CS3 will run all of them, but earlier versions won't run every Action made with a later version, even when the instructions are self-evidently identical. Some will, some won't.

Version 7 won't take commands that didn't exist when it was released back in 2002. But often you can work around a problem if a warning window appears.

One warning window says

'The command "Merge Layers" is not currently available.'

Which is something of a Photoshop bug, since replacing this with Merge Down--a command that V7 does recognize--writes "Merge Layers" into the list of steps.

For whatever its reasons, when an Action is written in other versions of Photoshop, the V7 instruction "Merge Layers" is not triggered. So what we must do to fix this is re-write the Action in question using PS7, and that's what we did. Now the instructions read the same as before, but work with PS7, CS, CS2 and CS3.

An updated group of 14 iNovaFX Actions Folders is now available to fix this issue. Check the Newz item below.

Here's a fix you can make, today: Stop here and use the Custom Menu on the Layers Palette to make the required merge manually. Look for "Merge Down" and select it. Then go back to the Actions Palette and run from where it stopped, this time selecting "Continue" from the warning window.

We worked out a fix for Actions that can be re-coded for Photoshop Version 7. But some of them depend on complex functions that simply don't exist in V7, and for those, there is no fix.

A note of encouragement: Get the latest version of Photoshop, CS3. It is much more sophisticated and includes functions that auto-align images, create better panoramics, distort and correct images and generally works faster than previous versions.

The newer features still include the previous ones, so Actions written for older versions work with the newer CS3. (Including our updated ones.)

In other words, CS3 will recognize V7's "Merge Layers" command but V7 won't recognize CS3's "Merge Layers" command every time.

iDeNoise.atn: The iNRNeo A/B/C and iCRNeoD Actions depend on a Photoshop feature that didn't show up until PS CS. The others do work with PS CS7.

iDimroomArt.atn: Everything works except iKodachrome1&2.

iDomino.atn: The iDomino2 and iDominoCarnet Actions depend on later PS Features. A new iDomino set for PS7 is being released to eBook owners. See Newz below.

iFace.atn: None can work with PS7. The feature needed didn't exist

iFilmBorders.atn: The type Actions won't scale correctly with PS7. See Newz below.

Note that the faux film borders do work fine, and you can add type in the borders manually.

iFrameAverageAutoAlign.atn and iFrameAverageAA+CropCS3: Auto alignment can't be achieved with PS7.

Note that any Actions marked with "CS3" will not be able to run successfully with PS7 and likely not with PS CS and CS2.

iFXDarkroom.atn: Only iFX1 will work with PS7.

iGraphic.atn: Only iGraphic1 will work with PS7.

iHalo.atn: Halo effects are only available with PS CS2 and CS3, not with PS7.

iJazzAge.atn: The Action, iAviator1 can't work with PS7, so the iAviatorCarnet won't work. The iAviator2 and iAviator3 Actions will work with PS7.

iLayers.atn: None of these work with PS7 since they employ later versions' functions.

iLiners.atn: All of these work with PS7 except iLiner5. See Newz below.

iOldTymie.atn: The iOldTymie Action works, but iOldTymieDistressed does not. See Newz below.

iPanoCylinderEdge.atn: This series does not work with PS7.

iPSBrushStrokes.atn: All work except iSume-E. See Newz below.

iPSPixillate.atn: The iPointillizeSeurat and iPointillizeSeurat+ Actions don't work completely.

iPSTexture.atn: The two iStainedGlass Actions do not work in PS7. See Newz below.

iRegister.atn: This depends on features not born yet when PS7 appeared.

iTelePanoBlendCS3.atn: Obviously for PS CS3.

iCrosstarHex

It's a six-pointed star effect you add to an image after reviewing it on your computer screen. The hex-star effect ends up as an over-layer at 40% intensity.

This may be a bit too subtle for some images, so consider raising the Opacity of that over-layer to around 70% for a more intense set of cross star rays.

Hotter TIP: You can double up the intensity of any cross star or halo over-layer by duplicating the layer above itself. Cross star effects, halo effects and some fog effects are upper layers in Screen blending mode. That makes them behave exactly like a double exposure with the original image. So doubling them up makes the image of the cross star one full stop brighter.

iCombo-series

With PS CS-CS3, you select one of two images as a background and it immediately becomes re-sized to a standard dimension. But this could introduce a problem. If the new, resized image grows larger than the computer screen, the insertion pattern may land on it without being centered.

(It's a peculiarity of Photoshop that dropping an image onto a layer causes it to land centered on however much of the image is currently showing, not how much of the image exists in its totality.)

TIP: Shrink that background image down to about 12.5% on your computer screen before running the iCombo Action. If your computer screen is really small, you might wish to shrink it down a step or two smaller, just so it all fits when the insertion pattern begins to build.

...more to come...

iPMCylinderEdge(3-16) 11/6/08 (updated)

An interesting, somewhat rare artifact occurs when images are imported as verticals, then turned into a vertical cylindrical panoramic through Photoshop CS3's mighty Automate > Photomerge feature. Since shots are actually captured as horizontals, then are tagged by the camera to be regarded as verticals for computer programs, Photomerge has to deal with the twisted segments, turning them sideways again so it can merge them. But can miss a beat in the process.

Photomerge often turns vertical shots into a horizontal format panoramic image. Not always, though. No biggie. If the panoramic turns out horizontal, just twist it vertical. Easy as noodles.

The result looks plausibly correct at first, but the saw-toothed edges are way coarser than you are used to when Photomerging horizontal images. It's not a feature, it's a glitch. But one so minor that Photoshop's Photomerge testers probably never saw it as we do.

Where we detected it was when applying the graceful iPMCylinderEdge3 clean-up iNovaFX Action to the Photomerge result. It failed to clean up the edge, but the curved Photomerge result looked extra steppy on the edges, remember?

Rollover for the final, correct result.

So we re-imported the three segments, turned them horizontal in Photoshop, then saved them into a fresh folder on our desktop, since Photomerge can't deal with shots that have been altered (Ahem, Photoshop programmers!) unless they have been safely put away somewhere.

Then we ran Photomerge again on the now-horizontal segments, and -Boom!- a much better-looking panoramic result came into view. Not only were the edges far better in their steppy-curved borders, but the alignment of the trio of parts was actually more correct. Apparently there is more afoot in Photomerge's attempt to deal with verticals than we first thought.

Applying iPMCylinderEdge3 to this result produced the superior results you see above on rollover.

The image that revealed this phenomenon to us came from Nikon's D90. We have not tested the idea with every camera, so if you don't see this effect, chalk it up to some peculiarity that only the D90 or Nikons in general may produce. Perhaps Photoshop misses something only with certain file types? Dunno. But the fix; manual turn to horizontal followed by a Save As for the segments is a pretty easy repair.