Photshop CS, as well as other versions of the package, come complete with a built-in recorder feature that lets you save a sequence of changes you make to a picture. Called Actions, this feature is easy to use and is great for speeding up all those tasks that you repeatedly perform on your photographs. Once recorded the Action sequence can be applied to a single file or a group of files via the Batch command (File>Automate>Batch).

Creating an Action step-by-step
1. To create your own action, start by opening the Action's palette (Window>Actions). Click the sideways arrow in the top right of the palette to reveal the fly-out Actions menu. Select New Action from the list.

2. In the New Action dialogue input an action name, short cut key to run the action (Function Key) and choose a colour for the action when viewed in button mode. You can also select the action set that you want the new action stored in. If you haven't created a new set the 'Default Actions.atn' set will be set as default. Click Record to start saving your image adjustments.

3. With an example picture open, perform the actions that you want to be recorded. In the example I made a simple Hue/Saturation adjustment that turns a full colour image blue via the Colorize option. Be sure to perform all changes in the same order that you want them to occur when applied to other pictures.

4. Once you have completed all the image enhancements, click the square button at the bottom of the Actions' palette. This stops the recording process. To see a list of all the steps that have been saved click the sideways facing arrow to the left of the action's name.

Top Tip:
Actions are not only a great way to speed up regular tasks they can also be used to make sure that exactly the same results are obtained when processing a group of files.

If I applied the 'Make blue tone' action described in the tutorial to a folder of pictures I could be sure that all the altered photographs would be the same colour blue.

Using Your Actions
Now that your action has been recorded you can apply the sequence of correction steps to another image by opening the picture and selecting the action from the Actions palette. In button mode clicking the button will start the action. In standard mode the Play button at the bottom of the palette needs to be click to commence the enhancement.

But that's not all! Using the Batch feature (File> Automate>Batch) you can apply your action to a whole folder of images. Select the action, the folder where the images are kept (source) and where the altered images are to be saved (destination) and Photoshop does the rest. Opening the files making the changes and then saving the results.

As an example I recorded a single step action that converts a full colour image to a blue toned monochrome using the Hue/Saturation control. In the process I assigned a SHIFT + F2 shortcut to the 'Make blue tone' action.

In Practice
Now when I want to change a picture to blue I simply press the keystroke combination and the job is done for me.