art history brush & actions.

[bmo...@mailbox.bellatlantic.net]

I've been to 3 different schools and I'm about to graduate with my AA
Degree as a Computer Graphics Specialist, and have been working with
Photoshop everyday for the past 3 years. To this day I don't know one
teacher or tutorial that has ever even mentioned the art history
brush....What is it, what is it for, what can i do with it etc....

also that goes for the actions tab. what are they used for and how can I
make use of them etc...

I consider myself pretty good with Photoshop, and these 2 things NEVER
have come up once, in articles tutorials, or with teachers.

[Jn.]

An action is a series of commands that you play back on a single file or a
batch of files. For example, you can create an action that applies an Image
Size command to change an image to a specific size in pixels, followed by an
Unsharp Mask filter that resharpens the detail, and a Save command that
saves the file in the desired format.

Most commands and tool operations are recordable in actions. Actions can
include stops that let you perform tasks that cannot be recorded (for
example, using a painting tool). Actions can also include modal controls
that let you enter values in a dialog box while playing an action. Actions
form the basis for droplets, small applications that automatically process
all files that are dragged onto their icon.

Both Photoshop and ImageReady ship with a number of predefined actions,
although Photoshop has significantly more actions than ImageReady. You can
use these actions as is, customize them to meet your needs, or create new
actions.
When you create a new action, the commands and tools you use are added
to the action until you stop recording.

To create a new action:

1.. Open a file.
2.. In the Actions palette, click the New Action button , or choose New
Action from the palette menu.
3.. Enter a name for the action.
4.. (Photoshop) Choose a set from the pop-up menu.
5.. If desired, set one or both of the following options:
a.. Assign a keyboard shortcut to the action. You can choose any
combination of a Function key, the Ctrl key (Windows) or Command key (Mac
OS), and the Shift key (for example, Ctrl+Shift+F3).
b.. (Photoshop) Assign a color for display in Button Mode.
6.. Click Record. The Record button in the Actions palette turns red .
Important: When recording the Save As command, do not change the
filename. If you enter a new filename, Photoshop records the filename and
uses that filename each time you run the action. Before saving, if you
navigate to a different folder, you can specify a different location without
having to specify a filename.

7.. Choose the commands, and perform the operations you want to record.
8.. To stop recording, click the Stop button, choose Stop Recording from
the Actions palette menu, or press the Escape key. To resume recording in
the same action, choose Start Recording from the Actions palette menu.
Playing an action executes the series of commands you recorded in the
active document. You can exclude specific commands from an action or play a
single command. If the action includes a modal control, you can specify
values in a dialog box or use a modal tool when the action pauses.

Note: In button mode, clicking a button executes the entire action--though
commands previously excluded are not executed.

To play an action on a file:

1.. Open the file.
2.. Do one of the following:
a.. To play an entire action, select the action name, and click the Play
button in the Actions palette, or choose Play from the palette menu.
b.. If you assigned a key combination to the action, press that
combination to play the action automatically.
c.. To play part of an action, select the command from which you want to
start playing, and click the Play button in the Actions palette, or choose
Play from the palette menu.
To play a single command in an action:

1.. Select the command you want to play.
2.. Do one of the following:
a.. Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) the Play button in
the Actions palette.
b.. Press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS), and double-click the
command.
To undo an entire action:

Do one of the following:

a.. (Photoshop) Take a snapshot in the History palette before you play
an action, and then select the snapshot to undo the action.
b.. (ImageReady) Choose Edit > Undo Action Name.
Hope this helped
--
Jn.

<bmo...@mailbox.bellatlantic.net> wrote in message
news:3CD9EA93...@mailbox.bellatlantic.net...

[Tracy]

The Photoshop 6 Wow book has a pretty good section regarding the Art History
brush and a tutorial on how to make a painting using the art history brush
and layers.
"Jn." <mostpre...@NOSPAMhotmail.com> wrote in message
news:mYlC8.5862$Db5.1...@typhoon.nyc.rr.com...