actions r pretty cool if u need to modify multiple documents, or if u find u r applying the same effect/filters to images over & over again.
for an example, u have 50 x images that need to be down res'd from 300dpi to 72dpi.
start with 1 image,
open "window menu/actions" - at top right corner of that floating window is a little triangle with several options in a drop menu, select "new action" & give it a title. if u never used actions b4, photoshop will have a bunch of default actions already saved in a default set. u can either save ur action there or make a new set.
photoshop automatically records whatever u do to that image once u created ur action, so if u then go "image menu/image size" & change ur resolution from 300dpi to 72dpi, that will then be recorded in ur action. once that is done - either hit the "stop button" (bottom of the actions window) or also in the triangle drop menu - stop recording.
now if u go "file menu/automate/batch" u can choose ur action u just made & apply it to a whole folder & have the option to overwrite original or save to another folder!
this was just a basic example, 1 action can record more than just 1 function & basically anything u can do to an image (& u can assign a function key to them for easy access.)
u can manually apply ur actions to individual files- even disabling some functions if u wish - play around with it, can come in handy!!!
hope this makes sense!
