mass resize software help

[tombo]

hi everyone,
i am wanting some tips on what software or scripts i could use to resize somewhere around 30,000 images. i keep them on an external hard drive but im wanting to be able to keep low resolution (around 1000px width) files on my laptop. The files are kept in many different folders arranged by year/month/event. Does anyone know of a way i can resize all the images at once whilst keeping the folder structure? i have cs3 but i am not so good with action scripts so i haven't yet worked out how to do it. i am happy to use any other software that can do it. i also run os x so a mac program is my only option.

any help appreciated.

[cdifoto]

1. Create an action.

2. Run it with the Batch command.


Tutorial: http://www.creativemac.com/2002/04_apr/tutorials/psbatch.htm

[leaftye]

XnView, pretty easy to do batch processing.

[dropoff]

If you have CS3 you can run Image processor through Bridge and just resize em through there.

[tombo]

ok i got cs3 and tried to batch process them using this tute.
http://www.creativemac.com/2002/04_a...ls/psbatch.htm

i set up the batch fine and started it running however every photo it opens it asks me what compression options i want for the Jpeg, this means i have to press enter everytime this pops up and will end up with me sitting at my comptuer for days doing so.

the method i am using also doesn't appear to be keeping my file structure which is critical.

what am i doing wrong, how can i instruct the batch command to automatically select jpeg quality for every photo?

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

You're not alone Tombo.

I just had PS pausing for every save also (though I'm using CS2).

Previously I've run a batch resize fine automatically, don't know what I did differently but it sure was a pain compared to last time. At least I was only working with a few hundred files this time. I'll admit I spent at least an hour trying to fix it and didn't succeed.

Persist and you will get it, automate in PS is a great tool to your arsenal.

[tombo]

yeh well right now its being a right arsenhole.

ill stick with it, thanks for the encouragement D.P.R

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

As I still haven't got it working fully automatically again I'm the wrong person for advice.

However the book I just read said the second from left column in the action bar is where you select to manually input parameters so should be unchecked for full auto. Reading this still didn't fix me though.

I think my problems in the >automate >batch menu with the fields "override save as" commands when etting up the batch.

Perhaps post a screen shot here of the action and the automate menu and one of the PS pros could give us an answer.

[bauerman]

I have always used a free program called Irfanview for batch resizing jobs. It works very well, relatively quickly and allows you to set all parameters ahead of time (including where the output files will be stored and/or what to do with the originals) and then it just cranks through them one by one until they are all complete. It really could not be much easier than with this program.

You can check it out and download a free copy here: www.irfanview.com

[Ray Schnoor]

I think my problems in the >automate >batch menu with the fields "override save as" commands when etting up the batch.
Put a "save as..." command in your action and then make sure that the 'Override Action "Save As" Commands' box is checked in the batch dialog. This should take care of all your save dialogs during the running of a batch process.

Ray.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

I guess you can't help from the screenshot Ray but in case you or someone else can. Don't know if Tombo with PS CS3 is still out there, appologies for hijacking your thread if you are.

I need to get it working in CS2 rather than other programs as I need to batch repair folders of images including removing clone stamping and colour correcting that varies from image to image. If I can get the open and save commands to work without intervention then it just saves me time I could use for other things (like drinking).

[Ray Schnoor]

DPR,

Are you saying that your action is coming up with a dialog when you get to the "save" step?

If so, what file type are you using? If you are working with jpg, I have found that if there is more than 1 layer and you use the "save" command, a dialog box will come up. If you first flatten the image, no dialog box will come up. When using other file types such as PSD, no dialog box will come up when you use a "save" command when there are multiple layers. I thought that this may be the case since I cannot see what steps you are using in your "reduce noise" action.

Ray.

[quentins]

I don't know irfanview (above), but the free program PhotoResize from RealWorld sounds similar. It will just work its way through as many files as you throw at it. I like the fact that you can rename the program with the exact size you want everything reduced to. So if you're producing lots of pics for e.g. a blog, you rename the program 'photoresize320x240.exe' and that's it - everything will convert to that size. Obviously you can have numerous copies to produce different sizes.

Myself & friends have used it for a while, without any probs.

The link is: http://www.rw-designer.com/picture-resize

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Hi Ray, here are the expanded fields.

Yes I was getting a dialog at every save step. I think at first the problem was because I had the field "ticked" in the second column of the action. Later I think it was pausing because I was overwriting the original file (one of the many things I tried to get this working).

I've now got photoshop saving without a dialog, thanks for your help.

But..
I can't get the batch to pause for me to do the clone stamping.
If I insert a stop "with allow continue" in the action then the batch stops allright. But the batch won't continue onto the next file after I've done my bit. It stops the batch permanently not just for me to do something.

[Ray Schnoor]

DPR,

I don't think that I have ever had a problem with overwriting the original with a save command. I assume when you saved it in another folder, it fixed the problem of the dialog box.

I can't help you with the added stop, as I have never used one of those in any of my actions. I suppose if you can't find a work-around, you could always try to split your single action into two actions. Do all of the steps up to the stop in 1 action leaving the files open, do all of your cloning and then perform the remaing steps in another action. Of course you couldn't do this on a large amount of files but at least in groups of 10 or so. I don't see this as being a problem since you were going to have to be there for the cloning anyway.

Ray.