How to Load Actions in Photoshop Elements

One of the greatest improvements Adobe made with Photoshop Elements 11 was to streamline how you load add-ons into the program. In previous versions, loading such items as brushes, styles, and actions involved several steps culminating in the dreaded rebuilding the metadata upon restarting your program. After Photoshop Elements, however, the process for loading actions is super-quick and easy, allowing you to spend more time scrapping. Let me show you how to load an action into Photoshop Elements.

Before you start, make sure you are in Expert mode in Photoshop Elements.

Within Photoshop Elements there are two ways to access the Actions panel:

The first is from the menu bar across the top of the screen. Go to Window. When the drop-down menu appears, check Actions. This opens up a second menu that includes access to the Actions menu.

The second method of accessing the Actions menu is to click the drop-down arrow next to the More panel on the lower right side of the screen, just under the Panels Bin.

Either method brings up the same pop-up menu; make sure you are in the Actions tab across the top:

Once you are on the Actions menu, click on the drop-down arrow to the far right to bring up your options menu:

Here you will see a Load Actions choice. Click on this and it will bring up your folders. Browse until you find the ATN (.atn) file you want to load, then click the file and load.

Like magic, it will appear in your Actions menu, ready to use on your layout.

Being able to add actions into Photoshop Elements so quickly and easily is one of the greatest improvements I have seen in any version in several years. Anything that gets the technical aspects of the program out of the way and lets me focus on my scrapbooking is a “win” in my book!

So, what are your favorite actions? Come share your layouts using actions in the Scrap Girls Gallery today!

Using Photoshop Elements 9? Then check out this tutorial on Installing Actions in PSE 9!

Article written by Melanie Cockshott 

(Click on the images below to be taken to their product pages)
ScrapSimple Tools Actions: Hand-Tinted

Photoshop Version

ScrapSimple Tools – Actions: Silhouettes

Creative Team Member Anna Burrows shared her favorite Action set with us:

I just love Brandy’s Mega Lift Actions.  They can be used on photos, frames and embellishments (such as ribbon and string) and they add a real ‘3D’ quality to a layout.  While a normal shadow can be used to create depth on a page, these are just so much more fun because they add realism to objects by giving a slightly ‘curled up’ appearance at the edges or corners.  If you’ve used them before you will know what I mean – if you haven’t, go and have a look, they’ll bring a whole new dimension to your layouts!

ScrapSimple Tools – Actions: Mega Lift 1

Photoshop version