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Processing or Renaming Files by the Batch - Convert Multiple Photo Files, e.g. jpg, tif, or png automated

© Karin Rex

If you've ever had a large group of photographs that were in one format (such as a number of images scanned in as TIFs) and you needed them to be in another format (such as JPGs for use on a website), then you know how time consuming this task can be if you have to convert each file individually. The same thing goes for converting a number of photographs from one size and/or resolution to another or renaming a bunch of files.

Photoshop Elements gives you the ability to quickly convert multiple files from one file format to another or from one size and resolution to another. Elements also makes it easy to rename multiple files as well. These are known as "batch" tasks; i.e. operations on a "batch" of photographs simultaneously.

Batch Converting

1. Choose Batch Processing from the File menu.
2. Make a selection from the Files to Convert drop-down list, based on the following:
• If all of the files you wish to convert are stored in a single folder together, choose Folder and then click the Source button to navigate to and select the folder. Click in the Include All Subfolders checkbox if you wish to process files located in subfolders within the selected folder as well.
• To import files from a digital camera or scanner, or from a PDF file, choose Import and make the appropriate selection in the From drop-down list. (The options available in the From drop-down list depend upon which plug-in-modules are installed on your computer.)
• To process all of the files currently open in Photoshop Elements, choose Opened Files.
3. To convert file formats, choose the destination file format from the Conversion Options drop-down list. Note that each file format accommodates the needs of different applications. Which format you choose depends on the content of your image and how you plan to use it. For example, you want to convert an image to use on a website, you should choose JPEG, GIF, or PNG format. If you are uncertain which file format you should use, read the topic titled Saving images in different file formats in the help file.
4. To choose or create a destination folder for the converted files, click on the Destination button under the Output Options heading and navigate to the appropriate folder or create a new folder.
5. Click on OK.

Batch Resizing

1. Choose Batch Processing from the File menu.
2. Make a selection from the Files to Convert drop-down list, based on the following:
• If all of the files you wish to convert are stored in a single folder together, choose Folder and then click the Source button to navigate to and select the folder. Click in the Include All Subfolders checkbox if you wish to process files located in subfolders within the selected folder as well.