Droplets and Exporting?

[nutsnbolts]

I don't know how else to title this but here is what I'm trying to do or encountering.

I created a action/droplet through CS3 and in Lightroom, I have a droplet that exports the image I select which resizes and watermarks the image which in turn places it into a specific folder. This is all done through the action I have created in CS3.

In Lightroom, when you export an image, there is a section in the export dialogue window where it asks you to specify what folder to export the images.

Now, if I select a folder (let's say the desktop) and then select a post-processing droplet to run, in reality, what will happen is export the image to my desktop and then (based on my action/droplet) will export the image, as well, into a specific folder. Creating two images (one on the desktop and one in the specific folder).

How do I go about eliminating one of the images to be created. I can't seem to think of the logic on removing one.

I figured the actions I created, I can remove the recorded export action but then when it is run against lightroom, it will halt within CS3, prompting me on what to do.

Thanks in advanced for any help with this logic. I can't seem to think right now.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Hi nutsnbolts, welcome to the forum.

There's step by step instructions on my website, which might help http://www.victoriabampton.com/lightroom/droplets.htm

If you set the droplet to save and close, as in the instructions, you'll only end up with one image in the folder you set when you export from LR. Will that work for you?

 

[nutsnbolts]

Hi nutsnbolts, welcome to the forum.

There's step by step instructions on my website, which might help http://www.victoriabampton.com/lightroom/droplets.htm

If you set the droplet to save and close, as in the instructions, you'll only end up with one image in the folder you set when you export from LR. Will that work for you?

Wow what a coincidence. Actually, when I encountered this issue I'm having, I started searching the web before coming here and posting. I actually stumbled upon your site and was trying to follow it. Unfortunately, I think my impatience got the better of me. I will look at your site again. Let me see if I can resolve this based on your steps. I think this will be sufficient. Otherwise, I'll be back!

Thanks!

 

[Kiwigeoff]

Wow what a coincidence. Actually, when I encountered this issue I'm having, I started searching the web before coming here and posting. I actually stumbled upon your site and was trying to follow it. Unfortunately, I think my impatience got the better of me. I will look at your site again. Let me see if I can resolve this based on your steps. I think this will be sufficient. Otherwise, I'll be back!

Thanks!

Welcome and pleased you found a solution even in a roundabout way!!
Please take a moment to fill in your signature with information such as I have to help with detailed answers. (userCP top left of page) - thanks.

 

[nutsnbolts]

Well I read through this again and still can't get it to work.

It's asking me to overwrite the exported image. Any other ideas what I'm doing wrong?

 

[rcannonp]

Try including save and close steps in the action that you use to make the droplet. In the Droplet creation dialog box, set the destination to none.

 

[nutsnbolts]

Try including save and close steps in the action that you use to make the droplet. In the Droplet creation dialog box, set the destination to none.

Can you elaborate more. In my action, I have "save for web" recording which is essentially an "export" within the action.

When I created the droplet, I do have "save and close" pull down menu selected and override action "save as".

Lastly, there is no destination set in the "droplet creation" dialogue box.

 

[rcannonp]

When I created the droplet, I do have "save and close" pull down menu selected and override action "save as".

Lastly, there is no destination set in the "droplet creation" dialogue box.

You can't have the destination set to "save and close" and "none" at the same time. Is "Destination" called something else in the Windows version? Here's a screen shot of the Mac version.

 

[nutsnbolts]

You can't have the destination set to "save and close" and "none" at the same time. Is "Destination" called something else in the Windows version? Here's a screen shot of the Mac version.

I don't have both in there, I have "save and close" should it be "none"?

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Ah, ok, there's a key point in there. Save for Web is not a standard photoshop save - it's an export action, so anything you change in the droplet dialog or anywhere else won't help with that one.

So if you want to use Save for Web, set your droplet to save for web as part of the action, sending to a standard location (maybe an 'Automated' folder on your desktop), don't put any other save as in the action, and set the droplet to None, and
accept that you'll have to delete the LR created files once you've finished. How'd that work for you?

 

[nutsnbolts]

Ah, ok, there's a key point in there. Save for Web is not a standard photoshop save - it's an export action, so anything you change in the droplet dialog or anywhere else won't help with that one.

So if you want to use Save for Web, set your droplet to save for web as part of the action, sending to a standard location (maybe an 'Automated' folder on your desktop), don't put any other save as in the action, and set the droplet to None, and
accept that you'll have to delete the LR created files once you've finished. How'd that work for you?

To all:

I toy'd around with it again (racking my brains in the process) by playing around the "save for web/export" action within photoshop.

You're right, that was the cause of everything. Instead, I did a "save as" (as you have stated in your tutorial), I then proceeded to set my compression and stopped the recording. I then created the droplet with a "save and close" drop down selection and ran it in lightroom and wala! It worked!

Of course, now my question is the following:

Save for Web
Save AS

Between the two, I was always under the impression that save for web is a better option. Can someone explain to me that either one of them make sense?

 

[rcannonp]

SFW generally has more default options set for saving web ready files. One thing is that files are better optimized and saved without a thumbnail which makes for smaller file sizes. Also, a lot of the features that were in Imageready are now incorporated into the SFW dialog. If you wanted to save an animated gif or a basic web design, then you would use Save for Web.

 

[nutsnbolts]

SFW generally has more default options set for saving web ready files. One thing is that files are better optimized and saved without a thumbnail which makes for smaller file sizes. Also, a lot of the features that were in Imageready are now incorporated into the SFW dialog. If you wanted to save an animated gif or a basic web design, then you would use Save for Web.

So if I wanted to do SFW, I would be stuck in doing duplicate images in the droplet from Lightroom, as what Victoria had stated as a workaround?

 

[Victoria Bampton]

I haven't tried this nutsnbolts, but you could give this a try...

Export a single image to a standard folder. Write an action with a save for web which overwrites the image in the standard folder. Create the droplet, with the save set to none. Then try running it from LR. You must save to that standard folder, as the save for web has a fixed save location, and it will hopefully overwrite the LR exported image. (If you save to any other folder from LR, the droplet will still put the sfw images in the standard folder, and leave you to delete the original.)

 

[nutsnbolts]

I haven't tried this nutsnbolts, but you could give this a try...

Export a single image to a standard folder. Write an action with a save for web which overwrites the image in the standard folder. Create the droplet, with the save set to none. Then try running it from LR. You must save to that standard folder, as the save for web has a fixed save location, and it will hopefully overwrite the LR exported image. (If you save to any other folder from LR, the droplet will still put the sfw images in the standard folder, and leave you to delete the original.)

I will give this a try. ON the other hand, this seems to have too many variables just so that I can create a droplet/action to perform a "save to web".

Worst case scenario, I may have to live with "SAVE-AS"

 

[nutsnbolts]

I will give this a try. ON the other hand, this seems to have too many variables just so that I can create a droplet/action to perform a "save to web".

Worst case scenario, I may have to live with "SAVE-AS"

Ok this didn't work. It was still prompting me to overwrite the file.

 

[rcannonp]

I just tried out including SFW in a droplet where the file would overwrite itself, and I couldn't get it to work. I guess that SFW is more like an export plugin and isn't bound by the same rules as simply saving from Photoshop. I seem to remember dealing with this sort of thing in previous versions of Photoshop and having problems then as well. I thought that I might have found some work around, but I can't remember what it was.

 

[nutsnbolts]

I just tried out including SFW in a droplet where the file would overwrite itself, and I couldn't get it to work. I guess that SFW is more like an export plugin and isn't bound by the same rules as simply saving from Photoshop. I seem to remember dealing with this sort of thing in previous versions of Photoshop and having problems then as well. I thought that I might have found some work around, but I can't remember what it was.

I did a quick google search with "save for web droplet action" etc. and apparently, I'm not the only one trying to do this. I haven't researched it enough to find out whether there is a work around but everyone does state that this is about impossible to do.

Later this evening, I will try to see if there is a workaround to accomplish this for the "save for web" is a better way to save the files. Although I do like keeping the exif data.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Ok this didn't work. It was still prompting me to overwrite the file.

When you were recording the action, did you already have a file with the same name in the standard folder, so that it had to ask you if it should overwrite?

 

[nutsnbolts]

When you were recording the action, did you already have a file with the same name in the standard folder, so that it had to ask you if it should overwrite?

Yes, I have exported the same image (same filename) into the folder where I was going to be doing the export in lightroom. As I was recording, it didn't "capture" the overwrite.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Yep, you're quite right, I just had chance to test it too. That's the difference between a PS Save and an Export. You're just down to deleting the duplicate files, and begging for a Save for Web in LR.

 

[rcannonp]

If you don't need to do any reworking in Photoshop, I found that I preferred saving web files out of LR than using Photoshop's SFW. The file size was smaller but didn't look more highly compressed, and they seemed to retain more detail than files that were resized in Photoshop. I think that Photoshop CS3's resampling algorithms need some work. CS2 seemed to do a better job of resampling pics.