Working with the Image Processor in Photoshop

Here’s a little tip that could prove to be a great time saver for you when you’re trying to convert an image over to JPEG  (or maybe a whole folder)  without having to open and save every image individually.  There are actually a number of ways to do this in Photoshop. You could create an   Action to do this for you or run them in Batch mode, but there is a hidden feature that a lot of people don’t even know about that could do the trick pretty easily.

The feature is called the Image Processor and it’s actually been around for quite a few years in Photoshop.  To find it, go up to the File drop down menu, choose Scripts, and then click on Image Processor.  In the Image Processor you can access a tool that will save your images to a different format, a different color space, compress them, and even change their sizes or even change them over to TIFF or PSD files.  If you need to, you can  have it run an Action while it’s converting your images and even add your copyright info for you! Nice huh?

I hope you find this tip helpful. Remember, as always, keep shooting and have some fun!

Stripping Metadata the Easy Way

If you’re like me, you probably send photos and images all over the place via the Internet. I’m always sending photos off to customers or clients or to my email friends and family just for fun. Digital photography has made the way we share our photos very easy and just about everyone is sharing their photos these days. Let’s face it, it can be fun to show off your photos to people on the other side of the country or just across town, all in a couple of minutes.

Some people who own digital cameras don’t even know that their cameras record a variety of things automatically when you take the photo. Just about every camera records the Camera Make and Model, Shooting Date/Time, Shutter Speed, Exposure Program, F-Stop, Aperture, ISO, Lens, Metering Mode and most of them can even tell you if you used your flash! This info is called the Metadata and it can be very useful. Those of us in the field using Photoshop or Lightroom usually have our own Metadata Templates that we automatically embed into our files when we take them off our cards on import. For me, I only use three boxes in the Metadata Panel – Camera Data, IPTC and Description. There are a bunch more, but 90% of the time I don’t need them myself.

Some of this info is mainly for our own personal use, but other things like our studio name or website and email address’s can come in handy. It also helps us with archiving because by adding keywords it will help us find them easier on our computers when we start getting thousands of photos. It also helps us in keeping track of things like shooting dates or occasions. But for me, some of this is info that I don’t want to share with everyone on the Internet, so I like to remove all that info before I start sending any of my photos off into the big scary world.

Most of my work is finished off in Photoshop, so I’ve created all sorts of different Actions to help me do tons of different things that I do all the time without having to go through the whole process over and over. Here is a little tutorial that will take you through the process of creating an Action that will automatically remove all of your Metadata info with just one mouse click so you can send them off with a little more confidence.

In this first image, you can see all the different camera settings. You’ll notice it was taken with a Canon EOS 5D on 10/9/2010 at 3:20:36pm and all sorts of other data. I don’t really like to share this info, but because this info might help me to prove ownership if someone tries to use my images without my permission, I’ll keep it in my main file.


Now check out this second window. Notice all the new Metadata info, called IPTC. For purposes of this tutorial I’ve used fictional data, but you get the idea. Granted, sometimes I’m only sending a photo off to a family member or friend, but I still feel better when I remove this info.


The third tab, called Description, has places where I can add a description, rate the photo with one to five stars, add keywords and copyright status, notices, and info with links. You’ll notice on the bottom it also has other info, like the shooting date and time, format and a few other things I like. Lets get started:


Open any single photo in Photoshop, preferably a JPEG in sRGB mode so you can follow along. Now hold down the Shift + Ctrl + Alt and tap the letter I key to bring up the info on your image. You can also go under the File menu and click on File Info. This will also bring up the same dialog box. Click on all the tabs on the top of the box to see your info.

You’ll see how simple it can be to create an Action to strip out your Metadata with just one mouse click. In a future tutorial I’ll show you how to create Droplets so you can run these Actions on whole folders at the same time. Watch my blog for future tutorials.

Now, go up under the Window menu and click on Actions to bring up our Action Panel. On the bottom of that panel, click on the icon next to the trashcan to create a new Action.

A dialog box will come up, name it Metadata, and click the dropdown menu beneath it and click the Default Actions folder. You’ll notice you can also add a Function Key to your Action and a Color, but we’re going to skip that this time. Hit Record in the top right corner to start recording and you should see a Red Circle on the bottom of your Action Panel now.




First we need to select the image. I’m a big fan of shortcut keys, so hold the Ctrl key down and tap the letter A key. You can also go under the Select menu and click on All. You’ll see the marching ants around your photo. Now hold the Ctrl key and tap the letter C key to copy your selection to the clipboard. You can also go under the Edit menu and click on Copy.



Now we need to create a new template for our image, this is easy to do. Hold the Ctrl key and tap the letter N key to create a new document exactly the same size as our original or go up under the File menu and click on New. This will open a Dialog box and you can just click the OK button and it will create a new blank document the exact size to paste our image into.


Note: if you have more than one image open in Photoshop, you’ll have to tap the drop down menu in the Preset box and tap on the name of the image you just copied.

Now hold the Ctrl key down and tap the V key or go up under the Edit menu and click Paste. Also, a lot of us shoot in a different color space in our cameras, so when you try to you paste your image, you might get a Profile Mismatch Dialog box asking if you want to convert to a different color profile. For the purpose of this tutorial click on Don’t Convert and click OK.


You should have two documents open on your desktop now. Click on the tab of the original image to make it active, you’ll see your marching ants. Now hold the Ctrl key and tap the D key to deselect the image and turn off the ants and then click the X to close it, we won’t need it anymore. This will leave you with our new image.



Now on the bottom of the Actions Panel, click the square box on the bottom next to the Red circle to turn off our recording. If you want, go and check out your File Info again you’ll see we just stripped out all that information.

Now you should have a copy of your original without any of the Metadata in it. If you want to, you can resize your new file now and then go up under the File menu and click Save As or just hold Ctrl + Shift and tap the letter S key. This will bring up another dialog box, choose your file format and a place to save it to and give it a new name if you’d like. Now close that file, and open your original. You should still have the Actions Panel open so just click the start arrow and play your actions.....Nice huh?

There you have it, a quick and simple way to make a duplicate photo, with all your Metadata stripped out with just one mouse click. I’m a big fan of anything that will save me time. I have a whole set of Actions that I use to strip Metadata, resize for the web, change the color space and even drop the finished images into special folders on my desktop, all with a single click of the mouse (or pen ) I hope this tutorial will help you out.

Remember, as always, keep shooting and have some fun!

Layers: The Complete Guide to Photoshop’s Most Powerful Feature

These days the number of people shooting digital is mind-boggling and just how many people are really starting to enjoy the creative side of photography – editing. By far the most popular photo-editing program out there is Photoshop. It has been has been the favorite of magazine designers, photographers and digital artists from day one. But there is one main feature that sets Photoshop apart from the competition and makes it the amazing program that it is, and that feature is layers!


 
The original book, “Layers: The Complete Guide to Photoshop's Most Powerful Feature” came out in 2008 when CS3 was the current version of Photoshop. That book was an instant hit and flew off the bookshelves. But Photoshop has been updated twice since then and a lot of things have changed since that original 1st Edition, so the book has also been updated to the new and improved 2nd Edition designed for Photoshop CS5.

I’ve been using Photoshop for 10 years now and was amazed at how much I was able to learn from this book. The author, Matt Kloskokwski said in an interview that he wished a book like this was around when he was first learning Photoshop. I definitely second that. There is a ton of information on things that you’ll use everyday plus other things that most people shy away from (face it Photoshop can be a little intimidating huh?)

Matt goes into detail on things like blending layers and adjustment layers, smart layers and layer styles. How to get the most out of layer masks and use layers for your basic and advanced retouching and much, much more. Like all his previous books, this one is loaded with plenty of photographs and easy to understand tutorials. And, for those of us who like hands on training, he’s included a link to download the images used in the book so you can follow along step by step. This book was designed to teach everyone something, from beginners all the way to advanced Photoshop users. If your a Photoshop user, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy today.

Layers: The Complete Guide to Photoshop’s Most Powerful Feature

Remember, as always, keep shooting and have some fun!

Creating Gallery Style Templates in Photoshop

If you’re like me, you probably have a few of your own images on display around your home or office. I’m not going to lie, some of my prints I really like and I’ve created a way to display them that makes them look like they were professionally framed and matted. Not only that, when you get tired of looking at them, you can change your photo in just a few minutes. This tutorial was designed to be used with Smart Objects and Smart Guides, but will work with almost any version of Photoshop, so if you’re using CS3 or newer your all set.

Take a look at the image above, I use this style most of the time. The total size of the print is 11 by 14inch. If you look at my image, it appears to be double-matted. I’ve got mine framed in thin black metal frame, available at your local craft or frame store, and it gives it a classy-gallery style feel. Here’s a little tutorial that will show you how to create you own in just a few minutes.

1. Start by opening a new document and make it a 14in width by 11in height. Set your resolution to 240, and your Color Mode to RGB or sRGB and the make sure the Background Contents is set to white.

2. On your keyboard, press and hold the Control key (Ctrl) then tap the R key to bring up your rulers. It should be set to inches, if not, right click directly on the ruler and set it to inches. We’re going to need these to help us measure out our two matt layers. Now we want to create our first border.

3. On the bottom of the layers pallette, click the new layer icon or use the keyboard shortcut, Shift, Ctrl + N, when the dialog box comes up, name it Fill layer and click OK. You should see a blank layer on top of your white background layer in your layers pallette now.

4. Here is where our rulers come in handy. Left click and hold the ruler itself on the top of the window and drag a guide down until it reaches the 1inch mark and then let go of the mouse. Now we need the bottom guide so left click the top again and drag down to the 9 inch mark and let go.

5. Now we’ll repeat the same process on the both sides of the document. Left click the anywhere on the side ruler next to the tool bar and drag out a guide all the way to the right side of the document and let go at the 13 inch mark. Now do it again and drag one out to the 1 inch mark. If your guides aren’t exactly at their marks, tap the V key and then you can drag them to the correct spots. You should have 4 guides that form a rectangular shape in the middle.


6. Make sure your working on the empty top layer. (it will be blue in the Layers Pallette) Here is where we create our first matt border. Tap the M key to bring up the Rectangular Marquee tool. Look in the tool bar and if the rectangular tool isn’t showing, hold the shift key and tap the M key again. Your curser will look like a little plus sign, click directly where your guides intersect in the upper left corner and drag out a box where your guides intersect in the bottom left corner and let go. You should see the marching ants forming a rectangular shape.


7. Now tap the letter D to set your colors to black and white, then tap the letter X to change the foreground color to white. Now hold the Alt key and then tap the delete key. Your rectangle should be filled with white now. You should see a white box in the middle of your new layer in the Layers Pallette.

8. We need some layer style effects now and to do some magic. First, go up to the top of the Layers Pallette and set the Fill opacity to 0. To do this you can either click the little arrow or left click and drag next where it says Fill, (this is called a scrubby slider).

9. Now double-click next to the name on the Fill layer to bring up the layer style dialog box. On the left side of that panel, click the check box next to Inner Shadow, then click next to the name to highlight those style settings (it will turn blue) Copy all the settings from this image. Don't click ok yet.

 
10. Now click the check box next to Inner Glow in the Styles menu and then click next to the name and highlight those style settings (it will turn blue). Copy all the settings from this image. When you’re done, click OK to get out of that box.






11. You should have a line around the outside edge of an invisible box now. To see what I mean, turn off your background layer (click the eye icon) Hold the Ctrl key and tap the semi-colon (nest to the letter L) to turn off our guides. You should see only an outline of a box right? Now click the eye to turn the background back on and hold the Ctrl key and tap the semi-colon again to turn the guides back on.

12. Now we’ve got to create our template box for our image. With our Fill layer still highlighted (blue) hold down the Ctrl key and click the New Layer icon on the bottom of the Layers Pallette. This should create a new layer underneath your Fill layer. If it doesn’t, just drag that new layer underneath your Fill layer.

13. Now we need another set of guides to create our image window box. You do remember how to drag out guides right? If not, go back to steps 4 and 5. This new set of guides are going to be on the inside of our other guides. I’ve found they look good to me set at 3/8 in from our other guides.

14. When you’ve got all four sides done, we are going to use the Rectangular Marquee tool again, tap the M key and drag out a rectangular shape on the new inside guides. In other words, you’ll create a box inside of the last box. Now tap the D key to set our colors to default, then hit the X key to change our foreground to white.

15. Make sure your new layer is highlighted and you see the marching ants. Now go down to the bottom of the Layers Pallette and click the Layer Style icon (the little black and white circle) and a menu box will come up. Click on Solid Color at the top. A dialog box will come up, make sure white is selected and click OK.

16. Now you should see a Solid Color icon and a layer mask on your new layer. Click once on the layer mask to select it, (you’ll see a white border around it) then hold the Ctrl key and tap the letter I. Your mask should change colors. The outside is now white and the inside is black.

17. With your mask still selected, hit the Effects icon on the bottom of your Layers Pallette. It’s the little fx, get it - Ef-fects? When the dialog comes up, check Stroke and highlight it, and copy the settings in this image. You want to make sure size, position, opacity are set and your color is set to Black. If the color is not black, double-click it to bring up the color picker dialog box. Don’t worry, we’re almost done now.

18. Now we need our image layer. With your Color Fill layer highlighted, hold the Ctrl key and then tap the New Layer icon in the bottom of the Layers Pallette. It should create a blank layer beneath our Color Fill layer, if not, drag it below your layer.

19. Select an image to use in your template and open it in Photoshop. You have to make sure it’s large enough for frame, preferably somewhere around 12 x 10 at least. When you have it opened, hold Ctrl and tap the A key to select your image. You should see the marching ants around your image. Now, hold the Ctrl key and tap the letter C to copy it, and now click Ctrl + D to deselect the ants.

20. Now go back to your photo template. Make sure you new layer is highlighted and hold Ctrl and tap the letter V to paste it into our new layer. Your image should be large enough, but if it doesn’t fill the whole image window in the template, press Ctrl and the letter T to bring up the Free Transform handles. Press and hold the Shift and the Alt keys and drag any corner handle to resize it to perspective. Drag it until you see the Free Transform box just outside your last set of guides.

Notice how the mask on the Color Fill layer hides the outside of your image? Now hit the Enter key or the little Checkmark in the top menu bar to get rid of the handles. If you still need your image centered or just moved around, tap the letter V, click on the photo, and just drag it to where you need it. Now when you have your image where you want it, Right click next to your image layers name in the Layers Pallette, a menu will come up, then click Convert to Smart Object. Now when you want to replace this image with another, just right click again and you’ll get a dialog box called Place and it will navigate to any image on your computer. Nice huh?

21. Now we need some text, so click the top layer in the Layers Pallette to select it. Then hit the T key to select the Type tool. On the title bar, select Trajan Pro as our font and set it to Regular and 34.5 size. Click underneath your photo to start your text, don’t worry if it isn’t centered yet, we’ll fix that in a moment. On my image it says Castle Hill Lighthouse, yours can say whatever you like it to be, then hit Enter.

22. Now hit Ctrl J to copy that layer and then drag that layer beneath your other Type layer. You can also hold the Ctrl key and tap the left bracket key instead of dragging to place it beneath your other text layer for you automatically. You’ll notice I use shortcut keys all the time huh? Now hit the V key (the move tool) and tap the down arrows on your keyboard until you get your second line of text where you want it. (see original image) Now we need to center everything.

23. To finish everything off, hold the Ctrl key and click on both Text layers and the background layer to highlight all three of them, then tap the V key. All we need to do is center all our text, so up on the menu bar, click the 5^th icon and Photoshop will align everything.

24. Almost finished now. Hold the Ctrl key and tap the semi-colon key to turn off all our guides and take a good look at your new image. Pretty nice huh?

25. Last but not least, you probably don’t want to lose all this work you’ve done so far, so go to the File drop down menu and click Save As.....name it Photo Template or whatever you prefer. Now you have a completely editable template you can use over and over. Nice huh?

Remember, as always, keep shooting and have some fun!