Photoshop :: How To Semi Automate Cropping?

I need to manually crop thousands of pics and want to semi automate the process. I assumed i

could create an action with a stop (at which point i would do a manual crop, because each

image is different) and then continue with the saving. So i opened an image, started

recording, immediately inserted the stop, resumed recording and saved. But when i run

file>automate>batch the first image opens and the stop dialog appears (with my message) and

the options to continue or stop. At that point (at the stop) it does not allow me to

manually crop. Why not? If i press continue it saves and then opens the next image..... If i

press stop another dialog comes up asking to continue or stop, i still cannot manually crop

and pressing stop at this second box stops the entire batch process. How can i get the

action to stop at each image so i can manually crop and then continue with the save and open

the next one? I thought this is what the stop function was for. A quote from the manual;
"Actions can include stops that let you perform tasks that cannot be recorded (for example,

using a painting tool). Actions can also include modal controls that let you enter values in

a dialog box while playing an action."
Sure, except that as usual from adobe, you either have to be a rocket scientist or a mind

reader to figure out how to make it do what you want to do. Anyone know how to do this?