TIFF to JPEG "Action" or "Batch"??

[Feihung08]

Anyone got a good 'action' or easy way to 'batch' convert TIFF's to highest quality Jpeg's?!?! I've tried to create my own action for this but can't figure out the "name" change issue. It always uses the same name so it constantly overwrites each conversion file.

I'm using PS CS.

Help!!

[MattyB]

i played around with those automate things once.
i ended up converting every picture on my computer into a thumbnail and another copy of that orginal. which was well over 4000
i sat up alllll night clicking "ok" when it picked up a gif image
about 4 hours into it my brother came in, i explained. he hit the 'esc' key and it stopped...

i could've cried right then and there.

[Feihung08]

i played around with those automate things once.
i ended up converting every picture on my computer into a thumbnail and another copy of that orginal. which was well over 4000
i sat up alllll night clicking "ok" when it picked up a gif image
about 4 hours into it my brother came in, i explained. he hit the 'esc' key and it stopped...

i could've cried right then and there.
LOL!!
I know what your talking about! Luckily it never happened as bad as that for me, but I feel your pain! I guess no one here knows any solid solutions to this since no one's responded though. Damn...........guess that means I have to figure it out on my own. :cry:

[tim]

In CS2, you use File -> Automate -> Image Processor. It's not in CS. CS2 integrated "Dr Browns Image Processor", which you can get for CS here (http://www.russellbrown.com/tips_tech.html). It'll batch convert whatever to whatever. The other way is to create an action, and set up the batch processor like the attached image - ie check the "override save as" check box. I haven't figured out how to use "save for web" in an action yet, so I don't. Hope that helps, both methods should work, I use both for different things :)

[Feihung08]

That's it! I gotta get CS2 then!
Sorry it's taken so long to get back to you Tim.......SUPER busy over here!

And I've been staying away from the "override save as" check box because my last action is to "save as", but maybe if I use this it will create different 'names' instead of overwriting the same ones!

Thanks!

[tim]

Nah you don't need CS2, and yes, "override save as" is so it saves with a unique file name rather than saving over the top of each file. The part of the dialog underneath that box lets you specify the file name to use.

[Feihung08]

Nah you don't need CS2, and yes, "override save as" is so it saves with a unique file name rather than saving over the top of each file. The part of the dialog underneath that box lets you specify the file name to use.
Cool.......I'll wait on the CS2 then........I need a processor upgrade more than anything first!

And I feel so dumb! I never checked that box but I always try and set up a good naming convention using those drop down boxes! DOH!

[tim]

I had the advantage of reading this book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/032127878X/qid=1107482395/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-9127707-6895351?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), which is great for RAW and CS workflow.

[Feihung08]

I had the advantage of reading this book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/032127878X/qid=1107482395/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-9127707-6895351?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), which is great for RAW and CS workflow.
Man, you didn't waste any time getting into CS2 did you! I now put that book in my Amazon wish list too!

[tim]

You'd be better off putting it on a credit card ;) I actually have the CS1 version of the book, Amazon changed what the link points at for some reason. CS2 was pretty trivial to pick up without a book.

[SWPhotoImaging]

I have PSCS2 (v9) on a PC, and there is no selection for "Image Process" under File -> Automate on my system. Is this a snap-in you downloaded? Is it an "extra" you have to locate on the CD and install separately?

[SWPhotoImaging]

I have since located the "Image Processor" in my CS2 menus. On mine, it is an option you reach by starting in Bridge, selecting the file(s) you want to process, then "Tools -> Photoshop -> Image Processor.

I can't find it anywhere within CS2, only via the Bridge.

[tim]

Look under file -> scripts in photoshop.

[SWPhotoImaging]

AHA!

I was misled by an earlier post, and looked under File -> Automate.

Now, there is something I can't seem to make this tool do.

It does fine at taking an entire directory of .TIF images and making a new directory of .JPG versions of all the files, and can even constrain the maximum pixel dimension (long side), change color space to sRGB for web viewing, and also adds my copyright notice to the exif.

This is all FANTASTIC!

What I can't seem to make it do is to also make the ppi go from 240 to 72 for web viewing. I figure a full-sensor image would end up about 8" wide at 72 ppi and 600 maximum width, which should be great for web viewers to look at online, but not worth stealing/printing, because 72ppi is way too grainy. At 240 ppi, the 600 pixel-wide images are more like 3" wide.

Any ideas? Mayne I need a separate action first, to change all the ppi settings?

[tim]

I use an action if I want to change the size of the image. Don't worry about ppi, just worry about the number of pixels, almost everything ignores the ppi value.

[SWPhotoImaging]

Tim, thank you for your feedback.
ppi IS important when you want your posted web images to be ones that can't easily be scaled up by someone that has photoshop. I want what is posted on my web site to be 72ppi, sRGB, as is the general recommended standard for web images. I just can't make PSCS do it en masse, and it is tiring doing several hundred (or more) images one at a time.

[tim]

Web browsers typically ignore the PPI value, or web authors override the width in their html. I don't think PPI matters, none of my web images don't include it and they display fine. Photoshop CS2 doesn't embed the PPI value when you "save for web".

[SWPhotoImaging]

Very interesting

So, I guess I can ignore all the online advice related to "setting ppi to 72 for best web viewing and load times, and to avoid having folks pilfer your images via "save image".

I'll ignore it then . . . .

[tim]

So, I guess I can ignore all the online advice related to "setting ppi to 72 for best web viewing and load times, and to avoid having folks pilfer your images via "save image".

Yes, you can ignore the PPI, just make sure you limit the resolution to sometimes like 600 or 800 pixels along the longest side. Where'd you get the other information from?