What Is an ATN File?

This article explains what an ATN file is and how to use it on your computer.

What Is an ATN File?

A file with the ATN file extension is an Adobe Photoshop actions file. It records steps/actions in Photoshop and is meant to be "played" again at a later time to automate those same steps.

ATN files are basically shortcuts through Photoshop that are useful if you find yourself going through many of the same steps time and time again. These steps are recorded so Photoshop knows exactly what to do when you run the actions file.

An ATN file can be used on any computer that opens it, assuming the same actionable items are present in that installation of Photoshop.

How to Open an ATN File

ATN files are primarily used with Adobe Photoshop, so that's what you need to open them.

If you have an ATN file, but you don't have Photoshop, I've had decent luck using the free Photopea image editor (just drag the file onto the website to import it).

If double-clicking or double-tapping doesn't open the file in Photoshop, follow these steps:

1. Make sure the Actions palette is open from the Windows menu. You can do this quickly with the Alt+F9 hotkey.

2. Select the three-lined menu item near the top right of the Actions panel.

3. Select Load Actions.

4. Select the ATN file that you want to add to Photoshop, and choose Load.

   Many actions downloaded from the internet come in the form of an archive, like a ZIP or 7Z file. You need a program like 7-Zip to extract the ATN file from the archive.

5. When you're ready to use the action, return to the Actions palette, choose the action, and then select the play button at the bottom of that window.

How to Convert an ATN File

ATN files are nothing more than instructions for how to maneuver around Photoshop, so you can't convert one to PSD, which is the actual project file that contains images, layers, text, etc.

However, you can convert an ATN file to an XML file if you want to edit the steps, and then convert the XML file back to an ATN file for use in Photoshop.

Here's how to do that:

1. Visit ps-scripts.sourceforge.net, right-click ActionFileToXML.jsx, and save the JSX file to your computer (you may have to scroll down a little to find the file).

2. In Photoshop, go to File > Scripts > Browse and choose the JSX file you just downloaded. A new window will open.

3. Browse for the ATN file in the Action File area of this new window, and then choose where the XML file should be saved from the XML File area.

4. Select Process to convert the ATN file to an XML file.

5. Go back to ps-scripts.sourceforge.net and right-click ActionFileFromXML.jsx to save this file to your computer.

   This JSX file is not the same as the one from Step 1. This one is for making an ATN file from an XML file.

6. Repeat Step 2 through Step 4 but in reverse: choose the XML file that you created and then define where the ATN file should be saved.

7. Now you can use the converted ATN file in Photoshop like you would any other.

Still Can't Open It?

If your file isn't working with Photoshop, it's possible it isn't really an Actions file. If the file extension doesn't read ".ATN" then you're most likely dealing with something totally different.

For example, the ATT file extension is very similar to ATN but belongs to either Alphacam Lathe Tool files or a Web Form Post Data files, neither of which can be used with Photoshop.

Pro Tools Elastic Audio Analysis files are similar. They use the AAN file extension, which can easily be mistaken for an ATN file and attempted to be used in Photoshop. Instead, these open with Pro Tools from Avid.

Finally, there's the ATM file extension that's used as either a 3D scene file by the 3D modeling app Vue, or an audio file used by PSP games.