User manual

5.1 Saving in Place
When a new image is received by ITP (via FTP or synchronization) the
program that you have specified will be called with the filename of that
image as an argument. The selected program should immediately take that
file, process it and then save it in the same location when complete (with
the same filename, although extensions can be different to deal with file
type conversions). Once the file is resaved, ITP will detect the change and
immediately continue processing the file as you have specified (either through
additional steps or the review/slideshow system). Using this mechanism,
ITP can trigger a wide range of programs automatically and without any
application-specific co de.
The only issue with this design is that it requires the script to save the
modified file in-place. If the script attempts to save the results to another
folder or significantly rename the file, ITP may not detect that the process
is complete and continue to wait. For this reason, when preparing the script
you must make sure that it operates in the prescribed manner in order for
the actions system to work as desired. You can change the extension of the
file if the processing changes the file type (ie. if you process a JPEG and
produce a TIFF), however the main portion of the filename must remain
the same. Most programs with integrated scripting systems can handle this
without issue, however generally it will require a conscious effort on the part
of the person generating the script. Note that if you need to keep the original
image, you can use the leave original in place and process a copy field
in the actions dialog to handle the renaming/relocation task.
5.2 Creating a Photoshop Droplet
The most common type of script that is used with the actions mechanism is a
Photoshop droplet. These are small applets generated by Adobe Photoshop
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that embed an action within an executable program. When activated, they
will immediately launch a copy of Photoshop and b egin processing the sup-
plied list of images using the prescribed action. As such, they can execute any
task that your version of Photoshop is capable of performing - allowing you
to have a wide-variety of workflow tasks handled automatically. This section
covers the basic process of creating a photoshop droplet and configuring ITP
to make use of it.
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