Working notes. Printing addresses on envelopes Index print in Photoshop cc

An index print is a photo print, a summary sheet consisting of thumbnails of photographs.

Index print allows you to more efficiently select photos and organize archival storage. In commercial shooting, with a large number of pictures taken by the photographer during work, the index print is simply indispensable for the selection of photographs by customers, its use significantly speeds up the process.

In amateur photography, the use of an index print is also often used to distribute photo reports about events among relatives and friends. Printing an index print is possible both from film and from digital media.

In our photo lab you can order index prints in formats from 15x20 to 30x45.

Production of index prints

The index print has replaced the "Contact Sheet", which was widely used before the spread of digital technologies. Previously, to obtain sketches of photographs from photographic film, a technique was used to obtain a composite photographic print by contact printing a film with negatives: a cut developed negative film in a dark room is tightly pressed against a sheet of light-sensitive photographic paper, after which it is exposed and developed according to the classic wet process. The result is a photograph with the images that the film contains in the positive.

Curiously, contact sheets, the forerunners of index print, have been used in professional photography since the 1930s. They were first used by editorial and commercial photographers, and then by journalists who worked with a large number of images taken with a 35mm camera. The contact lists served not only for selection of images, but also as a report on the work performed.
In the Fotolab laboratory you can also order Contact Sheets for all types of negative films.

Creating Index Print - print thumbnails of images

With a large number of photos accumulated during the shooting, it is sometimes convenient to select them for processing by printing a summary sheet - contact sheet, containing a set of image thumbnails from the specified folder. Name contact sheet(Contact sheet) comes from a method used in film technology to obtain a sheet of sketches by contact printing film with negatives. Sometimes the names "Index print" are also used ( IndexPrint), a summary or test sheet with a photo, a control printout.

"Index print" ( IndexPrint) is convenient to use for selecting photos by your customers, as well as relatives and friends. Invite them to mark IndexPrint checkboxes or crosses the pictures they would like to have, and you do not have to edit and print photos that you may not like or simply do not need. Either way, it's better than having your friends mark images on your computer with different stars, ratings, or file lists. And, of course, you can't do without IndexPrint when ordering shooting, for example, weddings. Let the newlyweds choose the necessary pictures themselves from the entire wedding photo abundance, especially since usually the number of photos in a wedding report is at least 500 - 700 pieces.

Almost all graphic editors offer a mechanism for creating and printing IndexPrint. Let's consider some of them. Let's start, of course, with photoshop, and then we will look at simple free programs Fast Stone Image and XnView that offer more design options IndexPrint and work faster photoshop.

Creating a Contact Sheet Photoshop CS2

We open photoshop and choose a team File - Automate - Contact Sheet II(File - Automation - Contact sheet). In the dialog box (Fig. 1), select the source folder and set the height, width and resolution for the created thumbnail sheet (for example, A4 format is selected).

Fig.1.

In the area of Thumbnails(Thumbnails) determine the order in which thumbnails are placed on the sheet (Place) and the number of columns (Columns) and rows (Rows). To print under each thumbnail of the file name, check the box Use Filename As Caption(Use filename for signature) and set the font size font size. The layout of the future is displayed on the right in the window contact sheet. If there are many photo files, they will be divided into several sheets, the number of which is shown below the layout image. The size of thumbnail thumbnails is also indicated here. Next click OK and the program starts to form contact sheet. The process may take a long time. At the end of the working window photoshop the resulting sketch sheets will be displayed, which can be saved, printed, and also provided with explanatory inscriptions - headings.

FastStone Image Viewer

FastStone Image Viewer is a great example of a free graphical viewer and editor with a simple interface. I have previously talked about in this editor and

program FastStone Image Viewer(volume less than 5 MB) can be downloaded for free from the website of the developer FastStone Soft, and the localizer for it can be downloaded from the site www.4ru translator Alexei Agafonov. (I recommend to look at his site, where he offers cracks for many popular programs). In the latest version of the program, the crack does not need to be downloaded separately, just select from the menu Settings - Language - English.

Important note: program FastStone Image Viewer is constantly updated and the latest versions, of course, may differ from those described in the article. The considered version (Russified) can be found in the archive of the website of the developer company or download.

We start, as always, by opening the folder with images (Fig. 2). If you want to include in the "print index" not all images from an open folder, then first select the desired images in the viewing window.

Fig.2.

For the preparation of IndexPrint choose from the menu Create - Create Pivot Sheet. The dialog box shown in Figure 3 opens:

Fig.3. Create "index print" window in FastStone Image Viewer

Here, compared to photoshop, offers significantly more options. The window consists of three tabs. In the first, "File list", you can add or remove images from the future thumbnail sheet, in the second, "Parameters", you can set all conceivable design options: resolution, size, background color, sizes of explanatory inscriptions and titles, shadow for thumbnails, indents from the edge of the canvas, etc. etc. etc. In my opinion, here the authors of the program clearly want to create an "index print" that is not inferior in its artistic merits to an excellent photograph.

Pay attention to the "Output" section, where you need to set the output file format and the folder for saving the "index print" sheet. There are six save formats to choose from - PDF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF.

After you get tired of experimenting with various settings for "index print", select the third tab "Preview", and the program will quickly fabricate previews of future sketch sheets. If the result satisfies you, then press the "Create" button (in the lower right corner), a scale-diagram of the progress of the process appears on the screen and after a while you get "index print" files ready for printing.

More articles about the program FastStone Image Viewer:
Compressing images for email with a program FastStone Image Viewer
Creating an Index Print in the program FastStone Image Viewer
Creating a slideshow in the program FastStone Image Viewer

Creating an Index Print in the program XnView

Another worthy example of a free viewer/editor is the program XnView, which has a large set of photo editing tools. I also talked about her in articles about and. The latest version of the program can be downloaded for free from the developer's website. Pierre-e Gougellet. It's better to use the full version - Complete version by downloading it from the corresponding page of the site. The program is Russified (Fig. 4), but some translation options are quite unexpected. To select the Russian language, use the command Tools - Options - Interface - Language(Tools - Options - Interface - Language).

Fig.4.

In my opinion, to create IndexPrint program XnView is the most successful of those considered. It combines simplicity and visibility with an optimal number of settings and high speed. So, we begin to create an "index print", it is also contact sheet, and a summary sheet, and a test printout, and so on, and so on.

After loading the folder with images, select the command Create - Create a control sheet(another original translation contact sheet!) and in the window that opens with the equally interesting name "Create a contact log" (Fig. 5) set the parameters IndexPrint: Dimensions, font, background and text color, number of rows and columns for thumbnails, and spacing between them (Space).

Fig.5.

To complete IndexPrint in the "Display information" section, enter the title of the thumbnail sheet (Preview), the caption at the bottom of the sheet (Sign) and display information about each frame (Show information). By clicking the "Insert>>" button, you can set the output of any information about the frame from an impressive extensive list (Fig. 6).

Fig.6. Index Print Frame Information Output Settings

After setting all the parameters, click the "Created" button. The program starts to form IndexPrint, but at the same time, unfortunately, nothing is reflected on the screen. This unpleasant moment can make us nervous. Don't worry! The program did not freeze, but honestly works in our favor, and after a while the finished "index print" will be displayed. You can print it or save it, and there are about a hundred different graphic formats to choose from.

Index print for note - via Lightroom February 20th, 2013

In the headlines of large photo reports, you can often find a collage image made up of photos included in the post. As a rule, such pictures are made similar to an index print, sometimes complicating the composition by presenting different photos in different sizes - but the general idea remains.
Such a picture gives an idea of the content of the report; the most successful and vivid shots can be placed on it. The reader, looking at her, understands whether he needs to climb under the cut or not.
In general, such pictures for large posts, in my opinion, should be used correctly. It remains only to find a way to make such index prints simply and quickly.

Below is a description of the process of preparing an index print using the Adobe Lightroom - Print module.

Create a template

Using Templates
Having a prepared template for printing an index, preparing a cover photo for a photo report does not take a lot of time. All you need to do is:

open a selection of photos to be published

switch to "Print" module

select the most interesting photos and place them in the template cells

press the "Print" button

And the finished index print will be prepared and saved to disk as a JPEG file.

Here is an example of how the templates work.

Multiple size option:

Standard option:

The templates described above can be downloaded - just as an example.

Unresolved issues
The only serious open question in this approach is the application of text over the resulting collage. The "Print" module is rather poor in this regard, and only allows you to apply the "Identy plate", whose original task was to apply "indelible copyrights" to the print. For the purposes of applying an attractive and noticeable headline, this tool is categorically not suitable.

Maybe someone knows a reasonable solution?

Create a photo index

Many photo labs provide a service such as photo index printing, which prints all the frames of the film on one sheet of paper. This allows you to quickly assess which frames should be printed in an enlarged format.

Also, having indexes, you can quickly determine on which film and on which frame the desired image is located. The index can be sent to the customer or potential client so that he selects the right personnel or evaluates your capabilities. Of course, to demonstrate the capabilities of a photographer, it is better to present a portfolio, but it is not always possible to deliver a voluminous folder to a potential client.

Adobe Photoshop allows you to quickly create an index of files in a folder. This will allow, like the film index, to select frames that you would like to view at a higher resolution. For example, instead of emailing dozens of photos, you can send an index to relatives or friends to select the photos they want. This will save time and then deliver really interesting photos to people in the best quality.

You can create an index using the command file Automates Contact Sheet II...(File Automation Contact List 2).

On fig. 19.3 shows the configuration window for this command.

In a group source images(Original images), same as for the team Web Photo Gallery(Photo Gallery for Web), specify the folder with the source images.

In a group document(Document) set the height ( Height) and width ( Width) contact list. However, from the list Units(Units) You can select the units in which these dimensions will be specified. In field Resolution(Resolution) Enter the resolution to be set for the document. This matters if you are going to print the index. In this case, it is more convenient to specify the dimensions of the document in inches or centimeters. From the list located next to the field Resolution (Resolution), you can select the units in which the print resolution is specified.

Rice. 19.3. Command window Contact Sheet II

From the list mode(Mode) you can select the color mode in which the document will be saved, and the checkbox Flatten All Layers(Merge All Layers) will merge the layers from which the index document is created.

NOTE. The photo index is created as a graphic file, which can then be saved in any graphic format and processed like a normal image.

In a group Thumbnails(Thumbnails) you can set options for how images are to be indexed. From the list place(Placement) Select whether images are placed from right to left ( across first) or from top to bottom ( down first). fields columns(Columns) and Rows(Rows) allows you to set the number of rows and columns in which the images will be placed. With unchecked Use Auto-Spacing(distances automatically) you can enter in the fields Vertical(Vertical) and Horizontal(Horizontal) distance between images. Checkbox Rotate For Best Fit(Rotate for Best Placement) allows you to rotate images oriented vertically or horizontally so that the paper area is used optimally. The right part of the window shows an approximate view of the future photo index. It also displays the number of pages ( Page) and images ( images) found in the specified directory. Bold type indicates the size of the portion of the sheet allocated for the reduced copy of each photograph.

With the checkbox checked Use File Name As Caption(File names as titles) The names of the files included in the index will be placed next to the photos. Lists Font(Font) and font size(Size) allows you to select the title font and size. Click OK to start creating the photo index.

NOTE. If during the process of creating a contact list the space of the document becomes full, a new document is automatically created, in which the remaining photos continue to be placed. This will create indexes for all image files found in the specified directory.

Creating a photo index can take a long time, but you can abort the process at any time by pressing the Esc key.

Rice. 19.4. An example of a photo index created by the team Contact Sheet II

On fig. 19.4 is an example of a contact list created by the command Contact Sheet II...(Contact list 2...).

In this chapter, we looked at ways to optimize image files for emailing, as well as some of the advanced features in Adobe Photoshop that allow you to publish images on the web or prepare them for display as contact lists.

Contact lists can also be useful in organizing image collections - they can be printed or burned to disks along with image files. In this case, to find the desired image, you will need to look through one or several contact lists instead of dozens or even hundreds of photos.

Almost all graphic editors offer a mechanism for creating and printing IndexPrint. Let's consider some of them. Let's start, of course, with photoshop, and then we will look at simple free programs FastStone Image and XnView that offer more design options IndexPrint and work faster photoshop.

How to create a contact sheet in Adobe Photoshop - raster clipart, vector (.ai, .eps)

1. Run the program, enter the menu file and choose Contact Sheet II from point automate.

2. In the menu that appears, click the button Browse and select the directory on your computer where the contact sheet.

3. Specify the width and height in pixels of the directory to be created.

4. Set the location of the image icons in the catalog - how many columns will fit on the sheet and how many lines.

5. Check the parameters you entered in the information field. The program will tell you how many sheets of the catalog it has. If necessary, you can return to the previous paragraph. When the entered parameters for placing image icons on the sheet suit you completely, click the button OK.

6. Merge all layers with command Flatten Image from the menu in the layers palette.

7. Save the resulting directory under a name and format convenient for you.

How to create a contact sheet in FastStone Image Viewer

We start, as always, by opening the folder with images. If you want to include in "index print" not all images from the open folder, then first select the desired images in the viewing window.

For the preparation of IndexPrint choose from the menu Create - Create Pivot Sheet. A dialog box opens

Here, compared to photoshop, offers significantly more options. The window consists of three tabs. In the first, "List of files", you can add or remove pictures from the future thumbnail sheet, in the second, "Options", you can set all conceivable design options: resolution, size, background color, sizes of explanatory inscriptions and headings, shadow for thumbnails, indents from the edge of the canvas, etc. etc. etc. In my opinion, here the authors of the program clearly want to create an "index print" that is not inferior in its artistic merits to an excellent photograph.

Pay attention to the section "Conclusion", where you need to set the output file format and folder to save the sheet "index print". There are six save formats to choose from - PDF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF.

After you get tired of experimenting with different settings for "index print", select the third bookmark "Preview", and the program will quickly fabricate previews of future sketch sheets. If the result satisfies you, then press the button "Creation"(in the lower right corner), a scale-diagram of the progress of the process appears on the screen and after a while you receive ready-made files "index print".

Creating an Index Print in XnView

In my opinion, to create IndexPrint program XnView is the most successful of those considered. It combines simplicity and visibility with an optimal number of settings and high speed.

We go into the program and select the images you need

After loading the folder with images, select the command Create - Create thumbnail sheet and set parameters IndexPrint: dimensions, font, background and text color, number of rows and columns for thumbnails and spacing between them.

After setting all the parameters, press the button "Create" and save the file.

How to create a contact sheet in ACDSee

1. Select all files in the desired folder with the command Select All.

2. On the menu Create select item Create Contact Sheet.

3. Set the number of columns and rows of images on a catalog sheet.

4. Enable (if desired) a caption under the images, using the button Insert Metadata you can specify what to put in the signature with the button Font adjust the font and size of the signature.

5. Don't forget to set the signature placement option, in this case it's enabled bottom-center, i.e. bottom-centered.

6. Specify the catalog sheet size in pixels.

7. Specify the path where to place the files of the created directory, the name of the file and its type.

8. Click OK, the program will create and save the catalog file. If there are several pages in the catalog, the program will automatically add a serial number to the specified name and save each page in turn into a separate file.

How to create a contact sheet in GraphicConverter Mac OS

1. Choose folders or files from which you want to make an image catalog