Fix committed upstream in revision 550. Please test (bzr branch lp:phatch). You can only enable this option on the command line with the --no-save option.
$ phatch --no-save

Commit report:
$ bzr diff
=== modified file 'linux/phatch.1'
--- linux/phatch.1	2008-03-17 00:44:55 +0000
+++ linux/phatch.1	2009-02-17 01:25:44 +0000
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.TH PHATCH "1" "January 2008" "User Commands"
+.TH PHATCH "1" "February 2009" "User Commands"
 .SH NAME
 Phatch \- Photo Batch Processor
 .SH DESCRIPTION
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@
 \fB\-m\fR, \fB\-\-metadata\fR
 Save metadata (requires exif & iptc plugin)
 .TP
+\fB\-\-no\-save\fR
+No save action required at the end
+.TP
 \fB\-o\fR, \fB\-\-overwrite\fR
 Overwrite existing images
 .TP

=== modified file 'phatch/app.py'
--- phatch/app.py	2008-11-08 17:48:36 +0000
+++ phatch/app.py	2009-02-17 00:45:53 +0000
@@ -80,6 +80,10 @@
         dest    = "image_inspector", 
         default = False,
         help    = _("Inspect metadata (requires exif & iptc plugin)"))
+    parser.add_option("--no-save", action="store_true", 
+        dest    = "no_save", 
+        default = False,
+        help    = _("No save action required at the end"))
     parser.add_option("-o", "--overwrite", action="store_true", 
         dest    = "overwrite_existing_images", 
         default = False,

=== modified file 'phatch/core/api.py'
--- phatch/core/api.py	2008-10-29 13:30:25 +0000
+++ phatch/core/api.py	2009-02-17 01:13:23 +0000
@@ -148,13 +148,14 @@
     
     #Check if there is a save statement
     last_action = actions[-1]
-    if not (last_action.is_valid_last_action() or file_only(actions)):
+    if not (last_action.is_valid_last_action() or file_only(actions)\
+            or settings['no_save']):
         send.frame_append_save_action()
         return None
     
     #Check if overwrite is forced
     settings['overwrite_existing_images_forced'] = \
-        actions[-1].is_overwrite_existing_images_forced()
+        (not settings['no_save']) and actions[-1].is_overwrite_existing_images_forced()
 
     return actions
 
@@ -330,7 +331,8 @@
         
     #Retrieve settings
     skip_existing_images    = not (settings['overwrite_existing_images'] or\
-                                settings['overwrite_existing_images_forced'])
+                                settings['overwrite_existing_images_forced']) and\
+                                not settings['no_save']
     save_metadata           = settings['save_metadata']
     result                  = {
         'stop_for_errors'   : settings['stop_for_errors'],

=== modified file 'phatch/core/settings.py'
--- phatch/core/settings.py	2008-02-04 04:39:01 +0000
+++ phatch/core/settings.py	2009-02-17 00:45:14 +0000
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
         'recursive'                 : False,
         'stop_for_errors'           : True,
         'overwrite_existing_images' : False,
+        'no_save'                   : False,
         'check_images_first'        : True,
         'save_metadata'             : False,#bool(pil.exif),
         #console

=== modified file 'phatch/pyWx/gui.py'
--- phatch/pyWx/gui.py	2008-06-06 22:24:14 +0000
+++ phatch/pyWx/gui.py	2009-02-17 01:09:22 +0000
@@ -827,13 +827,19 @@
         
     def _loadSettings(self,settings):
         self.settings   = settings
+        # settings which can be exclusively set through the terminal
+        cli             = {}
+        for key in ['no_save']:
+            cli[key] = settings[key]
         if os.path.exists(ct.SETTINGS_PATH):
             f               = open(ct.SETTINGS_PATH,'rb')
             self.settings.update(cPickle.load(f))
             f.close()
+        self.settings.update(cli)
             
     def _saveSettings(self):
         f   = open(ct.SETTINGS_PATH,'wb')
+        settings    = self.settings.copy()
         cPickle.dump(self.settings,f)
         f.close()
         
@@ -898,4 +904,4 @@
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    main()
\ No newline at end of file
+    main()

$ bzr commit -m "added --no-save option"
Committing to: /home/stani/sync/python/phatch/trunk/
modified linux/phatch.1
modified phatch/app.py
modified phatch/core/api.py
modified phatch/core/settings.py
modified phatch/pyWx/gui.py
Committed revision 550.