the image in the History panel, then making a copy of the background layer, then assigning the new layer the name “Gaussian Blur” and changing the blending mode to “Overlap “. When the program reaches the step where you want to apply the “Gaussian Blur” filter to the image, it will pause the operation and display the “Gaussian Blur” dialog where I can enter a new value for the blur radius if necessary:

The program pauses the operation and displays the “Gaussian Blur” dialog box

Note that the dialog box already has a radius value of 13 pixels, because this is the value we entered when writing the operation. I could change the value to another if I wanted to, but it seems to me, in my case, a radius value of 13 pixels will suit the image. I just click OK to confirm the settings, exit the dialog box, and let the program continue to perform the operation.

The program continues the operation, reducing the opacity of the “Gaussian Blur” layer to 65%, and the effect will be applied. The playback of the operation took much less time than if I had followed all the steps myself. Below is an image after applying the Soft Glow effect:

The effect of “Soft Glow” was easily applied to the second image during the operation

The result turned out exactly as we expected! Now we can apply our effect to any image we just want!

Since we spent a considerable amount of time and effort on the record of the operation, we should save it so that it will not be lost. In the next lesson we’ll look at how to save and how to load operations!