Graphics designers and photographers have a number of processes they frequently perform on their images. Photographers, for example, may resize, apply watermarks to and create thumbnails of photographs they wish to add to their online portfolios. These repetitive tasks can become cumbersome, so creating a macro can help to automate and speed up the process. Photoshop, Adobe's graphics design and photo manipulation computer software program, includes a way to create your own macros (called "Actions") then execute them in future images.

1
Open an image file with which to create your macro. From the "File" menu, select "Open." Find the image file in the explorer window, click it then press "Open."

2
In the "History" pane, click the "Actions" tab to access the Actions menu. If you cannot find it, open the "Window" menu in the toolbar then select the "Actions" option.

3
Press the "Create new action" button. A window will pop up prompting you to name your Action then assign it to an Actions folder. When you have made your selections, press "OK."

4
Press the "Begin recording" button. Any process you apply to your image will be recorded to the Action. For steps that require input--such as resizing, which requires you to input the size you want the image to be--the Action will automatically record your input.

5
Press the "Stop playing/recording" button to finish recording your action.

6
Click the checkbox next to any step in the Actions pane that requires variable human input. For example, if you will resize thumbnails to the same resolution every time, leave the box unchecked and the Action will automatically resize the image to the size you used when creating the Action. If, however, you want the Action to ask you what size to use every time, check the box. When you "Play" the Action, the Action will pause to ask you for input at this step.