Free Action to Reset Your Edit

reset_feature

Ever just feel like starting over with an edit? It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. When you do feel like that, there are three ways you can do all your work:

  1. Close the image without saving it and the work you’ve done will be gone.
  2. Go to the History panel (Undo History panel in PSE 10-6) and scroll back to the top of the list and click on the top item which is your file. This gets rid of all the steps you’ve made. You can find your History/Undo History panel by going to Windows, then clicking on that choice.
  3. Use the Reset action I’m providing today.

The action is free and works in Photoshop CS and Photoshop Elements. When you click to apply it, it will take your image back to it’s original state IF you have not saved the edit at some point. If you have saved it, with will not reset.

This is not a “must have” action, but one that can come in handy and save a bit of time for you. Also, if you apply it and then wish to undo that, press ‘control’ and ‘z’ (or ‘command’ and ‘z’ on a Mac).

To download the action, click HERE.

About Amanda

I am passionate about helping others learn how to use their DSLR cameras and editing programs. More information about me can be found at my About page, or by visiting my personal blog.

Comments

  1. Stephanie W says:

    Doesn’t Edit->Revert do the same thing also? That’s what I always use if I’ve done a lot of steps and don’t want to keep hitting undo.

    • Stephanie,
      Nope, not different at all. This action does that same thing. I made it so that my mind and mouse aren’t going to find it (I use it seldom, so I often have to go through the tabs to remember where it is – it’s in different locations in Photoshop and PSE and I use both programs).

  2. I’ve always wondered…does clicking “undo” as opposed to using this action or the steps you’ve listed harm the original file in any way?

    • Great question, Jennifer. Nope, it doesn’t not hurt the file at all. In fact, nothing at all is happening to your image because nothing is applied until you save. AND, you won’t be saving on the original file; you should be saving it as an new image.

  3. I also have a similar question. What is the difference between hitting UNDO, REVERT or the new RESET action you have made available?

    • Wow! Good question, Monica! Undo only reverts one step at a time. A step could be making a layer adjustment, or it could be brushing on a mask and each mouse click and brush is a step. So if you’ve clicked and brushes five times on a mask, you’d need to click undo five times to get rid of that altogether. Revert/Reset takes you edit all the way back to the original, jumping backwards over all your steps.

      Great question! I may add that to the post to help others. Thank you for asking.

  4. Thanks for the action! And, I learned a lot just by reading the comments! I am now a follower of your blog!!! 🙂

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