How to save a series of actions in CS2

[yehosaphat]

Hi all PS experts,

Please advise how should I go about doing the above. I know that you can use the 'Action' menu to preset a series of recurssive actions to perform but what are the steps you guys use?

Say for example a scenario: I have just downloaded 100 photos into a folder and each photo is about 4MB. This kind of size is definitely too big to upload into web galleries ya. So what are the steps to program CS2 so that it will automate:

1) Resaving the pic file to a smaller size
2) Save it
3) Close

The above is for 1 photo. Possible to apply it recurssively for all 100 photos without having to press the 'play' button at the actions toolbar for each picture??

Also, is the above the steps you use when you want to prepare your photos for uploading into your gallery?

Thanks and sorry for asking so much! ;p :bsmilie:

 

[tqviet0327]

You can open Photoshop, hit F1, key in "action" in the Search bar, the relevant topics will be listed out. You'll be able to find how to record actions, how to change, how to add a command to an action etc. The guide is step by step.

I have tried this once, I dont remember exactly how it was, but i'm sure you dont have to press Play for each picture, you can apply the action for a series of pictures with one button. I think you should be able to find it from Help too

 

[fireframe]

After you have recorded the actions, go to File> Automate> Batch. If you want to work on selected images, select the images using Bridge, then go to Tools> Photoshop> Batch.

 

[catchlights]

have all the source image file in one folder (source folder)
open one of the image file, record the steps into an action

step 1. resize the image, (wide 600~800 pixel is good)
step 2. apply UnSharp Mask
step 3. save as web, 60%~80% compression, file size below 100k is good (into a new folder, output folder)
step 4. close the image file without save (so original image untouch)

then run the batch process using this action to apply on the source folder, do it right it will process all the files at one go.

 

[fireframe]

have all the source image file in one folder (source folder)
open one of the image file, record the steps into an action

Remember to separate your landscape and portrait shots and record a corresponding action with the appropriate resizing dimensions.

 

[fireframe]

step 2. apply UnSharp Mask

What values would you recommend as 'safe' for a batch action?

 

[AReality]

What values would you recommend as 'safe' for a batch action?

50%, 0.7, 3

 

[catchlights]

Remember to separate your landscape and portrait shots and record a corresponding action with the appropriate resizing dimensions.

if you resize by % instead of dimension, do have to separate them, or can write a script from this.

 

[fireframe]

if you resize by % instead of dimension, do have to separate them, or can write a script from this.

If you did any cropping from the original shots, you can't resize by % as the 100% size would be different for each photo. For me, I don't separate because I use Bridge to select the LS and PT photos separately for processing, and I have different actions as well.

 

[yehosaphat]

have all the source image file in one folder (source folder)
open one of the image file, record the steps into an action

step 1. resize the image, (wide 600~800 pixel is good)
step 2. apply UnSharp Mask
step 3. save as web, 60%~80% compression, file size below 100k is good (into a new folder, output folder)
step 4. close the image file without save (so original image untouch)

then run the batch process using this action to apply on the source folder, do it right it will process all the files at one go.

Hi catchlight, do you record the actions under 'Default Action' set or do you create a new set?

 

[catchlights]

Hi catchlight, do you record the actions under 'Default Action' set or do you create a new set?

create your own set will be good.

 

[yehosaphat]

Ok... few more qns...

1) For resize, when you mentioned 600-800 pixels will be good, do you mean you click 'Image Size' then choose the longest length of the photo (length for portrait or width for landscape) to be between 600 to 800 pixels?

2) When you 'save as web', I believe most of us use jpg format rite? What quality is the typical setting you choose for web galleries? Low, medium, high, very high, etc. or quality: 0-100%?

Thanks so much!

 

[catchlights]

Ok... few more qns...

1) For resize, when you mentioned 600-800 pixels will be good, do you mean you click 'Image Size' then choose the longest length of the photo (length for portrait or width for landscape) to be between 600 to 800 pixels?

2) When you 'save as web', I believe most of us use jpg format rite? What quality is the typical setting you choose for web galleries? Low, medium, high, very high, etc. or quality: 0-100%?

Thanks so much!

Ans to:
#1, yes, if you have lot of images to show people, smaller will be even better.
#2, yes, try a few different settings, chose a lowest setting and yet you don't see a significant quality loss.

 

[yehosaphat]

Ans to:
#1, yes, if you have lot of images to show people, smaller will be even better.
#2, yes, try a few different settings, chose a lowest setting and yet you don't see a significant quality loss.

Alright! Thanks catchlight, will try out and see

 

[fireframe]

2) When you 'save as web', I believe most of us use jpg format rite? What quality is the typical setting you choose for web galleries? Low, medium, high, very high, etc. or quality: 0-100%?

For web display, I normally use the JPEG High preset, which is a good balance between size and quality.

 

[yehosaphat]

For web display, I normally use the JPEG High preset, which is a good balance between size and quality.

So what is your typical file size?

 

[fireframe]

So what is your typical file size?

Depending on the image, can range from about 20 to 100 KB. Darker images tend to produce larger files.