Sunday, July 24, 2011

CoffeeShop Before and After Storyboard Action!


I am forever posting before and after storyboards up on the web to showcase my new actions, and I needed to write a simple storyboard action to do all of the work for me. However, I didn't want a simple diptych action (I already have one of those). I needed an action that I could also use when my "after" image was a different shape than my original image. I also wanted a storyboard that worked with both horizontal and vertical images. So I wrote this nifty little action that allows your "after" image placement to be adjusted after the action runs so even oddly shaped images will fit.

This action is not just for displaying before/after images; it is also a great two photo storyboard that allows you to post two images of any shape.

Instructions:

1.  Open your original "before" image (or any image you want on the left side).  Make sure nothing else is open in PSE or Photoshop!

2.  Start the action.  The action will prompt you to open your "after" image (or the image you want on the right side) and it will place it on the storyboard.  If it is a different shape, it might not be placed in the middle or parts of it might be hanging over the side.  Don't worry, you can fix this after the action is finished.  "Before" and "After" text will also be added, you can adjust these layers later.

3.  The action will prompt you to resize your image for the web.  Put in the final width in px's, you don't have to change anything else.

4.  The action has to sharpen both sides separately since they are on different layers.  Sharpen the left image first (just adjust the radius) and then the right image.

5.  When the action is finished you will see 5 layers.  In the storyboard below, the "after" image is too large and needs to be transformed to fit.  I clicked on the "after" image layer.


6.  Then I Cntr-T (free transformed) the image to fit.  If you are using PSE make sure "constrain proportions" is checked and do not hold shift. If you are using Photoshop, hold shift as you free transform and move your image.


7.  Finally, you can edit the text layers or even turn them off.  Flatten the image if you are posting it on a white background, do not flatten and save as a .png if you want to post this image on a background that is not white.  You can also change the background color on the storyboard by filling it with your favorite color.


Hope you enjoy my newest free storyboard action! Download the CoffeeShop Before and After Storyboard PSE/PS action or here.

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop PSE/Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

For complete info on installing all of my actions, click here.

8 comments:

  1. OK, I just download it, install it and tried it, it works perfectly! Awesome action, but . . . sorry about the but, but, would you be able to implement the action to have the before and after one on top of the other rather than side by side in the landscape mode? I know it is a lot to ask when you have already given so much, but . . . it never hurts to ask, right? Thank you Rita so much, YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!

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  2. Thank you for this one too!

    Hugs Kirsten.

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  3. I'm sure this is user error, but I have the before photo open, I click on the action and when I select the photo, it says, "Could not complete the command because not pixels are selected." What am I doing wrong??

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  4. Make sure you are starting with a flat image. :-)

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  5. What is the size I need to save for web? Mine seems to small when I save?

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  6. I can't even get the action to open?

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  7. Are you having trouble unzipping the action? Download it to your desktop and then unzip.

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Thank you for taking the time to leave a message, I love reading them! All comments are personally moderated by me and I will post and answer them them as soon as possible.
Rita