Automating multiple .jpg file saves in Photoshop?

November 19, 2007 4:54 PM

How do I automate the saving of multiple .jpg files in Photoshop?

I've got a series of photos I'm using for a website, and there needs to be three image sizes for each photo - a "full" size, a smaller "thumb" size, and the smallest "table" size (for a table of contents-type thumbnail view.) All the files need to be in jpg format.

I tried recording an action to save each file as these three file types, but I could't get it to work very well. For starters, it prompts me to type the file name each time. Also, every time I save it as a jpg the "jpeg quality" dialog comes up, and I have to click through. This makes the automated action not very automated.

Is there a way I can A) stop the "jpeg quality" dialog from coming up and just save each image under the same quality? Like set a "quality default" or something? And B) not have to type in the filenames? If my original file is photo1.psd, could I automate it to save the full image as "photo1.jpg", the thumb size as "photo1_thumb.jpg", and the table size as "photo1_table.jpg" without typing it in each time?

posted by Yiggs to computers & internet (11 comments total)

What operating system?
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 5:04 PM on November 19, 2007

Instead of doing it row-wise, try column-wise, so to speak. Run the Image Processor three times with different settings; there's a means to batch rename within the processor. I believe it's under file->automation or thereabouts.

You could also make the processor dump each batch into a separate folder, and not change names.
posted by notsnot at 5:05 PM on November 19, 2007

You could also make the processor dump each batch into a separate folder, and not change names

Best call right here; you can then use Bridge's batch rename to get the file names correct. As for the dialog box, depending on whether you're using Save As or Save For Web there should be an option to suppress.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 5:09 PM on November 19, 2007

If you're on a Mac, Automator can be of help. With the "Create Thumbnail Images" action you can specify the size as well as the "suffix," which gets added to the file name before the extension.

There's also a "Scale Images" action, too.
posted by eafarris at 5:45 PM on November 19, 2007

If you need to make a batch of these, IrfanView may be your solution (provided you're using Windows). You can easily convert a whole folder full of images, changing the size and using a customized naming scheme.
posted by kepano at 12:16 AM on November 20, 2007

you'll need to start with the biggest sized photo, in one photoshop document, with all the different photos on differrent layers.

Now open it in Imageready. File > Export > Save Layers As Files.

You can then choose whether to save them as photo1.jpg, photo2.jpg etc.

Click save, all the layers are now JPEGs in the folder you specified.

Now resize the image to next dimensions, rinse, repeat
posted by derbs at 2:46 AM on November 20, 2007

I would just do this in GraphicConverter on Mac.
posted by joeclark at 6:56 AM on November 20, 2007

you could also do this quickly with a couple of runs of the "create web gallery" automation feature
posted by yeahyeahyeahwhoo at 8:15 AM on November 20, 2007

For something as powerful and generally well-thought out as Photoshop, the actions/batch system is a horrendous trainwreck. I suspect that there's a lot of power hidden in there somewhere, but it's completely unusable for normal everyday sorts of operations. It should >not<>
Whatever else you find to solve your problem, please take the time to file this as a bug with Adobe. The more people who do, the more likely it is that they'll fix it in a future version.
posted by Caviar at 5:21 AM on November 26, 2007

Ack. Mangled brackets. That should have been "It should not be this difficult to resize a bunch of images, or convert the format of a bunch of images, or what have you."
posted by Caviar at 5:22 AM on November 26, 2007

If you include a save for web in your actions (and save to a separate folder) it'll save all that dialog stuff (and remember to save to that other folder) so you don't have to hit ok every time. The normal save doesn't save the dialog info for whatever reason.
posted by catcubed at 12:38 PM on December 20, 2007