Start a plug-in with a single key

If you frequently resize images using Blow Up, you are probably tired of navigating through the menus to get to it. My hand is cramping up just thinking about it.

Here is how you can start Blow Up by hitting a single key. You make an action and set up a hotkey to run it. These instructions are for Photoshop only.

1) First make sure you have Blow Up installed.
Start Photoshop and open any image.
Start recording a new action. You do that by clicking the folded page icon at the bottom of the Actions palette.

2) Now you will see the New Action window.
Give the action a name like "Start Blow Up Interface".
Here is the important part. Set a Function Key for the action. I used F2. Later you will be able to start Blow Up by simply hitting that button.
Hit Record to dismiss the window.

3) Now you are recording a new action.
Start Blow Up by navigating to the menu File->Automate->Alien Skin Blow Up 3. The Blow Up window will come up.

Don't worry about the Pixel Dimensions or Document Size settings because these will be reset when you restart Blow Up. Set the controls or select a setting you typically use. Each time you start Blow Up with F2, these controls will have the settings you choose now.

Click the Ok button or press Enter to apply Blow Up.

4) Go to the Actions palette and click the Stop button to finish the action.

5) Now turn on the dialog for this action. This will make the Blow Up window appear when you hit F2. Otherwise you won't get a chance to change the settings each time you apply it. Do this by clicking the "..." checkbox to the left of the action.

Now you can start Blow Up by simply hitting F2! This same procedure can be used to set up a hot key for any command in Photoshop. It is great for anything buried deep in a menu.