Removing watermarks from images in a batch

[chipzoller]

I know this doesn't have any pertinence to video in any way, but I was wondering if anyone has used a program they might recommend that can remove or edit a group of pictures in a directory in a certain fashion.

Scenario:

I have many many images that have watermarks at exact locations on each of them. I would like to have these removed (we're talkin' about 2000+ pictures) but not crop the picture, just remove the pixels (or change them all white, just like the background) at the areas desired. These picture files are all TIF files in greyscale.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,


Chip

[Sirber]

By "watermark", do you mean a logo? Usualy watermarks alter the blue and you can't see it with your eyes.

[chipzoller]

Yes, a logo...my mistake on the nomenclature of these marks. There are plainly visible marks (i.e. text and graphics) at certain locations in each file.

Any ideas?


Chip

[Sirber]

Hum... for video I would say use FFDShow LogoAway. I don't know for pictures.

[jernst]

You sure can do it using The Gimp. But photoshop or paintshop pro might do it as well.

[Sirber]

Originally posted by jernst
You sure can do it using The Gimp. But photoshop or paintshop pro might do it as well. In batch?

OT: Hail Gentoo!!! :D

[jernst]

Originally posted by Sirber
In batch?
Here is a simple example (could be adapted for windows):
http://gug.sunsite.dk/tutorials/tomcat17/


Btw I recalled a cool library (available on windows too): imagemagick (http://www.imagemagick.org).
It is quite powerfull and there are good examples on how to use it. It is maybe more easy than TheGimp for batch processing. You could achive your conversion by compositing a white image on your pictures:
http://www.cit.gu.edu.au/~anthony/graphics/imagick6/compose/

OT: Hail Gentoo!!! :D
You're so right ;-)

[chipzoller]

Tried ImageMagik and no luck figuring how to use it...Gimp either.

[reepa]

In Photoshop you can record a macro of you removing the logo. You can then use the File --> Automate --> Batch function to perform it on all the images.

[chipzoller]

I can try that, although I'm not really a Photoshop user. Is it a simple process?

[eb]

May be my post is not helpful for you but in the case when someone is converting to avi then to resolve problems described by you, the LOGO or DeLogo plugins can be used in VirtualDubMod.
Plugins you can find on neuron2 site.

eb

[chipzoller]

Nevermind, I figured it out. Pretty cool.

Chip

[ammck55]

You can accomplish this in PhotoShop. Now that PhotoShop CS has been out for awhile, you can buy PS7 books that were up until just recently $40-50 U.S, for $12-15. Many of these will include a disc with source files and a demo of PS7, along with screenshot tutorials on creating Actions and Droplets.

Load one of your .tif's in PhotoShop and figure out how to remove the logo, then record an "action" for these steps, next, create a "droplet" from this action and drag the folder containing all 2,000 images onto the droplet. Voila! Be sure to create a backup folder, once you drag the images onto the droplet, it's a one-way street with no return. I found that out the hard way. :)

Photoshop can save layers and all layer information in a TIFF file; you may get lucky and open up one of your pics in PS and find that your job is as simple as "disabling" one of the text layers. One can only hope....The Google button and PS's help files should pull you through this one if you choose to try the process I've described. there are certainly other ways to accomplish this, I'm just more familiar with PS than any other photo editor.

You don't have to be a PS guru to figure out Actions and Droplets, the help files give very good explanations and directions for creating each. The starting point for your task will be to create an Action, so go to PS Help > Index > A's > Actions. Adobe doesn't use the term "macro", AFAIK.

Reepa has you going in the right direction, just substitute "action" for "macro" and you'll be hot on the trail!

ammck55

[chipzoller]

Ok great. I accomplished this through several actions (not macros) but now you mention the droplet function. What is the difference and how is this method used?

Right now I had to create several actions because for one, all the images were just slight different sizes, so I had to resize. Next I had to record an action with the exact location to remove 3 different logos (I suppose I could just combine this all in one action or droplet?).

Sorry for my ignoramus state in PS. I wouldn't consider myself a "picture guru" by any means.

Thanks,

Chip

[ammck55]

A droplet is a small application that applies an action to one or more images that you drag onto the droplet icon in Photoshop or in ImageReady. You can save a droplet on the desktop or to a location on disk.

Basically, an action applies your mod's to a single image, while a droplet can apply the changes to multiple images with a single click. Once you've established a workflow that meets your criteria and turned that into an Action, go to...

File > Automate > Create Droplet, and set your defaults in the Droplet dialogue box that pops up.

The Help files in PS are very good, dig around in the Droplets section and you should be able to figure it out pretty easily.

Without looking at your images, it's hard to tell if you can automate a single droplet that will take care of each and every issue you're facing with a single click, if not, you may need to create several droplets to cover all the necessary moves and segregate your images accordingly, but with 2,000+ images to work with, you'll certainly be able to find an automated solution that will save you considerable work, be it a single droplet, or several droplets. The only thing I could tell you is spend some time experimenting with your image file and see what works and what doesn't.

Chip--An Action can consist of multiple moves, so if you find a flow that takes care of all of your issues, you can record all of these in a single Action, then create a Droplet from said Action. Once you hit the "Record" button in the Actions Palette, it keeps right on working until you hit the "Stop" button. Turning an Action into a Droplet gives you the added benefit of applying all of these moves simultaneously to multiple images. I don't know if I made that clear in my first stab. :) Additionally, I'll stress the need to create a backup folder for your images; once you drag an entire folder onto a droplet, the changes can be irreversible. To my experience, the undo/redo command (Ctrl+Z) doesn't work well with Droplets. :)

ammck55

[chipzoller]

Yes, quite clear, thank you.

I'll try this solution out. The only thing I didn't find to my amazement is the ability once a droplet is created to prompt where the processed images should be saved to. I have an action for every edit of my images, I just need to consolidate these into a single action and create a droplet from it.

I'll poke around in the help file. The main tip being macros are called actions! That helps considerably.

Many thanks,



Chip

[ammck55]

After the Droplet processes the images, it should create a folder in the same directory where the Droplet itself resides. You set this up in the initial dialogue box when you create the Droplet. Or, you can fool around with the settings...have fun!

ammck55

[chipzoller]

I see how this works, the only problem is what good is creating a droplet if when you drag and drop your files on top of it the droplet launches PhotoShop? I must be missing something but other than that it's accomplishing what I want.


Chip

[ammck55]

Originally posted by chipzoller
... what good is creating a droplet if when you drag and drop your files on top of it the droplet launches PhotoShop? Chip

Did you think that the droplet accomplished all of this by itself? :)
The droplet merely tells PS what to do, it's only a set of instructions that the programming behind the GUI executes. As you've seen by now, when you drop a file onto your droplet, PS opens, processes the file/folder, then saves the results. I find this neither inconvenient, nor unexpected.

If droplets don't suit your tastes, explore the other "Automate" functions and see what you come up with. Personally, I find them suitable for a multitude of tasks.

ammck55

[chipzoller]

This is an acceptable method, although I thought the purpose of the droplet was to, in essence, compile the macro into a application capable of carrying out the programmed instructions. I think what made me thing of this was the fact that the extension that was being assigned to it was .exe.

Anyway, Photoshop accomplished my tasks exactly as I had wished.

Thank you all for your input!

Regards,


Chip