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Recording and Applying Adjustments with ACDSee Actions

ACDSee Actions allow you to record all of your Edit mode adjustments and then apply them to other images by "playing" them back. You can use this method to batch edit multiple photos with any adjustment available in Edit mode. In addition, after applying a recording with adjustment layers, you can open the image in Edit mode and continue tweaking and adjusting the adjustment layers in the Layered Editor, allowing for non-destructive image editing.

To Open the ACDSee Actions Window:

In View or Edit mode, go to View | ACDSee Actions.

To Record Your Adjustments:

In Edit mode, at the top of the ACDSee Actions window, press the Record button.

	Off
	On

Make any adjustments you desire in Edit mode.
Press the Stop button to stop the recording at any time. If you pressed the Stop button by accident, press Cancel to continue recording.
In the Name Action dialog box, enter a name for your recording. Your recording will now be available in the Actions column of the ACDSee Actions window.

To Preview a Recording:

Select the recording you wish to preview from the Actions column of the ACDSee Actions window.
Do one of the following:

View your steps listed in the Preview column.
Toggle the Preview button in the top right corner of the Preview pane to view how your current image would appear with your recording applied.

	Preview Image
	Preview Steps

To Delete a Recording:

Note that you cannot undo deleting a recording. Your deleted recording will not appear in your system's Recycle bin.

Select the recording in the Actions column of the ACDSee Actions window.
Right-click and choose Delete.

To Rename a Recording:

Select the recording in the Actions column of the ACDSee Actions window.
Right-click and choose Rename.

Applying Recordings

You can apply your recordings to other images, allowing you to batch edit using any Edit mode adjustments you have recorded.

When applied to images that are a different size than the one used in the recording, actions that involve drawings or geometry, geometry, or the layering of images will be scaled to the target image proportionally using a percentage of the width and height independently. However, crop size is absolute, (based on the number of pixels). Crop position is relative, also based on the number of pixels.

For best results with tools from the Geometry group, apply your recordings to similarly sized images.

To Apply a Recording:

Recordings are applied in the same order they were recorded in.

In Manage Mode

Select the image in the File List pane.
Do one of the following:

Choose Tools | ACDSee Action | <your desired recording> | Play.
Right-click the image and choose ACDSee Action | <your desired recording> | Play.

In View Mode

Do one of the following:

Choose Tools | ACDSee Action | <your desired recording> | Play.
Choose View | ACDSee Actions. In the ACDSee Actions window, select the recording from the Actions column. Press the Play button.

In Edit Mode

Open your image in Edit mode.
In the ACDSee Actions window, select the recording from the Actions column.
Press the Play button.

You can apply a recording to a singular layer by selecting the layer in the Layered Editor and pressing the Play button in the ACDSee Actions window.

To Set the Output Options for a Recording:

You can configure the options that will determine how files are outputted when recordings are applied to them. Each output option you configure is specific to the selected (right-clicked) recording. Output options only affect recordings that are applied to images in modes other than Edit mode.

Configured output options will not travel with shared recordings.

Select the recording in the Actions column of the ACDSee Actions window.
Right-click and choose Options.
Configure the options as described below.
Press OK.

Output Options

Action Results	Overwrite the selected file, create copy in case of non-encodable files	When a recording is applied, the file is overwritten with the edited version. If the file cannot be overwritten, such as in the case of a RAW file, a copy will be saved.
	Rename modified images and place in source folder	Select this option if you want to save the edited images with a new name, in the same folder as the original images.
	Place the modified images in the following folder	Select this option if you want to save the edited images to a specific folder. Browse to the folder.
Overwrite existing		Use this option to determine what ACDSee Ultimate should do if the destination folder contains an image with the same file name as one of the edited images: Ask: Prompts you to choose different options (skip, rename, overwrite) depending on the image. Skip: Skips processing that image, and begins processing the next image. Replace: Replaces the image in the destination folder with the edited image. Rename: Renames the edited file.
Preserve last-modified dates		Select this option if the original image has a last-modified date, and you want the edited image to have the same last-modified date.
Preserve metadata		Select this option if the original image contains metadata, and you want the edited image to contain the same metadata and color profile.
Preserve database information		Select this option if you want to preserve ACDSee Metadata from the original image.
File Output	File format	Select the file format in which you would like to save the outputted images.
	Pixel format	Use this option to determine number of bits per pixel (BPP) in the output images, and whether the images will be color or grayscale. Select Automatic if you want the output images to have the same pixel format (or the closest possible match) as the original images. You can use this option to convert the images from color to grayscale, or to convert the images to a pixel format that is compatible with other software or processes.
	Color space	Select the color space checkbox to choose a color space option from the drop-down list.

If you begin recording after adjustment layers are added, the recording can only be applied to a target image that has the same adjustment layers already added to it.

If you record adding a layer to a single layered image, and then try to apply this recording to a multi-layered target image, the layer will be added on top of all of the other layers.

If you record adjusting specific adjustment layers of a multi-layered image, the recording can only be applied to a target image with the same adjustment layer. For example, if your recording contains a sharpening adjustment layer as its third layer and you adjust it, your target image must also have a sharpening adjustment layer as its third layer.

If you record making global adjustments to a single layered image, then add layers, and then apply the recording to a multi-layered target image, the target image will be flattened. The global adjustments will be applied to the whole image, and then the layers will be added on top of that.

To Share a Recording:

Navigate to C:\Users\<User Name>\AppData\Local\ACD Systems\Actions\
Select and copy your desired recording.
Share the .acda file using the method of your choice. For example, you can attach it to an email.