Action not working as I think it should

M
Posted By
MervJones
Apr 8, 2004
Views
333
Replies
7
Status
Closed
I need to add text to a batch of ~200 photos. This text has to be on a white strip that extends 1/2" at the bottom of each photo, and must be exactly positioned, as the photos are to be used in a computer/DVD slide show and any mispositioning of the text would show up in the transitions.

Using CS I created an Action that extends the canvas size, in white, an extra 1/2" positioned at the bottom of the print. So far so good. As part of the same action, I then created a text box on the white strip, with the text properties set to Courier, Bold, 20Pts, Black. The problem is that everytime I run the action on a print, the text properties revert to Courier, Normal, 12Pts, and Grey, not the ones I recorded. I’ve even reset the text properties as part of the action and it still reverts to the default. What am I doing wrong, please?

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G
graffiti
Apr 8, 2004
Just a guess here but before you run the batch, try setting your font to Courier, Bold, 20Pts, Black in the character pallet, then run the batch.
M
MervJones
Apr 8, 2004
Thanks for the suggestion, but I’ve already tried that. The character pallet is exactly as I want it until I right click on the white space that contains the text box, and choose "Edit text" It then changes to the default ones mentioned earlier, as if the text box was created with those properties (only I know it wasn’t so)
DR
Danny_Raphael
Apr 8, 2004
I’ve read about a few action/text-related problems with CS, but none with these specific symptoms.

A possible workaround if you stiill have PS 6 (or 7 or whatever you upgraded from – assuming you upgraded): Record the action from scratch under the previous version, Save As… to your hard disk, Load… the .atn into CS. This approach got around the other problems.
M
MervJones
Apr 8, 2004
Once again, thanks. I did upgrade but did the "right" thing and removed PS7 once I was up to speed on CS (your supposed to do that, right?)
DR
Danny_Raphael
Apr 8, 2004
There is no requirement to remove a previous version that I know of. From what I understand it is illegal to "sell" a full version to which an update was applied while keeping the upgrade installed, but this is discussion for another thread.

Can you see the settings (Courier, Bold, 20, black) recorded in the action step?

Did you type "something" into the layer, such as "Replace this text" perhaps? (Since you’re customizing the text on each layer, you could do this.) If not, you might try that before clicking the "accept edits" checkmark.
M
MervJones
Apr 8, 2004
Duh, you gave me some good ideas. Before, I was just creating a blank text box, then stopping the action. Now, I create a new action, create the text box, then type in "test" in the font and desired settings. Then, before stopping the action, I recorded a "find and replace", entered "test" in the find what, leaving the replace blank, then stopping the action. Now it does the right thing and allows me to enter the desired text on each slide, with a replace.

Thanks a lot.
DR
Danny_Raphael
Apr 9, 2004
Sometimes when you get stuck, bouncing thoughts back and forth triggers an idea that leads to a solution. Forums like this provide a terrific means of doing that.

Glad to have helped and that you’re moving again.

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