Photoshop actions are a great way to save time. They let you record a string of edits and then repeat them all at the click of a button. You can automate tasks like resizing, format conversion, or just about anything else you think of.

But what many people don't know is you can put your Photoshop actions into droplets. These allow you to drag and drop files onto a droplet icon, which opens them all in Photoshop and runs through all the actions you recorded.

Droplets are an excellent way to batch process files in Photoshop with minimal fuss. Here's how to create them.

Recording Photoshop Actions

Before you can create a droplet, you need to record an action. This is just Photoshop's name for macros, which are series of steps that have been recorded and can be repeated automatically by your computer. You can record all kinds of things in actions, from resizing images in Photoshop, to applying fancy filters and effects.

Let's say you want to resize a bunch of images, apply a grain filter, then save and close them. To turn that series of steps into an action, pick one of your images to carry them out on.

photo of man jumping in photoshop

If it isn't already open, open the Actions window from Window > Actions in the menu bar. Alternatively, press Alt + F9 in Windows or Opt + F9 in macOS. If you want to put your action in a set, click the folder icon at the bottom. Otherwise, click the Create new action button next to the trashcan icon.

actions window in photoshop

Now, give your action a name. You can also assign a shortcut and a color. If you created a set, you can put your new action in there too. When you're finished, click Record.

new action panel in photoshop

The record button in the Actions window will turn red, and you're good to go. Carry out all the steps you want, and they'll begin to appear in the Actions window.

When you're finished, click the Stop button in the Actions window. Note that if you use the Save As function as part of your action, it will always send your processed images to whichever destination folder you choose.

Once you're finished, you can use your action by selecting it in the Actions window and clicking the Play button.

new action in photoshop actions window

But while this enables you to more quickly carry out tasks, it's not great for batch processing. You'll need to run your new action for every image you want to process. That's where droplets come in.

How to Use Photoshop Droplets

To turn an action into a droplet, go to the menu bar and select File > Automate > Create Droplet.

picking create droplet from photoshop menu

This will open the Create Droplet panel. Use the Action dropdown menu to choose your action.

create droplet panel in photoshop

Next, under Save Droplet In, click the Choose button, and select a place to save your droplet. A good place, for now, is the desktop, but you can always move it later.

photoshop save location for droplet

You'll notice there's also a Destination dropdown menu. This enables you to choose where your processed files will be saved. You can choose a particular folder to save to, save straight over the original files, or do nothing.

If there are Save As steps in your action, you can make your droplet override them by ticking the relevant box here. You can also create a renaming scheme using the File Naming section of this panel.

Related: What Can You Actually Do With Adobe Photoshop?

Another thing you might want to do is define is what happens if Photoshop runs into an error while batch processing via your droplet. Either it can stop when there's an error or carry on but make a note in a log file.

When you're finished setting up your droplet how you want, click OK. Your droplet will now be wherever you chose to save it.

photoshop droplet on desktop

To use your new droplet, just drag and drop some image files onto it. If Photoshop isn't already open, the droplet will open it and then carry out your action on all your selected files.

images made grainy by photoshop droplet

If you want to keep your originals, then you should use the Save As functions to move your batch processed images to a new folder. You might find it useful to create folders with similar names to your droplets. For example, you could have a folder called "1200px images with grain applied."

Mac users can make their droplets even more convenient by dragging them to the dock. That gives you easy access to your droplet at any time. Sadly, this doesn't work with the Windows taskbar.

photoshop droplet in dock

Using the Batch Panel Instead

If you're already familiar with Photoshop's batch panel, you might have noticed how similar the droplet creation process is. You can access Batch by going to File > Automate > Batch.

As with droplets, you select an action, and you can change the save destination too. But with the Batch command, you choose a source first, and then click OK to run through that action once on a batch of files.

batch processing in photoshop

While this is useful for one-off jobs, droplets are more convenient, because they can be used over and over again. They also reduce the number of clicks you need to carry out a batch job.

Droplet Cross Compatibility

One advantage of Photoshop droplets is you can share them across devices and with other people. But there are some compatibility issues you should take into account. To make sure they work across macOS and Windows, you need to take a couple of extra steps.

If you create a droplet in Windows and then move it to a Mac, it won't work until you drag it onto the Photoshop icon in your Applications folder or desktop.

When going from Mac to Windows, you need to add the EXE extension to make it work in both Windows and macOS.

adding exe to photoshop droplet

You might also run into problems if your droplet includes references to filenames. This isn't supported across platforms, and when you use your droplet, you'll be prompted to create filenames.

When to Use Photoshop Droplets

Droplets are best when you have a Photoshop action you want to use a lot. Maybe you need to resize all your images to certain dimensions for your blog or social media. Or perhaps you want to make them all black and white. In such cases, you probably don't want to have to use your Photoshop action one photo at a time or have to set up the Batch command each time.

These are fairly basic uses for droplets, though. You could record much more complicated actions and then turn them into droplets too. So, if you came up with a set of artistic filtering and editing steps you like, you could apply them across a project in one go.

However you use them, Photoshop droplets will save you time and make life easier. Give them a try and discover just how useful they are.