458 c h a p t e r 11: T I ME-SAVER S ■ Another use of Stops is to record a reminder or message as to what should be done at a particular step. To do this, you follow the same steps as we just described, but you must check the option Allow Continue. When the message box appears dur- ing the action, the user can read the message and then click Continue rather than stop- ping the action. Inevitably there will be times you’ll record an action with steps you no longer want included, or you’ll realize that you left something out. Although you could start over and record a new action, sometimes it’s easier to revise the existing action. Removing a step from an action is easy. Choose the action in the Actions panel, and reveal the steps by clicking the expansion arrow. Choose the step you want to remove, and either drag it to the trash can icon or click the trash can icon. To add one or more steps to the action, choose the action and use the expansion arrow to reveal the steps. Choose the step just prior to where you want to begin the additional steps. Click the Record button and record the missing steps. When you’re done recording the additional steps, click the Stop button. For Photoshop Elements Users: Custom Actions Unfortunately, it is not possible to record actions directly in Elements, but Photo Effects are in essence prerecorded actions. With a bit of hacking, it is possible to load certain other pre- recorded actions from CS5 into Elements as additional Photo Effects. However, because this is not a supported workflow and is sometimes unreliable, we will not cover it here. There are third-party tools (such as Add-O-Matic, available at http://www.graficalicus.com) that automate the hackery and make it easy to load CS5 actions into Elements. Just keep in mind that the actions aren’t guaranteed to function properly. Also, feel free to see if your favorite set of third-party actions has installation instructions for Elements. Batch Processing As you can see, recording an action is relatively straightforward. Just start recording, perform the steps you want included in the action, and then stop recording. Where many photographers run into trouble is in attempting to apply the action in a batch to a series of images, which is, ironically, where you achieve the real benefit of actions. The problem is with the confusing choices that are offered to you in the Batch dialog box. To get started, select the action you want to apply to a group of images from the Actions panel. Then choose File > Automate > Batch from the menu, which brings up the Batch dialog box (shown in Figure 11.8). Because you selected an action first, the Set and Action drop-down lists default to the action you want to apply to your images. Note: When you’re applying an action to a group of images in batch, we recommend copying the image files to a separate folder to protect the originals. For Photoshop Elements Users: Custom Actions Unfortunately, it is not possible to record actions directly in Elements, but Photo Effects are in essence prerecorded actions. With a bit of hacking, it is possible to load certain other pre - recorded actions from CS5 into Elements as additional Photo Effects. However, because this is not a supported workflow and is sometimes unreliable, we will not cover it here. There are third-party tools (such as Add-O-Matic, available at http://www.graficalicus.com ) that automate the hackery and make it easy to load CS5 actions into Elements. Just keep in mind that the actions aren’t guaranteed to function properly. Also, feel free to see if your favorite set of third-party actions has installation instructions for Elements. 607343c11.indd 458 4/13/10 12:04:10 AM 459 ■ ACTIONS AND BATCH PROCESSING Figure 11.8 The Batch dialog box allows you to specify the action you want to run on a group of images, as well as other settings that determine which images should be processed and how they should be handled. The Source section provides a number of options related to the images you’ll be processing with the action. The Source drop-down list allows you to specify where the source images are located: T• he Folder option lets you specify a location where you’ve copied the images to be processed. This is the option we use most often. T• he Import option applies to images being imported from a particular source at the time the action is run. T• he Opened Files option applies to all images currently open in Photoshop. T• he Bridge option applies the action to all images currently selected in Adobe’s Bridge. If you have included an Open step in your action, select the Override Action “Open” Commands check box so the action actually opens and processes the files you specified in the source folder, rather than having the same image you used to cre- ate the action opened repeatedly. If your action does not contain an Open command, then you must not check this box; otherwise, the Batch command won’t open the files you’ve selected for batch processing. In other words, don’t check this option if the action was recorded to work on an image that’s already open or if the action contains Open commands for specific files that are used as part of the action. If you have used the Folder option in the Source section and there are more images in subfolders below your selected folder, select the Include All Subfolders check box so those images are also processed. 607343c11.indd 459 4/13/10 12:04:10 AM 460 c h a p t e r 11: TIME-SAVERS ■ The Suppress File Open Options Dialogs option causes all images to be opened with default values without bringing up any Options dialog boxes that may be asso- ciated with the particular open operation. The most common situation where this would be an issue is for raw files—normally the ACR dialog box is displayed when a raw file is opened. By checking this option in the Batch dialog box, the default or pre- viously specified settings are used instead of opening the ACR box. As a general rule, keep this check box selected, since the point of using batch processing is to allow a group of images to be processed without any user intervention. Similarly, select the Suppress Color Profile Warnings check box so the action won’t pause for missing profiles or profile mismatches in any of the images you are processing. With this option selected, the default action specified in the Color Settings dialog box is performed when either of these situations occurs. The next section of the Batch dialog box is Destination, which allows you to specify parameters for the output that is generated by the batch process. From the drop-down list, select the Folder option so that the processed images are saved into a specific folder and don’t overwrite the original files. The other options are None (which leaves the file open unless the action recorded a Save command) and Save and Close (which causes each image to be saved as it is processed, replacing the existing files). If you use the Folder option, click the Choose button to bring up the Browse for Folder dialog box, where you can specify which folder you’d like to save the processed images in (you can choose to create a completely new folder for this purpose instead). One of the biggest points of confusion for photographers using the Batch dialog box relates to the Override Action “Save As” Commands check box. You use this option so you can specify a Save As command in the action and then have the new files saved to whatever folder you specify in the Batch command, rather than the one you used when you created the action. It causes Photoshop to ignore the specific filename and folder you used when creating the action. If you don’t use this option and you specify a filename in the Save As dialog box when you record in the action, then when you run the action, the new file will be renamed to the same name you used when creating the action. If you want to save the processed images using their original filenames but in a different folder than you specify in the Batch command, you must save your image when recording the action. Then in the Batch processing dialog box, check Override Action “Save As” Commands and specify the destination folder. If you don’t check this option, then Photoshop will save the images in two places: the folder that you specify as the destination, and the folder you used while creating the action. Note that the action must contain a Save As command to use this option. If you try to use it with an action that doesn’t contain a Save As command, the batch processing won’t save the processed files. In the File Naming section, you have considerable exibility in naming the files that are created. You can type specific text into the option boxes or select a variable from the drop-down list. For example, if you want to save the images with a filename in the structure Slideshow_0001.jpg, enter Slideshow_ in the first box, select 4 Digit Serial Number from the drop-down list in the second box, and then select the Extension option from the third drop-down list. The default values of Document Name and Extension cause the original filenames to be retained. If you’re using a serial number option, specify the starting value in the Starting Serial # box, which defaults to 1. 607343c11.indd 460 4/13/10 12:04:10 AM 461 ■ ACTIONS AND BATCH PROCESSING In the Errors section, choose either Stop for Errors or Log Errors to a File. The latter option has Photoshop log errors without interrupting the batch processing. We prefer to use the Stop for Errors option so we know right away if there is a problem we need to correct. When you’ve set all the settings you want to use for the action you are applying to a group of images, click OK, and Photoshop processes all of the images specified in the Source section with the action specified in the Play section, saving the resulting output based on the settings in the Destination section. This processing is done auto- matically at top speed, making the process very efficient. Whenever you find yourself performing the same task on a group of images, such as applying a watermark, consider making an action to automate that process. The small amount of time spent creating the action pays significant dividends when you apply that action in batch to a large group of images. Al Ward is the brain behind ActionFx ( http://actionfx.com), a website dedi- cated to Photoshop presets (actions, shapes, brushes, layer styles, and so on). In the “Creating Watermark Actions” sidebar, he provides tips for creating watermarks. Note: We don’t rely solely on the Watermark tool in Photoshop (Window > Extensions > Water- mark) because it allows the image to be exported only as a JPEG, and it offers just basic options for the position and color of watermark. Creating Watermark Actions by Al Ward The ability of actions to record nearly every process in Photoshop sounds great, but few users actually wrap their minds around these incredibly handy tools and utilize them in their work. Not so many years ago there simply wasn’t much documentation on actions, and a natural assumption was that they required some degree of programming skill. This could not be further from the truth. If you can navigate a Photoshop panel and have had experience with a tape recorder, VCR, DVD-R, or other media-capturing device, then you already have the concept behind actions mastered; you just don’t realize it yet. This chapter gives you an excellent start on working with actions, and I encourage you to go through the information carefully. With that said, you may still be wondering what actions can do for you as a photographer. The answer is plenty, whether you’re interested in photo correction, photo manipulation, simple productivity, or even web design and funky special effects. One repetitive function an action can perform with ease over and over again so you don’t have to is the creation and placement of a watermark. Photographers who display their work online and don’t want to suffer the thieves of this world running off with their livelihood can quickly set up an action that will place a watermark on a single image or on an entire folder of images when using the action with the Batch command. Continues 607343c11.indd 461 4/13/10 12:04:10 AM 462 c h a p t e r 11: TIME-SAVERS ■ Creating Watermark Actions (Continued) Note that these types of actions are often dependent on an image’s resolution and size. I recom mend creating actions of this nature for specific image orientations and resolutions. For instance, the action outlined here works well on a portrait photo, 8 × 11, at 300 ppi. Although the action will work regardless of the image size and resolution, the text may spill off the edges on an image with a different resolution. Build an entire toolkit of watermark actions using variable image sizes in a single action set, and name each action in the set based on the photo orientation and resolution it is designed for. An example may be WM_ Landscape_8x11_300ppi , placed in a set of actions called My Watermarks. Here’s the process to create such an action: 1. Open the Actions panel. Create a new action set, and call it Watermarks. 2. Open an image. Create a new action in the set, and give it a name; something like Water- mark-001 will do for this trial run. (It can be renamed as you see fit later.) Click Record. 3. Anything you do in Photoshop is now recording. First ensure the rulers are displayed (View > Rulers). Then right-click (Ctrl+click on a Mac) the ruler bar on the top or side, and select Percent. This will ensure the watermark appears with the same positioning no matter the size of the image, the resolution, or the orientation (landscape or portrait). 4. Select the Type tool. Change the foreground color to whatever color you would like your watermark to be, and then select the font and font size you want to use. For instance, a light gray/white foreground color and a semi-bold font set to 14–20 pixels works well for most of my photos. Also, for watermarks that you want in the middle of images, set the justification to Center. 5. Move the mouse to the spot where you want to start typing. If you would like the water- mark to be placed directly in the center of each photo, watch the top and side rulers as you move the mouse, and click when both the side and top ruler markers are at 50%. Type your watermark information). Once it’s typed, you may edit the text as needed (Transform > Rotate, Transform > Scale, and so on). 6. To make the text appear embossed rather than have a simple color fill, open the layer styles for the text layer, and apply a simple bevel. Accept the style by clicking OK, and then reduce the fill opacity for the layer to 0, or a slightly higher percentage if you want some color to remain yet still be transparent. You may also opt to add a drop shadow, outer glow, or other text-enhancing setting with your style. 7. When you are happy with the new watermark, stop recording and save the action set to a folder on your hard drive where you can easily find it later. 8. Open another image, preferably with a different orientation, and rerun the action. If you followed the directions in this sidebar, you’ll see the watermark in the same position on the new image, despite orientation or resolution. Continues 607343c11.indd 462 4/13/10 12:04:11 AM 463 ■ ACTIONS A N D B ATCH PRO C ESS I NG Creating Watermark Actions (Continued) On a parting note, you may want to create watermark actions using varied fonts, colors, and water- mark positions. Save them to the same action set, and create an entire toolbox of Watermark actions. For Photoshop Elements Users: Batch Processing The Elements version of the Batch Processing tool is designed to let you apply certain pre- defined actions, rather than custom actions, to multiple files. To pull up the dialog box seen here, select File > Process Multiple Files. Continues Photo by EllEn Anon 607343c11.indd 463 4/13/10 12:04:12 AM 464 c h a p t e r 11: T I M E-SAVER S ■ For Photoshop Elements Users: Batch Processing (Continued) Similar to the CS4 Batch tool, the Elements Process Multiple Files tool gives you a variety of choices for file sources (e.g., Folder or Bridge), you can set a specific destination, and there is a convenient way to rename multiple files. In addition, Process Multiple Files provides a quick interface for resizing, converting file type, watermarking, and auto-correcting. Resizing a Group of Images When you have a group of images that need to be resized, gather the horizontals together in one batch and the verticals in another, then follow these steps: 1. Select File > Process Multiple Files. 2. Follow the instructions for Photoshop CS4’s Batch tool to select source and destination locations. 3. Check the Resize Images check box under the Image Size box. 4. Type in the desired destination size. By leaving Constrain Proportions checked, you need to type in only a width or height, and Elements will figure out the other dimension for you. 5. Pick a resolution. 6. Click OK. We do not recommend using the Quick Fix tools, as you will usually want more manual control over your adjustments than those tools allow. In addition, Process Multiple Files doesn’t let you set any options for these adjustments. While it’s tempting to run Resize Images and Sharpen at the same time, we recommend against it because you don’t want to accidentally oversharpen your images. Setting a Watermark Elements users are fortunate in that the Process Multiple Files tool provides an easy way to add copyright text to multiple images. To do so, follow these steps: 1. Select File > Process Multiple Files. 2. Follow the instructions for Photoshop CS4’s Batch tool to select source and destination locations. 3. In the Labels section of the dialog box, choose Watermark from the pop-up menu. 4. Type in the copyright text. 5. Select a position, font type and size, and color and opacity. 6. Click OK. Creating a Droplet A droplet provides a way to run an action on a single image, a group of images, or a folder of images, directly from your desktop (or elsewhere). You create a droplet icon 607343c11.indd 464 4/13/10 12:04:12 AM . action. Removing a step from an action is easy. Choose the action in the Actions panel, and reveal the steps by clicking the expansion arrow. Choose the step you want to remove, and either. click the trash can icon. To add one or more steps to the action, choose the action and use the expansion arrow to reveal the steps. Choose the step just prior to where you want to begin the additional. actions from CS5 into Elements as additional Photo Effects. However, because this is not a supported workflow and is sometimes unreliable, we will not cover it here. There are third-party tools