What is the deal with simply trying to have a saved repeatable (editable maybe even?) record of everything that was done to a file?

I never understood why the history palette doesn't just have a save option. I can't even figure out what practical function the "snapshot" feature has.

So I figured out how to record the history in the metadata of a file. The problem is when trying many things and then selecting previous history state, the metadata does not purge the redundant and now NON-existant actions done to the file. Instead what is recorded is the action that was done, then an indication that you "selected previous history state".

It is incredably difficult to parse through the metadata of a file trying to figure out what has and hasnt been done to a file because all of the actions/settings that are no longer part of the sequence of events that contributed to the current state of the file are still in there.

So I figured out that you can record the history without the redundant and un-done actions that were tried on the file by selecting "concise" in the option dialogue for the history options. The problem then is it doesn't record the actual settings of each action!

What gives? So then I figured out that if you record a set of actions using the actions palette for a certain file, you will have a record of everything done to the file. It still reflects redundant and un-done actions. These can be deleted however, just make sure you delete the action AND the "selected previous history state"! These aren't bound to each other? I would think if you deleted an action, it's corresponding "undo" command would get deleted also.

But the thing that makes using the actions palette as a method of recording what has been done to a file really cumbersome is that each set of actions is not intrinsically bound to that specific file. So I suppose what one would have to do is open a new file. Create a new set of actions. Hit record and leave it on right up until you save the file. Stop recording. Delete all the redundant actions/"select previous history states". Save the set of actions as the same name as the file. Save the file. And every time you want to work on that file again, open the original unedited file. Open the saved corresponding actions. Run the actions on the file. Hit record again to append any new actions done to the file while working on it again. And repeat. (Forget about saving every few minutes)

There are three different methods for accomplishing the task of keeping track of what has been done to a file, and none of them really work. each method has elements that work to complete the task, but none do on their own. Combine them already.

I used to write down everything in annotations, copying and pasting into these is a hassle however becuase for some reason the buffer copies everything twice into photoshop annotations.

Strategically the solution is really simple:

When working on a file, each action gets recorded.
The settings for each action are recorded.
The actions that get undone are not reflected in the history. Every time you close a file, that set of actions are saved and bound to the file. And when you open the file the history opens with the same actions that were saved.

All one has to do to know what was done with the file is browse the history. The concept of using the "action palette" is already included in this method. Just make a "load history" function which will prompt. "load from which file?" You load a file's corresponding history and you can run it on the original file, or any other file.

How many times have you been looking at a file that had a lot of things done to it and wish you could just go back and undo/alter just one of the actions in the sequence? This would be simple. Load the unedited file. Load the history from the edited file. Uncheck the action you don't want, (or change the settings of that action) and run it on the unedited file, or any file.

scott_rokinlik

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Opinions please: History-Actions: detailed/Concise Fiasco.