The Advanced Guide to Photoshopping Icons Using Batch Processing
Tired of making icons one-by-one? So was I before discovering the magic of Photoshop. This comprehensive tutorial will teach you every step you need to make fantabulous icons as easily as possible! The only manual steps are resizing images and making your template for icons. I am using Photoshop CS6 for this tutorial, but CC is capable of doing the same steps, and previous versions may also be able to handle it.
If you don’t have Photoshop, go ahead and check out my GIMP tutorial! http://dancingbetweenraindrops.tumblr.com/post/167426124590/how-to-batch-process-icons-in-gimp
Tutorial under cut.
Step 1: Set up Photoshop
Open Photoshop and create a new canvas sized 100x100 or whatever size you would like your icons to be. That’s it for this step!
Step 2: Resizing Icons
Paste art or screenshots of your character into the canvas and resize them to how you’d like them to appear within the frame.
Step 3: Export Layers to Files
Select File > Scripts > Export Layers to Files. You will then be given this screen.
Make sure you have your Destination set to the file directory you’d like your icons in. I’d suggest making a dedicated folder for just these icons, as it will help in the Batch Process.
!WARNING!
Only export about 50 icons at once for maximum speed. Even on my gaming computer it takes a while for more than 50 at a time. I like to have all of my icons ready to go and then delete a group of them so I’m left with only increments of 50 at a time. It’s easy to undo deleting in the history window, so just undelete the previous batch and delete the batch you just finished. For example, if I have 100 icons, I delete icons 51-100 and save the first 50. Then I step back in the history window and delete the first 50 icons and save the last 51-100. Now I’d recommend also SAVING while you have all of them cropped, just in case you mess up while deleting and can’t get them back.
Step 4: Create a template
For this step, open one of the icons you saved from the script saving.
You will notice that the icon layer says “Index” and is locked. Go to Image > Mode and select RGB color to fix this. This is the only time we’ll need to worry about this.
Now for the creative part - you can go absolutely crazy with what you want to do with the icon. Add layers, adjustment layers, whatever you want. I usually start by creating a layer beneath my icon layer (You have to double click on the icon layer and change it to layer 0 instead of background first) and making it into a 95x95 or so box centered in the middle and clipping my icon to that layer.
That gives me a nice border space for my icon. Then I add new layers above that layer to make borders, or new adjustment layers to give them cool effects. Always remember to clip the layers to each other!
One of the most common effects I see in a lot of icons is this “Film” photo filter that washes out colours and softens blacks and whites. How to achieve this look is shown below. It is done using a Curves adjustment layer.
Set it to look similar to this
Adjust as needed.
To get a straight border, use the Layer Style for the clipping layer (the layer that all the others is clipped to.) Go ahead and add a stroke, drop shadow, and whatever else you’d like to your border.
Finally, save your template as a .PSD in the same directory as your icons (for ease) and give it an easy name, such as Template.PSD.
Step 5: Create a Script
This is where it gets tricky. You need to create a script in the EXACT order I give for it to work right. Close your template and open any icon. Then, click the arrow-like tool on the toolbar. It will open the Actions tab. Go ahead and press the little file button to create a new script. Name it whatever you want and then start record.
Once the action is recording, select the icon and hit control+c or copy. Then, go to File > Open and open your template. Paste your icon on top of the default icon. It should automatically clip as long as the adjustment layers above are clipped to the mask. Otherwise, right click on the layer and clip it.
Here, I pasted Layer 2 over Layer 0, the default icon.
Then, go to File > Save As and save your file in a subdirectory within your icon folder. Save it as 001.PNG. Make sure to select PNG and not save it as a JPEG or PSD file. Then, delete the layer you just pasted in and close the template.psd by clicking the little “x” at the top.
Finally, hit Stop Recording on the action panel.
Step 6: Batch Process
Go to File > Automate > Batch
After this, a window that looks like this will pop up
Make sure that your action is selected under Action:. Your source needs to be the folder in which you have all your icons saved. Your destination needs to be the folder you want all of your icons to save to. MAKE SURE TO CHECK “Override Action “Save As” Commands”. Finally, Go ahead and press “OK” and let Photoshop work magic!
Tutorial beneath the cut! I want to transform this account into more than just an art account - I love making aesthetics, roleplay icons, etc. So the first thing I’m going to upload is a tutorial on how to make a lot of icons really quickly using free software! I know not everyone has access to Photoshop, I figured I could help the community by offering a tutorial in how to batch icons using freeware. This will work together nicely with a few icon packs I’ll be releasing soon, including a Pokemon resource pack with hand-pixelled mini icons. I will be doing a more advanced Photoshop tutorial later on!
Step 1: Download BIMP
BIMP can be found here - https://alessandrofrancesconi.it/projects/bimp/
It is a batch processing plugin that you’ll need to install to get batch processing in GIMP. Thankfully, it comes with an installer, so all you need to do is run the installer!
Step 2: Crop screenshots and artwork for icons
Create a new image file that is the desired size of your icons. I use 100x100. Paste screenshots and artwork of your character into the frame, exporting each one as a .png with a different name. This is just how I would suggest doing it, however. If you have a preferred method of cropping icons, feel free to do it however you prefer. Just make sure the icons are square, or whichever shape you intend on using. Batch processing can resize them. Unfortunately, even with a program as powerful as Photoshop or GIMP, this is the tedious part.
Step 3: Create a template
Create a new canvas the size of your icons. This is going to be your template. Go ahead and paste one of your icons into it to test your adjustments. Add a new layer. This will be your border layer. I suggest making a border by selecting over the whole image and using the “stroke selection” option under “edit”
This brings up the option to add a stroke around the image. You can experiment with dots and dashes and full lines until you reach something you like.
I ended up adding a white screentone and changing the border to white.
Once you decide you like your border (go ahead and make it as fancy or as simple as you like!) you can hide the icon layer so you have just your border! BE SURE TO EXPORT IT AS A .PNG. The border works with transparency, so you NEED it to save it as a .PNG. .JPEG doesn’t support transparency.
It should look like this
I decided to save it as “watermark.png” but give it any name you’ll remember.
Step 4: Batch Process!
First of all, here’s where you can find the batch process option in GIMP. Go ahead and open that up.
You’ll see a screen that looks like this
Go ahead and add all your images under “input files and options.” This is especially easy if you saved them all to a folder, in which case you can add the whole folder. Under “Manipulation set” is where you will be adding all of your batch processing. First of all, add “Add a watermark”
Make sure to select “Image watermark” and select position to center. Then select the folder icon to find your border. This is your watermark! Go ahead and add any other adjustments you’d like to the manipulation set. You can make color corrections and convert your image to black and white or resize them from there. Be sure to save everything to a new folder within your icon folder for maximum efficiency in finding them!
Result!
I hope this helped anyone wanting to make icons but not knowing how to do so efficiently!
Unfortunately, GIMP doesn’t support adjustment layers or script recording, so you can’t batch process things as complicated as Photoshop can handle, but this is perfectly sufficient for the needs of most roleplayers!
