How To: Install and Run JB's Glowforge Photoshop Actions 

A quick overview of how to install JB's Glowforge Photoshop Actions. 

- Find your downloaded .ZIP file
- Extract
- Double-click the .ATN file to install into Photoshop (the install is silent, so don't click repeatedly unless you want a bunch of copies)
- Open an image in Photoshop
- Open the Actions palette (Window > Actions)
- Resize the palette window by dragging, so that you can see all of the actions
- The actions are in a folder, and only one action needs to be processed. Select an action, such as 2a, and click the play button.

How To: Perform Advanced Editing Using JB's Glowforge Photoshop Actions

The actions do an excellent job of processing most photos; some photos need a little more love though, or, need a bit of tweaking to accentuate certain aspects of the photo. 

To manually edit a processed photo, click STOP when the resizing prompt occurs.

Double-click the layer thumbnail (check the video for exactly what that is) to open the properties for that particular smart layer. 

Adjust accordingly.

The two layers that make the biggest difference to the final product are the Black and White Mix layer and the Shadows/Highlights layer. I would recommend starting there.

How To: Perform a Test Engrave on a Processed Image

A test engrave can be very useful for both making sure that you've nailed the details for a particular image, and making sure that your engrave settings on the laser are correct.

Once an image has been resized, do NOT resize it. This is why resizing is not an option in the actions, but a requirement. To perform a test engrave, process and edit your image as you normally would. 

Once you have the grayscale version, use the marquee tool (shortcut key: M) to make a small selection of your image on the area you'd like to test. Eyes, if it's a portrait, or any particularly difficult part of the image. 

WIth a selection made, run the Test Burn action to export a full-size crop of that segment of the image.

How To: Reset an Image to Original

Sometimes, you just mess up on an image. As Forrest Gump says, "shit happens." Part of getting this process right though is experimenting. What can you screw up? It's just a copy of your image. Experiment away.

But, if you ever want to start over, it's very easy. From your original, processed image (the one with all of the layers), just run the Reset to Original action and your image will be restored to its original state.