new to PM and...

[jimh]

I need to number (sequentially) about 100 files AND have *PROOF* also on the image front so that the client can pick images, but not print them on his end. I do not need the exif altered in any way, just proof and a number on the face of each image.
Will PM batch this for me?
Regards, Jim

[Kirk Baker]

Jim,

I need to number (sequentially) about 100 files AND have *PROOF* also on the image front so that the client can pick images, but not print them on his end. I do not need the exif altered in any way, just proof and a number on the face of each image.
Will PM batch this for me?

Yes, though if you're sending images to a client, there is no way to keep him from printing them.  They will of course have your watermark on them so that is your only deterrent.

Use the Save As feature, turn on Watermarking, use {seqn} as the watermark text.

That should do it.

-Kirk

[MikeA]

Use the Save As feature, turn on Watermarking, use {seqn} as the watermark text.

Kirk --

Speaking of 'save as...' -- I consistently get the error message concerning an inability to save files at high resolution when I select 'save as' and the selected images are Nikon .NEF files (from a D3). I have found, however, that there's no problem exporting for e-mail, or exporting HTML-wise. In both cases I get the kind of output I'm after: 72ppi, converted to sRGB, and with a watermark (and cropping) if I want it.

Is there a way to accomplish this with 'save photos as...'? I would prefer not to have to create HTML pages, CSS files, small thumbnails, and so forth, if all that can be avoided. I must always remove the unwanted HTML and CSS files, then remove the Images and Thumbnails subdirectories from the output directory that Photo Mechanic creates when it exports the files.

Using the save-for-email feature involves launching the e-mail program and leaving it open while the exported images are copied to a location other than the one Photo Mechanic chooses for the e-mail attachments. I found that if I simply close the e-mail program when the operation is complete, the reduced-sized image files are immediately deleted from the directory to which they were saved (I don't know why that occurs; normally my e-mail program, Eudora, would not do so that I know of). Then I have to run the export-for-email routine again to get them back.

I haven't yet figured out how to get past the error message concerning not being able to save at high resolution (could be some silly RTFM problem of mine -- stranger things have happened).

Thanks,
Mike

[Kirk Baker]

Mike,

Use the Save As feature, turn on Watermarking, use {seqn} as the watermark text.

Speaking of 'save as...' -- I consistently get the error message concerning an inability to save files at high resolution when I select 'save as' and the selected images are Nikon .NEF files (from a D3). I have found, however, that there's no problem exporting for e-mail, or exporting HTML-wise. In both cases I get the kind of output I'm after: 72ppi, converted to sRGB, and with a watermark (and cropping) if I want it.

Is there a way to accomplish this with 'save photos as...'?

No, not currently.  Version 4.6 will solve this issue.  Not the answer you were hoping for, but the solution is on its way.

-Kirk

[MikeA]

> Is there a way to accomplish this with 'save photos as...'?

No, not currently.  Version 4.6 will solve this issue.  Not the answer you were hoping for, but the solution is on its way.

I'd say it's roughly 50% of the answer I was hoping for, with 50% being decidedly better than 0% :-). In the meantime, I can use the simplest of the HTML-export routines and then run a script that moves the files and cleans up the output directory. Not ideal, but it'd be an easy one to write and the speed of the PM export operation is gratifying. I might even be able to use this in place of the program I've been using for my batch 'save for web' process. (I'll have to compare the output files closely to see how they differ.)

(I'll sneak in a feature request w.r.t. the 'save as' operation. The option to add sharpening is a good feature. With some of the images, it worked well. With others, it over-sharpened. Some sort of rudimentary adjustment would be useful, if it can be added.)

Thanks.

[Kirk Baker]

> Is there a way to accomplish this with 'save photos as...'?

No, not currently.  Version 4.6 will solve this issue.  Not the answer you were hoping for, but the solution is on its way.

I'd say it's roughly 50% of the answer I was hoping for, with 50% being decidedly better than 0% :-). In the meantime, I can use the simplest of the HTML-export routines and then run a script that moves the files and cleans up the output directory. Not ideal, but it'd be an easy one to write and the speed of the PM export operation is gratifying. I might even be able to use this in place of the program I've been using for my batch 'save for web' process. (I'll have to compare the output files closely to see how they differ.)

(I'll sneak in a feature request w.r.t. the 'save as' operation. The option to add sharpening is a good feature. With some of the images, it worked well. With others, it over-sharpened. Some sort of rudimentary adjustment would be useful, if it can be added.)

Somewhere around here I posted an Exporter template that basically does what Save As will do in 4.6 minus a few features.  I'll have to dig it up...

And yes, 4.6's Save As has a Sharpening checkbox, but it is just that.  No adjustment as of yet.

-Kirk

[Kirk Baker]

Mike,

> Is there a way to accomplish this with 'save photos as...'?

No, not currently.  Version 4.6 will solve this issue.  Not the answer you were hoping for, but the solution is on its way.

I'd say it's roughly 50% of the answer I was hoping for, with 50% being decidedly better than 0% :-). In the meantime, I can use the simplest of the HTML-export routines and then run a script that moves the files and cleans up the output directory. Not ideal, but it'd be an easy one to write and the speed of the PM export operation is gratifying. I might even be able to use this in place of the program I've been using for my batch 'save for web' process. (I'll have to compare the output files closely to see how they differ.)

(I'll sneak in a feature request w.r.t. the 'save as' operation. The option to add sharpening is a good feature. With some of the images, it worked well. With others, it over-sharpened. Some sort of rudimentary adjustment would be useful, if it can be added.)

Somewhere around here I posted an Exporter template that basically does what Save As will do in 4.6 minus a few features.  I'll have to dig it up...

I found the template.  It is attached.  Just put it in your own 'Exporter Templates' folder and then use the Files tab of the Preferences dialog to choose your 'Exporter Templates' folder.  Then when you use the Exporter dialog, choose the 'Image' template.

HTH,

-Kirk



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[MikeA]

Kirk --

Thanks very much for the script! It works very well.

Whew...those Ruby scripts do not appear to be for the faint of heart! Is there some kind of 'forms designer' for Ruby -- VisualRuby or the like -- or do you have to write all of the dialog-box-related coding the hard way?

I decided to keep the new export script files within the same subdirectory tree as those supplied with PM -- in a newly created Image subdirectory at the same level as "autoviewer," "pm_classic," et al. This seems to have worked out just fine. (But if it would be better to use some other directory for user-supplied templates, I could change it easily enough.)

Thanks again,

Mike

[Kirk Baker]

Mike,

Thanks very much for the script! It works very well.

Great!

Whew...those Ruby scripts do not appear to be for the faint of heart! Is there some kind of 'forms designer' for Ruby -- VisualRuby or the like -- or do you have to write all of the dialog-box-related coding the hard way?

We have no visual designer, but it's really not all that hard.  You have several scripts to look at and take ideas from.

I decided to keep the new export script files within the same subdirectory tree as those supplied with PM -- in a newly created Image subdirectory at the same level as "autoviewer," "pm_classic," et al. This seems to have worked out just fine. (But if it would be better to use some other directory for user-supplied templates, I could change it easily enough.)

That's fine for now, but understand that when you install a newer version of PM over your current version, your templates will likely be lost.  Doing like I instructed earlier will solve that issue.

-Kirk

[MikeA]

Mike,

We have no visual designer, but it's really not all that hard.  You have several scripts to look at and take ideas from.

Well...maybe it's just me, but to learn a fairly complex scripting language I usually have to wimp out and buy a book...

>> (But if it would be better to use some other directory for user-supplied templates, I could change it easily enough.)

That's fine for now, but understand that when you install a newer version of PM over your current version, your templates will likely be lost.  Doing like I instructed earlier will solve that issue.

Ok, thanks for that suggestion. To begin with, I moved the .zip file containing the .rb file in question to a subdirectory (of the installation directory) where I keep the installation package. Presumably when PM installs an upgrade, it doesn't completely remove the existing directory tree, then re-write everything. If it does, I'll need to move the distribution files somewhere else! Most applications leave user-created directories and files alone, but recently I ran across a few that remove everything when they are un-installed or when an update is installed...so I'm sadder-but-warier...