Batch resize problem trying to make 3 additional sizes from 1 image

Okay A-Dog, there are different ways to skin this. Here’s the easiest since you aren’t interested in getting elegant to get this grunt job done.

Bear in mind that many report Droplets as acting flaky – won’t launch inside of PS, PS becomes active but no images are passed, etc. If that happens to you, go Batch instead of droplet.

So create an action that resizes to your first dimension, and record a Save As…, carrying it out to completion, as you’ve done.

Then, toggle the dialog of the Save As portion to OFF:

See:

< http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/6403/pstoggledialogft7.jp g>

Do that for each of the dimensions, so you have three actions, all containing Save As steps.

You are now ready to Batch

File|Automate|Batch:

Action to run: Resize 1
Source: Folder
Choose: pick the source

Destination: Folder
Choose: pick the destination
Override Save As Information: CHECKED

You should consider using the Naming options at the bottom of the dialog to distinguish each pass if you’re saving them to their source folder.

Hit go. Each image will open, one by one from the source folder, the action will perform the prescribed steps, with a Save As step as the final event, then the image will close; rinse and repeat.

You do this folder by folder, basically three times. Yeah, I know, there’s a way to make it more elegant, but by the time you create and troubleshoot, you could have been done.

That said, the key is in toggling the Dialog to OFF in the Save As portion, and checking the Override box in the Batch dialog.

Now, what you could do (what I would do) is simply use Bridge (CS2) or File Browser (v7) to navigate to the appropriate folder then involke the batch. That’s just as fast (or nearly) as creating a droplet and more reliable.

In the case of CS2/Bridge, you just navigate to the intended folder, then Tools|Photoshop|Batch. The Batch dialog will pick up your Bridge images and perform the action. You just have to select each of the three actions per folder you visit – pretty quick really.

That should give you a running start.

Peace,
Tony

Ah my friend. I was so looking forward to your reply. Yes, yours. I kinda knew you were the guru here. I will go try this now.

Whether it works for me or not, thank you so much.

I’ll let ya know how goes it.

-A

<blush> well, I wouldn’t say that. There are several folk here who are quite capable. It’s really the community that makes it all work. You’ll see.

In any event. Good luck.

thanks again,
could you elaborate more on this Bridge app.. ? I don’t have it.. windows xp, ps7 compatible?

and I see File Browser option in the batch screen, but when I select it, it doesn’t do anything.. whats the functionality and step-by-step on that.. sounds pretty good.

thanks
Adam

Bridge is a completely revamped "file browser-like" app that ships with Photoshop CS2. So if you have version 7, you don’t have it and you’re relegated to File Browser.

In essence, given your situtation of multiple folders to do this with, you have the option of either specifying the source folder in the Batch dialog, or letting Filebrowser be the Source in the batch dialog.

You simply select the images/folder in File Browser then use File|Automate|Batch to invoke the Batch dialog – then you choose File Browser as the source. The images "selected" in file browser will be the images acted upon by the batch operation.

This is generally quicker when you don’t want to have to wade through the tiny cock-a-mamee Source dialog in PS7. Just select the folder in File Browse, use the settings for example that I had posted previously for everything else, and go.

Now, through all of this "automation" process we haven’t determined something important – what are you going to do with the files that have been resized? That is to say, where are they going to go on your computer?

Here’s why it’s important. Your operation will go much much faster (and is even amenable to Droplet usage) if you can dump all processed images into a single folder and then sort/move/whatever them later.

This is because regardless of the time savings you get by using File Browser to specify the source folder, you will still have to tell photoshop where to put the processed files. If the destination is to vary, you have to enter it in the Batch dialog every time you run the batch. If it’s in a droplet, it’s in essence, hard coded and you can’t change it.

If you could put processed files back into their source folder with a different filename, a droplet would be perfect – you just drop a folder onto the droplet and watch it go.

You cannot tell photoshop however, to use the same folder as the source folder, but specify a different name; specifying Save and Close for example results in the file being overwritten each time you run a version of the action, because the filename will not change as a function of the batch process.

So that’s a long-winded way to say, that depending on where you’re putting the files once processed, you may have to specify the destination folder each pass of the action/batch. That means specifying up to 30 different destinations.

It is therefore easier if you specify the destination folder once. You just run folder after folder and then sort the destnation directory when you’re done. Of course the same holds true of using a droplet – you gain the same flexability of being able to specify the source folder (by dropping it onto the droplet) but have no "on the fly" flexability in determining where the files will go once processed.

So again, it will be easier by popping them all into one folder and then sorting them out later, if that’s a possibility.

OK I tried the first method above..
it seems to open an image, then closes it. Nothing new in the folder, either with the source as root folder or the actual folder itself.

Even if this worked, if I have to go to each folder one by one, and do 3 passes, its almost the same as doing an Imagine Resize for each image in every folder.. I really need a faster method. So if there’s a better way…a way to batch the entire test folder all at once..and the child folders within…that’d be great.

Remember I’ve got a root folder here.

root test folder
|…………………..|…………………..|……….. …………|………………….| imgfolder1…imgfolder2…imgfolder3..imgfolder4..imgfolder6

each with a 100×100.jpg image inside those folders
so the object is to create 3 actions right? each to resize to 120×120.jpg and 90×120.jpg and 88×88.jpg

I need to see all 4 of the files in each of those folders…names and all.. so if PS7 won’t write to those individual folders (hence the destination folder setting) I’ll need a different method or application.

LMK!
thanks much for your help.

hi..just saw your response to my other note..

The images are to be in diff folders, uploaded as is (folders with images) to the web.. so that they will appear with individual URL’s called from a browser. I set the urls up in an html admin panel. So the images are only half my workload. The folders have diff names, but the images in each will always be 100×100.jpg, 120×90.jpg, 120×120.jpg, and 88×88.jpg

so using the 100×100 image that I have for each folder already there, I want to have the other sizes made by the batch process, placing them in their respective folders.

Its tricky I know because I see that PS doesn’t want to save these files in each folder, then move to the next folder and save the files there.. its like I need a single destination folder or something.. am I wrong or will ps process folder by folder?

thanks

As I said in the previous post, if you want them all to go into their source folder when you’re done, and have each with a different filename, you can’t do that natively within photoshop. A lot of folk have asked for it, but it can’t be done without a script – about which I have no specific information.

If you use a single destination folder and move/sort files post-processing, you can create a droplet and simply drop folders on it. With 30 folders, depending on how many files are in each folder, that could be as little as 10 minutes work.

Understood.

I do have flexibility as to how I can place them on the server. I need to upload them, and merely keep track of the files so I know which files go where.

So what I’ve decided to do is save all my initial source images to one folder and process them to a destination folder to make things even more complicated.

I pull the image from the web, 100×100.jpg (per each of 30 folders) will now become 100×100-a01.jpg and 100×100-a02.jpg etc etc etc

I need to group the files in 4’s (per the sizes I mentioned) but using the file naming convention in the batch dialog, it’ll start doing 123456.jpg etc or whatever right?
I can certainly group them by picture afterwards, but naming will be all crazy.. and I wonder if it’ll just be too time consuming at the end of the day.

hmm

change of plans..

after re-reading your 8:03pm post.. it does make sense this is easiest…drag folders to droplet, 3 new images made from 1st. How do I keep the images in that specific folder? or will they just appear in some other destination folder I make prior?

The action doesn’t seem to be working. There toggle on/off window is empty at all times. Should I be concerned with it? I click any of them and they all disappear, those red icons..

The box to the left of SAVE is CHECKED.

I start with open 100×100.jpg file
I click RECORD button.
I Edit the image size to 120×120.
File Save As.. choosing 8 for optimization.
I CHANGE THE FILE NAME to 120×120.jpg * is this where I’m going wrong?

then I click STOP
and repeat for other file sizes, always using 100×100 as source image to work from.

Then create the droplet right? but what about using SAVE AND CLOSE to keep the filename I choose in the action intact? or do I need to go into the folders and rename the files after ps makes filenames for the new images? in other words I can’t use filenames I select and I must save the original filename (100×100.jpg, even if its not the size of image)..no?

-A

it’ll start doing 123456.jpg etc or whatever right?

Right, but as I said earlier, how you plan it can make it easier or more difficult, depending on your restraints. If you had total freedom, you could add some "cusomter" designator at the beginning of each batch, changing maybe the first letter or two for each set you run. It would be like this:

< http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/8126/batchnamedialogkl3.j pg>

However, if you are going to put them all in a single folder for a mass multiple resize event into a separate single folder as the destination (in essence running your batch a total of three times, one for each dimension), then chaning the filenames by customer (for example) won’t do you much good because they will all have that designation.

I don’t know what you need to do with the images (really) once their converted so, it becomes a Frank Lloyd Wright "thing" in as much as form follows function.

IOW, it depends on what you have to do next as to how you organize the workflow.

Keep in mind though, that efficiency is nice but I’m not a big fan of spending 80% effort to get an additional 20% performance, so using multiple source folders and a single destination folder seems to be the easiest way to tie an image to a specific customer AND dimension, and then later sort/move/upload them based on a filename.

How do I keep the images in that specific folder? or will they just appear in some other destination folder I make prior?

You hard code the destination in the Create Droplet dialog box. So you will drop different sources onto the droplet, but the destination will be whatever the Droplet dialog has in it.

The action doesn’t seem to be working. There toggle on/off window is empty at all times. Should I be concerned with it? I click any of them and they all disappear, those red icons..

They should all be off – the resize and the save as… that way you won’t be prompted for user input.

The checkmark indicates that the action is active – you can toggle actions active or not active with the checkmark. That should be checked.

Study the link i posted earlier to the Dialog box. I made the picture for a reason.

CHANGE THE FILE NAME to 120×120.jpg * is this where I’m going wrong?

then I click STOP

No, you are not going wrong. You will record the steps from resizing to saving, to completion, then stop recording.

But you must toggle the dialog to OFF in the Save As portion if you are to use Batch. When you do that, in concert with checking the box in the Batch dialog, the file name and location will be determined by the Batch dialog, not the action itself.

Then create the droplet right? but what about using SAVE AND CLOSE to keep the filename I choose in the action intact?

You create an action. Then you use File|Automate|Create Droplet. There you will tell where to save the Droplet (any place you like), what action to run, and where to put the files and what naming convention to use.

Once that is saved it will be an EXE file that you drop folders onto.

You will not use Save and Close. That function is exactly the same as editing a file then choosing Control S (File|Save). That means you overwrite your original. This won’t work for what you need to do.

thanks for all the replies and help.

just wish I could create the images in whichever folder I’m pulling over to the droplet.. that way I wont have to move them from the destination folder each time.. an extra pain.

thanks again tho.
-A

Yeah, when it comes to nesting sources and destinations, Photoshop could use some more flexability.

To change the size of the images for e-mail, web publishing you can go to this site and download the Batch Photo Resizer. http://www.softorbits.com/batch_picture_resize
This new program can help you to resize a large groups of photos at once or protect
your photos using watermars.