Photoshop Script Collection

Copy to Scripts Folder

Alternative: Run Directly

Go to File > Scripts > Browse..., navigate to the .jsx file and click Open. The script runs immediately without needing to restart Photoshop.

Tip: Keyboard Shortcuts

For frequently used scripts, assign keyboard shortcuts via Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts > Shortcuts For: Application Menus > File > Scripts.

What is ExtendScript?

ExtendScript is Adobe’s scripting language for Creative Cloud applications — a dialect of ECMAScript 3 with Adobe-specific extensions for talking to Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and the rest of the suite. A script is a plain-text .jsx file. You don’t need to compile anything, install a build chain, or set up a project — just save the file and run it from the Scripts panel or via File > Scripts > Browse…

If you already write JavaScript, the syntax will feel familiar. The main quirks are that let and const aren’t available (use var), arrow functions don’t exist, and console.log is replaced by $.writeln for output to the ExtendScript debug console.

When scripting beats clicking (and when Actions are better)

Photoshop is unusual among Adobe applications because it has three automation tiers, not two: Actions for recorded GUI sequences, Scripts for programmatic logic, and UXP plugins for persistent panel UI. The simple test:

• Actions — one repeated operation per file, no conditional logic, no external data. Recordable from the GUI in minutes.
• Scripts — folder loops, conditional logic ("if the image has an alpha channel, do X"), reading external CSV/JSON, multi-format export, anything that needs decisions.
• UXP plugins — persistent UI users keep open while working, asynchronous web service calls, modern panel experiences.

The full landscape of Photoshop extension technologies is covered in our guide to Photoshop extension technologies; the Actions-vs-Scripts split specifically lives in Photoshop automation.

Your first script: batch resize and save as JPEG

Here’s a complete script that opens every image in a folder, resizes it to 1200px wide, and saves it as a JPEG to a destination folder. Save it as batch-resize.jsx and run it from the Scripts panel:

// batch-resize.jsx — resize every image in a folder to 1200px wide, save as JPEG
(function () {
  var srcFolder = Folder.selectDialog('Choose source folder');
  if (!srcFolder) return;
  var dstFolder = Folder.selectDialog('Choose destination folder');
  if (!dstFolder) return;

  var files = srcFolder.getFiles(function (f) {
    return /\.(jpg|jpeg|png|tif|tiff|psd)$/i.test(f.name);
  });

  app.displayDialogs = DialogModes.NO;

  for (var i = 0; i < files.length; i++) {
    var doc = app.open(files[i]);
    doc.resizeImage(UnitValue(1200, 'px'), null, 72, ResampleMethod.BICUBIC);
    var out = new File(dstFolder.fsName + '/' +
      doc.name.replace(/\.[^.]+$/, '') + '.jpg');
    var jpgOpts = new JPEGSaveOptions();
    jpgOpts.quality = 10;
    doc.saveAs(out, jpgOpts, true, Extension.LOWERCASE);
    doc.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES);
  }
  alert('Processed ' + files.length + ' files.');
}());

Three things worth pointing out: the IIFE wrapper keeps your variables out of Photoshop’s global scope; app.displayDialogs = DialogModes.NO suppresses Photoshop’s warning dialogs (missing fonts, ICC profile mismatches) so the batch doesn’t halt waiting for human acknowledgement; and the JPEGSaveOptions at quality 10 is roughly equivalent to "Maximum" in the Save As dialog.

ScriptUI dialogs for user input

Most production scripts need to ask the user something — a folder, an export quality, a watermark text. ScriptUI is the framework for those dialogs. The 100 scripts in the catalog below all use ScriptUI for their configuration dialogs; the patterns there are a good reference.

Debugging

The reliable approach is the VSCode "Adobe ExtendScript Debugger" extension — breakpoints, step-through, watch expressions, all attached to a running Photoshop. For quick checkpoints, drop $.writeln('value: ' + x); calls into the script and view output in the ExtendScript debug console.

When to graduate from a script

The signs that ExtendScript has hit its limit: you need a panel that stays visible while users work; you need to call a web API or do anything async; you need modern JavaScript features. At that point, UXP is the recommended modern path for new Photoshop panel work — the most mature UXP implementation in the suite. ExtendScript still wins for one-off automation and folder-level batch — the two will coexist for years — but persistent panels in 2026 should be UXP.

• Scripts use ExtendScript (.jsx), Adobe's JavaScript implementation for Creative Suite/Cloud applications.
• All scripts are wrapped in IIFEs (function() { ... })() to avoid polluting the global scope.
• Ruler units and dialog modes are saved and restored to preserve workspace preferences.
• Action Manager descriptors are used for operations not exposed in Photoshop's DOM API (layer masks, Smart Object editing, layer effects).
• File I/O operations use File and Folder objects from ExtendScript's cross-platform API.