That is not an "Action;" it is a sequence.  I thought you were familiar with Photoshop.

I just wanted gnits to know someone understood what he was saying.

Other software, like MS Office, call it a "macro", the automatic execution of a sequence of program operations.
I assume you can record an action In PS like you can a macro in Office. I know you can edit a recorded macro too.
Terry.

Fred,

Thanks for the feedback.  I would position myself as an advanced user of templates , but do not pretend to think that I totally grasp all the nuances of Qimage. I have a series of templates made which cover A5,A4,A3,A2 (landscape and portrait) with multiple meta data components, developed over a few years.

Photography is a hobby, but an important hobby. I have a heavy commercial IT background and strive to permanently improve workflow. I am proud of what I photograph and especially print  and use Qimage to volume print 50 plus A4 images (with metadata) after a trip or individual A2 sized fine art sets.

I started this discussion because I was keen to streamline my workflow from Lightroom to Qimage and bypass the Lightroom printing engine (as we know, does not compete with Qimage).

I have discovered thru this forum how to export selected images from Lightroom directly to a template in Qimage. Fantastic. [I just need to make sure Qimage has been started and printer and template settings in place].

I feel all the functionality to deal with templates in Qimage is there. As confirmed by others (once the routine is established) that it should not take more than ten seconds and multiple clicks to get the desired (and highly productive result).  I also feel (again because  the functionality is already there) that a few tweaks could improve this even further; namely

•    Allow a default template (or job) be loaded at start. [Very useful for people who use template /job based printing, no impact if you don't. Could be a DOS like parameter]

•    Make it easier (ie reduced clicks) to change / select a new template / job.

I have got some very good suggestions already from this discussion re use of printer set up parameters (which I never considered before) and job setup without an imbedded image.  This gives me a very workable setup and some suggestions to explore further (and will).

Despite this, I would like  Mike to consider my bullet points as possible enhancements.

I am not hung up on buttons specifically as a solution or proposing the development of a macro language. (A bridge too far).  I do think there is potential long term to allow people link a single (existing) command or template/job file to a few custom buttons.

Thanks again for all the feedback.

I tried to use the Permanent option, but could not activate, as per your experience.

Food for thought.

Fred

It may be just a few clicks, but if you use a lot of layouts in a production environment they soon add up. I still think that a feasible solution would be to be able to add layouts to the the print size menu using the Size Tool button.

Brian

Terry,
I have to second your post with weight.
I never shot raw until Mike made Qimage accept raw, and even then, "My Jpgs were great", was my mantra.
Then I began to timidly shoot Raw + JPG (in case)   
Now with a little knowledge and Qimage Studio, I was really getting better results because I had better control over my hot spots and shadows.
Finally dumped the JPGs, and I shoot in the Raw only now. (No peeking!)

Then came the evolution of QSE to do fill light in an easy fashion so Raw images could be optimized for lighting as well as one click White Balance.
Next was the post on the Qimage web page showing Qimage Studio rendition of a Raw image compared to LR and the original.
My socks were knocked off!

All this done in under 30 seconds! No twiddling and tweaking at this point.
I say that to remind you (but you know) and others, that the batch filter screen still remains available for your tweaking; e.g cropping the image, cutouts, sepia, and asst predefined filters, curves and Levels.... and on and on.. should you feel compelled to do more.

At this point, it is rare that I use the non destructive filters in Qimage at all except for a cutout. That in itself is a testament to the output of the Raw coverage that Qimage SE affords.
You heard of a Smoker that was converted to a Non-Smoker? I am a JPGER converted to a NON-JPGER to RAW.
  Nothing worse than those people.
Fred

That's good to hear, but don't "work arounds" apply to program bugs and none are actually apparent in this case. 
Terry.

Brian Price sums up the real world situation in his first sentence below.



I will leave it to people with internal product knowledge to suggest the best technical solution. Brian's suggestion has legs.

I am not reporting any bugs, just a simple suggestion.