Scripting image prep - paths to group masks

[JVEyck309]

I've been googling a little bit and I haven't had the success in finding info/tutorials on what I want to learn how to do..

I know I probably need to do a few weeks of study/practice as I'm very new to scripting. So my apologies if this comes across like asking for free stuff.. but hey! we all want to learn.. gotta try and ask you fine folks.

I was curious if anyone knows how to write script or can point me to some good information/tutorials on how to accomplish what I want to do.

I would like to have my paths (or it could be channels, alternatively) turn themselves into masks onto group folders.. So in other words.. let's say I have 10 paths... I would like to have a script that selects Path 1 - creates a new group folder labeled "path 1" (doesnt need to be labeled anything.. but I imagine having things labeled helps with the script operating properly, no?) with a mask linked to that group of that path selection (perhaps feathered 0.5px would be ideal) and then continue sequentially to create new groups for each individual path (or perhaps channel) that I have. This way when I'm done pathing I can have adjustment groups based off the path selections by a simple script being run through an action.

Anyone have any idea how to accomplish that?

I worked at a company that had a similar script but I'd really like to learn how to create my own. Again, I need to get my hands dirty and start doing this work on my own and figuring it out , which I have not done too much, so apologies for bugging you all.. but figured asking here could start a good dialogue and perhaps we can all learn to imrpove our workflow via scripting together.

cheers!

[JVEyck309]

Re: Scripting image prep - paths to group masks

obvious starting points??

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/photoshop/scripting.html

https://forums.adobe.com/community/p...shop_scripting

[klev]

Re: Scripting image prep - paths to group masks

You have to look through the API. Basically Adobe provides you with some way to retrieve certain information while photoshop is running. If they have something equivalent to get_layer_by_name(string layer_name), you would be able to supply the name "layer1" as an argument. If that isn't available, you need to consider what options are available. You're mostly constrained by the forms of access, so they tend to dictate the approach.

I haven't bothered writing photoshop scripts, so I'm not sure how to approach that exact problem. Look at their guides though.

[0lBaldy]

Re: Scripting image prep - paths to group masks

member der_w might be the one to contact about scripts....

[JVEyck309]

Re: Scripting image prep - paths to group masks

@klev - I had to look up API (application program interface) and yes.. I got my work cut out for me.

@0lbaldy -I wouldn't want to pester anyone directly, after all it is work I ought to be figuring out myself for my own good. I'd feel like a jerk bugging someone to give me answers. haha.

I suppose I'm just looking for a few stems to get me to understand how to do it.. or someone to point to a good tutorial/video/info that would be the best to aid me in figuring it out.. I've spent far too many hours/days/weeks in the past watching pointless tutorials that proved fruitless. And maybe this sort of thing could aid other retouchers to reconsider their workflow in smarter ways.

well anyways,
Thanks for your replies.

[klev]

Re: Scripting image prep - paths to group masks

@klev - I had to look up API (application program interface) and yes.. I got my work cut out for me.

Ah I didn't mean to place you at google's mercy there. I try to stick to plain English as much as possible.

I suppose I'm just looking for a few stems to get me to understand how to do it.. or someone to point to a good tutorial/video/info that would be the best to aid me in figuring it out.. I've spent far too many hours/days/weeks in the past watching pointless tutorials that proved fruitless. And maybe this sort of thing could aid other retouchers to reconsider their workflow in smarter ways.

You probably haven't coded anything before. Scripting is still basically programming. You just don't have to write make files . It's also considerably simpler.

You should learn basic javascript and pick up basic data types along the way. Javascript doesn't require manual allocation or deallocation of memory. It has type safety features and other things, which prevent it from being too difficult. To keep things easy on yourself, write out the problem as a set of instructions before you try to code it. Test every few lines to ensure you don't break anything.

I can usually tell where something is broken just by eyeballing it if it mainly leverages feature of the language (in this case javascript) rather than external libraries. You can also try stackoverflow with code questions, although it can seem a bit hostile at times. They don't fold questions together, so it's prudent to search first in case someone already asked the same thing.

The understanding comes with a basic idea of how to code. From there a lot of it is just tedious. You end up searching through reference material for some way to access things, such as layers by name or position in the layer stack. There isn't much to understand there. It's just sifting through reference material.