Actions are small plugin files for Adobe Photoshop and will have the file extension .atn. There are numerous free and paid downloads available, or you can create your own. An action is a sequence of pre-recorded instructions and, once installed, can dramatically speed up your workflow by applying a set of instructions using only one click of the mouse. The results are consistently the same and can save a lot of repetitious work.

There are several ways in which action (.atn) files can be installed into Photoshop but this method is simple and works for me:

1. Save the action into a convenient file on your computer.

2. Open Photoshop

3. Make sure your Actions Palette is open

4. On the Actions Palette, locate and open the drop-down menu in the top right corner, by clicking on the three small lines and select ‘Load Actions’.

5. Navigate to the folder where you have stored your Action, highlight it and select ‘open’

Your action will appear in the ‘Actions Palette’ and is now ready to use.