Data entry and photoshop?

holymexicobatman

holymexicobatman

Well-known member
Ok so the issue is kind of sticky but let's see if I can explain it...

I work for a service company. This company will go out to the job site and gather information about the job. The next day, the company sends the client a pdf or printed estimate. This estimate has pretty pictures, explanations, and lists, all personalized for that client.

I've got a template that ive created for these estimates and they all say the same thing except with each new estimate changes:

-the picture taken of the job
-the address and info
-the price
-"hello, mr. ______"

thats basically it. So is there a way i can just fill in this information once and let a macro(action) plug it all in for me, save and export to the desired format all in one glorious motion? And in Windows XP?

Bonus question!: what about having an automated function then that takes that file, uploads it to a hosted server via ftp, then sends a personalized auto email to the client letting them know it's ready and waiting at ... :huh: ughhhh......
 
Hmm... if you search the web for invoicing software, or software for contractors/freelancers, I think some of what's out there will do the trick....
 
Only problem with that though is that there's no way to integrate it with photoshop so that i can use my spiffy template. and yes, unfortunately i am that insistent in using the photoshop template instead of some other ms word or invoicing system's proprietary layout.
 
I'm just thinking off the top of my head... but I wonder if InDesign might have some form-fill capability? It should be easy to get your Photoshop template into InDesign... and it seems that form-filling would be useful for many of InDesigns intended uses...
 
If you have Microsoft words Installed (2007) and have a XP machine or Vista, I could build an application that lets you create your template in Words, the application would then simply create the PDF upload to the FTP site you want and yes email you when its done.

I develop for a living so, this stuff is pretty easy.

It would probably take me about 0.5 to 1.0 man days to produce, PM for rates.


// EDIT, you can still use your "spiffy" Photoshop template, just export it as an image, and place it in as an image object into words, the 'fields' would then sit on top of the image inside text box.

//EDIT II: Seems milksac's approach might be able to work directly with PSD files. Then a custom app to upload and email to do the rest.

Anhar
 
Last edited:
Ok,

So I played around with the Photoshop Action Script,

I've managed to automatically open an existing PSD file, replace a text layer with some sample text, and then export as JPG, of course and then close the application.

I think to run a batch, I might be able to modify to just close each file and not each Photoshop session.

Anhar
 
Anhar Miah said:
Ok,

So I played around with the Photoshop Action Script,

I've managed to automatically open an existing PSD file, replace a text layer with some sample text, and then export as JPG, of course and then close the application.

I think to run a batch, I might be able to modify to just close each file and not each Photoshop session.

Anhar
Click to expand...

Hey Ahman,
That sounds like a great start! I'll talk with my boss some more and then give you a PM when we've hashed out all the specifics we want. He sounds really excited about getting something custom written since we waste alot of time going through monotonous processing over something that seems like it could be so easily automated.

In the meantime, one more question...We will eventually be changing these templates and updating new designs pretty consistently. Would we be able to alter the program with each new design without having to have you rewrite it? And yes, working with the actual PSD files would be pretty important since some of the image and text elements are partially behind other layers. There would also need to be an interruption in each automated process so that the user could size/crop/position the new image within the template.

Thanks again for your help! :beer:
 
ullanta said:
I'm just thinking off the top of my head... but I wonder if InDesign might have some form-fill capability? It should be easy to get your Photoshop template into InDesign... and it seems that form-filling would be useful for many of InDesigns intended uses...
Click to expand...

I don't know of any, but I'm not really much experienced with InDesign anyway. I'll look into and let you guys know what I find. That would be useful for the future as well!
 
holymexicobatman said:
Hey Ahman,
That sounds like a great start! I'll talk with my boss some more and then give you a PM when we've hashed out all the specifics we want. He sounds really excited about getting something custom written since we waste alot of time going through monotonous processing over something that seems like it could be so easily automated.

In the meantime, one more question...We will eventually be changing these templates and updating new designs pretty consistently. Would we be able to alter the program with each new design without having to have you rewrite it? And yes, working with the actual PSD files would be pretty important since some of the image and text elements are partially behind other layers. There would also need to be an interruption in each automated process so that the user could size/crop/position the new image within the template.

Thanks again for your help! :beer:
Click to expand...

Hi Holymexicobatman,

yes thats fairly easy, I could make is 'Drag and Drop' i.e. you simply edit your PSD file, hit save and drag and drop it onto the application and it will automate the needed things for that PSD you dropped on it.

Or you cold save a series of PSD into a folder and it could run as a batch if you want.

Anhar

ps. you miss-spelt my name :D
 
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