Speed Up Your Workflow – Batch Editing, Presets, and Resizing/Sharpening

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Speed Up Your Workflow – Batch Editing, Presets, and Resizing/Sharpening

Did you know you can speed up your workflow by editing pictures in batch? When you spend 5 minutes per individual picture, and you are showing 30 pictures in a gallery, that is 2.5 hours of editing time. If you edit multiple pictures at one time, you can cut that time down to about a half hour!

However, I do have a little disclaimer: You will need to have a good group of pictures that are as accurate as possible in exposure and clarity. If the photographs you are editing need extra special care – such as extensive blemish/scar touch-ups, etc, then they would not be processed in this way.

First, let’s talk about batch editing in Adobe Camera Raw.

In my workflow, I use Adobe Bridge to designate my “keepers” by giving them 5 stars. I then sort my photographs by their star ranking. In Bridge, I select files that are similar, and then open them in Adobe Camera Raw.

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Once in ACR, I make my edits –

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I then apply those edits to the other pictures I have open in ACR.

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Once the changes have been applied to all of the pictures selected, I can quickly customize my edits in each picture if any tweaks are needed.

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I can then save all the files at one time as high resolution JPEG files.

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I can specify the naming convention I prefer in the Save Options dialogue box.

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So now that I have edited those file in just a couple of minutes, I can create another version of the files, using presets or manually editing. I like to include black and white copies of certain portraits because I believe my clients like the option.

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Since the pictures I have in this group are all similar, I can adjust the first one, “Select All” and then “Synchronize” those adjustments to the applied preset.

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Just as I did with the original color versions, I can now “Save Images” to capture the high resolution jpegs of my Black and White files.

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The last thing I’m going to share with you is what I do to prepare my files for uploading to my client’s gallery and/or preparing their slideshow. I like to have 2 version of each file – the “Web” and the “Print” version (aka, low and high resolution versions of each picture).

Here is the directory that contains all of the high resolution files that I saved in my processes above –

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I then go in to Photoshop (I’m using CS5), and utilize the “Image Processor” function. It can be found under File > Scripts > Image Processor.

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In the Image Processor dialogue box, I select the files I want to process –

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I then select where I want the processed files to be saved-

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It is in Step 3, where I resize my images in batch! I choose 900px on the longest side because this is the optimal size for my blog and website. I also choose to run an action which sharpens each picture based on the action specifications in step 4 under “Preferences”-

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And Voila! After the Image Processor quickly runs, I then have web sharpened and resized photographs that are ready to be uploaded.

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I hope this helps speed things up for some of you. Remember, time is money, and any time you can save means greater profits for your business, or if you are like me, it means more time with your family!

Lori Gordon is the owner of Shooting Star Photography, LLC in Birmingham, Alabama. She also is the co-owner of Click Workshops, where she teaches people how to use their DSLRs in manual mode with her partner, Jody Williams, of Jody Lynn Photography in Atlanta, Georgia.

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  1. Linda on November 16, 2010 at 9:49 am

    I batch some things regularly. I use a custom action I created to resize and save photos for web uploading (for facebook, emailing, blogging). After I’ve edited, I run the final photos through the batch.I also use batch with an action that I like to use regularly which pops the colors. Even with the best circumstances, this pop is so gentle that it enhances without making it seem obvious that it was edited. Batching is a GREAT tool! Thanks for this article!

  2. Dawniele on November 16, 2010 at 2:28 pm

    I knew there had to be a way to stream line…though I still don’t think I quite “get” the process just yet, I will use this as a guide certainly.

  3. Jennifer Crouch on November 16, 2010 at 5:47 pm

    I just shot my first to sessions in raw and have over 100 pics to edit. This post is such a blessing to me. I knew there must be a way to do multiple pics all at once. Now I know. Thank you so much for this article. I am very grateful for the information.

  4. Prescilla on November 16, 2010 at 8:04 pm

    Hi, that was a very helpful post. I was wondering, is there a certain size that you crop your pictures to before the client picks the size they want? I could sure use the help!

  5. Tracy Jane on November 17, 2010 at 6:51 pm

    Thanks you sooo much !!! i’v just upgraded from PSE 6 to PS 5 and I am armed with Scott Kelby, Lesa Snider and MCP…. what more do i need to master this monster that is call photoshop 😉

  6. Paul on July 3, 2013 at 7:13 am

    Love this guide, I’ll definitely using it as I shoot loads of photos on a regular basis!Just a quick question, I have tons of files I shot in Jpeg, would this work with them?

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