ptg Working with Automate Commands Introduction It's great when you hear about new tips and tricks that will save time. But it's never a good policy to shave time if it means sacrificing quality. Adobe Photoshop has come to the rescue with some great time-savers that will help you. The Automate commands give you the ability to streamline your workflow, and make short work of repetitive tasks. Think of an automation as a batch of actions all rolled up into one powerful command. In the busy world of graphic design, with all the image processing you need to do on a daily basis, Photoshop's Automate commands give you the ability to deliver consistent results, over and over again, with the click of a button. The Automate commands let you process—through batch file processing—hundreds of image files with the click of a button. In addition, you can use commands to crop and straighten photos, resize photos, and merge photos together to create a panoramic or HDR (High Dynamic Range) image. Photoshop also gives you the ability to convert a multi-page PDF file into a Photoshop document. In addition to using the automation commands in Photoshop, you can also use them in Adobe Bridge. The Tools menu in Bridge contains commands available with different Adobe Creative Suite programs, such as Photoshop or Illustrator. The Photoshop automation commands appear under the Photoshop submenu in Bridge's Tools menu. 17 17 What You’ll Do Work with Batch File Processing Work with Conditional Mode Change Use the Crop and Straighten Photos Command Convert a Multi-Page PDF to PSD Create a PDF Document Use Photomerge Merge Images to HDR Process Multiple Image Files Use the Fit Image Command 407 From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 408 Chapter 17 There is nothing more exciting than working on a new creative project, and watching your designs come to life. Conversely, there is nothing more tiresome than having to apply a new creative concept or correc- tion individually to 50 separate images. For example, you just spent three hours coming up with a procedure to color-correct an heirloom photograph, and the process took two filters and three adjustments. The photo looks great; however, you now have 50 other images with the exact problem. You could create an action, but you would still have to open each image and apply the action 50 times. The solution is to batch process the images after you have created the action. Batch file pro- cessing lets you apply an action to an entire folder of images, and all you have to do is click a button. Now, what could be simpler than that? Working with Batch File Processing Work with Batch File Processing Create a new folder, and then move all the images into the folder. IMPORTANT These files must be image files. There should not be any other files, such as text files, inside this folder. Create a second folder to hold the modified images (optional). Open Photoshop (you do not need to open a document). Click the File menu, point to Automate, and then click Batch. Select from the following Play options: ◆ Click the Set list arrow, and then select the Set containing the Action you want to apply to the images. ◆ Click the Action list arrow, and then select the correct Action. Click the Source list arrow, and then select an image source from the following: Folder, Import, Opened Files, or Bridge. 6 5 4 3 2 1 5 6 From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg Chapter 17 Working with Automate Commands 409 Click Choose (available if Folder is selected as the source), and then select the location of the image folder. Select the check boxes for any options you want: ◆ Override Action “Open” Commands. Select to use an open command embedded into the Action. ◆ Include All Subfolders. Select to batch process any images located in folders embedded in the main image folder. ◆ Suppress File Open Options Dialogs. Select to disable the File Open dialog box. ◆ Suppress Color Profile Warnings. Select to disable the Color Profile Mismatch dialog box. Click the Destination list arrow, and then click None, Save and Close, or Folder. Click Choose (available if Folder is selected as the source), and then select the destination of the modified images. Select the Override Action "Save As" Commands check box to use a save command embedded into the Action. If Folder is selected as destination, the File Naming options allow you to rename the modified files, and then select the Compatibility options you want: Windows, Mac OS or Unix, or any combination of the three. Click the Errors list arrow, select an errors option, and then click Save As to save your error information, if necessary. Click OK. 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 14 7 8 9 10 12 13 11 Things to Remember About Batch File Processing There are many settings and requirements in order to make your batch file processing a success. Remember that before you begin, you need to have a created action. For more information on actions, you can refer to Chapter 15. After your action is created, and all the kinks are worked out, you can then set up your batch file processing. Knowing ahead of time where the source images are, where you'll be storing them (destination), having a naming convention, and other similar details will help reduce your setup of the batch file process- ing to a few easy steps. For Your Information From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 410 Chapter 17 The Conditional Mode Change command lets you specify the conditions for changing the mode of an image in an action. When you create an action that changes modes, it can cause a problem when you run the action. For example, you create an action and one of the commands is to convert the image from RGB to Grayscale. Running the action on a file that is not RGB will cause an error. But, what if you want to use the same action to convert a CMYK image to Grayscale? You can if you make the mode change within the action using Conditional Mode Change. Using this option guarantees that you will never have a prob- lem using an action to change the mode of an image. Working with Conditional Mode Change Work with Conditional Mode Change Open a document. Start recording an Action. IMPORTANT To m ake a conditional mode change, you must have a document open and an available Action to change. Click the File menu, point to Automate, and then click Conditional Mode Change. Select the check boxes with the possible modes for the source image; you can click All. Click the Mode list arrow, and then select the Target mode to which you want the image converted. Click OK. Add any additional commands to the action. Click the Stop Recording button, and then save the action. 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 6 4 5 See Also See “Building a New Action” and “Recording an Action” on pages 362-363 for information on action recording. From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg Chapter 17 Working with Automate Commands 411 Using the Crop and Straighten Photos Command Use the Crop and Straighten Photos Command Open a document. Click the File menu, point to Automate, and then click Crop and Straighten Photos. Photoshop automatically creates separate images from the available image information in the active document, and then places the images into individual files. 2 1 The Crop and Straighten Photos command is a nifty way to quickly straighten multiple scanned images or make separate image files out of one image. For example, you have a photograph of two people standing side-by-side, and you want a separate image of each person. Or you have several scanned images that weren't quite straight on the platen. The Crop and Straighten Photos command works best when the images in the document are separated by some white space. When you apply the command to an image, it looks for areas to divide based on shifts in color; no selection is required. 1 Image cropped and straightened Did You Know? You can control the Crop and Straighten Photos command through selection. Use the Rectangular Marquee tool to select a portion of the image before using the Crop and Straighten Photos command, and then Photoshop will work only within the selection. From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 412 Chapter 17 Photoshop's list of automation features is impressive, and it gets longer and better with each new version of the program. One of the features that will come in handy is the ability to convert a multi-page PDF directly into multiple Photoshop image files. For example, you have this great Adobe PDF document that contains images you want to use in a Photoshop design. The PDF format is a versatile file format that can contain both vector and bitmap data, as well as electronic document search and navigation features. Some PDF files contain a single image, while other PDF files contain multiple pages and images. When you open a PDF file, you can choose which pages to open, as well as spec- ify a specific rasterization process (how to convert the image from vec- tor to raster). Although Adobe moved this process from the Automation panel to the Open dialog box, it still rates a spot in automation. Converting a Multi- Page PDF to PSD Work with Multi-Page PDF to PSD Open Photoshop (it is not necessary to open a document). Click the File menu, and then click Open. Select a document in the Photoshop PDF format. Click Open. Click the Pages or Images option to display PDF pages or images extracted from the PDF pages. Select from the following Page Options: ◆ Name: Enter a name for the new document. ◆ Crop To: Click the list arrow, and then select from the various cropping options. 6 5 4 3 2 1 4 Photoshop PDF format 3 From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg Chapter 17 Working with Automate Commands 413 ◆ Anti-aliased. Select the check box to use anti-aliasing smoothing techniques during the conversion. ◆ Width and Height. Specify the width and height for the image size in the measurement system you want. Select the Constrain Proportions check box to maintain proportions. ◆ Resolution. Choose a resolution for Photoshop to use when it rasterizes the PDF document. ◆ Mode. Click the list arrow, and then select a color mode for the output document. ◆ Bit Depth. Click the list arrow and then select 8- or 16-bit color depth. Select the Suppress Warnings check box to prevent the operation from stopping on alert dialog boxes. Shift+click to select contiguous pages, or Ctrl+click (Win) or A+click (Mac) to select separate pages. Click OK. Photoshop creates separate PSD files from each specified page within the PDF document, and places the text and/or images on a transparent layer. 9 8 7 5 6 9 8 7 Did You Know? You can convert Photoshop images into PDF documents. Photoshop gives you the option to save the document in the Photoshop PDF file format. Photoshop documents saved as PDF files preserve shape information as vector data, and you have the option of preserving type layers. From the Library of Wow! eBook . You Know? You can convert Photoshop images into PDF documents. Photoshop gives you the option to save the document in the Photoshop PDF file format. Photoshop documents saved as PDF files. PSD Work with Multi-Page PDF to PSD Open Photoshop (it is not necessary to open a document). Click the File menu, and then click Open. Select a document in the Photoshop PDF format. Click Open. Click. Dynamic Range) image. Photoshop also gives you the ability to convert a multi-page PDF file into a Photoshop document. In addition to using the automation commands in Photoshop, you can also