Is there a way that I can perform a batch file alteration to resize a CD full of photos and change their file format?
Answer:
Anything you can do to an image from menu selections can be added to an action. You can't save painting strokes and you can't crop different images in different places, but otherwise - if you have a mess of photos that all need to have *exactly* the same thing done to them, that's an ideal candidate for a batch.
you DO want to save the image you use to record the action, because that's the only way I know of to change the file type.
Assuming your originals are coming from the CD (not a folder on your computer), do this:
Create a new folder called "ProcessedImages" or some such.
Open one of the images from the CD in Photoshop.
Open the Actions window in Photoshop.
From the fly-out menu (triangle top right) select New Action
(probably no point in assigning it a function key, but that feature is cool)
Name it, and start the recording process.
Start doing what you need to to the photo - Probably just Image>Adjust>Image Size
Save-As: select your ProcessedImages folder as the destination, and whatever you want for the file type.
Stop recording the Action. Now it appears in the list of actions.
Throw away the image you just saved to the Processed Images folder so Photoshop doesn't hiccup when it does the real batch.
then:
File>Automate>Batch.
There are some variations based on which version you use, but basically you tell Photoshop
- What action to run - your new one will proabably already be selected
- What folder to take the images from (the CD probably)
- okay to go into sub-folders or not?
- What folder to put the finished images into
- ignore the folder defined by the action? (in this case it won't matter, but if you save this action and use it months from now, the ProcessedImages folder might not exist any more. This allows you to use the action but specify a new destination - very useful)
- That's mostly it. PS6 and 7 allow you to re-name the files as you go too - sometimes hugely useful, sometimes not.
Tell it to go, and walk away (unless you like sort of slow slide shows).
Actions make my life at work bearable. You should get to know this feature - it's an enormoust time saver if you have to do the same thing over and over. Our Nikon digital cameras save all files in landscape mode. We shoot a lot of portraits. We also like to give clients high and low res versions. We have actions to rotate the images and to resize them. It makes a BIG difference when someone comes back from an assignment with 60-100 images.
(It's still important to have a stick to whack them with if they hold the camera one way for some people, and another way for others. It happens!)
Good luck. Make friends with actions and batching.
