Setting up Actions (Studio for Teams & Studio for Enterprise)

Actions are configured centrally by studio leaders or IT and then used directly inside Capture One by production teams. This approach ensures consistent services, specifications, and outputs across the studio, while photographers and digitechs work without individual setup.

This article provides a step-by-step guide for administrators to prepare the account, configure connectors, create Actions, and publish them for studio-wide use.

Setup steps

• Step 1: Confirm prerequisites
• Step 2: Access the administration platform
• Step 3: Configure Connectors
• Step 4: Create Actions
• Step 5: Test Actions in draft mode
• Step 6: Publish Actions
• Sorting Actions
• Create multiple Actions with Batch Import
  • Batch import Actions

Step 1: Confirm prerequisites

Before configuring Actions, confirm the following requirements are met:

• You have administrator rights in Capture One Studio for Teams or Capture One Studio for Enterprise.
• The Actions upgrade is enabled on your Capture One account.
• You have access credentials for each external service you plan to connect (for example, API keys).

Step 2: Access the web-based admin portal

Actions are managed through a web-based admin portal used by studio leaders and IT.

1. Open a web browser and sign in to your Capture One account on the Capture One website.
   
2. Navigate to the web-based admin portal for managing Actions and Connectors.

This platform is used only for configuration. Photographers, digitechs, or retouchers do not need access.

Studio for Teams users can manage Actions by selecting "Manage Actions" on the Actions tool on Capture One.

Step 3: Configure Connectors

Connectors define the approved connection between Capture One and an external service. Each Connector is configured once and can be reused by multiple Actions.

1. In the web-based admin platform, open the section for managing connectors.
2. Select the service you want to connect.
3. Enter the required credentials (API key) provided by the service.
4. Save the Connector.

Once configured, the Connector becomes available when creating Actions.

Step 4: Create Actions

After a Connector is available, you can create Actions that define how images are processed.

1. Select Create Action in the web-based admin portal.
2. Choose the connected service.
3. Select the creative intent of the Action.
4. Define default parameters for the Action.
5. Decide which parameters users can adjust inside Capture One.

Step 5: Test Actions in draft mode

New Actions are created in Draft mode and are visible only to administrators in Capture One until they are published. Testing in draft mode ensures Actions behave correctly before wider release.

After publishing, click the refresh button in Capture One to update the Actions and Next Capture Actions lists. 

• Apply the Action to test images.
• Verify that files are sent correctly to the connected service.
• Confirm that outputs and naming match studio requirements.

Step 6: Publish Actions

Once testing is complete, publish the Action to make it available to the studio.

1. Select the draft Action and click the three-dots menu.
   
2. Choose Publish.

After publishing, the Action becomes available to all users in the account. No additional setup is required by photographers or digitechs.

To check how Actions can be configured within your workspace in Capture One, please see  How to work with Actions in the Capture One workspace

Sorting Actions

Use the sort option to organise your Actions list by Newest, Oldest, or Alphabetical order. Sorting can help you quickly find a specific Action, especially when working with a large number of published Actions.

Create multiple Actions with Batch Import

If your connected service supports specifications, you can create multiple Actions at once using Batch Import. Batch Import reads the specifications already set up in the connected service and creates a matching Action for each selected specification, so you do not need to build them one by one.

This is useful when your studio already has several predefined service specifications and wants to make them available in Capture One with less setup work. Instead of creating each Action manually, admins can import the relevant specifications and then review, test, and publish the Actions for the team.

Batch import Actions

1. Open the Create Action menu.
   
2. Click the drop-down arrow next to Create Action.
3. Select Batch Import.
   
4. Choose the connected service you want to import from. You can also click Refine selection to sort the specifications by name.
   
5. Select the specifications you want to import.
6. Click Import.

After the import is complete, Capture One creates a separate Action for each selected specification. You can then review the imported Actions, test them in Draft mode, and publish them when they are ready for use in Capture One.