Web Photo Gallery

Web Photo Gallery

The Web Photo Gallery command allows you to personalize your own website by adding your name , contact info , email, etc. Taking it a step further (by adding a logo for example) can be done, but it's not for the faint of heart (or for people with little or no knowledge of Web applications). So here's the deal: I'm going to introduce the basic concept of adding a logo to a Web Photo Gallery layout, but you have to promise me that you'll use caution and get the advice of an experienced user . Promise? Okay.

Step One.	First, let's take a look at the basic idea of Web Photo Gallery (and I may sometimes refer to it as WPG). Command-click (PC: Control-click) or Shift-click to select images in Bridge and choose Tools>Photoshop>Web Photo Gallery.
Step Two.	In the Web Photo Gallery dialog, pick the style of gallery you want to use from the Styles pop-up menu (using the small preview to help you decide). From the Options pop-up menu, choose Banner and then enter the information you want to appear on your website. You can also set the size of the thumbnails, colors, etc. Click the Destination button to choose a location in which your WPG will be saved. Click OK and the website is automatically created (and previewed). So that's itthat's how you create a Web Photo Gallery, but if you want a more customized look, venture on . DAVE CROSS
Step Three.	To customize the layout, you can either edit the resulting files, or ideally , edit the files that are used to create the website. You have to do this using a Web application such as Dreamweaver or GoLive. It can be a little tricky (some styles more than others), particularly if you have little or no experience with Web software. The simplest way to customize a gallery layout is to copy an existing layout and customize that copy. Decide which layout you want to use and duplicate the entire folder. You'll find the WPG layouts here: Photoshop CS2>Presets>Web Photo Gallery. Duplicate the folder and rename it to differentiate it from the original within the WPG folder.
Step Four.	In your Web tool of choice, you'll need to open the HTM page (or pages) and customize with your logo. In some of the layouts, you'll only have to add the logo to the FrameSet.htm page or IndexPage.htm (depending on which layout you choose), while in others you may have to add the logo to several HTM pages. In this example I duplicated the gallery layout called Centered Frame 1 and opened the FrameSet.htm file in GoLive. I added another row to the table and added my logo.
Step Five.	Then when I run the WPG automation, I pick my customized layout from the Styles pop-up menunote that the preview doesn't appear with customized layoutsand the website is created, complete with my logo. Please remember, this was intended to give you just a quick overview of customizing Web Photo Gallery layouts. It takes a bit of practice but it can be done, especially if you get a little bit of help.