Possible to automatically position images to certain areas?

[mm1287]

Long story short...I need a way to quickly drag multiple images to my canvas and put them in certain places without any of them overlapping each other. At the moment, when I select multiple images and drag them onto the canvas, they all sit on top of each other right in the middle until I go to each layer and move to their own space.

Is there a way I can automate the images to go to the correct position? Having to go layer by layer doing that manually takes a lot of time when I have 20+ images per sheet so I'm hoping there is a quicker way. I'm well aware of actions but not sure how I can use that to place images to different parts of the canvas. As far as I know, creating an action will put each image on the same spot of the canvas but hopefully I'm wrong about that and someone can show me the correct way of setting it up.

 

[fotograffiti]

you could try a grid, you can find them on the www and you can alter or even make your own
Then you select each part and place the image into it.
I made this for a photo album



this doesn't take long.

Maybe someone else knows a better way.

 

[Tom Mann]

I'm not sure of the exact details of the arrangement(s) you need. For example, are the photos always in the same place on the page, or do they vary from layout to layout? Are they all the same size? Always the same number per page? Same sort of questions about the background. etc.

That being said, if you need to lay down groups of photos on pages as quickly and effortlessly as possible, I would seriously look into the capabilities of both stand-alone programs and Adobe add-ons that automatically (or semi-automatically) produce:

1) contact print sheets and related layout tools, e.g., in PS and LR:
- - - http://help.adobe.com/en_US/photoshop/cs/using/WS42C3020A-DAD1-4f92-8014-012263F3A51D.html
- - - http://help.adobe.com/en_US/lightroom/using/WSEA90BC04-CD2C-47d2-9C88-EAE40FE64279.html
- - - http://lumens.se/tychpanel/

2) collages, e.g., using programs such as Picasa and Faststone Image Viewer:
- - - https://support.google.com/picasa/answer/19539?hl=en
- - - http://www.guidingtech.com/7151/how-to-create-a-photo-collage-using-google-picasa-3/
- - - http://jlog.jgen.ws/photos/photo-collage/

3) Page layout programs such as Adobe InDesign
- - - Just Google {InDesign templates}

If you need to manipulate the background beyond what one of these programs allows, just set the background to some little used solid color and then remove and replace it in PS once the pix are in the right places with appropriate frames and/or captions.

HTH,

Tom M

 

[mm1287]

Thanks for your responses. I'll take a look at both of your recommendations.

Tom...just as an example, take a look at the attachment. All of the images are the same size and each have approx 10px between each one on the canvas space. I have guides that let me snap the images in place but it does take longer than I'd like. It requires me zooming in and making sure it's snapped into the correct place since the images are so close together when I zoom out. It sometimes snaps onto the wrong side which ends up joining the images when I print them out if I don't zoom in. It's necessary to print them this way to save money on the paper (it's pretty expensive).

 

[mm1287]

Sorry forgot to attach it. Here you go.

 

[hawkeye]

It could be done with Variables and Data Sets, but I would difficult to explain the details in a post. You can however look it up in the help files.

 

[hawkeye]

As an example. Set up the layers with an area on each to be replaced by an image, these become the Variables. Assign a file to replace each Variable as a Data Set.

The first screenshot shows the set up. These are just boxes in the appropriate size. Screenshot 2 shows the result after applying the Data Set.

 

[Tom Mann]

OK, now that I have a better understanding, I would strongly recommend the contact sheet facility in Lightroom (ie, my 2nd link, or just Google it yourself). I think it will do exactly what you want to do, and would be vastly faster than your manual approach, require no manual checking of alignment to a grid, etc.

Tom

 

[Tom Mann]

As an example, the attached took me about 2 minutes using the LR approach, most of which was spent finding a nice set of photos to use for the example, then ooh'ing-and-ahh'ing over each photo that I hadn't seen in a while, LOL.

If you don't like the spacing, number of rows or columns, want to have the file name or some other info appear, want a different border around each image, want a lower resolution than I used, etc., these and many other things are instantly adjustable.

T