CMA Ad Producers vol 3

Good day and welcome to the world of making your images look good in print!

Now that I have your attention...

 :-)

Craig's Actions - CMYK Ad Producers vol 3

As with all of the CMA Actions, the procedures themselves are all designed for repeatability, consistency and reliability - critical elements in a professional workflow. On top of that, they are all established in a fashion and with steps in place to allow you to customize the operations, enabling you to personally manage your workflow.

Reading directions is not something I tend to do often myself, so if you got this far then I thank you for your spirit of discovery. I suggest that you print this out and keep it handy as a guide while you play... If you care to read further, you'll discover how these Actions can become very effective production tools that you will use constantly with enthusiasm and with confidence.

Congrats - You're a winner!

- Craig Minielly

Loading

The Actions are located within the copyrighted materials folder. Please read the copyright information before opening.

The enclosed set of Photoshop Actions may be loaded to your PC or Mac system by going to the Actions palette and locating the arrow at the top to show the palete options. Locate the "Load Actions" command and indicate the action set you wish to load. Double-Clicking on the action file itself will also load the Actions on a Mac. Remember to quit Pshop to save all settings after the actions are loaded.

Boring but good to know...

Copyright:

These materials are all copyright protected. You are granted a one-person right of usage and are welcome to install them on any computers that you own and are used by you. Companies with multiple computers and with multi-user stations please inquire about specific licenses to address your requirements. You may copy these files for archiving purposes, but you are not allowed to distribute them to others in any form or through any means. Not wanting to be heavy, but just asking that you please respect the copyright of these products - Thank you :-)

In General:

When the Action has some steps that require input, these are indicated by the dialog box next to that specific step: if empty the action runs unattended, if the icon is present, the step requires your input and will stop at that point.

Similarily, unchecking an action step prevents it from being applied. You might decide that a step is unnecessary and uncheck it ( eg - sharpening), and also unmark a particular step ( dialog box) if you do not wish to stop for your input - this allows for greater speed and unattended batching. Some steps are built on others before it, so you may need to juggle and test thinsg a bit when altering the setups. Don't worry, you can always reload these if they get too messy!

As different images ahave different file sizes ( ie: 2MP - 14MP) you may find that some setting in these Actions are too strong or too weak for your style. They have been designed around the ~ 20MB image or so, with many targeted to web resolution outputs. You can use storng or mild versions of an Action depending on your file size, or alter the values in the action to better suit your starting image.

To alter the set values in any particular step, simply have an image open and double click on that step, from there enter the values to complete the request on your own computer. This is how you would customise the action and designate destinations for " Save" steps.

All of the actions are intended to be used on a flattened file and applied to the background layer, there are many that will work elsewise but if something trips up, then check that first and flatten the document if necessary (saving a version prior to trying things out).

Many of the actions generate masks and adjustment layers. These are intended so that you can fine tune the desired effect and " paint in or out" the effect as well.

All of the actions may be customised for your system so that you may indicate folders and files where needed and fine tune the application as you wish. Simply open the action by clicking on it's arrow and locate the step that you wish to modify, with an image already on screen, double click the desired step and insert your own values.

** Note - If you change a text entry step, you may need to re-record the next step if it "looks" for that text layer (as it is now named differently). To do so, have your image open with the text layer NOT the active layer, select the previous step to the one you need to replace and press the record buttom at the bottom of the palette, NOW select the new text layer and then press stop (bottom palette). Trash the previous (old) selection step and you are done!

Where there is a "save as" step, it may be checked or unchecked depending on your preference. Running a batch requires it to be checked, working on an image on screen without saving requires it to be unchecked. Also take note of the file location and the note above about customising to your system.

With all batches, I recommend setting up a test folder to try the action first. I also recommend having the destination folder open and visible so that you can see the progress and interrupt and make corrections if anything is amiss.

The Cool Stuff !

Ok, I know you're dying to just go at it, so feel free to do exactly that... when you feel like finding out a bit more of what these things do, and how "they" can do it better, the next area will give you the answers and info that you'll eventually appreciate...

These Actions have been grouped into various Sets based entirely on marketing and packaging <g>  - Feel free to create your own sets for those you use most often and copy the Actions ( Option (mac) / Alt (pc) - Drag ) to your own set of favorites. Some of the Actions make use of others in a specific set, so if something goes goofy, try to run that same Action from where it was originally installed. 

Brush Shortcuts:

These will be used throughout the descriptions:
The X key switches the white and black swatches in the tool palettte to allow you to paint in or out on mask layers.
The brackets  { & } to the right of the P , changes the size of the Brush up or done one step.
The numbers 1-0 at the top of the keyboard, change the opacity of your brush: 1= 10% thru to 0=100%

CMYK Converters &  Ad Producers

Tired of your images looking like crap in the newspaper? Now you can take control! 

While similar to the Power Processor, this is the standalone one-step Actions for creating reliable, CMYK outputs for various types of print production and page sizes. There is little you need to know about CMYK issues , other than image size and the type of paper ( newsprint, glossy. Matte stock), as these Actions take the complexities out of the process for you and still retain the critical data that is required for further fine-tuning at the press stage. Whether for your own ad production, or in creating outputs as a commercial product, this will make and save and make you money almost immediately! 

The " Save" steps have been left out of this set of Actions for Batching simplicity and to allow you custom control of the file destination.

** Please leave the Initial Actions - SWOP Custom Coated and SWOP Custom Uncoated untouched as they are used for programming in subsequent Actions. Should these become altered or affected, it will be necessary to reload this set in its entirety for proper color management.

The Press Glossy and Matte Actions create files at 300dpi optimized for the different paper types, and have various Ad Size Actions based on a "Letter Size" page. For images to run in a newspaper (200dpi), I suggest that you adjust your image to the final desired size, then run the Convert to Newsprint CMYK Action. To run the CMYK conversions without sizing attributes, you may also select and run the Glossy or Matte CMYK Conversion Actions.

**Tip** I suggest that you have your image file saved as your final working file (PSD) before you run this Action. CMYK production can always be repeated where necessary, but converting an image back from CMYK to RGB is a definite No No!

** Trick** It is recommended that you use the " Save As..." option to save your final file in its new CMYK Profile, as a PC TIFF, and that you leave the " Embed Color Profile" option unchecked. This prevents a profile being locked to the file, and allows for "tweaking" where necessary at the final press stage. By doing so, you still retain your enhanced values of the CMYK conversion, but allow for further custom input by others in subsequent stages of production.

The Info / Dialog boxes ( 1st left beside the step) for the UnsharpMask filter are turned on for the first three Actions ( Convert to Press Glossy, Matte and Newsprint ) so that you may adjust the intensity dependent on your file size, and adjust the values to your personal preference and process. You may un-toggle ( by unchecking that dialogue) those dialogues to allow the Actions to run through without stopping when running a batch.

There are some contrast and density adjustments built-in to these Actions to counter the tendency of the printed image appearing slightly darker than the original. Should you prefer to leave the densities untouched, simply uncheck the Curves and Levels steps in the Actions.

Business Card Producers

Four Actions are included to allow you to create your own file for Business Cards ( Horizontal and Vertical ) on either Matte or Glossy Stock. The final size is the standard card size ( 2.0in x 3.5in ) with a very small "bleed" area built-in. Should you wish to change that size, you may do so by customizing the crop step using the directions below.

Crop and Resize

There are variations on the Actions that include the ability to control the Crop and subsequent Resizing of the image. The idea is that you determine the general size of the image you need, run the "closest size" action, crop for your final layout, then adjust the size of the image to your preferred dimension, and continue the Action. ** Even if you do not wish to change the size after cropping, you must enter the preferred size dimension ( or leave that image size step unchecked), as clicking Cancel will cause the Action to stop without further activity. ** This Action is not recommended for files that are pre-sharpened, as some small image artifacts and noise problems could occur.

** Tip** If your file has already been sharpened ( by you previously or in camera)  or if you wish to work on your file after the CMYK conversion, un-check the UnsharpMask  and Fade steps, as this will prevent that filter from being applied. Remember, USM should always the last step to be applied to your file before output.

To change a value in a specific step ( as in the UnsharpMask ) simply double click on that step when you have an open image and enter the values or make the adjustments that you wish, and hit " OK ". The default values in that step have now been changed. Quitting Pshop locks in the new preferences you have indicated.

It is always a good idea to create a copy set of the Actions or the Action itself before making any changes. To do this, simply click and drag the Set or Action down to the " New Action" Icon ( the one with the folded corner) at the bottom of the Palette. This will create a "Copy" that you can modify without affecting the Original.

Enjoy and Play!!!

Craig

Craig Minielly  MPA, SPA

Craig's Actions / Aura Photographics

http://www.craigsactions.com/

Volume History

Craig's Actions Overview  

(* New   ** Coming Soon )

Volume One -  Production Essentials - 4 Sets / 22 Actions

The perfect starting series of Actions to provide controls over sequences including:
Image Sharpening, Dust control, Advanced Image Retouching, Facial Features Enhancements, Web Image production, Custom Logo Insertion, Copyright and Proof  Watermarking, Cross-Processing and B/W Image Effects and much much more...

Volume Two -  Creative Effects with  ShadowSoft and Grain - 3 Sets / 30 Actions

A Creativity Volume with Actions to enable you to create beautiful Diffusion and Grain Artistic effects, with choices as to colors, intensity and image textures. Perfect for the wedding and journalistic style of images that are in such high demand right now.

Volume Three -  CMYK Production and Ad Image Producers - 1 Set / 19 Actions

A Production Volume with Actions to produce effective CMYK Conversions to various press and paper applications, and to differing image sizes for Business Card, Brochure or Ad Production. Boring, but very effective in handling this area that is so often regarded as some kind of "black magic ".

* Volume Four - StoryTellers1 - 3 Sets / 32 Actions

A Creativity Volume with artistic and effective controls allowing you a wide range of editorial styles in your image output. InfraRed, softpastels, selectivecolor, illustrative, graphic and watercolor effects are all easily performed and beautifully rendered.

* Volume Five - StoryTellers2  - 3 Sets / 23 Actions

A natural extension of the StoryTellers volume, this contains a variety of Actions that give you enhanced Color Control ( Digital Velvia ! ) with choices blended to a wide variety of subject settings, EdgeEffects for beautiful image gradations, and a set of  "Graphic Enhancers" for full image impact!

** Volume Six - Sizers&Croppers ( coming shortly )

This is a production volume, with Actions that allow you to effectively and quickly increase / decrease your image file size ( with full quality built-in ! ), to a wide variety of outputs and cropping formats. No rocket science here, but this set will save you tons of time and avoid the mistakes that are way too common in these everyday tasks

Power Processors

The main difference between the Action Volumes and Power Processors, is that the PP allow for destination-specified "Save" steps and multi-file and format capability - all with a single Action process!

Power Processor Series #1 - Hi-Res / Low-Res Dual Processor

A very powerful production series of Actions intended to produce dual sets of files ( layered PSD's and proof JPG's ) with High-Key or  Low-Key image preferences - all with a built in cosmetic softness for a natural, lightly-retouched appearance. Targeted at the workflow that requires low-res images for proofing and slide show purposes, with subsequent production to be applied to selected imagery that is now "3/4" produced and ready for final attention.

Power Processor Series #2 - CMYK Multi-Processor

This series takes the mystery out of CMYK conversions and allows you the ability to produce very good quality CMYK imagery that is print ready for a wide variety of applications. PLUS, this set contains Actions that address the most common client requests, providing you with the tools to efficiently process your images to process print and web/power point output specs - all at the same time!

End Note:

Thank you for investing in this Action Volume Set. It is my intention that these Actions be used in such a way that enhances the controls available for your production, as well as provide enhanced opportunities for creative expression. 

Please feel free to change, modify, copy and adjust these Actions for your own use and to suit your own style. However, please do not copy these Actions and provide to a 3rd party as that interferes with Copyright and does no-one any good in the long run. 

If you have any thoughts, suggestions or feedback, I'm always interested in your comments and welcome them at the email address below. I am also interested in hearing your feedback and seeing sample images with your results. I am also working on creating a gallery of samples submitted to me, so let me know if you'd like to be included.

Training workshops and demos (along with my other presentation topics) are also available to individuals, small groups or whole schools and conventions. Feel free to inquire as to availability, upcoming dates, as well as to pass on information about your group and your interests and I will follow up with your or your supplied contacts.