Automation

We all find ourselves doing the same set of boring tasks to our images over and over again. Fortunately most of the tools we use to work on our images have ways to automate tasks.

In the Photoshop world it is called "Actions". In the Gimp world they are called "Script-fu". If you look at just the names, Script-fu wins hands down. You see the name "Script-fu", and you start to imagine yourself as some martial arts imaging master. Hiii-ya!

However, in practical use I imagine Photoshop wins. I do not have Photoshop, but this tutorial shows me how to creat an Action. It is as simple as "recording" what I do to an image! To get the job done with Gimp, you first roll up your sleeves. Then you learn some basic Scheme. Grab the documentation, some example code, and frustrate the heck out of yourself for hours.

I wanted to automate the smart sharpening technique I have used for most of my images. If I had to create this "Action" under Photoshop I imagine it might take me about 1 hour to learn how to record the tasks, and create Action that I like. However, I don't have Photoshop (yet), so I Script-Fu'd my Gimp. I now have a nice automated utility, but it took me about 3 hours to get there. If any wants my source, let me know I'll try and find a place to post it.

The images here weren't processed through my new script, but are the implied follow-ons to my last post!