Much of the work done by a Webmaster requires repeating the same task over and over. Not only does this waste time but also resources that could be used to further fill the pocket with greenstuff! One task that I’ve found to be a huge timewaster is processing images to be used in eCommerce websites. Common things that need to be done to each picture used are, resizing, optimizing, and placing a watermark on images. There are however ways to relieve much of this drudgery.

An often-overlooked feature of many image processing software programs is the Batch Automate feature. I use Photoshop for my image processing, however many of the other software programs have similar features.

First step is to create the macro, or as Photo Shop calls it the “Action”. Open one of the pictures you want to process. On the action palate (one of the tool palates, linked with history) click “Record Action”. Name the action and choose a function key to run it if you wish. The function key is optional. Now do all the steps you wish to have done to the photograph. When you are finished save the recording.

Now you will need two folders, the original folder and the processed folder. Add all of the pictures you want processed to the original folder. In Photoshop click File/Automate/Batch. You should now find the set of steps you just recorded in the Action dropdown. In the “Source” area use “Choose” to find your originals folder, in the “Destination” area used “Choose” to find your optimized folder.

Click OK, and now all of the images in your original folder will be processed and stored in your optimized folder.

That’s it. With this feature I am able to process hundreds of pictures for my car dealers websites in just a few minutes.