Using Photoshop actions can dramatically improve your productivity; using them in batch mode helps even more. In this article, I shall explain how I go about building an action for batch use. I'm going to create an action that does some simple processing on a picture: a levels command, followed by a USM. Usually, when I build batch actions I do so in two parts: I create one action that applies the various editing commands. I create a second "master" action that calls the first, rather like a subroutine in a computer program.

First, you need to choose a set to store the action. I'm creating a new set, using the command in the Actions Palette dropdown menu, which I shall call  "Build Example": Since actions are a recording of the processing steps executed, you should open an image at this point for Photoshop to do its stuff. Then, with this new set selected, create a new action by clicking the new action icon, or by using the command in the menu: