EZPrint Mats and Frames Actions for Photoshop FAQ



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How can I control the appearance of my frame?
How can I change my frame after I've created it?
How can I remove a frame or mat and try another?
Can I turn off the instructions in the actions?
My mats and backgrounds are slightly larger at the bottom than at the top. How can I make them symmetrical?
How can I control the amount of "extra" space added at the bottom of my mats and backgrounds?
Where can I find detailed instructions for using the EZPrint Mats and Frames?
Can I use these actions on large (high-resolution) photos?
Can I use these actions on web-sized photos?
What do you mean by a "web-sized" image?
When I run an action, why do I see an error message saying that one of the other actions is not currently available?
Why do I see this error: "The command "duplicate" is not currently available?"
Why do I see this error: "The command "set" is not currently available?"
Will these actions work with Photoshop CS?
Will these actions work with Photoshop Elements?
Is there a tutorial for my actions?
The action is behaving strangely, and none of these questions and answers help. What now?



How can I control the appearance of my frame?

The action will stop, showing a dialog similar to this:

Layer Style Dialog

Notice that on the left, "Bevel and Emboss" is checked and highlighted. At top right are the default settings for Bevel and Emboss. If you're happy with how your frame looks, you can just click "OK."

The setting you'll most likely want to change is "Size," but you can experiment with the other settings, too. In addition, you can select other options on the left and change their settings, giving you complete control over the appearance of your frame.

To see the changes as you make them, be sure that "Preview" is checked.

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How can I change my frame after I've created it?

Since the frame is created in a separate layer, you can edit the layer styles to change the appearance. To edit the layer styles, double-click the words "Bevel and Emboss" in the Layers palette:

Bevel and Emboss in the Layers Palette

The Layer Styles dialog will appear, and you can change the settings.

You can also crop the frame if it's too large.

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How can I remove a frame or mat and try another?

Before a frame or mat action is run, a snapshot is added to the History window. To return to a previous state, you can go to your History window and click one of those snapshots.

You can also highlight the Frame layer in the Layers Palette and delete it.

If you've run more than one action of the same type (two frame actions, for example) on an image, the history snapshots will take you back to the state before the last one. If you need to go back farther, your best bet may be to select "Revert" from the Photoshop File menu. This will reload the image from disk, undoing all the changes you made since you opened it. This is one reason why it's always a good idea to save your file before adding frames :)

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Can I turn off the instructions in the actions?

The actions show instructional dialogs before they stop for your input. Once you are familiar with how the actions work, you may prefer to turn off the instructions to make the actions run faster. To do that:
  1. Click the little arrow to the left of the name of the action, to open the action.

  2. Click the checkmark to the left of each "Stop" in the action to remove the checkmark. From now on, when the action runs, it won't show the instructions.



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My mats and backgrounds are slightly larger at the bottom than at the top. How can I make them symmetrical?

The actions make mats and backgrounds slightly larger at the bottom than at the top, for aesthetic reasons and to allow room for titles. However, if you want all sides to be the same size, you can set up the actions to do that.
  1. In Photoshop, open the action set and scroll down near the bottom, where it says "Add Bottom Space."

  2. Click the little arrow to the left of "Add Bottom Space," to open up the action. You will see two steps in the action: a "Stop," and "Canvas Size."

  3. Click the checkmark to the left of "Canvas Size," to un-check it.

Turning off the Add Bottom Space Action

From now on, no extra width will be added to the bottom of your mats and backgrounds.

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How can I control the amount of "extra" space added at the bottom of my mats and backgrounds?

If you want to eliminate the extra space completely, see the previous item in this list. If you want extra space, but want to control the amount, here's how you can do that:
  1. In Photoshop, open the action set and scroll down near the bottom, where it says "Add Bottom Space."

  2. Click the little arrow to the left of "Add Bottom Space," to open up the action. You will see two steps in the action: a "Stop," and "Canvas Size."

  3. Click the empty rectangle at the far left of the Stop, to put a checkmark there. This will enable an instructional dialog (you'll see it later, when you run a mat or background action).

  4. Click the empty rectangle just to the left of the Canvas Size step, to put a rectangular icon there.

When you're done, the "Add Bottom Space" action should look like this:

The Add Bottom Space Action

Using the Add Bottom Space Canvas Size Dialog

Bear in mind that you don't run the Add Bottom Space action directly: instead, the mat and background actions run it automatically. From now on, whenever you run a mat or background action, it will stop for you to indicate how much "extra" space to add to the bottom. Bear in mind that you have to remember to click the top-middle anchor box when you add this extra space: Photoshop never remembers to do this automatically, even though the step was recorded that way:

Any OTHER time the action stops for you to indicate size, you use the default anchor box: the middle one.

Adding the extra bottom space


If you settle on an "extra" amount that you want to use all the time, you can re-record that "Canvas Size" step and then uncheck those two boxes, so the action will look like this again:

ReturningAddBottomSpaceToDefault

The action will always use the amount of extra space you specify, without stopping for your input.

Note: When you re-record the step, be sure to change the width units to "Percent," and specify 100 percent width and whatever you want for height. If you specify a pixel width, Photoshop will always use the same width, which probably isn't what you want :) Re-recording the Canvas Size step in the Add Bottom Space action


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Where can I find detailed instructions for using the EZPrint Mats and Frames?

On our EZPrint Mats and Frames Instructions page.

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Can I use these actions on large (high-resolution) photos?

Yes. These actions are specifically designed for high-resolution images.

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Can I use these actions on web-sized photos?

The actions are designed for high-resolution images, but you may be happy with the results on web-sized photos. If not, you can always apply the mat and frame to your photo before downsizing for the web.

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What do you mean by a "web-sized" image?

We use the term "web-sized" to refer to images of the size usually posted in online galleries or photography forums: usually, about 600 to 1200 pixels on the long side.

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When I run an action, why do I see an error message saying that one of the other actions is not currently available?

If you have more than one version of the same frame action set visible in the Photoshop actions window, Photoshop can get confused when it tries to find an action. Deleting the older version of the action set from the Actions window should solve the problem.

Also, if you have renamed the action set or any of the actions inside, you may see this error. If you do, restoring the original names will solve the problem.

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Why do I see this error: "The command 'duplicate' is not currently available?"

Your image mode is probably not compatible with the actions. Examples of incompatible modes are indexed color and multi-channel. Convert your image to one of the other modes, such as RGB, CMYK, Lab, or Grayscale before running the actions.

Also, if you are using Photoshop 6 or 7, make sure your image is in 8-bit mode. 16-bit mode is fine for Photoshop CS.

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Why do I see this error: "The command 'set' is not currently available?"

Your image mode is probably not compatible with the actions. Examples of incompatible modes are indexed color and multi-channel. Convert your image to one of the other modes, such as RGB, CMYK, Lab, or Grayscale before running the actions.

Also, if you are using Photoshop 6 or 7, make sure your image is in 8-bit mode. 16-bit mode is fine for Photoshop CS.

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Will these actions work with Photoshop CS?

Yes, these actions work with Photoshop CS, as well as Photoshop 6 and 7.

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Will these actions work with Photoshop Elements?

These actions will not work with Photoshop Elements. However, we do have actions especially designed for Photoshop Elements.

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Is there a tutorial for my actions?

Yes there is: Tutorial


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The action is behaving strangely, and none of these questions and answers help. What now?

Some suggestions:
  1. Restart Photoshop

    People have reported that sometimes, especially right after loading a new action, Photoshop behaves strangely, and that after closing Photoshop and restarting it, the problems go away.

  2. Contact Us

    If you need more help, contact us at shutterfreaks@shutterfreaks.com.
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