What are Illustrator Actions? Should you be using them? The answer is really simple… Yes! First, it is easy to set-up! Second, the ability to customize your actions. And most importantly, it saves time. In turn, making your team more efficient and productive. Keep reading to learn about the benefits of using this Illustrator feature and how to use the Actions Panel.
What is an Action?
An action (.aia file) is a pre-recorded task that can be initiated with the click of a button, allowing you to automate common tasks. Illustrator has several preloaded default actions, such as saving for web, reducing the opacity, rotating selected objects and so on. If you find that you are doing the same repetitive steps while working in Illustrator, chances are a custom action could speed up that portion of your workflow.
Getting Started with the Actions Panel:
- Open the Action Panel by navigating to: Window > Actions.
- Select the Action you would like to run.
- Click the Play button at the bottom of the panel.
- Watch the Action perform it’s magic.
Loading Actions:
Action files (.aia) can be found online available for download or purchase – or – you can create a custom action tailored to suit your specific needs. When you download a file, it will need to be unzipped and saved to on your computer. We recommend saving in the Illustrator actions folder which can be found by navigating to: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator CC 2017\Presets\en_US\Actions. (Please note: this path will vary based on the version of Illustrator you are using.) Because this will keep your files organized. And that is equally important!
Once the file is saved in the folder of your choosing, just a few easy steps remain.
- Open the Action Panel by navigating to: Window > Actions.
- Click the menu button in the upper right corner of the panel.
- Click “Load Actions…”
- Navigate to the location of the action file.
- Select the Action file (.aia).
- Click Open to install.
- The newly installed action is now visible in the Action Panel and is ready for use.
After following these instructions, the Actions Panel is ready!
These basic steps are simple to implement. However, if you have any questions please let us know in the comment section.
In conclusion, actions will improve your workflow.We encourage your to make use of this robust feature, because time is precious. Not only for your team, but also your clients.
Keep an eye out for a future post on creating custom actions!
Check out our Blog for more Illustrator tips, tricks, and scripts.
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