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Ken Lee
19-Jun-2006, 15:54
Photoshop allows you to record a series of steps and save them to a named file. These files are called "Actions", and have a file extension of ATN.

Many actions available for download, but I am looking for an action that will render a nice looking matte and simple frame, such as we might find in a photographic gallery where vintage or classic b&w images are displayed.

Can anyone recommend a site where this kind of action can be found ?

Thanks !

PigleT
19-Jun-2006, 16:15
How matte and simple are you looking for? Using Image / Canvas size in relative mode twice is sufficient to add a ~2px white line and ~6px black border, for example. (I have a home-grown action that resizes to 1600x1200 before doing exactly this.)

darr
19-Jun-2006, 16:17
Here is a purchased set that I currently use:

http://www.shutterfreaks.com/Actions/Actions.html#Frames

Jeffrey Sipress
19-Jun-2006, 16:30
At shutterfreaks, I use AC's frames. I've gotten great support from her.

And, check out FredMiranda.com.

Ralph Barker
19-Jun-2006, 17:20
FWIW, here's a link to a description of what I do. I'm not sure that it could be recorded as an action, however, as it needs a person to make size decisions.

http://www.rbarkerphoto.com/frames-n-mattes.html

The resulting frame looks like the attachment.

robc
19-Jun-2006, 18:38
here's a quickie action I just created to do more or less what you want.

just unzip it and place in your PS presets action folder and then load into your actions panel from PS.

It creates a copy of the original image and you'll need to save it somewhere afterwards.

172

note that there are loads of free frame actions to be downloaded from adobes web site.

( last edit included a drop shadow shadow on the frame)

Ken Lee
20-Jun-2006, 05:21
Amazing - Thanks to all !

robc
20-Jun-2006, 05:58
Its worth spending some time getting a handle on actions because they can save you a lot of time.

The interface for editing actions is not very clever but it can be done with a little patience.

In the actions panel you can expand the steps for the action so you can see what it is doing. You can also delete any step in the action by dragging it to the waste bin.
You can then replace that step by highlighting the step prior to the step you deleted and then click record to insert from that point onwards. Then click stop when you have finished inserting.

It takes a bit of getting your head around it and you often will need to know what keyboard shortcuts to use to be able to make an action work as you want it to. Also the action panel menu has the option to "Insert a Stop" into an action which allows you to provide info/instructions to the user.

Also note that in the actions panel you can switch a step on/off and also switch on/off the dialogue for a step.

If you have lots of images to frame for web usage then I would recommend editing the action to set all defaults to what you require and then switch off the "Stop" steps. Then you can use batch to do all in one go. You would probably need to add save and close images steps into the action or setup a second action to do that and possibly a third action to run the first two in sequence.

Have fun...

robc
20-Jun-2006, 09:25
Mucho improved version of frame action which does not create duplicate image.
Image is not flattened and frame is created behind all existing layers.
Also styles are added to frame layers so that post frame and mat action edits can easily be performed on frame and mat colours and styles. There is also an option for making the mount a floating mount.

note that if you don't use the defaults I have set you may need edit bevel style and frame style after running the action.


174

robc
20-Jun-2006, 10:54
just discovered that clicking on a step within an action re-records that step so if you want to change defaults in any action, then just double click the step in the action and set new default values.

you may need to be on the relevant layer in image to do the above.

Slade Zumhofe
20-Jun-2006, 22:31
I've spent quite a bit of time making a mat/frame action and am more than happy to share if you want. You can jump on my site to see the results--if this is what you want email me and let me know so I can shoot the action over to you.

Best of luck.