Pasting an image to always fill same space

[jerseyboy]

I have to make some images 500 pixels square containing a motif that must fill a 250 pixel square area within it. The source images are of varying sizes but the motif must always appear within the 250 pixel square. I am stumped on how to do this.

Any help very welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

[cringer8]

The first thing that comes to mind is setting up a 500x500 blank file, place the 250x250 motif where you want it, and then drag your source image into the that file. It should place the image to automatically fill the 500x500 space as much as possible. Keep the motif as the top layer and drop all of your source images in as new layers. Then it would just be a matter of turning on the image layers one at a time and saving them individually.

The second thing I thought of, depends on the motif itself. If it is something that can be dropped in as vector paths, you can save the paths as a Custom Shape with size and location saved along with it. When you go to use the custom shape, you can use the little gear next to the shape icon to select "Defined Size" and toggle the fill color color option. Just one click, and your image will drop into the same space, at the same size. You can even apply a saved Blending Options file before clicking.

I guess it all depends on what you're trying to drop onto what

 

[jerseyboy]

The first thing that comes to mind is setting up a 500x500 blank file, place the 250x250 motif where you want it, and then drag your source image into the that file. It should place the image to automatically fill the 500x500 space as much as possible. Keep the motif as the top layer and drop all of your source images in as new layers. Then it would just be a matter of turning on the image layers one at a time and saving them individually.

Is there a way that I can save out my coloured pendants into 500 pixel square JPGs as I colour them?

http://www.photoshopgurus.com/forum/general-photoshop-board/46391-changing-colour-motif-3.html

 

[Tom Mann]

@OP - Many programs provide the resizing feature you requested at the press of a button. It often goes under a name like, "Fit to bounding box" or "Fit longest dimension", etc. I use this feature in Photo Mechanic all the time (see attached screen shot). I'm 99% sure it is also available in Faststone Image Viewer, Faststone Image Resizer, Image Magik, the export module of Lightroom, and many, many other programs.

Since it sounds like you are processing a bunch of images and need all of them to have a specified blank area around the image area, after resizing, you could expand the canvas in a 2nd separate step in any of the above programs (as a fast batch process), or, perhaps even faster, just use the "Create Contact Sheet" feature in any of the above programs and then cut them out of there using Photoshop's semi-automatic "slice" tool.

It turns out that just last night I was helping the local volunteer fire department set up mug shots for all their staff -- around 350 people in total. The fire / ambulance chief did all the hard work of gathering all the photos, naming them, etc. I came around with a copy of Faststone Image viewer, set the parameters, and it chewed through all 350 mug shots in under a minute on a slow, 5 y.o. laptop. He wanted them displayed as contact sheets, so I didn't even have to use PS's image slice tool.


HTH,

Tom M

 

[jerseyboy]

Thanks Tom Mann for your useful suggestions but I am already within PS having changed a colour in a pendant and would like to save out the file to 500x500 (original 4.500x3000).

 

[hawkeye]

From what you describe, it sounds like variables and data sets would work for you. Look under Image-Variables.
Define the layer with the 250 px. square as a pixel replacement using the conform method. Define each data set as the picture you want in the square.

Obviously the picture needs to be square, otherwise it will be distorted. I just did two data sets for this example. You can set up a Word or Excel document with all 500 images and then import it as a data set. Then to process all 500, do File-Export-Data Sets as Files.

 

[Tom Mann]

Jerseyboy, I must be missing something.

If I have 1000 images that I need formatted in the way you described, and I have a choice of resizing and changing the canvas size 1000 times in Photoshop (even using an action or PS's other automation features) -versus- getting out of PS as quickly as possible for each image, and then doing the task with a little utility that can grind through these 1000 rote operations unattended and in a fraction of a second of a second per image, I sure know which approach I would take (and have taken in the past).

T

PS - Hawkeye, that's a *really* neat approach (but I'd still use a stand-alone specialized resizing utility).

 

[jerseyboy]

From what you describe, it sounds like variables and data sets would work for you. Look under Image-Variables.
Define the layer with the 250 px. square as a pixel replacement using the conform method. Define each data set as the picture you want in the square.

Obviously the picture needs to be square, otherwise it will be distorted. I just did two data sets for this example. You can set up a Word or Excel document with all 500 images and then import it as a data set. Then to process all 500, do File-Export-Data Sets as Files.

Wow. Many thanks for this which I am sure will be useful in the future.

 

[jerseyboy]

Jerseyboy, I must be missing something.

If I have 1000 images that I need formatted in the way you described, and I have a choice of resizing and changing the canvas size 1000 times in Photoshop (even using an action or PS's other automation features) -versus- getting out of PS as quickly as possible for each image, and then doing the task with a little utility that can grind through these 1000 rote operations unattended and in a fraction of a second of a second per image, I sure know which approach I would take (and have taken in the past).

T

PS - Hawkeye, that's a *really* neat approach (but I'd still use a stand-alone specialized resizing utility).

Many thanks for this interesting point of view.