workflow automation

[ocris1]

hi there,

we have a conundrum here: part of our workflow involves downsizing jobs that have about 1500 to 2000 images in it. These files are subcategorized in about 20 or so folders. We create web galleries which are exact replicas of our local folders which stay on the local drives.

We are looking for a way to create these lo-res folders by one action, so PM can perform this task without our intervention. At present we have to go into each folder, select all the images, recreate the same folder for the lo-res version and let PM do the downsizing. We'd love to be able to select the entire job so PM does this in the background, saving us valuable time as a job can just process in the background.

I have written to Kirk about this already and as I understand it is a feature that's under consideration for a possible future update. I am just wondering if this is something that can be scripted via Automator in the meantime? I have never written an Automator action, but have written many Photoshop actions. Any advice on this?

Cheers

Christian

[Kirk Baker]

Christian,

we have a conundrum here: part of our workflow involves downsizing jobs that have about 1500 to 2000 images in it. These files are subcategorized in about 20 or so folders. We create web galleries which are exact replicas of our local folders which stay on the local drives.

We are looking for a way to create these lo-res folders by one action, so PM can perform this task without our intervention. At present we have to go into each folder, select all the images, recreate the same folder for the lo-res version and let PM do the downsizing. We'd love to be able to select the entire job so PM does this in the background, saving us valuable time as a job can just process in the background.

I have written to Kirk about this already and as I understand it is a feature that's under consideration for a possible future update. I am just wondering if this is something that can be scripted via Automator in the meantime? I have never written an Automator action, but have written many Photoshop actions. Any advice on this?

For the most part, Photo Mechanic is not scriptable and therefore not able to be driven by Automator.

Please list the entire workflow and let's see what can be done.

-Kirk

[ocris1]

o.k. our workflow is as follows:

per job we have a about 3000 files at the beginning


1) sort the RAW files into folders, about 20 or so
2) edit the files down to about 1500 via starring and then removing the outtakes
3) process the files in bridge and generate hi-res jpgs, which get saved into same location
4) per "save as" command generate lo-res jpgs. In the "save as" dialog box we have to manually recreate the folder in another location on the drive.
5) upload the lo-res jpgs in their respective folders to an online proofing site. That site requires images to be sorted into folders.


Step 4 is what really slows us down. We have to literally sit there for about an hour or two just dealing with the generation of the lo-res files. I would love to have this run on a separate computer or overnight. Basically I would need PM to have the ability to see a child folder and re-create it when saving lo-res versions of the files.

Thanks

[SamFrost]

To me, it looks like you need a field called "put in subfolder with name:" in the Save as dialog where you can specify the folder name required, because then you could use the {folder} variable to make PM put all the lo-res jpegs it generates in a new folder called (for example) "{folder}_lo-res".  When you press 'Save' in the dialog the Finder would then ask you for a destination, but PM would create subfolders as required.  If PM could do this you could open all the original jpeg folders into a single contact sheet, select all, and save as, and you could leave it alone.

This feature would also be useful in the Copy dialog, to let you specify a path to a folder, rather than have to use the Finder's save dialog.

[Kirk Baker]

To me, it looks like you need a field called "put in subfolder with name:" in the Save as dialog where you can specify the folder name required, because then you could use the {folder} variable to make PM put all the lo-res jpegs it generates in a new folder called (for example) "{folder}_lo-res".  When you press 'Save' in the dialog the Finder would then ask you for a destination, but PM would create subfolders as required.  If PM could do this you could open all the original jpeg folders into a single contact sheet, select all, and save as, and you could leave it alone.

This feature would also be useful in the Copy dialog, to let you specify a path to a folder, rather than have to use the Finder's save dialog.

I will be implementing such a feature in the 4.6 version.

-Kirk

[ocris1]

Kirk & Sam,

this is exactly what I'm looking for! Sam, thanks for coming up with an actual solution for this!

Now let me know as soon as the beta of 4.6 is out. (I know it will take a while...), but I can't wait.

Cheers

Christian

[SamFrost]

To me, it looks like you need a field called "put in subfolder with name:" in the Save as dialog where you can specify the folder name required, because then you could use the {folder} variable to make PM put all the lo-res jpegs it generates in a new folder called (for example) "{folder}_lo-res".  When you press 'Save' in the dialog the Finder would then ask you for a destination, but PM would create subfolders as required.  If PM could do this you could open all the original jpeg folders into a single contact sheet, select all, and save as, and you could leave it alone.

This feature would also be useful in the Copy dialog, to let you specify a path to a folder, rather than have to use the Finder's save dialog.

I will be implementing such a feature in the 4.6 version.

-Kirk

Great news