For example:
Lets say that I have a folder hierarchy that contains ~6K files of mixed types. I need to locate every .png file, convert them to a .psd file ( I know scripting Adobe PS is rare. for the question you could assume tiff ) replicate the folder structure of the png original file inside a new top level folder on the desktop, and copy the psd ( tiff, whatever ) into the newly created folder structure that matches it’s original’s previous folder hierarchy. Produce a listing at the end of the original PNG file paths and the new PSD file paths.
I’m not looking for coded solution here, this is just an example task.
I’m curious how long you would estimate this task would take you to code up in your AppleScript environment. Utilizing your existing code, libraries, apps, etc., that make solving this more efficient. I have to roll up a solution of complexity similar to this pretty frequently and I’m curious how long these one-off scripted solutions take others to build, test, and debug to a high confidence level; while these are used in a commercial process they are internal functionality-gap-spanning, not distributed tools.
I’m not sure if you’re saying that Photoshop is out of the question, but this can be done natively in Photoshop. File > Scripts> Image Processor. Make sure the check boxes for Include all subfolders, and Keep folder structure are checked.
mingione, while I’m not looking for solutions specifically, this suggestion is perfectly valid. There are issues with Image Processor ( flattening files on open etc ) , but they could be worked-around. So how long? Tested and debugged to confidence you can walk-away and it WILL be done when you return? I find IP to be flakey over a couple hundred files, but maybe I’m using it wrong.
I haven’t had those issues, but I believe you. I occasionally use it to convert to psd, resize, and then run a scrip on a few hundred files. I don’t feel like I’ve stress tested it, but I also didn’t run into issues.
I’ve used ImageMagick + AppleScript extensively for these types of operations. It took me a while to get the coding correct, but after that, it ran like a champ on 500+ images a day. I saved it to a quick action so it runs with a few clicks.