Software for Product Photos

[Shopguy]

I've done all of my product photos using Photoshop. They look great but take forever to crop, resize, watermark, etc. I've found an easy software package to handle croping and water marking. Click 2 Crop. Click 2 Crop - the fast and easy photo editor.

What I'm looking for now is something a bit more fussy. I like to have all of my pictures the same size. I'll put white borders on the tight croped picture to bring it back to the proper ratio then resize them. Anyone know of any software that can simplify the process?

[elightbox]

IrfanView - Official Homepage - one of the most popular viewers worldwide is very versatile and has great batch features

[Shopguy]

Thanks I'll check it out!

[jleclair]

photoshop has batch actions that will probably also solve your issue. record an action.. give photoshop a file folder full of stuff to repeat it on.. sit back and relax.

more info here

just google photoshop batch actions too. the tutorial was just the first response that came up and seemed to explain a certain scenario well. Just adapt it to the process you use per image.

[sportscenterisnext]

IrfanView - Official Homepage - one of the most popular viewers worldwide is very versatile and has great batch features

In the past I used Photoshop, I find IrfanView a much easier solution and quick for doing batch work. It's a K.I.S.S. product.

[DeanP]

Here's an identical topic on another ecommerce forum with some good links and info:

What is "the" simple photo editing software focused on ecommerce people? - Ecommerce Forums

[Shopguy]

I'm actually using Photoshop Elements so I can't create actions, that would be nice though.

Doesn't seem like IrfanView can do what I want without someone that has the programing ability.
https://irfanview-forum.de/showthread.php?t=9364

Based on DeanP's link looks like I have a few more options to look into. Anyone used Gimp?

Thanks for the tips and suggestions.

[elightbox]

What I'm looking for now is something a bit more fussy. I like to have all of my pictures the same size. I'll put white borders on the tight croped picture to bring it back to the proper ratio then resize them. Anyone know of any software that can simplify the process?

You can do this with IrfanView very easily.

• Open Irfan View
• Click B (for Batch)
• Add the images
• Click Advanced
• Uncheck the Crop and Resize boxes if checked
• Check Canvas Size box, and click Settings
• Select Method 2 (set total canvas dimension)
• select Canvas color
• Set you maximum dimension that you want, and set the Anchor as Center
• OK > OK
• click Use Current Look in Directory (and add fixed\ at the end of the location to create a new folder)
• click Start Batch

All your images will end up being the same size. You might have some that might need to be manipulated manually, but this will do the great majority.

[Shopguy]

Thank you for writing that step by step process up. It certainly helped to give me a better understanding of the batch process. I might be able to make it work but may need to change my process.

Current process:
Crop full size image
Add borders on sides or top and bottom to get aspect ratio of 4:3
Resize to width of 750px

If I could resize them before adding borders that would work but I didn't see a way to set a max width and height. Because the aspect ratio wouldn't be corrected yet I would need the resize to be able to look at height and width separately.

Actually I may try playing around with a script...

[Shopguy]

I hesitate to post this as its a complete hack job. But hey it works...

This is a VBScript that launches Irfanview using the command line. Probably best not to fool with it unless you have a handle on basic programming logic. You'll likely have to change some of the code to meet your own needs.

It's based on this script that allows you to drag and drop the pictures to need adjusted.
Resizing (multiple) images with IrfanView and VBScript on Windows - YouTube

' Based on
' Nioi Pier Giuliano

' Can't talk, computing? | something somewhat related to computers

' purpose of this script:
' resizes images with irfanview and saves them in the script folder

' Modified to create images with a specific aspect ratio
' Various Code noted below from:
' blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/


'----------------------DO NOT modify this----------------------------
set objShell = wscript.createObject("wscript.shell")
set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

DIM exe,switch,convert,all,width,height,installationPa th,info,genText,iniFile
Const ForReading = 1
Const ForWriting = 2
'--------------------------------------------------------------------


'-----------------PLEASE DO modify this at your needs----------------
installationPath = "C:\Program Files (x86)\IrfanView\"
runLocation = "C:\Users\Tim\Desktop\Temp"
'--------------------------------------------------------------------


'----------------------Set command line strings----------------------------
exe = "CMD /C " & """" & installationPath & "i_view32.exe" & """"
iniFile = runLocation & "\i_view32.ini"
info = " /info=" & runLocation & "\fileInfo.txt"
switch = " /advancedbatch /ini=" & runLocation & " /convert="

'----------------------Execute----------------------------
scriptFolder = objFSO.GetParentFolderName(Wscript.ScriptFullName)

For Each a In WScript.Arguments

set objFile = objFSO.GetFile(a)
convert= "$D$N_test.jpg" 'Uses IrfanView patterns to name new file
'Alternate file naming option
'convert= scriptFolder & "\" & objFSO.GetBaseName(objFile) & "_rid." & objFSO.GetExtensionName(objFile)
'----------------------Generate text file----------------------------
genText= exe & " " & a & info
iReturn = objShell.Run(genText, , True)
'WScript.Echo all
'----------------------Retrieve dimensions----------------------------
'--Get the current height and width from fileInfo.txt
'-- Code from Sign in to your Microsoft account

Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile(runLocation & "\fileInfo.txt")

Do Until objFile.AtEndOfStream
strData = ""
strSearchString = objFile.ReadLine

intStart = InStr(strSearchString, "Image dimensions = ") 'Find the start of pic dimensions

If intStart <> 0 Then
intStart = intStart + 19
strText = Mid(strSearchString, intStart, 50)'strText will contain both dimensions
strWidth = "" 'null the value

For i = 1 to Len(strText)
If Mid(strText, i, 1) = " " Then
Exit For
Else
strWidth = strWidth & Mid(strText, i, 1)'strWidth just has the width
End If
Next
End If
Loop

intStart2 = InStr(strText, "x")'find the start of heigth dimension
intStart2 = intStart2 + 2

strText2 = Mid(strText, intStart2, 10)
strHeight = "" 'null the value

For i = 1 to Len(strText2)
If Mid(strText2, i, 1) = " " Then
Exit For
Else
strHeight = strHeight & Mid(strText2, i, 1)'strHeight is the height
End If
Next


'----------------------Analyze dimensions----------------------------
'--Determine which dimension needs to be larger
'--Modify this section to determine the new image size
intWidth = clng(strWidth)
intHeight = clng(strHeight)

If intWidth/intHeight > 1.33 Then
If intWidth/intHeight < 1.34 Then
widthNew = intWidth
heightNew = intHeight
Else
widthNew = intWidth
heightNew = round(intWidth/4*3)
End If
Else
widthNew = round(intHeight*4/3)
heightNew = intHeight
End If


'----------------------New Dimensions----------------------------
'--Write to ini file the new dimensions CanvW and CanvH
'-- Code from Can I Edit .INI Files Using a Script? - Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs --


Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objTextFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile(iniFile, ForReading)
strNewFile = "" 'null the value

Do Until objTextFile.AtEndOfStream
strNextLine = objTextFile.Readline

intLineFinder = InStr(strNextLine, "CanvW")
If intLineFinder <> 0 Then
strNextLine = "CanvW=" & widthNew
End If

intLineFinder = InStr(strNextLine, "CanvH")
If intLineFinder <> 0 Then
strNextLine = "CanvH=" & heightNew
End If

strNewFile = strNewFile & strNextLine & vbCrLf
Loop

objTextFile.Close

Set objTextFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile(iniFile, ForWriting)

objTextFile.WriteLine strNewFile
objTextFile.Close


'----------------------Execute conversion----------------------------
all= exe & " " & a & switch & convert
iReturn = objShell.Run(all, , True)
'WScript.Echo all

Next
'--------------------------------------------------------------------

[Caloby]

I find gimp works pretty well and the controls are similar to photoshop so the learning curve is minimal.

Open a new gimp window set to the size you need - 300x250, 800x800, etc..

Choose your background color - white is default, I think.

Take your photo/pic - size accordingly w/tool, use center tool, save.

I can usually process 20 pics per minute using those steps --- you get faster as you get used to it.