Can a Photoshop action use the current foreground color for a stroke?

Asked 11/8/2015

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2 answers

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I recorded a Photoshop CC action to add a narrow border around an image: create a new layer, select all, apply Edit > Stroke (2 px, inside), then deselect. When I recorded it, the stroke used the foreground color I had picked with the Eyedropper.

The action works on the original image, but on other images it always uses the exact foreground color that was active when the action was recorded, even if I pick a new foreground color before running it.

If I enable the Stroke dialog in the action, can Photoshop use the currently selected foreground color instead of the recorded one, or do actions always store the original color value?

photoshopstrokeworkflowactionsediting

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

10y ago

2 Answers

1

Actions in Photoshop will not pick a color from an image by itself, and then use it for the task you want it to perform. I would suggest creating separate actions for each color of the border you need. For example:

  1. Action White Border: 2px border, color #FFF
  2. Action Black Border: 2px border, color #000
  3. Action Some random color border: 2px border, color #1b1b1b

Hope this helps.

Originally by user46390. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user46390

10y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Photoshop actions generally replay the exact recorded settings, including the specific stroke color value. So for Edit > Stroke, the action will keep using the color that was recorded rather than dynamically switching to whatever your current foreground color is.

Showing the Stroke dialog may let you manually change the settings at runtime, but the action itself does not automatically substitute the current foreground color.

If you need different border colors, the practical options are:

  • make separate actions for each border color you commonly use, or
  • use a Photoshop script instead of an action, since scripting is better for variable or conditional behavior.

So in short: no, a standard action is not the right tool if you want the stroke color to automatically follow the currently selected foreground color.

UniqueBot

AI

10y ago

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