Batch processing image files without Photoshop
October 19, 2015 11:37 AM   Subscribe

In considering whether or not I want to keep shelling out for a Creative Cloud subscription, I have identified the 2 things I use Photoshop for: Batch processing ("Actions") and being able to stitch together screenshots. I was wondering if there are any programs or apps that have these features and are less annoying to acquire than Photoshop. I'm on a Mac.

Feature #1: "Actions" function - batch processing image files. What needs to happen is: I take a folder of one-color icons, I input what I want to happen, and the result is a new folder with all the icons in a different color, and I did not have to do anything "one at a time". My googling turned up that GIMP sort of does this command-line style and that will not work for me. Must be GUI.

Feature #2: I need to be able to take a screenshot of an entire screen, even below the fold. A few years ago I had a browser plugin that did this but I can't find it again. I keep trying different ones but they don't seem to work, and if they do work, they want to upload the images somewhere which is a deal breaker for me. Since not being able to find plugins that do this anymore I've resorted to stitching them together myself in Photoshop. There must be either a functional browser plugin or a cheaper "MS Paint" style app.

What do you think? Am I stuck with Photoshop for this stuff or are there alternatives?
posted by bleep to Media & Arts (10 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Wikipedia has a page entitled Comparison of photo stitching software.
posted by XMLicious at 11:44 AM on October 19, 2015


Pretty much any good screen capture software (e.g. Snagit) will capture images of scrolling documents like Web pages. Techsmith does have a Mac version of Snagit, and it does have this feature.
posted by kindall at 11:48 AM on October 19, 2015


GIMP can do #1 and has a GUI for it on the Mac. I'm not sure if it can do super complex things in batch mode but it can definitely resize change format rotate, adjust levels, etc...

If you're stitching manually for #2 in PS you could also use GIMP for this - the basic concepts are the same in GIMP. Not sure about automated plugins for this.

I used PS (for non-pro stuff) for a long time and find that GIMP does everything I need.
posted by duoshao at 11:48 AM on October 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


I use a program called Paparazzi! to capture full-size browser screenshots (including what's scrolled off the page). Mac. Still available? not sure.
posted by BillMcMurdo at 12:31 PM on October 19, 2015


Best answer: GraphicConverter (Mac) specializes in batch-mode multi-step operations. It can be used for one-off manipulations, of course.
posted by adamrice at 12:35 PM on October 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


The chrome extension I like is called "Full Page Screen Capture". I like it a lot better than, say, Awesome Screenshot.
posted by kpmcguire at 1:20 PM on October 19, 2015 [2 favorites]


Feature requirement #1 depends almost entirely on what specific thing you need to do to the images. There are programs out there that batch-process images that aren't Photoshop, but unless they support the thing you're trying to do, then it wouldn't matter. Is recoloring a set of single color icons the only thing you'd be doing?
posted by Aleyn at 2:17 PM on October 19, 2015


Not sure what you mean by "below the fold", but: ⌘+shift+3 does full-screen snapshots (feature #2).
posted by progosk at 3:00 PM on October 19, 2015


(Wait: full-web-page is what you meant - carry on...)

Also: seconding GraphicConverter.
posted by progosk at 3:09 PM on October 19, 2015


Response by poster: Graphic Converter and SnagIt are working great, thanks!
posted by bleep at 5:46 PM on December 1, 2015


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