Batching a Variations Suite Script

V-Suite scripts can be used in batch operations. This is done in two steps:

• Run the interactive script and save the settings you wish to use.

• Run the batch script using the supplied batch action. The batch action is structured for use as described in the two articles Using File>Automate and Building A Batch Action.

To avoid any danger of losing work, it is strongly recommended that you save the processed images files to a new folder. Don't use the same folders for source and destination, otherwise you will overwrite the original files. Unlike the interactive scripts, the batch scripts in The Variations Suite do not save a copy of the original image as a snapshot.

If Photoshop CS is not installed in the default location, you may need to make some changes to the scripts or action. Please review the installation instructions.

The CS File Browser and Batch Operation

The batch script and action can be used with the Photoshop CS File Browser to process selected groups of images. Select the images you wish to process with <Ctrl><click> and choose the menu command Automate>Batch. Specify the action set and action as shown and select "Browser" as the source and the destination folder: Batch Window.

Watermarks Variations Plus II includes a custom action for automating batch processing using the File Browser.

Batching Using "Opened Files"

This originally came up in a support query that I answered. The user was running Signature Variations Plus, but this applies to all the batch scripts. He was trying to apply the same signature to several files that were already open.

The default set up does not allow for this. It assumes the images files to be processed are in the same folder and are unopened.

However, it is quite easy to modify the current batch action to handle the "Source: Opened Files" option. Simply, uncheck the include item on/off toggle (for more about toggles, see this article):

Specify the destination folder and run the batch action.

Alternatively, provided you are not processing JPG images, you could uncheck the save and close statements in the action and choose "Save and Close" as the destination. Personally, I prefer to save a copy in a new folder to reduce the chance of something bad happening.