Re: Scripting Photoshop?

It is very easy, with no code writing at all, to create custom scripts to 
make fixed adjustments to images as you suggest.
There is an action recorder that will record your mouse clicks and save
this 
custom script. You can name it  whatever you want and click on it to
perform 
the action.
As an example: I have used this to create an action that flattens the
image, 
converts to Lab Color, applies a custom curve, converts back to Adobe RGB.

This is an automation of a well known method for amplifying midtone colors

and contrast.
Another example: because of the brightness of my calibrated LCD monitor I 
find that if I make a standard conversion of brightness/contrast to most 
images they will print better. This simply requires recording an action
that 
applies a brightness/contrast non-destructive adjustment layer set to
fixed 
values of brightness and contrast.