Photoshop Batch Automation - Help!
 

arggghhhh....... i am waging a war with Photoshop and she has kicked my ass up and down the block, i am bloodied and battered.

I'm trying to use PS's batch feature, an 'action' to desaturate some pix, thumb them and compress the thumbs with 'Save for Web'. It won't do it, for every file I get the Save for Web thing popping up and asking me to type in a filename - that's no good, i want it done automatically, that's the whole point. If I take the 'Save for Web' step out of the action and use Photoshops 'Save As' the batching works. But using 'Save As' produces thumbs that are 18 KB versus 4 KB using 'Save for Web'.

Anybody know what I'm doing wrong or is what I'm trying to do is not possible?

i'll use Arles but I hate to give up without a fight.

Thank you

n00b :winkwink:

Are you loading one picture, recording the actions you want to do, then saving the action, then loading the batch option, browsing to the folder/folders you want to apply the action to, then chossing the folder you want to save the changes files to?

well yeah - i had to load one picture to record the action initially.

I don't mean to ask these questions like your a newb, I know your not. I'm trying ot figure out what step is screwing up for you.

So you have your batch action saved, you then click on the batch action and browse to your foler/folders that you want to apply your actions to, and save your new files to, hit go , and then it starts to ask for files?

i wasn't taking any offense. :)

Yes - what you typed is exactly what I am doing.

I really have the feeling that because I've chosen to use the 'Save for Web' method of saving in the action that there is no way of getting around being prompted to manually type in the name of the new file. Like I said, i can get it to work if I change the method of saving but it creates thumbs with much too large a KB size.

Do you have the save as same name option clicked?
(I might be thinking about a different batch program) It shouldn't matter what size or file format..
Let me fire up my graphics box and see is I can do a bunch of changes and then to a size reduce for the web. See if I get an error

I have actions that use save for web. As long as you didn't change the file name when you recorded the action, you shouldn't be prompted for the filename when you run the action.

i've tried checking and unchecking those thingsin the Batch screen.

This is the action I have : Desaturate, resize, Export (Save for Web).

thanks

hmmmmmmmmmmm............... but i need to replace the names of the files, can't save them as the same name and overwrite the originals, these are going to be mouse over thumbs, i.e thumb_one.jpg ----> thumb_one_off.jpg

just save same in a diff folder with the same filename. Then batch rename and copy them back

your last action should be
"file/close" after "saving for web" and it will work.

Cheers,
BV