The digital camera has long ceased to be a curiosity and has become one of the necessary and familiar things. Outdoor trips with friends or a festive feast in the family circle are saved in the form of hundreds of pictures. Sorting and editing commemorative images is a tedious task. It can be facilitated by batch processing of photos in Photoshop from Adobe Systems - an effective tool that saves time when working with large arrays of images.
Batch Processing Benefits and Convenience
Common among amateurs and professionals, the graphic editor Adobe Photoshop does not need advertising. It is a powerful and versatile imaging software tool designed to bring a wide variety of creative tasks to life. But professionals appreciated it for another feature - the ability to facilitate and speed up routine work in machining, such as reducing size and weight, renaming or changing file extensions.
Processing multiplephotos in Photoshop, as a rule, does not take much time and does not force you to delve into the intricacies of automation processes. But what if the archive began to take up too much space? Yes, you never know troubles lie in wait for the photographer: insufficient lighting, an unsuccessful angle … I don’t want to delete pictures, and editing takes up scarce time. When correcting errors of the same type or when it is necessary to perform other mechanical processing that does not require individual understanding of each image, use the process automation package available in each version of the graphic editor.
Dialog box description
First, get acquainted with the settings of the dialog box in which batch processing of photos is performed. In Photoshop, use the path: menu "File" → "Automate" → "Batch". The window that opens is characterized by design modifications depending on the modification of the program, but the main dialogs remain unchanged.
- The "Set" window reflects the "Default Operation" value. By forming new sets, the creation of which we will consider below, the user expands the functionality of using automation for the necessary tasks.
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Window "Operation". The drop-down list is made up of macros offered by the developer of the program. When adding custom operations, they will appear in the drop-down list and become available for batch processing.
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The "Source" window and the "Select" button located next to it - defining files forprocessing:
- line "Folder" indicates a directory with photos;
- line "Import" selects imported images;
- line "Open files" - processing files opened in the main working window of the program;- the Bridge line synchronizes the program with the Adobe Bridge application.
- The "Output folder" window and the "Select" button. Specifies the directory for saving modified files and other options for completing the operation.
Additional parameters
The parameters left unaddressed are intuitive and highlighted with developer hints and recommendations.
- Checking the "Ignore "Open" commands" checkbox results in opening files only if this action is specified in the operation. Otherwise, quick processing of photos in Photoshop will not be performed.
- String "Include all subfolders". The function extends the action of the operation to directories located in the source folder.
- The following lines cancel the display of service dialogs informing about the opening of image files and program messages about the built-in color profile.
The following image saving settings are used to assign names when recording processed files.
Default set: built-in helper
The operations built into the program by default are more visualan illustration of process automation, rather than the useful functionality that batch processing of photos in Photoshop provides. But to understand the work, it makes sense to deal with the operations pre-installed in the editor. To do this, go to the "Operations" tab. It is located among the floating palettes located on the right side of the program's workspace. If the "Operations" tab is not displayed in the workspace, enable it. To do this, go to the "Window" menu and click on the "Operations" line or use the keyboard shortcut "Image" + F9.
The opened tab contains operations predefined by the developer. By clicking on the triangle in front of the name of the operation, a sequence of actions is opened, which is reproduced when the command is executed. The start of the macro starts when you click on the triangle located at the bottom of the "Operations" panel. Double-clicking on the name of the operation initiates the appearance of a dialog box that allows you to change the name of the operation or assign it a "hot" shortcut key.
Creating your own sets: for all occasions
For convenience, create custom presets to store recorded macros. This will be its own folder with processing operations placed in it. This approach helps organize image editing tools, accurately indicating their location and purpose.
The process of recording sets will not be difficult even for a beginner.
- OpenActions panel (Window menu → Actions).
- Click on the Create New Set icon at the bottom of the panel.
- In the dialog that appears, enter a name for the set and click OK.
Now the new set is ready for recording operations and is displayed in the Set drop-down list of the Batch Photo Processing window. Photoshop allows you to create an unlimited number of presets for storing custom macros.
Operations: the basis for batch processing
Batch processing of photos in Photoshop (CS6 or another build of the editor) is carried out according to the rules common to all versions. By recording a macro with its own algorithm of actions, the user creates a template (blank), which is then used to process single files or image batches.
- To get started, go to the "Operations" tab using the key combination "Image" + F9.
- Click on the "Create a new operation" icon at the bottom.
- In the window that opens, give a name to the future macro, determine its place in existing sets, set a keyboard shortcut if necessary.
- Pressing the "Record" button initiates the start of the process, and a red circle icon is activated on the bottom panel of the "Operations" window. From now on, actions performed on the opened image are recorded.
- To complete the recording, left-click on the box located at the bottom of the tab"Operations" to the left of the "Record" button.
Image Operations: Writing
If you managed to find the location and understand the purpose of the dialog boxes described above, then it is time to put theory into practice. Before you start editing, decide what to do and how. Resizing a photo on a computer is the most common task that users set for themselves. In this example, consider the sequence of actions.
- Step 1. Open the original image for editing.
- Step 2. Create a new set. For convenience, name it "Size Down".
- Step 3. Create a new operation based on the instructions described in the "Operations" section. After pressing the "OK" button, a round red button is activated at the bottom of the panel. This means the macro is being recorded.
- Step 4. Reduce the size of the image in any way you know. For example: menu "Image" → "Image size". Change the horizontal (vertical) size or decrease the resolution in the dialog box.
- Step 5. Save the image and click on the square icon at the bottom of the Actions panel. The macro recording has ended and the user is ready to start batch processing files.
Image weight reduction: 100 shots in 60 seconds
The recorded and saved operation is the foundation of the actions, the continuation of which is the batch processing of photos in Photoshop. Reducing the image size solves anotheractual task for amateurs - reducing the weight of the file. Be guided by the sequence of actions that will help you process an array of photographs in a short time.
- Open the batch processing dialog: File menu → Automation → Batch processing.
- In the drop-down box, select the set in which the size reduction operation is stored.
- Select operation.
- In the "Source" line, specify the folder containing the files to be modified.
- In the line "Output folder" specify the directory to save.
- In the "File naming" block, select the necessary values for assigning new names to the processed images. At least two lines should be filled in - the file name and extension. Without this condition, the automated batch process will not start.
To start the operation, click on "OK" and watch how the images open on their own in the working window of the program, resize and save to the folder intended for them.
Renaming: fast and useful
In the "Picture Operations" section, an example was shown illustrating how to resize a photo on a computer using Adobe Photoshop. Using the algorithm (sequence of actions) of this example, you can perform other image processing operations. Owners of digital cameras are faced with the need to rename files, because after clearing the drive, a new numbering of pictures begins. This results in a conflict when adding photos to a shared folderimages on a computer. The task is easily solved with the automation process.
- Step 1. Open the Actions panel using the keyboard shortcut "Image" + F9.
- Step 2. Open the image.
- Step 3. Create a new "Rename" operation, click "OK" to start recording the macro.
- Step 4. Without doing anything, save and close the image.
- Step 5. Click on the square icon at the bottom of the Operations panel and finish recording.
- Step 6. Open the "Batch Processing" window (menu "File" → "Automate").
- Step 7. Specify a source folder and a folder to save the renamed files.
- Step 8. In the "File Naming" block, select the appropriate naming option from the drop-down list. Pay attention to the possibility of combining names using multiple lines. On the final line, do not forget to put the file extension.
Change extension
Functionality and ease of use gives even a simple processing of photos in Photoshop. In Russian, it is not difficult to master the interface of the Adobe graphics editor. For users working in the English assembly of the program, the following example will be illustrated using English menu terms.
Consider the format change operation. The need for such actions often arises when you want to save photos to mobile devices. For example, it makes no sense to transfer images in.raw format to a tablet running the Android OS. It is preferable to save the file in-j.webp
- Open the image file.
- Enter the Actions panel from the Window menu.
- Create a new operation by clicking on the icon in the form of a sheet with a curled corner at the bottom of the panel.
- Without changing anything in the file, save the image using the Save as… item in the File menu. In the save dialog, select the desired file extension from the bottom line.
- Click on the square at the bottom of the Actions panel to complete the macro recording.
- To start batch processing go File → Automate → Batch.
- Select the name of the operation, the source folder and the directory for saving images from the drop-down lists. Click the OK button to start processing.
Conclusion
It is impossible to describe in a short article all the lessons of photo processing in Photoshop (CS6 or other version), demonstrating the software potential of automating image editing processes. The described examples give an idea of the principles of applying batch processing. By recording complex macros, amateurs will expand the range of use of this function and the list of creative tasks to be solved. All assemblies of Adobe editors support the described algorithm of actions, so there is no problem with which Photoshop is better for processing photos.
