Transfer Web settings between Templates?

[Jim]

Is it possible to copy the parameters set up and saved under one template (say TTG Album index) to another new template. This would help in creating consistent settings without trial and error guesswork

 

[lightroomgalleries]

I don't think this is possible. You can only save presets of one template and use it only for that template. depending on the template you can go into the template files themselves and change the default values. which template are you using and which do you want to transfer too?

 

[Jim]

It would be really neat to be able to set up a site with say TTG Album Index and then copy the settings into the underlying albums perhaps using those from the same "family" such as TTG Panic or TTG Smooth galleries. This would give a consistent look to the whole site.
Where does Lightroom itself hold the settings made when you hit Web>Save-Web-Settings? and what exactly does Revert-Web-Settings do when the active template has changed?
I've looked at the .lrtemplate file and it seems fairly undeciperable.

Regards,

 

[theturninggate]

Jim, you can manually edit saved web presets from within the Lightroom/Web Templates folder that sits alongside Web Galleries.

The top of the file looks like this:

internalName = "Panic - Shadows",
title = "Panic",
type = "Web",
value = {
AgWPGTemplateVersion = 1,
properties = {
templateId = "net.theturninggate.web.Panic",
},

internalName is the name of the preset; templateId is the unique identifier for each template, found at the head of the galleryInfo.lrweb file. This is how the preset identifies which template it should be associated with.

Following this, there's a load of gibberish, which I believe is the data for the preview image for the preset, then, at the bottom of the file, are the actually settings that have been changed from default.

That's important -- CHANGED FROM DEFAULT. That should meant that if you leave unshared, template specific options in a template at default settings, those settings should not be recorded in the preset file. That preset could then, theoretically, be applied to any other template with identical settings.

I haven't tested this thoroughly, but I have duplicated and manually edited presets to apply them to new development versions of my galleries.

For example, if you create a header setup for a TTG gallery and want to apply the same settings to another TTG gallery that employs the same header ...

So, you'd open a new template, setup the header, then save a preset. Quit Lightroom. Duplicate the preset and edit the copy. Give it a new internalName and templateId (get the templateId from the galleryInfo.lrweb file of the template you want to apply the new preset to).

Launch Lightroom, and access the preset. It should load the new gallery with your settings.

Like I said, I haven't tested this thoroughly, but I've used the idea before between two development builds of the same gallery template, and I see no reason it shouldn't work for galleries with identical settings, such as the header options in most of the HTML-based TTG galleries.

Cheers,
Matt

 

[davidmknoble]

Jim,

You can also keep a record of your basic color settings for background, text, links, etc. and if you create a gallery using these settings, save it as a Template (preset) so that you can call it up again. Then you can use it many times over and all the galleries will have a consistent look and feel.

Obviously, the same is true for other Web Galleries.

I have posted a web workflow on my blog to help you get started managing all those galleries and settings. You can view it here: http://outdoorimages.blogspot.com/2''8/'5/managing-lightroom-galleries-on-web.html

Also, I have used several of TTG's Web Galleries to do exactly what you have suggested. See: http://www.outdoorimagesfineart.com.

Best of Luck, post your site when you get it up. I'd love to see it.

 

[Jim]

David,
Thanks, I do this, but find that when switching from one web gallery to another, without changing the image selection or leaving the web module, the settings are lost. I want to be able to transfer these settings between galleries without re coding everything.

 

[BobH]

The ability to save and transfer setting would be a nice addition for version 2.

Obviously some templates will have obscure values, but maybe there could be a core group of standard values, Identity plate, colors, upload settings etc, that are there for all of the templates, and could be copied and pasted from one to another.