Did you know you can record every step of your work in Photoshop as a text file or even as Metadata that is attached to the file? In some professions, it is critical to document every step of your work. For instance, things like forensic imaging involve very detailed work and there is a risk of digital evidence being compromised. So documenting every step is crucial. However, there are those that aren’t necessarily working on something that critical. Maybe they want to record their process for reference or perhaps to improve their skills overall. Whatever the case, it’s really quite simple. Go to your Photoshop Preferences into the General category. At the bottom you’ll see the History Log. This allows you to have your History attached to your file as Metadata or as a separate text file. You can even do both. I personally used this sometimes when I am experimenting just in case I do something and don’t quite remember how I did it.

5 Comments

1. ricardo said on — November 12, 2008 @ 3:06 pm

   Thanks Corey
   This ill help my pupils durring class..
   no more lose time wroting down tutorials while learning…
   really thanks

2. Sharon Swift Imperati said on — November 13, 2008 @ 4:32 am

   Thank you for this great tip!! I try so many things, it’s so easy to lose track of exactly which settings, filters, etc. worked the best. This will save so much time when trying to recreate a particular effect.
   Thanks again.
   Sharon

3. Kirk Nelson said on — November 13, 2008 @ 8:49 am

   Note of caution though. Having this on while experimenting can get a bit confusing if you use multiple undos or the history panel to jump back several steps. The log doesn’t remove the steps you undo or even record how far back into your history you undo.

   also brush strokes are recorded every time the brush touches the canvas. My text files generally end up with pages of rather useless brush stroke entries: brush, brush, brush, undo, undo, brush, erase, brush, brush, brush, brush, undo, brush, brush…..

4. Brad Walters said on — November 13, 2008 @ 10:08 am

   wouldn’t this also allow you to reduce the number of history states needed? and therefore free up some RAM? just curious.

5. Bob Murray said on — November 13, 2008 @ 3:13 pm

   Very nice. This shows me the ugly truth about my workflow. Documentation to improve by.

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