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Batch processing is great when you have a lot of images to deal with and they all need the same treatment. I once had to color correct, convert to CMYK, resize and sharpen over 500 product shots for a client’s catalogue. Having a good action and batch processing meant that I could start the action on the folder of files and go to lunch. When I returned from my break, the batch had finished and the images were ready for delivery. Now that’s what I call better living through technology!
A Word of Advice on Batch Processing: Before you get excited and start batch processing bulging folders of images, take the time to make sure that you’ve thought of everything and that the action is “bullet-proof” and up to the task at hand. Will it affect all images the same way? Was it designed for a horizontal image only? Will it create the wrong result if it’s run on a vertical image? These are the type of questions you want to ask and answer before you start a big batch process job. Thorough testing of the action is recommended before you unleash it on a folder of important images. Investing the time up front to make sure the action works perfectly will ensure a successful batch with no surprises. And, just to insulate yourself against unexpected disasters, remember to always save your processed files to a separate folder so that the original files are preserved in case there is a problem.
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A Droplet is another way to run a commonly-used action on a single image or group of images without actually having to deal with the Batch dialog settings. You can create a droplet from an existing action by going to the File Menu and choosing Automate>Create Droplet. The Batch dialog will open with a slight change at the very top: you need to choose a location where the droplet will be saved. Next, select the action you want to use in the droplet, specify any file handling options, such as ignore color profiles, and choose a destination for the processed files and click OK.
To use a Droplet to process images, just drag folder or image icon onto the droplet icon and the batch will start automatically, even launching Photoshop if it is not currently running. The nice thing about droplets is that they save you from having to enter Batch dialog settings every time you want to run that action on a folder of images. For high-volume production environments, Droplets can save a lot of time. For easy access, I have a folder on my desktop called "PS Droplets" that contains all of my Photoshop droplets.
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A Photoshop Droplet
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Drag a folder of images onto a droplet icon to launch a batch process of the droplet's action.
If you create a droplet on a Windows system and want to use it on a Mac computer, you have to update it for use on the Mac platform before you can use it. To do this, after you have copied the file to the Mac, simply drag the droplet icon onto the Photoshop application icon and Photoshop will open and update the droplet. Droplets created on a Mac can be used on Windows computers with no updating as long as you add the ".exe" suffix after their name.
Copyright 2003, 2004 by Katrin Eismann, Seán Duggan Tim Grey. All Rights Reserved
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