Preserve Transparency Switch
I have After Effects CC, but I can't find the preserve transparency switch. Any one know where I can find. It doesn't show up in the place i thought it should.
Most likely it's because the column showing the switch is disabled. To change this, right click (or control-click) on the bar which has the various columns (it says things like "Source Name" "Switches" "Parent" etc), got to Columns>>Modes. Make sure "Modes" is checked.
Similar Messages
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FEATURE REQUEST: Preserve Transparency of Files when Opening As Layers in Photoshop
I am a digital scrapbooker and I have begun using Lightroom to organize my digital scrapbooking supplies. A file format that is very common in digital scrapbooking is PNG format. However, PNG is not setup to accept metadata so part of my workflow is converting the PNG files to PSD files to retain the transparency and adding the ability to add metadata.
This works very well for me - when I want to scrapbook, I can search for my supplies by color, etc. and then choose Edit In, etc. The biggest drawback is that I can't do Edit In > Open As Layers in Photoshop without losing the transparency in the PSD (formerly PNG file). The transparency is retained when I choose Edit In> Edit in Adobe Photoshop CS5 > Edit Original.
So if you all could do something to preserve the original and still open it as layers in Photoshop, that would be wonderful!
Kayla LamoreauxAnother request that goes along with this one - is allowing transparent files to retain their transparency in the Print Module. I am building storyboards and would love to be able to add a transparent TIF or PSD file on top of photos before printing.
Thanks! -
How to save png from psd that preserves transparency of 85% FILL opacity & 100% Layer opacity?
I am using PS CS3. My design has a shiny colored glass type effect with 100% layer opacity, but an 85% fill opacity so that you can see through it. I have tried everything to save as a png file that preserves the transparency but nothing works. Thanks for any help!
Thank you both for your help and questions.
I am using several effects including bevel and emboss, inner shadow, inner glow, satin, etc. If I lower the layer opacity then everything is affected and I want my highlights, etc. to stay crisp and still be able to see through the object as if it were colored glass.
I did finally figure out how to get it to do what I wanted. I lowered my fill opacity to 0% and added a color overlay at 65% opacity. This got me the exact look and transparency that I wanted when I saved as a png.
Thanks again. -
Preserving Transparency from Photoshop CS3 to Illustrator CS3
Hello all,
I'm trying to figure out how to preserve an image's transparency between Photoshop and Illustrator. Both apps are CS3.
In the broader design context, I'm trying to move an isolated wine bottle from Photoshop into an Illustrator document. I'd like the neck of the bottle to overhang a series of dotted lines in the Illustrator document.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanksdouble-click the background layer, so that it becomes Layer 0, or whatever you want to name it. Background layers are not capable of transparency, so you have to make the layer into a non-background layer.
A more flexible way to do this; instead of *deleting* the area you want to be transparent, while the selection is active, click the "make layer mask" button at the bottom of the layers panel. This is non-destructive to your original image, and can easily be edited or tweaked in the future.
I highly recommend learning to use layer masks while you are learning to use layer transparency. I'll bet Doug would recommend this as well. -
Preserving transparency using Contact Sheet II or similar
Hoping someone can help with this.
We currently print using a flat bed ink jet printer CMYK++(fixative) capable of printing several images at one time.
We create the file using PS then use bridge and contact sheet II to create the print ready document.
The issue is that contact sheet II makes you select a colour for the background of the document.
If we choee white when we export as a PDF the printer interprets the white area as "coloured pixels" and prints our fixative ink over the entire background rather than under the pixel of the image.
I need to be able to use a contact sheet type solution but be able to preservice the background transparency to stop this from happening.
Any suggestion?Contact Sheet II runs just like an action, so even though the end result is a flattened image, there are still history steps in that image. The last step should be that flattening. So if you open the History panel directly after creating a contact sheet, you should be able to undo the flatten. Then you can simply delete the backgroung layer (which is filled with the color of your choice). Then you can print, the areas around your thumbnails will remain transparent. Do not re-flatten the image after deleting the background layer as this will create a new background layer, and no transparent pixels are allowed in the background layer.
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How to Preserve Transparency for Printing on Silver Vinyl (and Avoid Flattening Artifacts)
I have an Illustrator file that contains a number of icons that are "Placed" transparent Photoshop files (i.e. they were never flattened so there is no white background in any of these placed icon files). The Illustrator file is being printed by a commercial printer on silver vinyl and then cut on a cutting machine. Before giving the file to the printer I have been instructed to do the Object => Flatten Transparency operation to make sure that no artifacts are created during this process. (The file must be flattened because the cutting machine requires that this be done.) My problem is that when I do this a white rectangle artifact is created around each of the icons--and obviously this is not what I want to see when I am printing on silver vinyl! (I have read that one way to ensure that these artifacts are not created would be to select the layer containing all the icons, and then select the layer underneath it, so that the icons are flattened "onto" something. But in this case, there is no "layer beneath!") Does anyone know of a type of "fake" layer that I could put under the icons that would make the Flattening process work--but not impact the look of the silver vinyl? Does anyone have any other type of solution? (I am new to Illustrator and am basically desperate to get this problem solved!) Thank you very much in advance.
They are 720 dpi images being printed on the silver vinyl by a Roland XJ640 inkjet printer
Knowing now that the images in question are, in fact, full-color raster images, the first thing I would ask the printer is this: "Since you are printing onto silver vinyl, how are you going to "back up" the color images with areas of white so that the process color renders correctly?" The references I looked at suggest this is a six-head inkjet printer using 4-color process (CMYK). That would make it a "process plus 2 (spot color)" device.
The lists of compatible inks I saw included a metallic silver and an opaque white. So that suggests two ways this might be being printed:
Depending on the resulting area of "background" silver in the finished pieces, it could be practical for the project to actually be printed on white vinyl, not silver, and the silver "background" would actually be one of the printed inks. Typically, to accomplish that in a program like Illustrator, you would enclose your full-color raster images in a clipping path of the desired shape, draw a background shape behind the clipped raster images which will bleed beyond the eventual cut paths, and fill that background shape with a spot color Swatch which is named so as to be recognized by the software driving the device as its silver ink.
If the vinyl is, in fact, silver, then a white object needs to be printed first, and the CMYK inks printed on top of it. Typically, to accomplish that in a program like Illustrator, you would draw shapes surrounding your images in the desired shapes, and fill those shapes with a spot color Swatch which is named so as to be correctly recognized by the software driving the device. It is usually more convenient to position these objects in front of the CMYK images and set them to overprint. Or, if they are positioned behind the images, then the images themselves need to be set to overprint or the CMYK inks could be set to overprint in the Separations section of the Print dialog of whatever software is actually doing the printing.
The icons on the globe pattern are very small 1440 dpi placed Photoshop files....printing at 1440 dpi with bicubic interpolation...
This is a common misconception about printer resolution. Knowing that a given inkjet printer has a hardware resolution of 1440 dpi does not mean that maximum detail is going to be achieved if the full-color raster images are 1440 PPI.
1440 DPI is not the "extremely high resolution" it sounds like to some. To understand, consider normal commerical offset printing: A typical PostScript imagesetter has a hardware resolution of 3000 SPI (printer Spots Per Inch). And compared to the relatively "fuzzy" dots that are created by an inkjet device effectively "spraying" droplets of liquid ink on a sheet, the printer spots of an imagesetter are sharp-edged dots made by exposing a photo emulsion on film with a laser. And yet, designers wanting maximum fidelity and detail when printing full-color raster images do not go around creating their raster images at 3000 PPI, do they? Why not?
Here's the deal: Whether you are talking about inkjet composite printing or imagesetting, printing full-color images involves process color. "Process color" means you use little tiny dots of (usually) just four primary colors of inks to simulate all the colors in the image. In order for those little tiny dots to simulate other colors, they must do one of two things: They have to either vary in size (halftone screening), or they have to vary in number (stochastic screening) across a given area.
Common commercial offset printing employs the first method, halftone screening. Remember: the resolution of the imagesetter is 3000 SPI. In other words, that imagesetter just does one thing: It creates spots which measure 1/3000 inch. That's a fixed function of the mechanical hardware; the imagesetter cannot vary the size of the spots it creates. So how does it print the variable-size dots required by halftone screening? Here's how: Each of the variable-size halftone dots (the dots of ink that will actually be printed) are built up out of the much smaller printer spots.
This raises the question, how many printer spots are available to build up the shape of each halftone dot? That's where the halftone ruling (expressed in LPI; Lines Per Inch) comes in. And that's the value (halftone LPI) that you consider when determining best PPI for your images. The rule-of-thumb is one-to-two times the halftone ruling. For example, 175 LPI is considered above-average printing in offset lithography. It's one step above the most commonly used "magazine quality" of 150 LPI. So assuming a project being printed on quality coated stock at a halftone ruling of 175 LPI, appropriate raster image PPI would be 175-to-350. Using more is just needlessly wasting data that is going to effectively be "averaged away" anyway ("oversampling"). It can, in fact, degrade the printed results. Note that that's a far cry from 3000, the hardware resolution of the imaging device.
Composite inkjet printing nowadays commonly employs the second method, stochastic screening (also called FM screening, diffusion dither, etc.). Nowadays, 1440 is a common hardware resolution for even cheap desktop inkjet printers. Again, similar to the imagesetter described above, this means that the inkjet printer does just one thing: it bursts onto the substrate little fuzzy dots of ink which measure (roughly) 1/1440 inch. That's fixed; the inkjet printer cannot vary the size of the spots it creates. Note that this is actually less than one fourth the number of printer spots created by a typical imagesetter. So how does an inkjet render all the colors required to reasonably reproduce a full-color image? It prints fewer printer spots of each of its primary colors within a given area. And to avoid a discernable (and distracting) pattern, it distributes those printer spots in what looks like, to a human, a random pattern.
So once again, there is no 1:1 correspondence between each printer spot produced by an inkjet printer and each pixel in a full-color raster image. Trying to achieve that correspondence by making your image PPI equal to the SPI of the printer is just as silly in inkjet printing as it is in imagesetting. It's still just needlessly gross oversampling with absolutely no advantage.
In fact, one of the much-hoped-for promises of stochastic screening in the early days of desktop prepress was that it reduces the PPI needed for apparent sharpness in printed results. (In those days of low memory and slow processing, file size was of paramount concern.) That is, for "comparable detail and sharpness" stochastic screening required lower PPI.
What all this means is: You are not going to achieve any visible detail advantage by sampling your full-color raster images at 1440 PPI instead of at a much lower PPI. Ridiculously high PPI will not make a screened (halftone or stochastic) image include more detail when viewed under magnification. Increasing the PPI of your raster images to the moon does not overcome the rendering capability of the printing process itself.
JET -
Preserving transparency from Photoshop to Indesign?
I have never encountered this problem before, but of course while working on a large multi-page document with a quick deadline I do. Both .pds files and .png files leave a faint box around them that shows where the "rest" of the image is when I print both from InDesign and after exporting... when I look closely on screen I can see them but they are very obvious on paper. I haven't done anything different that I can think of, anyone know of a quick fix for this?
See InDesignSecrets » Blog Archive » Eliminating YDB (Yucky Discolored Box) Syndrome
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How to use the same mask, stencil, etc., for multiple layers? Photoshop equivalent of masked group?
Hi I spent more than half an hour to search manual, forums, and Internet and still can't find the answer. Please help!
For example, in a comp with 5 or more layers I want to use the same mask or stencil or what ever can hide areas of the layers 2,3, and 4 but layer 5 and any other eventual layers below should not be affected.Pre-compose the layers you want to mask and apply a track matte to the pre-comp using the mask. Think of pre-composing as an equivalent of creating a layer group.
Use Set Matte effect on each of the layers you want to mask. This is easiest to do if you apply set matte once and then create an animation preset to apply to the other layers. Just get set matte to do what you want it to do on the first layer, Select Set matte in the ECW or in the Timeline, then go to Animation>Save animation preset. Then select all of the other layers you want to apply the set matte to and apply the preset.
Put the mask at the bottom of the layers you want to mask and enable the preserve transparency switch, then nest this group in the composition with the other layers.
Here's another tip. You could define a custom color for all of the layers you want to use the matt on, then use the custom color for a group selection. This may make things easier down the line. -
Modding the Export Layers to Files script to preserve .jpg quality
Please forgive me if I am posting this incorrectly, but as the thread I initially replied to is marked as Answered I started to wonder whether my question would be seen or not so I started this new thread. My original question is located in the thread http://forums.adobe.com/message/2795719#2795719 because Kari was having a similar issue to mine, but with a different file format. My original text:
I am having a similar issue, except that I need to save each layer as a .jpg, and the Export Layers to Files script is compressing the images in some fashion so that a previously seamlessly tiling layer now has a border that ruins the tile. If I save each layer individually using either the Save As command or Save for Web and Devices with the proper settings (Maximum Quality, Progressive, and Baseline Standard), the resulting images don't acquire this border, so I feel pretty certain it is something in the script that is messing up (changing the compression of) the layers, but I honestly don't know what. I have tried modifiying the jpeg portion of the script this way, hoping to prevent it from deviating from the usual Save As options:
case jpegIndex:
docRef.bitsPerChannel = BitsPerChannelType.EIGHT;
var saveFile = new File(exportInfo.destination + "/" + fileNameBody + ".jpg");
jpgSaveOptions = new JPEGSaveOptions();
jpgSaveOptions.embedColorProfile = true;
jpgSaveOptions.formatOptions = FormatOptions.STANDARDBASELINE;
jpgSaveOptions.matte = MatteType.NONE;
jpgSaveOptions.quality = jpegQuality; // 12
docRef.saveAs(saveFile, jpgSaveOptions, true, Extension.LOWERCASE);
break;
but this doesn't seem to affect whatever setting is being changed. Layers saved to .jpg this way still acquire the border. I don't see what line might control whether the image is saved as progressive or not, nor anything to affect the text setting "Maximum" that I use when I successfully save each layer individually.
I am a complete novice at scripting, so please excuse/explain the obvious mistakes I may be making here.
I have since installed the script listener plug in and isolated a bit of script for saving the intended way, and hope to insert this snippet into the Export Layers as Files script, but I can tell that some of the lines are extraneous (like where it points to the file path I took), but I don't know what is safe to trim out. I sincerely appreciate any assistance with this!Here is the script that uses scriptlistner to do the jpeg save. Note I changed the name by adding '_mod' to the end to remind you that it has been edited. You can remove the origianl version by moving the file to another folder outside the scripts folder or by adding ~ at the start of the filename.
I recommend saving this as Export Layers to Files_mod.jsx. If this doesn't work for you we can try using the scriptlistener saveForWeb.
// Copyright 2007. Adobe Systems, Incorporated. All rights reserved.
// This script will export each layer in the document to a separate file.
// Written by Naoki Hada
// ZStrings and auto layout by Tom Ruark
@@@BUILDINFO@@@ Export Layers To Files.jsx 1.0.0.16
// BEGIN__HARVEST_EXCEPTION_ZSTRING
<javascriptresource>
<name>Export Layers to Files_mod...</name>
<category>layers</category>
<enableinfo>true</enableinfo>
<eventid>6f1c2cf5-4a97-4e32-8f59-f5d7a087adef</eventid>
<terminology><![CDATA[<< /Version 1
/Events <<
/6f1c2cf5-4a97-4e32-8f59-f5d7a087adef [Export Layers to Files_mod /noDirectParam <<
/message [($$$/Actions/Key/Message=Message) /char]
/destination [($$$/Actions/Key/Destination=Destination) /char]
/fileNamePrefix [($$$/Actions/Key/FileNamePrefix=Prefix) /char]
/visibleOnly [($$$/Actions/Key/CompsObject/UseVisibility=Visibility) /boolean]
/fileType [($$$/Actions/Key/FileType=File Type) /integer]
/icc [($$$/Actions/Key/PDFGenericFormat/KeepProfile=Keep Profile) /boolean]
/jpegQuality [($$$/Actions/Key/JPEGQuality=JPEG Quality) /char]
/psdMaxComp [($$$/Actions/Key/MaximizePSDCompatibility=maximize compatibility for Photoshop files) /boolean]
/tiffCompression [($$$/Actions/Key/TiffCompression=TIFF encoding) /char]
/tiffJpegQuality [($$$/Actions/Key/TIFFJPEGQuality=TIFF JPEG Quality) /char]
/pdfEncoding [($$$/Actions/Key/PDFEncoding=PDF encoding) /char]
/pdfJpegQuality [($$$/Actions/Key/PDFJPEGQuality=PDF JPEG Quality) /char]
/targaDepth [($$$/Actions/Key/Depth/TargaDepth=Targa depth) /char]
/bmpDepth [($$$/Actions/Key/Depth/BMPDepth=BMP depth) /char]
/png24Transparency [($$$/Actions/Key/Layer/PNG24PreserveTransparency=PNG 24 Preserve Transparency) /boolean]
/png24Interlaced [($$$/Actions/Key/Layer/PNG24Interlaced=PNG 24 Interlaced) /boolean]
/png24Trim [($$$/Image/Trim/PNG24=PNG 24 Trim) /boolean]
/png8Transparency [($$$/Actions/Key/Layer/PNG8PreserveTransparency=PNG 8 Preserve Transparency) /boolean]
/png8Interlaced [($$$/Actions/Key/Layer/PNG8Interlaced=PNG 8 Interlaced) /boolean]
/png8Trim [($$$/Image/Trim/PNG8=PNG 8 Trim) /boolean]
>>]
>>
>> ]]></terminology>
</javascriptresource>
// END__HARVEST_EXCEPTION_ZSTRING
// enable double clicking from the Macintosh Finder or the Windows Explorer
#target photoshop
// debug level: 0-2 (0:disable, 1:break on error, 2:break at beginning)
// $.level = 0;
// debugger; // launch debugger on next line
// on localized builds we pull the $$$/Strings from a .dat file, see documentation for more details
$.localize = true;
//=================================================================
// Globals
//=================================================================
// UI strings to be localized
//var strTitle = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Title=Export Layers To Files");
strTitle = "Export Layers To Files"
var strButtonRun = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Run=Run");
var strButtonCancel = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Cancel=Cancel");
var strHelpText = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Help=Please specify the format and location for saving each layer as a file.");
var strLabelDestination = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Destination=Destination:");
var strButtonBrowse = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Browse=&Browse...");
var strLabelFileNamePrefix = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/FileNamePrefix=File Name Prefix:");
var strCheckboxVisibleOnly = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/VisibleOnly=&Visible Layers Only");
var strLabelFileType = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/FileType=File Type:");
var strCheckboxIncludeICCProfile = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/IncludeICC=&Include ICC Profile");
var strJPEGOptions = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/JPEGOptions=JPEG Options:");
var strLabelQuality = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Quality=Quality:");
var strPSDOptions = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/PSDOptions=PSD Options:");
var strCheckboxMaximizeCompatibility = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Maximize=&Maximize Compatibility");
var strTIFFOptions = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/TIFFOptions=TIFF Options:");
var strLabelImageCompression = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/ImageCompression=Image Compression:");
var strNone = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/None=None");
var strPDFOptions = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/PDFOptions=PDF Options:");
var strLabelEncoding = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Encoding=Encoding:");
var strTargaOptions = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/TargaOptions=Targa Options:");
var strLabelDepth = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Depth=Depth:");
var strRadiobutton16bit = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Bit16=16bit");
var strRadiobutton24bit = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Bit24=24bit");
var strRadiobutton32bit = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Bit32=32bit");
var strBMPOptions = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/BMPOptions=BMP Options:");
var strAlertSpecifyDestination = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/SpecifyDestination=Please specify destination.");
var strAlertDestinationNotExist = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/DestionationDoesNotExist=Destination does not exist.");
var strTitleSelectDestination = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/SelectDestination=Select Destination");
var strAlertDocumentMustBeOpened = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/OneDocument=You must have a document open to export!");
var strAlertNeedMultipleLayers = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/NoLayers=You need a document with multiple layers to export!");
var strAlertWasSuccessful = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Success= was successful.");
var strUnexpectedError = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Unexpected=Unexpected error");
var strMessage = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Message=Export Layers To Files action settings");
var stretQuality = localize( "$$$/locale_specific/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/ETQualityLength=30" );
var stretDestination = localize( "$$$/locale_specific/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/ETDestinationLength=160" );
var strddFileType = localize( "$$$/locale_specific/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/DDFileType=100" );
var strpnlOptions = localize( "$$$/locale_specific/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/PNLOptions=100" );
var strPNG8Options = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/PNG8Options=PNG-8 Options:");
var strCheckboxPNGTransparency = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Transparency=Transparency");
var strCheckboxPNGInterlaced = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Interlaced=Interlaced");
var strCheckboxPNGTrm = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/Trim=Trim Layers");
var strPNG24Options = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/ExportLayersToFiles/PNG24Options=PNG-24 Options:");
// the drop down list indexes for file type
var bmpIndex = 0;
var jpegIndex = 1;
var pdfIndex = 2;
var psdIndex = 3;
var targaIndex = 4;
var tiffIndex = 5;
var png8Index = 6;
var png24Index = 7;
// the drop down list indexes for tiff compression
var compNoneIndex = 0;
var compLZWIndex = 1;
var compZIPIndex = 2;
var compJPEGIndex = 3;
// ok and cancel button
var runButtonID = 1;
var cancelButtonID = 2;
// Dispatch
main();
// Functions
// Function: main
// Usage: the core routine for this script
// Input: <none>
// Return: <none>
function main() {
if ( app.documents.length <= 0 ) {
if ( DialogModes.NO != app.playbackDisplayDialogs ) {
alert( strAlertDocumentMustBeOpened );
return 'cancel'; // quit, returning 'cancel' (dont localize) makes the actions palette not record our script
var exportInfo = new Object();
initExportInfo(exportInfo);
// look for last used params via Photoshop registry, getCustomOptions will throw if none exist
try {
var d = app.getCustomOptions("4d633fbb-ed90-480d-8e03-cccb16131a34");
descriptorToObject(exportInfo, d, strMessage, postProcessExportInfo);
catch(e) {
// it's ok if we don't have any options, continue with defaults
// see if I am getting descriptor parameters
descriptorToObject(exportInfo, app.playbackParameters, strMessage, postProcessExportInfo);
if ( DialogModes.ALL == app.playbackDisplayDialogs ) {
if (cancelButtonID == settingDialog(exportInfo)) {
return 'cancel'; // quit, returning 'cancel' (dont localize) makes the actions palette not record our script
try {
var docName = app.activeDocument.name; // save the app.activeDocument name before duplicate.
var layerCount = app.documents[docName].layers.length;
var layerSetsCount = app.documents[docName].layerSets.length;
if ((layerCount <= 1)&&(layerSetsCount <= 0)) {
if ( DialogModes.NO != app.playbackDisplayDialogs ) {
alert( strAlertNeedMultipleLayers );
return 'cancel'; // quit, returning 'cancel' (dont localize) makes the actions palette not record our script
} else {
var rememberMaximize;
var needMaximize = exportInfo.psdMaxComp ? QueryStateType.ALWAYS : QueryStateType.NEVER;
if ( exportInfo.fileType == psdIndex && app.preferences.maximizeCompatibility != needMaximize ) {
rememberMaximize = app.preferences.maximizeCompatibility;
app.preferences.maximizeCompatibility = needMaximize;
app.activeDocument = app.documents[docName];
var duppedDocument = app.activeDocument.duplicate();
duppedDocument.activeLayer = duppedDocument.layers[duppedDocument.layers.length-1]; // for removing
setInvisibleAllArtLayers(duppedDocument);
exportChildren(duppedDocument, app.documents[docName], exportInfo, duppedDocument, exportInfo.fileNamePrefix);
duppedDocument.close( SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES );
var d = objectToDescriptor(exportInfo, strMessage, preProcessExportInfo);
app.putCustomOptions("4d633fbb-ed90-480d-8e03-cccb16131a34", d);
var dd = objectToDescriptor(exportInfo, strMessage, preProcessExportInfo);
app.playbackParameters = dd;
if ( rememberMaximize != undefined ) {
app.preferences.maximizeCompatibility = rememberMaximize;
if ( DialogModes.ALL == app.playbackDisplayDialogs ) {
alert(strTitle + strAlertWasSuccessful);
app.playbackDisplayDialogs = DialogModes.ALL;
} catch (e) {
if ( DialogModes.NO != app.playbackDisplayDialogs ) {
alert(e);
return 'cancel'; // quit, returning 'cancel' (dont localize) makes the actions palette not record our script
// Function: settingDialog
// Usage: pop the ui and get user settings
// Input: exportInfo object containing our parameters
// Return: on ok, the dialog info is set to the exportInfo object
function settingDialog(exportInfo) {
dlgMain = new Window("dialog", strTitle);
// match our dialog background color to the host application
var brush = dlgMain.graphics.newBrush (dlgMain.graphics.BrushType.THEME_COLOR, "appDialogBackground");
dlgMain.graphics.backgroundColor = brush;
dlgMain.graphics.disabledBackgroundColor = dlgMain.graphics.backgroundColor;
dlgMain.orientation = 'column';
dlgMain.alignChildren = 'left';
// -- top of the dialog, first line
dlgMain.add("statictext", undefined, strLabelDestination);
// -- two groups, one for left and one for right ok, cancel
dlgMain.grpTop = dlgMain.add("group");
dlgMain.grpTop.orientation = 'row';
dlgMain.grpTop.alignChildren = 'top';
dlgMain.grpTop.alignment = 'fill';
// -- group top left
dlgMain.grpTopLeft = dlgMain.grpTop.add("group");
dlgMain.grpTopLeft.orientation = 'column';
dlgMain.grpTopLeft.alignChildren = 'left';
dlgMain.grpTopLeft.alignment = 'fill';
// -- the second line in the dialog
dlgMain.grpSecondLine = dlgMain.grpTopLeft.add("group");
dlgMain.grpSecondLine.orientation = 'row';
dlgMain.grpSecondLine.alignChildren = 'center';
dlgMain.etDestination = dlgMain.grpSecondLine.add("edittext", undefined, exportInfo.destination.toString());
dlgMain.etDestination.preferredSize.width = StrToIntWithDefault( stretDestination, 160 );
dlgMain.btnBrowse = dlgMain.grpSecondLine.add("button", undefined, strButtonBrowse);
dlgMain.btnBrowse.onClick = function() {
var defaultFolder = dlgMain.etDestination.text;
var testFolder = new Folder(dlgMain.etDestination.text);
if (!testFolder.exists) {
defaultFolder = "~";
var selFolder = Folder.selectDialog(strTitleSelectDestination, defaultFolder);
if ( selFolder != null ) {
dlgMain.etDestination.text = selFolder.fsName;
dlgMain.defaultElement.active = true;
// -- the third line in the dialog
dlgMain.grpTopLeft.add("statictext", undefined, strLabelFileNamePrefix);
// -- the fourth line in the dialog
dlgMain.etFileNamePrefix = dlgMain.grpTopLeft.add("edittext", undefined, exportInfo.fileNamePrefix.toString());
dlgMain.etFileNamePrefix.alignment = 'fill';
dlgMain.etFileNamePrefix.preferredSize.width = StrToIntWithDefault( stretDestination, 160 );
// -- the fifth line in the dialog
dlgMain.cbVisible = dlgMain.grpTopLeft.add("checkbox", undefined, strCheckboxVisibleOnly);
dlgMain.cbVisible.value = exportInfo.visibleOnly;
// -- the sixth line is the panel
dlgMain.pnlFileType = dlgMain.grpTopLeft.add("panel", undefined, strLabelFileType);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.alignment = 'fill';
// -- now a dropdown list
dlgMain.ddFileType = dlgMain.pnlFileType.add("dropdownlist");
dlgMain.ddFileType.preferredSize.width = StrToIntWithDefault( strddFileType, 100 );
dlgMain.ddFileType.alignment = 'left';
dlgMain.ddFileType.add("item", "BMP");
dlgMain.ddFileType.add("item", "JPEG");
dlgMain.ddFileType.add("item", "PDF");
dlgMain.ddFileType.add("item", "PSD");
dlgMain.ddFileType.add("item", "Targa");
dlgMain.ddFileType.add("item", "TIFF");
dlgMain.ddFileType.add("item", "PNG-8");
dlgMain.ddFileType.add("item", "PNG-24");
dlgMain.ddFileType.onChange = function() {
hideAllFileTypePanel();
dlgMain.cbIcc.show();
switch(this.selection.index) {
case bmpIndex:
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.text = strBMPOptions;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.show();
break;
case jpegIndex:
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.text = strJPEGOptions;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpJPEGOptions.show();
dlgMain.cbIcc.hide();
break;
case tiffIndex:
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.text = strTIFFOptions;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.show();
break;
case pdfIndex:
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.text = strPDFOptions;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.show();
break;
case targaIndex:
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.text = strTargaOptions;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.show();
break;
case png8Index:
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.text = strPNG8Options;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG8Options.show();
break;
case png24Index:
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.text = strPNG24Options;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.show();
break;
case psdIndex:
default:
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.text = strPSDOptions;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPSDOptions.show();
break;
dlgMain.ddFileType.items[exportInfo.fileType].selected = true;
// -- now after all the radio buttons
dlgMain.cbIcc = dlgMain.pnlFileType.add("checkbox", undefined, strCheckboxIncludeICCProfile);
dlgMain.cbIcc.value = exportInfo.icc;
dlgMain.cbIcc.alignment = 'left';
// -- now the options panel that changes
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions = dlgMain.pnlFileType.add("panel", undefined, "Options");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.alignment = 'fill';
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.orientation = 'stack';
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.preferredSize.height = StrToIntWithDefault( strpnlOptions, 100 );
// PSD options
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPSDOptions = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.add("group");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPSDOptions.cbMax = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPSDOptions.add("checkbox", undefined, strCheckboxMaximizeCompatibility);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPSDOptions.cbMax.value = exportInfo.psdMaxComp;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPSDOptions.visible = (exportInfo.fileType == psdIndex);
// PNG8 options
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG8Options = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.add("group");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG8Options.png8Trans = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG8Options.add("checkbox", undefined, strCheckboxPNGTransparency.toString());
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG8Options.png8Inter = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG8Options.add("checkbox", undefined, strCheckboxPNGInterlaced.toString());
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG8Options.png8Trm = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG8Options.add("checkbox", undefined, strCheckboxPNGTrm.toString());
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG8Options.png8Trans.value = exportInfo.png8Transparency;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG8Options.png8Inter.value = exportInfo.png8Interlaced;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG8Options.png8Trm.value = exportInfo.png8Trim;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG8Options.visible = (exportInfo.fileType == png8Index);
// PNG24 options
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.add("group");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.png24Trans = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.add("checkbox", undefined, strCheckboxPNGTransparency.toString());
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.png24Inter = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.add("checkbox", undefined, strCheckboxPNGInterlaced.toString());
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.png24Trm = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.add("checkbox", undefined, strCheckboxPNGTrm.toString());
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.png24Trans.value = exportInfo.png24Transparency;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.png24Inter.value = exportInfo.png24Interlaced;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.png24Trm.value = exportInfo.png24Trim;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.visible = (exportInfo.fileType == png24Index);
// JPEG options
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpJPEGOptions = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.add("group");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpJPEGOptions.add("statictext", undefined, strLabelQuality);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpJPEGOptions.etQuality = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpJPEGOptions.add("edittext", undefined, exportInfo.jpegQuality.toString());
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpJPEGOptions.etQuality.preferredSize.width = StrToIntWithDefault( stretQuality, 30 );
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpJPEGOptions.visible = (exportInfo.fileType == jpegIndex);
// TIFF options
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.add("group");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.orientation = 'column';
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.visible = (exportInfo.fileType == tiffIndex);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpCompression = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.add("group");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpCompression.alignment = 'left';
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpCompression.add("statictext", undefined, strLabelImageCompression);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpCompression.ddCompression = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpCompression.add("dropdownlist");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpCompression.ddCompression.add("item", strNone);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpCompression.ddCompression.add("item", "LZW");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpCompression.ddCompression.add("item", "ZIP");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpCompression.ddCompression.add("item", "JPEG");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpCompression.ddCompression.onChange = function() {
if (this.selection.index == compJPEGIndex) {
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpQuality.stQuality.enabled = true;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpQuality.etQuality.enabled = true;
} else {
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpQuality.stQuality.enabled = false;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpQuality.etQuality.enabled = false;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpQuality = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.add("group");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpQuality.alignment = 'left';
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpQuality.stQuality = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpQuality.add("statictext", undefined, strLabelQuality);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpQuality.etQuality = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpQuality.add("edittext", undefined, exportInfo.tiffJpegQuality.toString());
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpQuality.etQuality.preferredSize.width = StrToIntWithDefault( stretQuality, 30 );
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpQuality.etQuality.graphics.disabledBackgroundColor = brush;
var index;
switch (exportInfo.tiffCompression) {
case TIFFEncoding.NONE: index = compNoneIndex; break;
case TIFFEncoding.TIFFLZW: index = compLZWIndex; break;
case TIFFEncoding.TIFFZIP: index = compZIPIndex; break;
case TIFFEncoding.JPEG: index = compJPEGIndex; break;
default: index = compNoneIndex; break;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpCompression.ddCompression.items[index].selected = true;
if (TIFFEncoding.JPEG != exportInfo.tiffCompression) { // if not JPEG
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpQuality.stQuality.enabled = false;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpQuality.etQuality.enabled = false;
// PDF options
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.add("group");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.orientation = 'column';
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.visible = (exportInfo.fileType == pdfIndex);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpCompression = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.add("group");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpCompression.alignment = 'left';
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpCompression.add("statictext", undefined, strLabelEncoding);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpCompression.rbZip = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpCompression.add("radiobutton", undefined, "ZIP");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpCompression.rbZip.onClick = function() {
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpQuality.stQuality.enabled = false;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpQuality.etQuality.enabled = false;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpCompression.rbJpeg = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpCompression.add("radiobutton", undefined, "JPEG");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpCompression.rbJpeg.onClick = function() {
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpQuality.stQuality.enabled = true;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpQuality.etQuality.enabled = true;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpQuality = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.add("group");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpQuality.alignment = 'left';
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpQuality.stQuality = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpQuality.add("statictext", undefined, strLabelQuality);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpQuality.etQuality = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpQuality.add("edittext", undefined, exportInfo.pdfJpegQuality.toString());
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpQuality.etQuality.preferredSize.width = StrToIntWithDefault( stretQuality, 30 );
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpQuality.etQuality.graphics.disabledBackgroundColor = brush;
switch (exportInfo.pdfEncoding) {
case PDFEncoding.PDFZIP:
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpCompression.rbZip.value = true; break;
case PDFEncoding.JPEG:
default:
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpCompression.rbJpeg.value = true; break;
if (PDFEncoding.JPEG != exportInfo.pdfEncoding) {
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpQuality.stQuality.enabled = false;
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpQuality.etQuality.enabled = false;
// Targa options
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.add("group");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.add("statictext", undefined, strLabelDepth);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.visible = (exportInfo.fileType == targaIndex);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.rb16bit = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.add( "radiobutton", undefined, strRadiobutton16bit);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.rb24bit = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.add( "radiobutton", undefined, strRadiobutton24bit);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.rb32bit = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.add( "radiobutton", undefined, strRadiobutton32bit);
switch (exportInfo.targaDepth) {
case TargaBitsPerPixels.SIXTEEN: dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.rb16bit.value = true; break;
case TargaBitsPerPixels.TWENTYFOUR: dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.rb24bit.value = true; break;
case TargaBitsPerPixels.THIRTYTWO: dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.rb32bit.value = true; break;
default: dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.rb24bit.value = true; break;
// BMP options
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.add("group");
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.add("statictext", undefined, strLabelDepth);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.visible = (exportInfo.fileType == bmpIndex);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.rb16bit = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.add( "radiobutton", undefined, strRadiobutton16bit);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.rb24bit = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.add( "radiobutton", undefined, strRadiobutton24bit);
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.rb32bit = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.add( "radiobutton", undefined, strRadiobutton32bit);
switch (exportInfo.bmpDepth) {
case BMPDepthType.SIXTEEN: dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.rb16bit.value = true; break;
case BMPDepthType.TWENTYFOUR:dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.rb24bit.value = true; break;
case BMPDepthType.THIRTYTWO: dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.rb32bit.value = true; break;
default: dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.rb24bit.value = true; break;
// the right side of the dialog, the ok and cancel buttons
dlgMain.grpTopRight = dlgMain.grpTop.add("group");
dlgMain.grpTopRight.orientation = 'column';
dlgMain.grpTopRight.alignChildren = 'fill';
dlgMain.btnRun = dlgMain.grpTopRight.add("button", undefined, strButtonRun );
dlgMain.btnRun.onClick = function() {
// check if the setting is properly
var destination = dlgMain.etDestination.text;
if (destination.length == 0) {
alert(strAlertSpecifyDestination);
return;
var testFolder = new Folder(destination);
if (!testFolder.exists) {
alert(strAlertDestinationNotExist);
return;
dlgMain.close(runButtonID);
dlgMain.btnCancel = dlgMain.grpTopRight.add("button", undefined, strButtonCancel );
dlgMain.btnCancel.onClick = function() {
dlgMain.close(cancelButtonID);
dlgMain.defaultElement = dlgMain.btnRun;
dlgMain.cancelElement = dlgMain.btnCancel;
// the bottom of the dialog
dlgMain.grpBottom = dlgMain.add("group");
dlgMain.grpBottom.orientation = 'column';
dlgMain.grpBottom.alignChildren = 'left';
dlgMain.grpBottom.alignment = 'fill';
dlgMain.pnlHelp = dlgMain.grpBottom.add("panel");
dlgMain.pnlHelp.alignment = 'fill';
dlgMain.etHelp = dlgMain.pnlHelp.add("statictext", undefined, strHelpText, {multiline:true});
dlgMain.etHelp.alignment = 'fill';
dlgMain.onShow = function() {
dlgMain.ddFileType.onChange();
// give the hosting app the focus before showing the dialog
app.bringToFront();
dlgMain.center();
var result = dlgMain.show();
if (cancelButtonID == result) {
return result; // close to quit
// get setting from dialog
exportInfo.destination = dlgMain.etDestination.text;
exportInfo.fileNamePrefix = dlgMain.etFileNamePrefix.text;
exportInfo.visibleOnly = dlgMain.cbVisible.value;
exportInfo.fileType = dlgMain.ddFileType.selection.index;
exportInfo.icc = dlgMain.cbIcc.value;
exportInfo.jpegQuality = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpJPEGOptions.etQuality.text;
exportInfo.psdMaxComp = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPSDOptions.cbMax.value;
index = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpCompression.ddCompression.selection.index;
if (index == compNoneIndex) {
exportInfo.tiffCompression = TIFFEncoding.NONE;
if (index == compLZWIndex) {
exportInfo.tiffCompression = TIFFEncoding.TIFFLZW;
if (index == compZIPIndex) {
exportInfo.tiffCompression = TIFFEncoding.TIFFZIP;
if (index == compJPEGIndex) {
exportInfo.tiffCompression = TIFFEncoding.JPEG;
exportInfo.tiffJpegQuality = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.grpQuality.etQuality.text;
if (dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpCompression.rbZip.value) {
exportInfo.pdfEncoding = PDFEncoding.PDFZIP;
if (dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpCompression.rbJpeg.value) {
exportInfo.pdfEncoding = PDFEncoding.JPEG;
exportInfo.pdfJpegQuality = dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.grpQuality.etQuality.text;
if (dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.rb16bit.value) {
exportInfo.targaDepth = TargaBitsPerPixels.SIXTEEN;
if (dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.rb24bit.value) {
exportInfo.targaDepth = TargaBitsPerPixels.TWENTYFOUR;
if (dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.rb32bit.value) {
exportInfo.targaDepth = TargaBitsPerPixels.THIRTYTWO;
if (dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.rb16bit.value) {
exportInfo.bmpDepth = BMPDepthType.SIXTEEN;
if (dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.rb24bit.value) {
exportInfo.bmpDepth = BMPDepthType.TWENTYFOUR;
if (dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.rb32bit.value) {
exportInfo.bmpDepth = BMPDepthType.THIRTYTWO;
return result;
// Function: hideAllFileTypePanel
// Usage: hide all the panels in the common actions
// Input: <none>, dlgMain is a global for this script
// Return: <none>, all panels are now hidden
function hideAllFileTypePanel() {
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPSDOptions.hide();
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpJPEGOptions.hide();
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTIFFOptions.hide();
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPDFOptions.hide();
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpTargaOptions.hide();
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpBMPOptions.hide();
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG8Options.hide();
dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.hide();
// Function: initExportInfo
// Usage: create our default parameters
// Input: a new Object
// Return: a new object with params set to default
function initExportInfo(exportInfo) {
exportInfo.destination = new String("");
exportInfo.fileNamePrefix = new String("untitled_");
exportInfo.visibleOnly = false;
exportInfo.fileType = psdIndex;
exportInfo.icc = true;
exportInfo.jpegQuality = 8;
exportInfo.psdMaxComp = true;
exportInfo.tiffCompression = TIFFEncoding.NONE;
exportInfo.tiffJpegQuality = 8;
exportInfo.pdfEncoding = PDFEncoding.JPEG;
exportInfo.pdfJpegQuality = 8;
exportInfo.targaDepth = TargaBitsPerPixels.TWENTYFOUR;
exportInfo.bmpDepth = BMPDepthType.TWENTYFOUR;
exportInfo.png24Transparency = true;
exportInfo.png24Interlaced = false;
exportInfo.png24Trim = true;
exportInfo.png8Transparency = true;
exportInfo.png8Interlaced = false;
exportInfo.png8Trim = true;
try {
exportInfo.destination = Folder(app.activeDocument.fullName.parent).fsName; // destination folder
var tmp = app.activeDocument.fullName.name;
exportInfo.fileNamePrefix = decodeURI(tmp.substring(0, tmp.indexOf("."))); // filename body part
} catch(someError) {
exportInfo.destination = new String("");
exportInfo.fileNamePrefix = app.activeDocument.name; // filename body part
// Function: saveFile
// Usage: the worker routine, take our params and save the file accordingly
// Input: reference to the document, the name of the output file,
// export info object containing more information
// Return: <none>, a file on disk
function saveFile( docRef, fileNameBody, exportInfo) {
switch (exportInfo.fileType) {
case jpegIndex:
docRef.bitsPerChannel = BitsPerChannelType.EIGHT;
/*var saveFile = new File(exportInfo.destination + "/" + fileNameBody + ".jpg");
jpgSaveOptions = new JPEGSaveOptions();
jpgSaveOptions.embedColorProfile = exportInfo.icc;
jpgSaveOptions.quality = exportInfo.jpegQuality;
docRef.saveAs(saveFile, jpgSaveOptions, true, Extension.LOWERCASE);*/
var desc= new ActionDescriptor();
var formatDesc = new ActionDescriptor();
formatDesc.putInteger( charIDToTypeID( "EQlt" ), exportInfo.jpegQuality );
formatDesc.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID( "MttC" ), charIDToTypeID( "MttC" ), charIDToTypeID( "None" ) );
desc.putObject( charIDToTypeID( "As " ), charIDToTypeID( "JPEG" ), formatDesc );
desc.putPath( charIDToTypeID( "In " ), saveFile );
desc.putBoolean( charIDToTypeID( "Cpy " ), true );
executeAction( charIDToTypeID( "save" ), desc4, DialogModes.NO );
break;
case psdIndex:
var saveFile = new File(exportInfo.destination + "/" + fileNameBody + ".psd");
psdSaveOptions = new PhotoshopSaveOptions();
psdSaveOptions.embedColorProfile = exportInfo.icc;
psdSaveOptions.maximizeCompatibility = exportInfo.psdMaxComp;
docRef.saveAs(saveFile, psdSaveOptions, true, Extension.LOWERCASE);
break;
case tiffIndex:
var saveFile = new File(exportInfo.destination + "/" + fileNameBody + ".tif");
tiffSaveOptions = new TiffSaveOptions();
tiffSaveOptions.embedColorProfile = exportInfo.icc;
tiffSaveOptions.imageCompression = exportInfo.tiffCompression;
if (TIFFEncoding.JPEG == exportInfo.tiffCompression) {
tiffSaveOptions.jpegQuality = exportInfo.tiffJpegQuality;
docRef.saveAs(saveFile, tiffSaveOptions, true, Extension.LOWERCASE);
break;
case pdfIndex:
if (docRef.bitsPerChannel == BitsPerChannelType.THIRTYTWO)
docRef.bitsPerChannel = BitsPerChannelType.SIXTEEN;
var saveFile = new File(exportInfo.destination + "/" + fileNameBody + ".pdf");
pdfSaveOptions = new PDFSaveOptions();
pdfSaveOptions.embedColorProfile = exportInfo.icc;
pdfSaveOptions.encoding = exportInfo.pdfEncoding;
if (PDFEncoding.JPEG == exportInfo.pdfEncoding) {
pdfSaveOptions.jpegQuality = exportInfo.pdfJpegQuality;
docRef.saveAs(saveFile, pdfSaveOptions, true, Extension.LOWERCASE);
break;
case targaIndex:
docRef.bitsPerChannel = BitsPerChannelType.EIGHT;
var saveFile = new File(exportInfo.destination + "/" + fileNameBody + ".tga");
targaSaveOptions = new TargaSaveOptions();
targaSaveOptions.resolution = exportInfo.targaDepth;
docRef.saveAs(saveFile, targaSaveOptions, true, Extension.LOWERCASE);
break;
case bmpIndex:
docRef.bitsPerChannel = BitsPerChannelType.EIGHT;
var saveFile = new File(exportInfo.destination + "/" + fileNameBody + ".bmp");
bmpSaveOptions = new BMPSaveOptions();
bmpSaveOptions.depth = exportInfo.bmpDepth;
docRef.saveAs(saveFile, bmpSaveOptions, true, Extension.LOWERCASE);
break;
case png8Index:
saveFile(docRef, fileNameBody, exportInfo, dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.png24Inter.value, dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.png24Trans.value);
function saveFile( docRef, fileNameBody, exportInfo, interlacedValue, transparencyValue) {
var id5 = charIDToTypeID( "Expr" );
var desc3 = new ActionDescriptor();
var id6 = charIDToTypeID( "Usng" );
var desc4 = new ActionDescriptor();
var id7 = charIDToTypeID( "Op " );
var id8 = charIDToTypeID( "SWOp" );
var id9 = charIDToTypeID( "OpSa" );
desc4.putEnumerated( id7, id8, id9 );
var id10 = charIDToTypeID( "Fmt " );
var id11 = charIDToTypeID( "IRFm" );
var id12 = charIDToTypeID( "PNG8" );
desc4.putEnumerated( id10, id11, id12 );
var id13 = charIDToTypeID( "Intr" ); //Interlaced
desc4.putBoolean( id13, interlacedValue );
var id14 = charIDToTypeID( "RedA" );
var id15 = charIDToTypeID( "IRRd" );
var id16 = charIDToTypeID( "Prcp" ); //Algorithm
desc4.putEnumerated( id14, id15, id16 );
var id17 = charIDToTypeID( "RChT" );
desc4.putBoolean( id17, false );
var id18 = charIDToTypeID( "RChV" );
desc4.putBoolean( id18, false );
var id19 = charIDToTypeID( "AuRd" );
desc4.putBoolean( id19, false );
var id20 = charIDToTypeID( "NCol" ); //NO. Of Colors
desc4.putInteger( id20, 256 );
var id21 = charIDToTypeID( "Dthr" ); //Dither
var id22 = charIDToTypeID( "IRDt" );
var id23 = charIDToTypeID( "Dfsn" ); //Dither type
desc4.putEnumerated( id21, id22, id23 );
var id24 = charIDToTypeID( "DthA" );
desc4.putInteger( id24, 100 );
var id25 = charIDToTypeID( "DChS" );
desc4.putInteger( id25, 0 );
var id26 = charIDToTypeID( "DCUI" );
desc4.putInteger( id26, 0 );
var id27 = charIDToTypeID( "DChT" );
desc4.putBoolean( id27, false );
var id28 = charIDToTypeID( "DChV" );
desc4.putBoolean( id28, false );
var id29 = charIDToTypeID( "WebS" );
desc4.putInteger( id29, 0 );
var id30 = charIDToTypeID( "TDth" ); //transparency dither
var id31 = charIDToTypeID( "IRDt" );
var id32 = charIDToTypeID( "None" );
desc4.putEnumerated( id30, id31, id32 );
var id33 = charIDToTypeID( "TDtA" );
desc4.putInteger( id33, 100 );
var id34 = charIDToTypeID( "Trns" ); //Transparency
desc4.putBoolean( id34, transparencyValue );
var id35 = charIDToTypeID( "Mtt " );
desc4.putBoolean( id35, true ); //matte
var id36 = charIDToTypeID( "MttR" ); //matte color
desc4.putInteger( id36, 255 );
var id37 = charIDToTypeID( "MttG" );
desc4.putInteger( id37, 255 );
var id38 = charIDToTypeID( "MttB" );
desc4.putInteger( id38, 255 );
var id39 = charIDToTypeID( "SHTM" );
desc4.putBoolean( id39, false );
var id40 = charIDToTypeID( "SImg" );
desc4.putBoolean( id40, true );
var id41 = charIDToTypeID( "SSSO" );
desc4.putBoolean( id41, false );
var id42 = charIDToTypeID( "SSLt" );
var list1 = new ActionList();
desc4.putList( id42, list1 );
var id43 = charIDToTypeID( "DIDr" );
desc4.putBoolean( id43, false );
var id44 = charIDToTypeID( "In " );
desc4.putPath( id44, new File( exportInfo.destination + "/" + fileNameBody + ".png") );
var id45 = stringIDToTypeID( "SaveForWeb" );
desc3.putObject( id6, id45, desc4 );
executeAction( id5, desc3, DialogModes.NO );
//var saveFile = new File(exportInfo.destination + "/" + fileNameBody + ".png");
//bmpSaveOptions = new BMPSaveOptions();
//bmpSaveOptions.depth = exportInfo.bmpDepth;
//docRef.saveAs(saveFile, bmpSaveOptions, true, Extension.LOWERCASE);
break;
case png24Index:
saveFile(docRef, fileNameBody, exportInfo, dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.png24Inter.value, dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.png24Trans.value);
function saveFile( docRef, fileNameBody, exportInfo, interlacedValue, transparencyValue) {
var id6 = charIDToTypeID( "Expr" );
var desc3 = new ActionDescriptor();
var id7 = charIDToTypeID( "Usng" );
var desc4 = new ActionDescriptor();
var id8 = charIDToTypeID( "Op " );
var id9 = charIDToTypeID( "SWOp" );
var id10 = charIDToTypeID( "OpSa" );
desc4.putEnumerated( id8, id9, id10 );
var id11 = charIDToTypeID( "Fmt " );
var id12 = charIDToTypeID( "IRFm" );
var id13 = charIDToTypeID( "PN24" );
desc4.putEnumerated( id11, id12, id13 );
var id14 = charIDToTypeID( "Intr" );
desc4.putBoolean( id14, interlacedValue );
var id15 = charIDToTypeID( "Trns" );
desc4.putBoolean( id15, transparencyValue );
var id16 = charIDToTypeID( "Mtt " );
desc4.putBoolean( id16, true );
var id17 = charIDToTypeID( "MttR" );
desc4.putInteger( id17, 255 );
var id18 = charIDToTypeID( "MttG" );
desc4.putInteger( id18, 255 );
var id19 = charIDToTypeID( "MttB" );
desc4.putInteger( id19, 255 );
var id20 = charIDToTypeID( "SHTM" );
desc4.putBoolean( id20, false );
var id21 = charIDToTypeID( "SImg" );
desc4.putBoolean( id21, true );
var id22 = charIDToTypeID( "SSSO" );
desc4.putBoolean( id22, false );
var id23 = charIDToTypeID( "SSLt" );
var list1 = new ActionList();
desc4.putList( id23, list1 );
var id24 = charIDToTypeID( "DIDr" );
desc4.putBoolean( id24, false );
var id25 = charIDToTypeID( "In " );
desc4.putPath( id25, new File( exportInfo.destination + "/" + fileNameBody + ".png") );
var id26 = stringIDToTypeID( "SaveForWeb" );
desc3.putObject( id7, id26, desc4 );
executeAction( id6, desc3, DialogModes.NO );
//var saveFile = new File(exportInfo.destination + "/" + fileNameBody + ".png");
//bmpSaveOptions = new BMPSaveOptions();
//bmpSaveOptions.depth = exportInfo.bmpDepth;
//docRef.saveAs(saveFile, bmpSaveOptions, true, Extension.LOWERCASE);
break;
default:
if ( DialogModes.NO != app.playbackDisplayDialogs ) {
alert(strUnexpectedError);
break;
// Function: zeroSuppress
// Usage: return a string padded to digit(s)
// Input: num to convert, digit count needed
// Return: string padded to digit length
function zeroSuppress (num, digit) {
var tmp = num.toString();
while (tmp.length < digit) {
tmp = "0" + tmp;
return tmp;
// Function: setInvisibleAllArtLayers
// Usage: unlock and make invisible all art layers, recursively
// Input: document or layerset
// Return: all art layers are unlocked and invisible
function setInvisibleAllArtLayers(obj) {
for( var i = 0; i < obj.artLayers.length; i++) {
obj.artLayers[i].allLocked = false;
obj.artLayers[i].visible = false;
for( var i = 0; i < obj.layerSets.length; i++) {
setInvisibleAllArtLayers(obj.layerSets[i]);
// Function: removeAllInvisibleArtLayers
// Usage: remove all the invisible art layers, recursively
// Input: document or layer set
// Return: <none>, all layers that were invisible are now gone
function removeAllInvisibleArtLayers(obj) {
for( var i = obj.artLayers.length-1; 0 <= i; i--) {
try {
if(!obj.artLayers[i].visible) {
obj.artLayers[i].remove();
catch (e) {
for( var i = obj.layerSets.length-1; 0 <= i; i--) {
removeAllInvisibleArtLayers(obj.layerSets[i]);
// Function: removeAllEmptyLayerSets
// Usage: find all empty layer sets and remove them, recursively
// Input: document or layer set
// Return: empty layer sets are now gone
function removeAllEmptyLayerSets(obj) {
var foundEmpty = true;
for( var i = obj.layerSets.length-1; 0 <= i; i--) {
if( removeAllEmptyLayerSets(obj.layerSets[i])) {
obj.layerSets[i].remove();
} else {
foundEmpty = false;
if (obj.artLayers.length > 0) {
foundEmpty = false;
return foundEmpty;
// Function: zeroSuppress
// Usage: return a string padded to digit(s)
// Input: num to convert, digit count needed
// Return: string padded to digit length
function removeAllInvisible(docRef) {
removeAllInvisibleArtLayers(docRef);
removeAllEmptyLayerSets(docRef);
// Function: exportChildren
// Usage: find all the children in this document to save
// Input: duplicate document, original document, export info,
// reference to document, starting file name
// Return: <none>, documents are saved accordingly
function exportChildren(dupObj, orgObj, exportInfo, dupDocRef, fileNamePrefix) {
for( var i = 0; i < dupObj.artLayers.length; i++) {
if (exportInfo.visibleOnly) { // visible layer only
if (!orgObj.artLayers[i].visible) {
continue;
dupObj.artLayers[i].visible = true;
var layerName = dupObj.artLayers[i].name; // store layer name before change doc
var duppedDocumentTmp = dupDocRef.duplicate();
if ((psdIndex == exportInfo.fileType)||(png24Index == exportInfo.fileType)||(png8Index == exportInfo.fileType)) { // PSD: Keep transparency
removeAllInvisible(duppedDocumentTmp);
//PNGFileOptions
if ((png24Index == exportInfo.fileType)||(png8Index == exportInfo.fileType)) { // PNGFileOptions
if ((dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG8Options.png8Trm.value == true)&&(png8Index == exportInfo.fileType)) { //transparancy checked?
if (activeDocument.activeLayer.isBackgroundLayer == false) { //is it anything but a background layer?
app.activeDocument.trim(TrimType.TRANSPARENT);
if ((dlgMain.pnlFileType.pnlOptions.grpPNG24Options.png24Trm.value == true)&&(png24Index == exportInfo.fileType)) { //transparancy checked?
if (activeDocument.activeLayer.isBackgroundLayer == false) { //is it anything but a background layer?
app.activeDocument.trim(TrimType.TRANSPARENT);
} else { // just flatten
duppedDocumentTmp.flatten();
var fileNameBody = fileNamePrefix;
fileNameBody += "_" + zeroSuppress(i, 4);
fileNameBody += "_" + la -
How to change color of handwriting in a scanned document and make background transparent
I'm a newbie using Photoshop Elements 11 and trying--unsuccessfully so far--to change a document I've scanned so I can upload it to a custom fabric printing service. I've already scanned a handwritten recipe as a color .tif file (which looks black on white, because the original is black writing on a white background). I've also resized the image to 14" x 23". What I need help with is:
1. I want to change the color of the handwriting from black to red (specifically, to hex code cd0303).
2. I also want to add a 2"-wide solid color border in the same red around the 14" x 23" image of the recipe (so the finished image will be 18" x 27".
3. I want to make the background of the recipe transparent rather than white and make sure that the background stays transparent when I upload the finished image to the printing service as a .png file so that only the red writing and border will be printed onto the fabric.
I'd very much appreciate directions for doing those things. For reasons I don't understand, when I've created a blank file and set the background color to Transparent, then tried to make the changes I want, somewhere along the way the background changes to black.
Many thanks!
Digital DabblerTry this:
Open your scanned document, and be sure that there is good contrast. The native scan may need some help.
Duplicate the background layer, then shut off the visibility of the background layer by clicking on its eye icon. Work on background copy layer
Get the magic wand tool out of the toolbox, set tolerance to 32 (may have to experiment with this value), uncheck "contiguous".. Left click on a white background area. Hit delete on keyboard. Press CTRL+D to get rid of the marching ants.
Set your foreground color chip to cd0303
CTRL+left click on the layer thumbnail with the writing, then Edit>fill selection>foreground color
Press CTRL+D
Go to Select>all, then Edit stroke(outline) selection. Position stroke inside, set width of stroke to suit
Delete the background layer, and save in file format which preserves transparency. -
Using PNG files with transparent background - Please Help
I just purchased Elements to do a very specific task which I can’t do in Aperture. I am a former photoshopper (V.5) and excited to be back.
I am doing a book/scrapbook and the majority of my text will be my own handwriting. I use white paper and black ink and I scan in at the highest settings. My goal is to create my handwriting on a transparent background so I can place it in my book as I choose. For this specific project (which is very large in scope) I wanted to keep my image/file management within Aperture.
So I import my file (of my handwriting) from Aperture and successfully saved with a transparent background. Adobe said I had to save it as a PNG file. I noticed when I saved in Photoshop there was a warning saying I had to save as a copy.
Aperture does not see the file when I try to import it back. My interchange between aperture and photoshop is fine otherwise. This problem only seems to be with “unflattened” layered images. When I flatten the image it is recognized by Aperture, but I lose the transparent background in Photoshop.
If anyone sees flaws here or has a suggestion to “isolate” and save my personal handwriting image files I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!Would probably work best if you first export from Aperture as PSD (if possible, like Lightroom) and then save to preserve layers.
From the PSD save as PNG24 rather than PNG8 which is better for preserving transparency. -
Flattening PDF with transparency becomes large PDF
Hi,
I have an issue with a PDF file created from Photoshop. The PDF file contains transparency settings.
When I create the PDF from Photoshop with a setting that flattens transparency (such as PDFX1a2001), the resulting PDF is flat and fairly small in size.
If I create the PDF from Photoshop with a setting that preserves transparency (such as High Quality Print), the file is also small in size. However, if I use this same PDF and flatten it, by printing it once more as a PDF with a setting such as PDFX1a2001 (PDF to PDF), the file becomes enormous. And Acrobat even rasterises embedded fonts which I don't understand!
I believe the problem has nothing to do with Photoshop, but Acrobat is the culprit (the same thing happened with Illustrator instead of Photoshop).
Has anybody come across a similar issue, and/or what do you suggest I try as a workaround?
Thanks.
PS: My initial goal was to use the PDF with the transparency as a watermark into a second PDF and then flatten the resulting PDF into a new PDF. This last, flat, PDF becomes very large in size and even has fonts rasterised.
But the problem can be isolated to the operation of flattening the PDF containing transparency, as described above.
Update:
The problem described occurred with Acrobat Distiller 9.0.0.
I tried using Acrobat Distiller 8.1.0, and that worked! The watermark with transparency got embedded in the pdf, and the resulting pdf had a standard file size. I do see a very thin border around the watermark however which appears and disappears depending on the zoom.
1- Any solution on how to fix this problem for Acrobat Distiller 9.0.0?
2- Is the thin border appearing around the watermark (with Distiller 8) an artifact or will it be seen on print?hi, I've just come across this looking for an answer to a related issue. You may have already found your answers, 1 year later, but in case you're still curious:
the small hairlines around the flattened watermark are what Adobe calls "atomic regions." For transparent type, or any vector shape with a transparency effect (e.g. drop shadow) to be flattened into the artwork behind it, it needs to be rastered into a bitmap to burn it into a single object. The atomic regions are small slices of image where that vector-bitmap rastering happened. In virtually all cases you will not see that in print. (If you zoom in and it gets larger, then you may. It typically stays the same size or disappears.)
There's a host of settings in both versions of Acrobat (more in 9) wherein you can determine how much "extra" information gets carried into your file. Even after flattening within Acrobat, you can still optimize the file size by tossing all of that extra info. (go to Help menu and enter Reduce File Size)
What I suspect is happening is, when outputting a flattened X-1a from Photoshop, it's taking care of rastering the watermark into the image, creating a flattened file. (this is assuming you're not applying the watermark in Acrobat.) This is a single bitmap image.
If you're flattening say, an X-4 (unflattened) PDF with live transparency, or burning in an Acrobat watermark, Acrobat is creating more than a couple atomic regions (likely very many). These are several bitmap images, probably along with some other vector type—even if the glyphs stay vector (no transparency affecting them) they are no longer type, but vector objects, if any other part of the copy was rasterized. Acrobat may even be doing you the favor of keeping the text it converted in an invisible layer above the image. (It does this with OCR conversions.)
Text is text, with font attributes applied, and takes up very little room in a document. Text partially converted to bitmaps and vectors can no longer be read in the file as text (exporting, assistive devices, etc.). If, as I suspect, Acrobat is rastering some of the type, it's preserving the text in the file so it can still be read and exported. (This is just a hypothesis on my part.)
All of the various little images in the atomic regions, partially rastered type, plus any overhead garbage Acrobat saw fit to add to your file can increase the file size drastically.
My advice? Either create a PDF and leave the Acrobat watermark alone (there are reasons), or if you have to flatten it—because you're submitting a PDF/X-1a-compliant file for press that needs to have a transparent watermark—flatten the image in Photoshop, then export your PDF. -
Drop Shadows and Transparency in Illustrator CS4
here's what's happening in Illustrator CS4.
Create a new document
In Attributes, check overprint fill
Add any text
Apply a drop shadow
Dave as Illustrator EPS - during save, set Overprint to "Preserve"
Once saved, you get the dreaded white box behind the drop shadow.
Is there any way to preserve transparency in Illustrator CS4 when applying a drop shadow?First why are you using eps which does not support transparency except as one bit?
Why not as ai or pdf?
But you can try to use a tiff preview and select transparent there but Macintosh preview should make it so automatially.
here is the difference the top is the eps and the bottom .ai -
Drop Shadow Turns Bluey/Grey When Flatten Transparency is Applied
Hello,
I'm a bit new to Illustrator (using CS2) and using it to create a CD artwork layout. I understand that i need to flatten the transparency and the artwork before generating a PDF to send to the printer.
When I choose "Flatten transparency" to flatten an a TIF image w/ a drop shadow (DS applied in Illustrator using Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow)... the shadow turns a bluey grey and looks awful. How can I make it stay black like I want it?
The settings for the drop shadow are:
Mode: Multiply
Opacity: 55%
X Offset: 0.03
Y Offset: 0.03
Blur: 0.05
Color: 60/40/40/100 (rich black for the printing co I am using)
If anyone can clue me in as to why the color is going mushy, I'd sure apprecaite it.
Thanks!Well, this is preliminary, but here goes.
First, the bad news: What you're observing is real and repeatable. Transparency is a voodoo area, and it will take a real expert to explain the whys of what's happening. But it
is happening.
Take an egdemost polaroid and, via the appearance palette, change the drop shadow so that it has a huge offset, giving you a shadow block distinct from the main image. Pull the object sufficiently off the background so that half of the shadow is in the clear. Now, dial up the flatten transparency dialog and toggle the preview. You'll see that while the portion of the shadow in the no-background area remains unchanged, the portion within your background goes light and bluish. The flattening is clearly "reacting" to your background.
I thought the same thing as jcates and tried a black-plate-only (0/0/0/100) drop shadow. While the result is a tad different, we still have the basic problem.
Ugh.
Next, a question: Who told you transparent objects needed to be flattened before generating a press output PDF?
One of the advantages of saving out a PDF (rather than
printing to PDF via Acrobat's Distiller engine) is to preserve transparency, which is supported in the newest PDF versions. I don't want to suggest your printing company might be a tad behind the times, but one option you might consider is leaving the drop shadows as they are. Let the printer deal with transparency issues... which should not be an issue at all if they are up to handling the latest PDF spec. Of course, you will insist on a contract proof before going to press.
Next thought: For the small amount of shadow showing, there isn't really that much advantage to using a rich black. You might consider going black-plate-only to avoid tinting issues. Again, the contract proof is your friend.
Final (for now) thought: Do the drop shadows in Photoshop. Make sure there is no background and save as PSD. Place the PSD in Illustrator -- AI will respect the transparency in the PSD image. Yes, this is a PITA when it comes time to adjust the drop shadow. Being an old-timer with this stuff, that is how
I would execute this design. (We geezers don't trust Illustrator with raster effects.)
I have to go dinner shopping now to avoid getting into trouble with my wife, but I will look at this some more when I get the chance. In the meantime, let's hope someone else looking at this comes up with an "Aha!" solution.
{Bumped in the meantime.} -
Can I save a transparent psd file as a JPEG keeping trancparency?
I have an Image of a chair which it was extracted from its back ground in CS3 and I want to be able to save it as a Jpeg preserving transparency.Like an object.
Thanks for your attention.JPG - "photographic" images with many colours. Losses some quality. Small file size. No transparency (although it does support clipping paths, but not for web).
GIF - max. 256 colors (8-bit). Lossless. No good for photos (large files, few colors). Good for tiny images and "illustrations". Supports making one of the 256 colors transparent (really limited).
PNG - New and better format than gif. Lossless. Supports both 8-bit like gif, but also full-color images. No good for photos (large files). Supports proper transparency (the kind you want; use save for web, 24-bit png, and check for transparency).
Note that 24-bit PNG files with transparency aren't properly supported in some older browsers (I'm looking at you IE!). Workarounds actually exists for this if it's a problem.
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