Work with the Automate Menu

The Automate menu in Photoshop contains a number of options for performing complex tasks, with dialog boxes being displayed for entering values during the execution of the operation.

Use the Batch Command

You apply an action to a folder, including subfolders, with the Batch command. With batch processing, you can leave all the files open, save the changes to the original files, and then close the files or save the modified files to a new location.

To use the Batch command:

1. Click File | Automate | Batch to open the Batch dialog box, shown in Figure 10-3.

   
   Figure 10-3: You use the Batch dialog box to set the options for batch processing.

2. Open the Set drop-down list, and choose the action set.

3. Open the Action drop-down list, and choose the action.

4. Open the Source drop-down list, and choose the source for the batch process. You can choose:

   • Folder, a folder containing files and/or subfolders. Click Choose to open the Browse For Folder dialog box to select the folder.

   • Import, which displays the From drop-down list. Along with PDF Image, the other options will depend on what digital camera or scanner drivers you have installed on your system.

   • Opened Files executes the action on all the open files.

   • File Browser performs the action on the files selected in the File Browser.

   1. With the Folder and File Browser options, you have a set of options, listed in Table 10-1, that you can select.

   2. Open the Destination drop-down list, and choose one of these destination choices:

      • None leaves the files open, unless the action includes a Save command.

      • Save And Close saves the processed files in the same location, overwriting the original file.

      • Folder saves the processed files to a new location. Click Choose to specify the new location.

   3. If you selected Folder as the Destination, you choose the file naming convention using the File Naming drop-down lists. Type the starting number for the files in the Starting Serial # text box, and choose the operating system file naming compatibility in the Compatibility check boxes.

   4. Open the Errors drop-down list, and choose a method for handling errors. Your choices are:

      • Stop For Errors, which stops the action if an error occurs

      • Log Errors To File, which continues the action when an error occurs and writes the error information to a log file

   5. If you’ve chosen to use an error log file, click Save As to set the location for the error log. You can read the error log with a text editor, such as Notepad.

   6. Click OK.

      Tip

      With the Save And Close and Folder options, you can also select the Override Action “Save As” Commands check box. This saves files to the destination folder using the Save As commands in the action. The action you’re using must include a Save As or Save command, or no files will be saved.

Create a Droplet from an Action

Droplets are icons that you can drag a file onto to execute an action. You first create the action using the steps described in the previous sections, and then create a droplet from the action. You can save the droplet to the desktop or another location on your computer. When you drag a file to the droplet, it will open the application needed to execute the action.

To create a droplet from an action:

1. Click File | Automate | Create Droplet to open the Create Droplet dialog box, shown in Figure 10-4. Many of the options are the same as in the Batch dialog box and behave the same way.

   
   Figure 10-4: You use the Create Droplet dialog box to set the options for creating droplets.

2. Click Choose to open the Save dialog box.

3. In the Save dialog box, open the Save In drop-down list, and choose the location to save the droplet.

4. Type the name for the droplet in the File Name text box.

5. Leave the Format as it is.

6. Click Save.

7. Open the Set drop-down list, and choose the action set for the droplet.

8. Open the Action drop-down list, and choose the action for the droplet. The action options are explained in Table 10-1.

9. Open the Destination drop-down list, and choose one of the destination choices:

   • None leaves the files open, unless the action includes a Save command.

   • Save And Close saves the processed files in the same location, overwriting the original files.

   • Folder saves the processed files to a new location. Click Choose to specify the new location.

   1. If you selected Folder as the Destination, you choose the file naming convention using the File Naming drop-down lists. Type the starting number for the files in the Starting Serial # text box, and choose the operating system file naming compatibility in the Compatibility check boxes.

   2. Open the Errors drop-down list, and choose a method for handling errors. Your choices are:

      • Stop For Errors stops the action if an error occurs.

      • Log Errors To File continues the action when an error occurs and writes the error information to a log file.

   3. If you’ve chosen to use an error log file, click Save As to set the location for the error log. You can read the error log with a text editor, such as Notepad.

   4. Click OK.

You can also create droplets in ImageReady, though there are fewer options available. To create a droplet in ImageReady:

• Drag the action from the Actions palette to the desktop.

–Or–

1. Select the action.

2. Open the Actions palette, and choose Create Droplet. This opens the Save This Action As A Droplet dialog box.

   

3. In the Save This Action As A Droplet dialog box, open the Save In drop-down list, and choose a location for the droplet.

4. Type a name for it in the File Name text box.

5. Click OK.

QuickSteps—Fitting an Image

You can resize an image to a set image size using the Fit Image command. This resamples the image and resizes it to the selected size while retaining the aspect ratio. If you have an image that is 400 pixels high by 200 pixels wide and you resize it using the Fit Image command to 200 pixels by 200 pixels, the final image will be 200 pixels high by 100 pixels wide. The aspect ratio (2:1) remains the same, and the longer dimension (the height in this case) is reduced to the specified dimension (200 pixels), and the shorter dimension is reduced proportionally. You can also use Fit Image to enlarge an image.

To fit an image:

1. Open your image in Photoshop.

2. Click File | Automate | Fit Image. The Fit Image dialog box is displayed.

   

3. Type the new values in the Width and Height text boxes.

4. Click OK.

Crop and Straighten Photos

When you scan a group of photographs, it can be easier to scan several at once, rather than one at a time. This creates a single image file that you need to cut into separate images for each photo. Each photo will probably need to be straightened also, as it’s difficult to have all the photos lined up evenly on the scanner bed. This is what the Crop And Straighten Photos tool does—crops the individual images, creating a separate file for each one, and straightens each one at the same time.

Tip

For best results with the Crop And Straighten Photos tool, leave at least one-eighth of an inch between the photos, and have a uniform color behind the photos (usually the scanner cover). Crop And Straighten Photos works best with images with clearly delineated edges.

To use the Crop And Straighten Photo tool:

1. Open your scanned image.

2. Select the images to process: the entire image is the default, or you can draw a selection border around just the photos you want to crop and straighten.

3. Click File | Automate | Crop And Straighten Photos.

4. Save the individual images that are created.

Use Picture Package

When you print an image, you want to use the paper as efficiently as possible. You don’t want to print one 4 x 5 inch picture on an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper. You use Picture Package to place multiple copies of an image, or multiple images, in multiple sizes on a single sheet of paper. This is similar to the picture packages you would get from a portrait studio.

You use the Picture Package dialog box, shown in Figure 10-5, to create a picture package. To open the Picture Package dialog box:

1. Click File | Automate | Picture Package.

   –Or–

   Click Windows | File Browser to open the File Browser. In the File Browser, click Automate | Picture Package.

   
   Figure 10-5: You use the Picture Package dialog box to set the options for printing picture packages.

You now need to select the images to include in your picture package. You can use a single image or multiple images, and you can select your images from several sources. To select your images:

1. Open the Use drop-down list, and choose the source image or images for your picture package. Your options are:

   • File to use an image file that’s not currently open

   • Folder to open a folder of images

   • Frontmost Document to use the active image open in Photoshop

   • Selected Images From File Browser to use the images you’ve selected in the File Browser (The File Browser must be open for this option to be available.)

     Note

     If you choose Folder as your image source, you can also select the Include All Subfolders check box to include all the subfolders in the selected folder.

   1. If you chose File or Folder, the Browse button is active. Click Browse to open:

      • The Select An Image File dialog box, if you chose File

        

      • The Browse For Folder dialog box, if you chose Folder

        

        Note

        Some standard larger photographic paper and print sizes are 5.0 x 7.0 inches, 8.0 x 10.0 inches, 11.0 x 14.0 inches, and 16.0 x 20.0 inches. Picture frames for these sizes are readily available.

   2. Your picture package will display the image you’ve chosen. You can add more images or change the image, but first you should set the properties of the picture package. To set the properties:

      • Open the Page Size drop-down list, and choose the size of paper your printer will use. The choices are 8.0 10.0 inches, 10.0 16.0 inches, and 11.0 17.0 inches. These are a mix of standard photographic paper and office paper sizes. Choose the one closest to the size of paper your printer will use, but it must not be larger than your printer’s paper size.

      • Open the Layout dialog box, and choose the layout for your image or images on the page. The choices displayed will depend on the size of paper you chose from the Page Size drop-down list. The choices for the 8.0 10.0 page size are shown here.

        

   3. Type the resolution for the printed image in the Resolution text box. This should be higher than for web use; 300 pixels/inch is a good choice.

      Note

      Images for use on the Web generally use a resolution of 72 pixels per inch, but printed images should use a higher resolution. If the resolution is too low, the image will suffer from pixelation. This gives a jagged look because each pixel is too large; it is particularly noticeable in curved lines. A resolution of 300 pixels per inch is better for printed images. If your original is at a lower resolution, it is resampled to the higher resolution. For the highest quality, your original should be at least as large as the largest image in your picture package and have a resolution of at least 300 pixels per inch.

   4. Open the unit drop-down list, and choose pixels/inch.

   5. Open the Mode drop-down list, and choose a color mode. Your choices are:

      • Grayscale, which will produce an image with only gray tones, including black and white

      • RGB Color, which is the system used by computer monitors

      • CMYK Color, which is the color system used by commercial printers but not photographic prints (CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black.)

      • Lab Color, which is a color mode used by Photoshop to convert between other color modes (Lab color images can be printed by PostScript Level 2 and 3 printers. If you don’t have one of these printers you should use a different color mode.)

   6. Select the Flatten Image check box if you want all the layers in your image merged. This doesn’t affect the original image, only the picture package. This option is most meaningful if you have added a label to the image, which is described in the following steps. If you flatten the image, you will not be able to edit any labels in your saved picture package. If you don’t flatten the image, you will be able to edit the labels, but your picture package file will be larger.

      Note

      Unless you want a grayscale image, you should use RGB Color or CMYK color. You should run a test with your printer to see which works best for you.

   7. If you want a label to be printed with your image, open the Content drop-down list, and select the type of label. The label will be printed with each individual image. Your choices are:

      • None doesn’t print a label.

      • Custom Text allows you to enter text, which will be printed with the image, in the Custom Text text box.

      • Filename prints the file name of the image.

      • Copyright prints the copyright information that is part of the image file.

      • Description prints the description information that is part of the image file.

      • Credit prints the credit information that is part of the image file.

      • Title prints the title information that is part of the image file.

   8. If you select Custom Text from the Content drop-down list, type the text in the Custom Text text box.

   9. Open the Font drop-down list, and choose a font. Your choices are Courier, Arial, and Times New Roman.

   10. Open the Font Size drop-down list, and choose the size of the font.

   11. Open the Color drop-down list, and choose the color for the text. Your choices are Black, White, and Custom—chosen with the Color Picker dialog box.

   12. Use the Opacity slider, and choose the opacity of the text. You can have any setting from 0 to 100 percent.

   13. Open the Position drop-down list, and choose the location of the text in the image. Your choices are Centered, Top Left, Bottom Left, Top Right, and Bottom Right.

   14. Open the Rotate drop-down list, and choose the rotation angle of the text. Your choices are None, 45 Degrees Right, 90 Degrees Right, 45 Degrees Left, and 90 Degrees Left.

Add or Change Images in the Picture Package

So far, you have built your picture package using the single image selected previously. You can have

multiple images in your picture package also. To add or change the images in your picture package:

1. Click one of the placeholders in the Layout pane of the Picture Package dialog box. This opens the Select An Image File dialog box.

   Tip

   You edit the file information that can be printed with your picture package in the dialog box shown in Figure 10-6. Click File | File Info to open the dialog box.

   
   Figure 10-6: You use the file information dialog box to save information about an image as part of the image.

2. In the Select An Image File dialog box, click an image file to place in your picture package, then click Open. The image is placed in the space that you clicked to open the Select An Image File dialog box, as shown here. If you selected Folder as the source for your images, that folder is the default location for the Select An Image File dialog box, but you can change the location using the Look In drop-down list.

   

3. You can repeat the preceding steps until all the placeholders have an image. If you’ve selected a single image, all the placeholders will have that image. You can add images in any combination until your picture package is the way you want it.

   

4. Click OK. Photoshop creates a new image, which is your picture package. You can save this image or manipulate it just like any other Photoshop image.

5. If you want to save your picture package, click File | Save.

6. In the Save As dialog box, select the location to save the file, type the file name in the File Name text box, and open the Format drop-down list, and choose the file format. These are the same steps for saving any Photoshop image.

QuickSteps—Adding Copyright Information to an Image

When an image is used on the Web, it’s very simple for anyone to download the image and use it in their work. There’s no way to prevent this, but you can embed your copyright information in the image file so that you can at least prove ownership of the image.

1. Open your image in Photoshop.

2. Click File | File Info to open the file information dialog box.

3. In the Copyright Status drop-down list, select the copyright status. Your choices are:

   • Unknown, which is used when the copyright status is not known.

   • Copyrighted, which is used when you own the copyright or know who the copyright holder is (this might be an organization you work for).

   • Public Domain, which is used when the image is in the public domain, that is, when there is no copyright holder.

4. If you selected Copyrighted, type the copyright text in the Copyright Notice text box. Alternately, you can select existing text (created for images previously copyrighted in Photoshop) by clicking the down arrow to the right of the Copyright Notice text box. The text should be something like your name followed by “All Rights Reserved.” You could also include contact information such as your e-mail or mailing address and the year.

5. Type the URL of the web site that has detailed information about your terms of copyright in the Copyright Info URL text box. This site would display your terms of use, such as restrictions on using the image or credit for the image.

6. Click OK.

Create a Custom Picture Package Layout

You can also customize the Picture Package layout. To customize the layout:

1. Click the Edit Layout button in the Picture Package dialog box to open the Picture Package Edit Layout dialog box, shown in Figure 10-7.

   
   Figure 10-7: You use the Picture Package Edit Layout dialog box to create and save custom layouts for your picture packages.

2. Type a descriptive name for your custom layout in the Name text box.

3. Open the Page Size drop-down list, and choose a paper size. There are more choices here than in the Page Size dialog box that is accessed from the Picture Package dialog box, plus you can create a custom page size.

4. If you’ve selected Custom from the Page Size drop-down list, open the Units drop-down list, and choose the measurement unit you want to use, then type the dimensions in the Width and Height text boxes.

Next, you set the size and position of the zones (the image areas in the layout). The defaults are the zones that are in the layout that was selected in the Layout drop-down list accessed from the Picture Package dialog box. You can add and delete zones and change the size of a zone. To change a zone’s size or placement:

1. Click the zone you want to edit to select it.

2. Type the new width and height in the Width and Height text boxes.

3. Type the position using the X and Y text boxes. These start measuring from the upper-left corner. To place the image in the upper-left corner of the page, the position would be X = 0 and Y = 0. To place the image in the lower-right corner of the page, X would be the width of the page minus the width of the image zone, Y would be the height of the page minus the height of the image zone.

4. If you want the image zones to be aligned with a nonprinting grid on the page, select the Snap To check box, and type the grid spacing in the Size text box.

5. To create a new zone, you click the Add Zone button, and then enter the dimensions and placement as described above. You can also delete all the existing zones by clicking the Delete All button and creating new zones.

6. Click Save. The Enter The New Layout File Name dialog box is opened.

7. In this dialog box, type the name for your layout in the File Name text box. Leave the Save In folder as it is (this will save your layout with the existing layouts).

8. Click Save. Your new layout will now appear in the Layout drop-down list in the Picture Package dialog box where you can select it.

QuickSteps—Adding Digital Watermarks to an Image

You can also embed digital watermarks in your images using Digimarc technology. To do this, you must first register with the Digimarc Corporation (http://www.digimarc.com) to get a unique Digimarc ID, which is embedded in your images. If your image is layered, flatten the layers before applying the watermark. If you don’t do this, the watermark will only appear on the layer that was active when the watermark was applied. Once you have a Digimarc ID:

1. Click Filter | Digimarc | Embed Watermark to open the Embed Watermark dialog box.

   

2. Click Personalize to open the Personalize Digimarc ID dialog box.

   

3. Type your Digimarc ID in the Digimarc ID text box.

4. Type your Digimarc PIN in the PIN text box.

5. Click OK.

6. In the Embed Watermark dialog box, select the type of information to embed from the Image Information drop-down list. Your choices are:

   • Copyright Year, which is the year you created the image

   • Image ID, which is an ID you create for the image

   • Transaction ID, which is an ID you create for the transaction the image is part of (This might indicate the client for whom you prepared the image so you can trace its use back to those to whom you gave permission to use it.)

7. After you’ve selected the information type to embed, type the specific information in the text box.

8. Select the image attributes you want applied to the image using the Image Attributes check boxes. Your choices are:

   • Restricted Use if you are limiting the use of the image

   • Do Not Copy if you do not want to allow copies of the image to be made

   • Adult Content if the image is of an adult nature

9. From the Target Output drop-down list, select the medium where the image will be used. Your choices are Monitor, Web, and Print.

10. Set the durability of the watermark using the Watermark Durability text box or slider. The more durable the watermark is, the more visible it will be in the image. You can choose a value between 1 and 4.

11. Select the Verify check box to verify the watermark’s durability after it’s been installed.

12. Click OK.

    To read the watermark after it’s been installed, click Filters | Digimarc | Read Watermark.

Use Web Photo Gallery

There are many reasons to put your photos on the Web. It’s a great way to share photos with family and friends, or perhaps you have a portfolio of artwork you want online. This can be a fairly complicated project, involving images and HTML code, which the Photoshop Web Photo Gallery makes simple. Photoshop creates a home page with thumbnail images, each of which is a hyperlink to a page with the full-sized image. You have a set of style templates to choose from for the layout of the pages, plus you can customize an existing layout or create a new layout (both of which require knowledge of HTML programming).

To create a Web Photo Gallery:

1. Click File | Automate | Web Photo Gallery to open the Web Photo Gallery dialog box, shown in Figure 10-8.

   
   Figure 10-8: You use the Web Photo Gallery dialog box to create web pages to display your images on the Web.

2. Open the Style drop-down list, and choose a style for your Web Photo Gallery. When you select a style, a small preview is displayed in the dialog box.

   • The styles fall into three general categories:

   • The thumbnail images are displayed vertically along the left side of the page, with the full-size image displayed in the center. These styles are Centered Frame 1 – Basic, Centered Frame 1 – Feedback, Centered Frame 1 – Info Only, and Centered Frame 2 – Feedback.

   • The thumbnail images are displayed horizontally along the bottom of the page, with the full-size image displayed in the center of the page. These styles are Horizontal – Feedback, Horizontal Gray, Horizontal Neutral, and Horizontal Slideshow.

   • The home page shows all the thumbnails. To see a full-size image, you click one of the thumbnails. These styles are Simple, Table 1, and Table 2.

   1. In addition to the basic layout, some of the styles include information about the image and the ability for the person viewing the page to enter feedback about the page. Such feedback can be e-mailed to you. Figure 10-9 shows the Centered Frame 1 Feedback style.

      
      Figure 10-9: The Web Photo Gallery greatly simplifies creating web pages for your images.

Use Links for Image Info and Image Feedback

At the bottom of the web page are links for Image Info and Image Feedback.

• When you click the Image Info tab, the optional image information is displayed. You click the Close tab to close the information display.

• When you click the Image Feedback tab, a form is displayed where the viewer can enter feedback about the image. You can save the feedback, and it will be displayed in the feedback form; or you can e-mail it to the person who created the web page. You click Close to close the feedback form.

  

Select More Web Photo Gallery Options

1. Once you’ve selected a style for your Web Photo Gallery, you select the remaining options:

   • If you are using a style that includes feedback, type your e-mail address in the E-mail text box. This is the address to which e-mail from your Web Photo Gallery will be sent.

   • Open the Use drop-down list, and choose the location of your source image files. You can choose Folder or Selected Images From File Browser.

   • If you chose Folder from the Use drop-down list, click Browse. The Browse For Folder dialog box opens. Choose the folder with your images, and click OK. You can also select the Include All Subfolders check box to include all the subfolders in the folder you’ve selected.

   • Click the Destination button. This opens the Browse For Folder dialog box.

   • Browse to the folder where you want to save your completed Web Photo Gallery. Click the Make New Folder button to create a new folder for the Web Photo Gallery. Click OK.

   • Open the Options drop-down list, and choose the options for your Web Photo Gallery. These options are explained in the sections that follow.

     Tip

     Photoshop names the Web Photo Gallery home page “index” with the selected extension. If your web service provider requires a different name for the home page (such as “default”), you can change the file name using My Computer or Windows Explorer.

   1. Click OK. Photoshop will generate the thumbnails and other files required and save the pages in your destination folder. The home page will be in the folder you specified, and folders will be created for your full-size images, thumbnails, and web pages. Your default web browser will open to display your completed Web Photo Gallery.

   2. You have a number of options to choose from the Options drop-down list. Each has its own set of options, which are displayed below the Options drop-down list. The options are:

      • General

      • Banner

      • Large Images

      • Thumbnails

      • Custom Colors

      • Security

General

Your General options are:

• The Extension drop-down list sets the file extension (.htm or .html) for the generated web pages. This is a matter of personal preference.

• The Use UTF 8 Encoding For URL check box, if selected, conforms the URLs in your Web Photo Gallery to UTF-8 encoding.

• The Add Width And Height Attributes For Image check box, if selected, generates WIDTH and HEIGHT attributes for the HTML image tag (IMG).

• The Preserve All Metadata check box, if selected, preserves all the metadata with the image.

  Tip

  Specifying the width and height of an image is recommended. When these attributes aren’t included, objects move around on a web page when it’s loaded; the browser doesn’t know the size of the images until they are loaded, so it doesn’t know where to place objects around them. When the width and height are specified the browser reserves that space for the images and places the other content appropriately.

Banner

The Banner information is displayed in the browser’s title bar (the Site Name) and in the web pages. In Figure 10-9 this information (Adobe Web Photo Gallery and the date) is in the upper-left corner of the page. Your Banner options are:

• You type the name of your site in the Site Name text box. This appears in the browser’s title bar and in the page banner.

• You type the name of the photographer(s) in the Photographer text box.

• You type your contact information in the Contact Info text box.

• You type the publication date (the date the gallery was created or updated) in the Date text box.

  Tip

  Search engines, such as Google and Yahoo!, index the site name. This text should briefly and clearly describe your web site.

Large Images

The Large Image options apply to the full-size images in your Web Photo Gallery. Your options are:

• The Resize Images check box, if selected, will resize your images to the size and options set in the Resize Images options.

• The Resize Images drop-down list lets you set the maximum dimension for your large images. The options are Small, Medium, Large, and Custom. The default values are displayed in the Pixels text box. If you select Custom, you type the dimension in the Pixels text box.

• The Constrain drop-down list lets you set how the image will be resized. Your options are Width, Height, and Both. This is the dimension that will be constrained to the values you set in the Pixels text box.

• The JPEG Quality drop-down list lets you set the compression of the JPEG images. Your options are Low, Medium, High, and Maximum. The selected value is displayed in the text box next to the drop-down list box.

• The File Size slider allows you to select intermediate values between the values in the JPEG Quality drop-down list. The range is 0 to 12.

• The Border Size text box allows you to set a border around each image. You set the value in pixels.

• The Titles Use check boxes—Filename, Title, Description, Copyright, and Credits—determine the information that is displayed with each image on the web page and in the Image Info form.

Thumbnails

The Thumbnail options apply to the thumbnail images that Photoshop generates for your Web Photo Gallery. Your options are:

• The Size drop-down list lets you set the width of each thumbnail image. Your options are Small, Medium, Large, and Custom. If you select Custom, you type the value in the Pixel text box.

• If you’re using a table layout, you can set the number of rows and columns of thumbnails that will be displayed.

• The Border Size text box lets you set a border, in pixels, around each thumbnail.

• The Titles Use check boxes—Filename, Title, Description, Copyright, and Credits—determine the information that is displayed with each thumbnail.

  Tip

  The Custom Colors options set the colors of the Background, Banner, Text, Active Link, Link, and Visited Link on the web pages. A link is active when the pointer is over it and visited after you have viewed the page it links to.

Security

You can easily download images from any web page, so you may want some text to be placed on the images so it’s clear who the owner is. The Security options allow you to easily do this. Your options are:

• The Content drop-down list displays the file information that can be displayed. Your options are None, Custom Text, Filename, Copyright, Description, Credits, and Title. If you choose Custom, you type the text in the Custom Text text box.

• You select the font for the text from the Font drop-down list. Your choices are Arial, Courier New, Helvetica, Times, and Times New Roman.

• You select the size of the font from the Font Size drop-down list.

• You select the color of the text from the Color drop-down list. Your choices are Black, White, and Custom. Custom opens the Color Picker dialog box, and you select a custom color. You can also click the color square next to the Color drop-down list to open the Color Picker dialog box.

• The Position drop-down list allows you to set where the text will be displayed. Your options are Centered, Top Left, Bottom Left, Top Right, and Bottom Right.

• You can rotate the text on the image using the Rotate drop-down list. Your options are None, 45 Degrees CW, 90 Degrees CW, 45 Degrees CCW, and 90 Degrees CCW.

  Note

  You can use the Security options in addition to the copyright metadata and watermarks covered in “Adding Copyright Information to an Image” and “Adding Digital Watermarks to an Image.”

Create a Panorama with Photomerge

You have probably had an occasion when the view was spectacular, but your camera just couldn’t get it all. With Photomerge, you can combine two or more images into a single panoramic image. To create a panorama:

1. Click File | Automate | Photomerge. The Photomerge dialog box opens.

   

2. In the Photomerge dialog box, choose the images you want merged by opening the Use drop-down list. You can choose Files, Folder, or Open Files. Open files uses the files that are open in Photoshop.

3. If you choose Files or Folder, click the Browse button. For Files, the Open dialog box opens; for Folder, the Browse For Folder dialog box opens.

4. If you are using Files or Folder, browse to the files you want to use in the appropriate dialog box. Your selected images are listed in the Photomerge dialog box list box.

5. When you have the images you want, click OK. The merged image is opened in the Photomerge dialog box, shown in Figure 10-10.

   
   Figure 10-10: You use the Photomerge dialog box to create and work with merged images.

6. When you have the merged image the way you want it, using the options described below, click OK. Photoshop opens a new image file of your panorama. You work with this image in the same way you would any other Photoshop image.

7. Click File | Save to save your merged image. This opens the Save As dialog box.

8. Open the Save In drop-down list, and choose the folder in which to save the image.

9. Type the name of the merged image in the File Name text box.

10. Open the Format drop-down list, and choose the file format for the merged image.

11. Click Save.

    Tip

    Keeping your images as separate layers, by selecting the Keep As Layers check box, allows you to make corrections to each image after it has been merged into a panorama. This gives you much more flexibility in fine-tuning the images. For example, slight variations in exposure (where one image is slightly lighter or darker than the other) are easily corrected when each image is a layer. If an image is a single layer, you will need to select the area in the image that needs changing before applying the correction.

The Photomerge Dialog Box

You work with your merged files in the Photomerge dialog box work area. You can change the order of the images by dragging them in the work area or to the lightbox to use later. Here is how you may work with the dialog box:

• Zoom in or out of the image using the Zoom Tool or the Navigator view tools.

• Under Settings, use Perspective to apply a perspective correction to the image. This is an effect you should use by trial and error—seeing if you like your image better with the Normal or with the Perspective option.

• Click the Vanishing Point Tool to set a vanishing point for the merged image. Each photo has its own vanishing point (the point to which parallel lines, like railroad tracks, appear to meet). The default is to use the vanishing point from the center image.

• Under Composition Settings, Cylindrical Mapping is applied to the image after you have the individual images placed where you want them. Cylindrical Mapping is only available when you have selected the Perspective option. It reduces the “bow-tie” effect that the Perspective option can create, as shown in the top image. Applying Cylindrical Mapping reduces this effect, as shown in the bottom image.

  

  

• Under Composition Settings, click Advanced Blending to reduce color inconsistencies in the image created by exposure differences. It is applied to individual images after they are placed as you want them. You should try to adjust the individual images to make them as close as possible before merging them, but this option is good for fine-tuning the image.

• Click Preview to see the effects of the Composition Settings options. This puts the Photomerge dialog box in Preview Mode where you can see the effects of your settings, but you cannot adjust any of the settings.

• Select the Snap To Image check box, to automatically align the images when Photoshop detects an overlapping area. For best results, your images should all have areas that overlap.

• Select the Keep As Layers check box to keep your individual images as separate layers in the merged image. This allows you to modify the individual images after you have created and saved the merged image.