automate text color change

D
Posted By
DanBase
May 9, 2005
Views
360
Replies
7
Status
Closed
is there a way to automate text color change on 100 psds?

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DR
Danny Raphael
May 10, 2005
By "BG" you mean the actual Background layer or do you have a separate layer named "BG"? The reason I ask is that the opacity of the Background cannot be modified.

The normal practice is to record an action so its commands are applied to layers with specific names, e.g, click on the desired layer (resulting in a Select [layer name] command), followed by the desired command(s). The requirement here is that all images to which the action is applied MUST HAVE the same layer names as the file that was used to record the action. It’s just the way it works.

Do the layer names of your 100 .psd files match the layer names of the file used to record the action? If not, that’s the problem.

A less common method is to record an action in a way where layer names are irrelevant. The only catch here is the subject image must have the same number of layers as the file used to record the action.

If you want to Save your action and e-mail the resulting .atn file to me (click my name above this post), I’ll be glad to take a look. It’s probably something small.
Y
YrbkMgr
May 10, 2005
why does it want to see the exact layers? i thought the whole point was to run action on any document. these docs are exactly the same with different text and I need to make these minor tweeks to many.

Sometimes that works for you, sometimes against you – in your case, against you.

When you record an action and change layers, PS records the name of the layer – the name of a text layer is driven by content. The only way to make it more generic is to plan ahead and make your text layer a generic text name like "Text layer". But no one does that, it’s not practical.

But PS needs to know what layer to select – remember that when you save a layered image, when you open the image you are on whatever layer you saved it in. So even if PS were able to use something like "up one layer" or "down one layer", you’d still run into problems unless you…planned ahead and always made sure you saved the image while a specific layer was selected.

Point is, you can’t do it the way you want because it’s programmatically error prone.

An alternative might be to make an action out of the change. You can open all 100 images (or smaller batches), then select the appropriate layer and your action would be: Change color and/or apply style, followed by a Save or Save As step. That way it’s not layer specific.

Peace,
Tony
Y
YrbkMgr
May 10, 2005
Danny,

I don’t know a great way to say this without appearing to be a bit snotty, but I mean it with the best of intentions.

Whenever you ask posters to e-mail you, and then you subsequently work with them through e-mail, you are defeating the purpose of the forum, in as much as allowing others to either contribute or learn from what’s been done.

I respect you, and mean no ill will, it’s just that it’s frustrating that I have participated in some threads that stop abrubly with no resolution once you engage with folks and have them e-mail you privately. It seems you are collecting information, specifically about actions and droplets that would be useful to all.

I hope you understand.

Peace,
Tony
D
DanBase
May 10, 2005
"An alternative might be to make an action out of the change. You can open all 100 images (or smaller batches), then select the appropriate layer and your action would be: Change color and/or apply style, followed by a Save or Save As step. That way it’s not layer specific. "

what layer needs to be selected to make layer change? how to make layer and style shange without selecting layer?
Y
YrbkMgr
May 10, 2005
The first step in your process would be (once the images are opened), to manually select a layer, then hit the hot key or run the action.

This method doesn’t allow you to do it in an unattended fashion as batching would, but it’s just about the only way to speed up the process.

So…

You have a dummy image open, then select the text layer. Start recording an action that goes: Change color, apply sytle (or vice versa); then File|Save (or Save As) and close.

When you open say, 50 images, you select the text layer to change, press the hotkey for the action. The color and style will change, the file will save and close. Then, rinse and repeat.

Peace,
Tony
D
DanBase
May 10, 2005
so in the dummy psd the text layer should not be named?
Y
YrbkMgr
May 11, 2005
Dan,

The issue is, if you start recording when you are already on the text layer, there is no selecting of a layer recorded – therefore its name is irrelevant. Your action will begin on the current layer. So just make sure you are on the layer to be changed when you record the action, and then when you play the action, make sure you are on the layer to be changed before invoking it.

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Learn how to rescue details, remove flyaways, add volume, and enhance the definition of hair in any photo. We break down every tool and technique in Photoshop to get picture-perfect hair, every time.

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