Action for Pshop7 needed {rounding corners and drop shadow

[WV- Mike]

Greetings,
First post so I hope I have the right forum.

I have been looking for a Phop 7 WIN action which will batch process images.
I want to round the corners off and add a drop shadow.

Here is a sample page on how the images will be used:
http://mountainnaturecamp.org/schedule/schedule.htm

I have been adding the DS manually and this is getting tedious.

I know the rounding and DS can be variable but I am not to picky as to the specifics.
Thanks,
-Mike

[DannyRaphael]

After a few tries Mike and I worked this out.

[WV- Mike]

Thanks, Danny!

-Mike

[Swampy]

I would probably create a scalable Style, and apply the style from an action then batch run it to a new folder.

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by Swampy

I would probably create a scalable Style, and apply the style from an action then batch run it to a new folder.

FWIW I used the "Rounded corner" custom shape tool as a basis for creating an inverted selection and the standard drop shadow layer style effect. The interesting challenge was making the drop shadow darker on the right side per an offline request.

That was achieved by applying the DS at different opacities to duplicate rounded-corner layers and applying a black to white linear gradient to the top layer's mask.

If you've got ideas on doing the rounded corners by means other than custom shape tool, I'm all ears.

[Swampy]

Danny, I was thinking in terms of setting feathering for the selection to create the rounded corners and then stroking the selection through the styles palette. Only problem is, I don't know how big/small you want the rounded corners to be because the feathering creates transparency. Not sure just where the stroke would fall on a transparent (feathered) edge. Never tried it.

So I experimented, I set a style for a 3 px white stroke and when centered this gives the rounded corner with no feathering

I then set the marquee tool for a 3px feather to round the corners of the selection. Jump the selection to a new layer. Merge down if you don't want it on a separate layer but want the border effect as part of the "start" layer.

It seems to work fine if the marquee's feathering is set to the same pixel size as the stroke.

[Juergen D]

This is how I would go about it.

Juergen

[Dave.Cox]

Swampy and Juergen, both of your methods are good, and it just depends on what look you need. Feathering is the way to go when you want the edges soft. A good example is for use in a collage. The shape, which creates a path is better when you want a sharp edge, say to create a white border around a framed photo.