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Playing actions


    When you play an action, Illustrator executes the series of commands as you recorded them. But you can begin with any command, exclude commands, or play a single command in an action. If you have inserted a modal control in your action, you can specify values in a dialog box or reapply a modal tool (any tool that requires you to press Enter or Return to apply it) when the action pauses. (See Setting modal controls and excluding commands.)

    In button view, clicking a button executes the entire action--though commands previously excluded are not executed.

To play an action or set on a single file:

  1. Open the file.
  2. Specify what to play:
    • To play a set of actions, select the set name.
    • To play a single action, select the action name.
    • To play only part of an action, select the command from which you want the action to start.
  3. To exclude or include a command within an action from playing, click the check box to the left of the action name.
  4. Click the Play Current Selection button in the Actions palette or choose Play from the pop-up menu.

To play a single command in an action:

  1. Select the command you want to play.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) the Play Current Selection button in the Actions palette.
    • Hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS), and double-click the command.

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