How to do batch processing in Photoshop. Lesson: Batch Processing Photos in Photoshop
Tools for automating actions in Photoshop can significantly reduce the time spent on performing similar operations. One of these tools is batch processing of images (photos).
Meaning batch processing consists of recording actions in a special folder (action), and then applying this action to an unlimited number of photos. That is, we process it manually once, and the rest of the images are processed automatically by the program.
It makes sense to use batch processing in cases where it is necessary, for example, to change the size of photographs, raise or lower the lighting, or make the same color correction.
So let's get started with batch processing.
First you need to place the original images in one folder. I have three photographs prepared for the lesson. I named the folder "Batch Processing" and placed it on the desktop.
If you noticed, this folder also contains a subfolder "Ready photos". The results of processing will be saved in it.
It’s worth noting right away that in this lesson we will only learn the process, so many operations with photos will not be performed. The main thing is to understand the principle, and then you yourself decide what kind of processing to do. The procedure will always be the same.
And one more thing. In the program settings, you must disable warnings about color profile mismatches, otherwise, every time you open a photo you will have to press the button OK.
Let's go to the menu "Editing - Color Settings" and uncheck the boxes indicated in the screenshot.
Now you can start...
After analyzing the pictures, it becomes clear that they are all slightly darkened. Therefore, we will lighten them and tint them a little.
Open the first picture.
Then call the palette "Operations" in the menu "Window".
In the palette, you need to click on the folder icon, give the new set a name and click OK.
Then we create a new operation, also call it something and press the button "Record".
First, let's resize the image. Let's say we need images no more than 550 pixels wide.
Let's go to the menu "Image - Image Size". Change the width to the desired one and click OK.
As you can see, changes have occurred in the palette of operations. Our action was successfully recorded.
For lightening and toning we will use "Curves". They are called by keyboard shortcut CTRL+M.
In the window that opens, set the current on the curve and drag it in the direction of lightening until the desired result is achieved.
Then we go to the red channel and adjust the colors a little. For example, like this:
At the end of the process, click OK.
When recording an action, there is one important rule: If you use tools, adjustment layers and other functions of the program where the values of various settings change “on the fly”, that is, without the need to press the OK button, then these values must be entered manually and press the ENTER key. If this rule is not followed, then Photoshop will record everything intermediate values, while you drag, for example, the slider.
Let's continue. Let's assume that we have already completed all the steps. Now we need to save the photo in the format we need.
Press the key combination CTRL+SHIFT+S, select the format and location to save. I selected the folder "Ready photos". Click "Save".
The last step is to close the image. Don't forget to do this, otherwise all 100500 photos will remain open in the editor. Nightmare…
We refuse to save the source code.
Let's take a look at the operations palette. We check whether all actions were recorded correctly. If everything is in order, then press the button "Stop".
The action is ready.
Now we need to apply it to all photos in the folder, and automatically.
Let's go to the menu "File - Automation - Batch Processing".
In the function window, select our set and operation (the last ones created are automatically registered), specify the path to the folder with the sources and the path to the folder in which you want to save the finished images.
After pressing the button "OK" processing will begin. The time spent on the process directly depends on the number of photos and the complexity of the operations.
Use the automation provided to you by Photoshop and save a lot of time on processing your photos.
When a novice photographer is faced with the need to process a large number of photographs, the question inevitably arises: How to reduce the time spent on processing, how to automate routine operations?
To do this, the program has in its arsenal Adobe Photoshop There are several tools: operations or actions, scripts or scripts, and droplets.
Operations, otherwise called action games, macros or macro commands are recorded and saved actions on an image that can be applied to another image and also used in batch processing. Actions are also the basis for creating droplets.
Droplet is a small application, a kind of program that automatically processes all images dragged onto it. The droplet icon can be placed, for example, on the desktop and folders with images can be dragged onto it for processing.
Scripts or scripts are also programs, but written in one of scripting languages programming. The use of scripts allows you to automate operations for which it is impossible to write an action, that is, the possibilities of scripts are much wider. The only negative is that to write scripts you need to master certain programming languages, for example, Java Script.
In this article we will record a simple action and look at how to use it in batch processing using the command Image processor
As an example, let's take the method of toning photographs using color fill in blend mode Hard light. Here is the original photo
First, let's create a set into which we will place the operation to be recorded. To create a set, click on the folder icon in the Operations palette. In the dialog box that opens, enter the name of the set.
Now, with active typing, click on the icon for creating a new operation
In the dialog box that opens, enter the name of the operation. If necessary, assign a color and keyboard shortcut so you can quickly launch the operation. Click Write down to start the recording process. Now in the palette Operations The recording icon will be active and turn red.
Before you start recording, it is advisable to plan all the steps and write them down on paper. A well-planned action works without errors and the stability of its operation does not depend on which version of the program is used, Russian or English. A properly recorded action will work in any environment. If this is not the case, it means that methodological errors were made during planning and recording, for example, the names of layers or channels were written down.
Now let's create an adjustment layer Color. To do this, click on the icon for creating an adjustment layer in the palette Layers, then select a layer from the list Color.
In the dialog box that opens, select the desired color. It is necessary in advance, even when preparing for recording, to write down the values of this color along the RGB channels, so that you can then enter it and immediately get the desired color.
Change the layer blend mode to Hard light
We will get something like this
Now you need to weaken the effect of the correction layer on the skin. Skin is known to be lightest in the red channel of the image. Let's make the adjustment layer mask active. To do this, press the key combination CTRL+\. The active layer mask will be surrounded by a frame
Now let's load the red channel of the image onto the mask. To do this, go to the menu Image - External channel. In the dialog box that opens, set the following settings Layer - Background, since it is from the background layer that we will use the red channel. Channel - Red, you need to check the box on the right Invert, since for the mask we need just the inverted red channel, Overlay - Normal, Opacity - 100%. After completing the settings, click OK. The adjustment layer's effect is now rendered through a mask based on the inverted red channel, which looks like this:
We got a slight toning effect on the image
You can now stop recording the action. Then, returning initial state images using a palette Story, you need to check the operation of the action. Now it can be used for batch processing.
Batch processing is best done using a script Image processor. It can be found in the menu File - Scripts - Image Processor.
Or, which is much more convenient, you can run the image processor from the module Bridge, having previously selected photos for processing in it. In Bridge Image processor is in the menu Tools -Photoshop - Image Processor.
Set Batch Processing Options in the Dialog Box Image processor is not difficult. You need to select the location to save the files, the format and quality of saving, as well as a set of actions and the action itself that needs to be applied to the selected images.
Photoshop has many convenient functions, which make the life of a photographer or web designer much easier. One of these useful functions is batch processing, which allows you to bring the image editing process to full automation. This functionality will be very convenient in cases where you need to process large number images according to the same principle.
For example, you have about two dozen photographs that need to be made the same size, black and white and add brightness. The actions with each photo will be the same - open, desaturate, increase brightness, crop and save. Imagine how tedious and long the process of processing each photo individually will be. The batch processing function in Photoshop solves this problem this problem and allows you to entrust all these tedious actions to the program. The principle of operation of this function is that Photoshop records (remembers) all user actions, and then applies these actions in the same order to the selected images (photos).
Let's look at this whole thing in practice. For example, let's take several pictures (photos) of butterflies of different sizes.
Let's say that we need to make all photos (pictures) the same in width (450px), desaturate them (make them black and white), increase the brightness and save them in high quality jpg format.
First of all, open one of the pictures (photos) using Photoshop, top panel menu, select “Window” - “Operations”, or simply press the key combination “Alt + F9”.
After that, in the pop-up window, enter the name of our new operation, in in this case"Butterflies" and press the "Record" button.
After these manipulations, Photoshop will begin to record all our actions, so we need to act clearly and in the right order. And so, the recording has started and first, let’s unlock our image in the layers panel on the right by clicking on the lock with the left mouse button. If we don't unlock the image, we won't be able to edit it.
The lock icon on the image layer has disappeared, which means that it is unlocked. Now let’s set the image width we need (450 pixels). To do this, in the top menu bar, select “Image” - “Image Size”, or press the key combination “Alt+Ctrl+I”.
In the window that opens, set the required width of the picture (450 pixels), while the button for fixing the size must be pressed so that the width of the image changes in proportion to the height, otherwise the picture will turn out distorted.
Set the desired width and click the “OK” button. The next step we will desaturate the photo, i.e. make it black and white, to do this, select “Image” - “Desaturate” in the top menu bar or press the key combination “Shift+Ctrl+U”.
Now let’s add brightness; to do this, in the top menu bar, select “Image” - “Correction” - “Brightness/Contrast”.
In the pop-up window, set the brightness slider to, say, 40 and click the “Ok” button.
The last step remains - save the image in jpg format high quality. To do this, in the top menu bar, select “File” - “Export” - “Save for Web”, or the key combination “Alt + Shift + Ctrl + S” and in the settings window that appears, select JPG format and set the quality value to 80, then click the “Save” button and select the location to save our image.
And the last step is to close the window with the image being edited, just close it without saving the changes.
Now let’s pay attention to the operations window, in which all this time there was a record of our actions. Let's stop the recording by pressing the stop button, we will see that the red dot has gone out, i.e. the activity recording has stopped. Now you can see that we created an operation with a number of actions, all the actions that we performed were recorded by Photoshop and they are contained in the list in order.
Now we can apply the operation we created in batch processing to all the images (photos) we need. To do this, in the top menu bar, select “File” - “Automation” - “Batch Processing” and in the window that appears, set the following settings:
1) In the “Operation” item, select the operation we created.
2) In the “Source” item, by clicking on the “Select” button, select the folder with our “Photo” images that will be processed;
3) Check the boxes to suppress dialogs and prohibit color management;
4) In the “Output folder” item, by clicking on the “Select” button, select the folder on the computer into which the processed images will be saved.
5) Click the "Ok" button
As a result, Photoshop will automatically process all your images using the specified operation.
In this lesson we will look at the basics of automated photo processing in Photoshop and their practical application. We will create a set of operations and then apply it to other images.
Batch processing will significantly save your time and eliminate the need for tedious repetition of the same steps when editing images. Let's explore this useful technique in practice.
Creating operations.
Preview of the final result:
Step 1.
Not everyone is a fan Photoshop is a graphic or web designer. For convenience and ease of use in the program ordinary users or people indirectly interested Photoshop, there is a function for recording all actions performed on an image, and then applying these actions to edit other program documents.
The first thing we have to do is select the photos to which we want to apply some changes and place them in one folder anywhere on your computer. Then, select one photo from your collection and open it in Photoshop.
Step 2.
Now let's start creating operations. To do this, let's go to top menu program to the Window-Operations tab (Window > Actions) or press the keyboard shortcut Alt+F9 to open the options window. At the bottom of the Actions panel that opens, click on the folder icon to create a new set of your actions. Enter the folder name (in in this example Name "Psdtuts+").
Now, after you have created a New Set of Operations, click on the icon at the bottom of the panel New operation(a piece of paper with a folded edge, like a new layer icon). In the dialog box, enter a name for the operation: Vintage Halftones (Vintage Halftone), and then click on the “Record” button (Record) to start from this moment recording all your actions on the image. As you can see, three icons have appeared at the bottom of the operation panel, designed to control the actions being performed: record, play and stop (Record, Play, Stop).
Step 3.
From this moment we will begin the sequential construction of operations on the photo. You need to be extremely careful when performing each step, otherwise the result will not meet your expectations.
The first step is to resize the photo. To do this, go to the top menu in the Image-Image Size tab (Image > Image Size) and in the dialog box change the width value (Width) up to 700 px. Activate the “Maintain proportions” function (Constant Proportions) and "Interpolation" (Resample Image) at the bottom of the window, and also select the option at the very bottom “Bicubic sharper (best for reduction)” (Bicubic Sharper), which is well suited for photographs of not very good quality and small size.
Don't use Transform to resize (Free Transform), since precise mathematical values are needed here. The entered parameters will be executed only for similar images horizontal location, while for vertical shots such values are not suitable.
Click OK in the dialog box and proceed to the next step.
Step 4.
Now, when performing each complex step, we activate the “Reset samples” function (Reset Swatches) by pressing "D" on the keyboard. The foreground and background colors are set to black and white.
Now, double click on the background thumbnail, unlock it by converting it to “Layer 0”, and then drag it onto the New Layer icon (sheet with a folded edge) at the bottom of the layers panel to create a duplicate.
Step 5.
Now, on the “Layer 0” copy, go to Filter-Filter Gallery (Filter > Filter Gallery) and in it select the folder Distortion – Diffused Glow (Distort > Diffuse Glow). We make the settings for the option: grain size 2, glow level 3, original 10. Click OK.
Step 6.
On the copy layer, change the Opacity level (Opacity) by 75%, entering the value exactly into the option window. There is no need to use the slider to change the parameter, otherwise the recording will display a gradual decrease in opacity: 100, 99, 98, 97, etc., which is undesirable.
Now, while holding Ctrl, click on the original layer, selecting it and the copy in the layers panel. Right-click on the selected layers and select from the menu – Merge Layers (Merge Layers). As a result, the two layers will be merged into one “Layer 0 copy”.
Step 7
Duplicate “Layer 0 copy” by dragging it onto the New Layer icon at the bottom of the layers panel, and we get “Layer 0 copy 2”. On the duplicate, go to the Filter-Blur-Gaussian Blur tab (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur) and set the blur radius to 2 px, click OK.
Step 8
Next change the blending mode (Blending Mode) for a duplicate on the Floor (Overlay), without opening the blending modes window, but by clicking on the down arrow in the options window in the layers palette, and selecting desired mode. You can try different modes overdubs outside of recording, having previously stopped recording with the Stop button (square at the bottom of the operations panel). Having selected the desired mode, turn on Recording again by clicking on the circle at the bottom of the panel.
Step 9
Next, create a New Adjustment Layer “Color” (Adjustment Layer > Solid Color). To do this, click the black and white circle at the bottom of the layers panel and select the “Color” option from the drop-down menu. In the options dialog box, select black color (# 000000) fill and click OK. Drag this layer down to the bottom of the Layers panel under "Layer 0 copy".
Step 10
Go to the “Layer 0 copy” thumbnail, and then go to the Layers tab - Layer mask - Hide all (Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All).
Step 11
Now we will change the borders of our image. To do this, select the mask by clicking Ctrl+A(“Select All”) on the keyboard. It is important to select all the pixels of the mask, otherwise the future result will not impress you.
Be sure to use the "Select All" command (Select All), rather than making a selection manually with the Marquee Tool. (Marquee tool).
If you are using custom selection then Photoshop will save these coordinates and values only for a specific image, which will not work on other images.
Step 12
Activate the " Rectangular selection» (Marquee tool) and right-click on the image. In the drop-down menu, select the option – Transform selected area (Transform Selection), and in the top settings panel change the values for width (Width) and heights (Height) allocation by 95%. To apply a function, press Enter twice (Enter).
Thus, your allocation will decrease by exactly 5% from its initial state.
Step 13
Now we'll distort the shape of our selection a little to create a vintage effect. Make sure you are on the Layer 0 copy mask and your selection is reduced. Go to the Selection - Refine Edge tab (Select > Refine edge) and enter the settings from the screenshot below. Click OK.
You should end up with an uneven selection, like the example below.
Step 14
Next, fill the selection with white (ffffff). Press "D" on your keyboard to reset color swatches (Swatches). Next, activate the Rectangular Marquee Tool. (Marquee tool) and right-click on the canvas, selecting the option from the menu - Fill (Fill). Specify a foreground color (Foreground Color), opacity 100% and mode normal. Click OK. Deselect (Ctrl+D).
Step 15
Now you need to repeat the entire previous process with the frame for the layer “Layer 0 copy 2”. You can repeat steps 10 to 14, or duplicate the actions in the Actions panel. First, go to the "Copy 2" layer in the Layers panel and click the Stop button in the Actions panel to stop recording for now. Select all operations with the frame and duplicate them. To do this, go to the first action with a frame in the “Operations” panel (the “Make” line (Make)) and holding Shift, click on the most recent operation with the frame (line Define selection (Set Selection)). Then click the arrow at the top right and select the option from the list - Create a duplicate (Duplicate). Now drag the line “Select layer “Layer 0 copy 2” over the duplicated actions and stand on the line “Make” (Make), click Play to duplicate the mask. Once a copy of the mask has appeared on the “Copy 2” layer thumbnail, go to last line in the Operations window and click the Entries button to move on.
Step 16
Activate the layer mask thumbnail “Layer 0 copy” and go to Filter-Filter Gallery (Filter > Filter Gallery). Click on the Sketch folder (Sketch), and in it on “Halftone pattern (Halftone Pattern). After entering the settings, click OK.
Step 17
Go to the “Layer 0 copy 2” layer and click on the adjustment layers icon (black and white circle) at the bottom of the layers panel. Select the Photo Filter correction from the list (Photo Filter) and activate the "Color" option (Color) in the dialog box. Click on the color square and enter the color value 957345 and the density (Density) increase to 100%.
Step 18
Now, create another Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer. (Adjustment Layer > Hue Saturation), clicking on the black and white circle at the bottom of the layers panel, and adjust the values from the screenshot below. Don't forget to activate the "Rendering" checkbox in the option window:
Step 19
In the Layers panel, create a New Layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) or a leaf icon with a folded edge at the bottom of the panel)) above all the previous ones and name it “Layer 1”. Select all by clicking Ctrl+A, and activate the Rectangular Marquee tool (Marquee tool). Set the foreground and background colors to default (“D”). Right-click on the canvas and select the option – Fill (Fill). In the dialog box, specify the foreground color (black), opacity 100%, mode normal and click OK.
Step 20.
Double-click the Layer 1 layer thumbnail to open the Layer Styles window and select the Pattern Overlay option. (Pattern Overlay). Open the Gray Paper pattern set (Grayscale Paper), and it has the texture “Gray granite” (Gray Granite).
Step 21
To rasterize this layer, create new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) above the patterned one and select them both in the layers panel ( Ctrl+click on the layers icon). Then, combine them into one by pressing Ctrl+E.
Step 22
Change the blending mode (Blending Mode) for the layer “Layer 2” to Multiply (Multiply), and Opacity (Opacity) reduce to 75%.
Step 23
Now let's flatten all layers. Select all layers in the layers palette, starting with “Layer 2” and ending with the “Color” layer at the bottom, holding Shift.
Right-click on the selected layers and select from the menu – Flatten (Flatten image). Then click the Stop button in the “Operations” window (Actions). Now all our completed actions are ready to be applied to other photos or images.
Now it's time to check how our recording works for other shots. If you did everything correctly, the program will process your images perfectly.
To repeat all the steps with another photo, open it in Photoshop, select the Vintage Halftones action and click the Play button (the triangle at the bottom of the Actions panel).
Now you need to save this set of operations. Go to the name of the operation set, in this example to the line “PSDTUTS+” and click the down arrow at the top right of the window. In the drop-down menu, select the option - save operation (Save Actions). In the dialog box, enter a name for the operation and save it anywhere on your computer. Now we are ready for batch editing of images.
Creating a droplet.
The droplet applies actions to one or more images (a folder of images). You can save the droplet anywhere on your computer and use it as many times as you want. To create a droplet, go to the top menu File-Automation-Create Droplet (File > Automate > Create droplet…). In the dialog box that opens, first select the folder where you will save the droplet. In line Set (Set) specify the name of the set (“PSDTUTS+” in this example), in the operation line indicate the name of the set operation ("Vintage Halftones").
Next, select the photo folder to which you want to apply the effect, after making a copy of it, and work with it. In addition, you can customize the names of future images, add text to them, series number, extensions to ensure maximum compatibility. Once you have entered all the required information, click OK.
In the example below you can see that I placed the droplet in the folder with a large number photos in it.
Now select the images from the copy folder and drag them onto the droplet icon to apply its actions to the photo. The program itself will download the images and process them, saving all the images in the folder specified by you. Finally, open the folder with the changes you made and see how your photos now look.
Now you have a whole collection of vintage photos ready to print or use on your blog. Good luck!
For example, in modern Canon cameras, the default mode for saving photos in the best quality can be set, and then each photo will take from three to five megabytes. For most people, the resolution does not exceed 1920 x 1080, and this is only 2 megapixels, while even inexpensive cameras can take photos with a quality of 16 megapixels: 4608 x 3456.
Modern phones have also learned to take high-quality photographs high resolution, sometimes even best quality than inexpensive cameras. But, still, people prefer to use digital cameras, since repairing cell phones with a good camera is much more expensive if it falls and breaks.
To send via the Internet or upload to a website, photographs should be processed by reducing the resolution and increasing the compression ratio. Anyone can handle this task, but doing all these operations manually, you will spend several days processing. The way out of the situation is a program for batch processing of photos, which, after simple settings, will make processing much faster in automatic mode.
Batch processing of photos with some programs allows you to solve a number of problems at once:
— change size;
— rename according to template;
— expand the photo;
— change brightness.
This list can be continued further, but in our case it is not advisable to apply sets of some changes without first selecting photographs. We are only interested in one thing now, changing the size of the photo, and this change can be applied to all the pictures you have at once. We will look at batch photo processing using the example of a small free program IrfanView, which is mainly used. You can download the program and the crack for it on the website www.irfanview.com.
After opening the program, in the “File” menu, select “Convert / rename a group of files...” and make the settings in the window that appears.
We are asked to choose three options:
— group transformation;
— group renaming;
We select the third option, add our photos to the list of processed ones and proceed to the settings for batch photo processing.
We configure the conversion parameters to the format we need.
Let's install largest size the long side of the resulting photograph.
We set a template for renaming photos and indicate the path to save the processed photos.
All basic settings have been made and you can safely press “Start”. The same batch processing of photographs and pictures with similar settings can be done by such free programs like XnView, FastStone Image Viewer and many others. After processing, the total volume occupied by photographs can be reduced by up to ten times. This depends on the quality settings you choose for your original photos.