Lightroom and that little black border
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**martel** · 09-28-2007 04:51 PM

I know a lot of people don't like it but I think the border really makes the photos look nice in a web format.

So... what are you using to get the black borders? I'm using lightroom for processing. Any way to automagically add those? I'm on a mac so I can always use imagemagick, it's just a pain.

Danke!

**jacobsen1** · 09-28-2007 05:17 PM

I'll have to play around with it and see. I do everything in PS and have for 10+ years, so it's hard to change. I do have a copy of it and I've been learning how to use it. It seems like an awesome program, I just need to figure more out about it... But I'm not sure how it will handle frames as it's not a pixel editing program... It's all about editing the DNG and making copies when you export...

**jblaze5779** · 10-01-2007 10:20 AM

You can edit your pictures in PS through Lightroom but I haven't found a way to add a border. I haven't really looked that deep into it yet though.

**martel** · 10-09-2007 03:10 PM

OK, so what DO you use to add the borders?

**jacobsen1** · 10-09-2007 03:12 PM

photoshop of course!
http://www.newschoolofphotography.com/?p=58

**martel** · 10-10-2007 05:09 PM

Hmm...

mogrify -bordercolor white -border 4x4 image.jpg
mogrify -bordercolor black -border 30x20 image.jpg

**martel** · 10-10-2007 05:17 PM

**jacobsen1** · 10-10-2007 08:15 PM

Originally Posted by martel

mogrify

is that english?

**mkfotos** · 10-10-2007 08:35 PM

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

Originally Posted by martel

mogrify

is that english?

A quick google search: http://www.imagemagick.org/script/mogrify.php

Interesting...

**tardypizza** · 10-10-2007 09:17 PM

You never read Calvin & Hobbes? Calvin was constantly transforming himself into a Tyrannosaurus Rex with his "transmogrifier."

Man, I miss that comic.

**jacobsen1** · 10-10-2007 11:17 PM

Yeah, C&H is one of my favorites, but they made **** up all the time... I never knew it was a real world.

Oh, and Calvin and Hobbes snowmen >*.comics. Even their other stuff.

**tardypizza** · 10-11-2007 12:31 AM

**jacobsen1** · 10-11-2007 10:11 AM

thanks for that...

**Markitos** · 10-11-2007 10:24 AM

C&H + Snowmen = FTMFW!!

**martel** · 10-11-2007 03:23 PM

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

Originally Posted by martel

mogrify

is that english?

yes, imagemagick FTW.

jhead is also useful.

jhead DSC_0117.jpg
File name : DSC_0117.jpg
File size : 865618 bytes
File date : 2007:08:26 18:12:56
Camera make : NIKON CORPORATION
Camera model : NIKON D40
Date/Time : 2007:08:26 10:53:02
Resolution : 2000 x 3008
Flash used : No
Focal length : 40.0mm (35mm equivalent: 60mm)
Exposure time: 0.0063 s (1/160)
Aperture : f/6.3
ISO equiv. : 200
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix

**riderofbmx4130** · 11-04-2008 11:23 PM

so you can't add a border to all your photo's using lightroom?

i just got LR2, perhaps adding a border is part of the upgrade?
i'm looking around for info...

**ride5000** · 11-05-2008 06:41 AM

no. the reason is that lightroom never really ADDS stuff to a picture... it wasn't meant to.

you can get it to watermark with a bit of effort.

it will not make a picture BIGGER which is what you're asking it to do when adding a border/frame. it is possible to add a frame which cuts INTO the original picture, but that's rarely what we want to do.

there are various workarounds but none of them are particularly elegant at this point in time.

**jacobsen1** · 11-05-2008 09:19 AM

WRONG! (kinda sorta but not really)

LR CAN add borders, kinda sorta.... Depends on your definition of LR doing the work though... You need PS and it'll run via PS, but if you have PS and have actions working in PS LR can run them on export. So does LR actually do it? maybe not technically since you need to own PS and it technically does the work, but yeah, as a user you don't need to leave LR to get it done.

**Idjiit** · 11-05-2008 09:22 AM

You can export prints directly to file now (easily), so if you're clever you should be able to do basic bordering and even a bit of watermking. I'll see what I can come up with.

**Idjiit** · 11-05-2008 10:02 AM

Alright, so... you can use the Print Module to do this, but it has some major caveats. Here's the key points:

Select the image you want a border on, click "Print" up at the top, make sure you're using the "Contact Sheet/Grid" layout engine - haven't tried the Package stuff yet.
Use "Stroke Border" under Image Settings, select the width (in pt, more on this later) and the color
Use the "Margins" to control how much space is around the image. Can only have white as the background, unfortunately.
Set up an Identity Plate for your watermark. I'm using straight-up text in my example, but you can use any image file - I believe even scalable PNGs, which would be the most flexible while retaining quality, but I'd have to experiment.
Under the Print Job section, select "Print to JPEG File"
Choose an output resolution to control the size of the file (I used 100 in my example).
Set the amount of JPEG compression you want
Click "Print to File" - if you've selected more than one file, the name you give will be the folder it prints to (more on that later). If you only have one file selected, it will be the name of the file.
Click Okay, Profit.

So, it works, but there's some pretty major caveats -

No way to specify dimensions directly, so you have to deal with pts, inches, etc. This can make it difficult (but not impossible) to get a perfect 1px border. You'll have to experiment with different output resolutions, etc. to get a nice crisp border.
The engine has a printer in mind, which means it doesn't care about rotation. By default the above image was coming out vertical:
To get around the rotation issue, you can change the print dimensions (which is what I did), but then you'll run into the other problem - portrait-orientation images will come out as landscape. If you set up two templates it'll make this problem a bit easier, but I certainly won't be using this to export shots from events.
The naming of the files when exporting to a directory are completely divorced from the actual name of the file. Adobe wasn't even smart enough to use the "Edit Externally File Naming" setting in Preferences for this. Again, I won't be using this to export events since people order prints off the filename.

So... in limited use, it'll get the job done. But Adobe will have to tweak a few things to have it be genuinely useful for this particular task.

**jacobsen1** · 11-05-2008 10:07 AM

here's my write up on using a PS action in LR (PS3 and LR1 mind you):

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

I might have figured this out....

OK, I'm not a fan of lightroom just yet, but only because I'm soooo used to PS and different is bad Mkay... But I've been trying to learn it because I could certainly use something to help me organize my images a bit better than I do with bridge, and having "one stop shopping" would be nice in terms of my workflow for DLing (I use Zoombrowser), Browsing (I use bridge) and editing (I use PS:CS3)...

Anyway, you CAN use PS actions in LR!!!

You still need PS, and PS will open, but LR makes PS do the work for you when you export. Here's what you need to do:

get your actions working in PS
I'd suggest getting them to work as batches on folders
for me, I needed an open command at the beginning of the action, and a save and close command at the end (those aren't normally in my actions)
in PS goto File -> Automate -> create droplet
save that file anywhere
open LR
use the library pane
select some images
go file -> export
choose a folder to export the images too
- see other method below!
scroll to the bottom of the window
select post processing -> "goto export actions folder now"
that will open a file window
goto your desktop, find the droplet you made in PS, and move it to the export actions folder that LR now has open for you
select that droplet
click export
DONE!!!

LR will now export the images to the folder you choose, THEN open PS and run the droplet for you for all the images it's exporting. It works, I just batched 3 work images with my new border action. All I needed to do was add opening and save/close commands to the action, then make the droplet...

other method:

follow the above steps until the red.
copy the droplet made in PS to that folder
drag and drop the images LR made in that folder onto the droplet
the droplet is a .exe that opens PS and runs the specified action on the images you drop on it...

Even if I don't use LR, the droplet method is MUCH easier than running batches for me. I'll just make a folder with the specified actions in it. Then all you do is get your images in there somehow (saved from PS with PP, or just copied from where they live), then select all, and drag/drop them on the droplet and walk away. Not that batches were hard, but I always had to setup the folders. Now with this, you set the folder up once then just reuse it.

**ride5000** · 11-05-2008 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

WRONG! (kinda sorta but not really)

LR CAN add borders, kinda sorta.... Depends on your definition of LR doing the work though... You need PS and it'll run via PS, but if you have PS and have actions working in PS LR can run them on export. So does LR actually do it? maybe not technically since you need to own PS and it technically does the work, but yeah, as a user you don't need to leave LR to get it done.

i consider anything that renders the image "leaving" lightroom. rendering by definition leaves the non-destructive editing realm of LR.

**Idjiit** · 11-05-2008 11:08 AM

Well, err... yeah. Ben's solution requires PS, so... no, it's not a solution in Lightroom. A lot of people like me want to only use Lightroom. I think I need to bite the bullet and get back into the Beta feedback circles I used to be in and do another posting focusing on the big problems I see with Lightroom. They've ****ed a bunch of stuff up with the release of 2.0.

**jacobsen1** · 11-05-2008 11:13 AM

yeah, I know what both of you are saying and even said it myself.....

but really, how many people (at least here) own LR and NOT PS? So it's at least an easy way to walk around the issue for now.

**Idjiit** · 11-05-2008 11:19 AM

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

but really, how many people (at least here) own LR and NOT PS? So it's at least an easy way to walk around the issue for now.

Not trying to devalue it by any means. But for me personally, I'm close to being at the point where I don't really need PS anymore. The only thing I really need it for right now is my border script (which I could easily use a much cheaper app for), print prepartion (mainly selective sharpening at print sizes) and very rarely for doing composites. Lightroom is getting closer and closer to the day where I can just ditch PS altogether. I'm not a Photoshop power user by any means.

**BobbyT** · 11-05-2008 04:38 PM

If you want to spend some money for it, OnOne has photoframe4 available as a lightroom2 plugin.

http://www.ononesoftware.com/products/photoframe.php

**martel** · 11-05-2008 04:39 PM

Herro old thread.

What I've ended up doing is pulling someone's javascript/ps script. I run them through PS to watermark and exif them then run the mogrify batch to put the border on.
Seems to work ok but it's tedious.

**martel** · 11-05-2008 04:41 PM

Originally Posted by BobbyT

If you want to spend some money for it, OnOne has photoframe4 available as a lightroom2 plugin.

http://www.ononesoftware.com/products/photoframe.php

thats more than I paid for LR2!

**BobbyT** · 11-05-2008 04:46 PM

Yeah, it's pretty spendy. If I was ever to buy that, I would spend the $500 on the suite. They have some cool plugins. Just not sure if they are worth the cash. Focal point is supposed to create the lens baby look in post.

**riderofbmx4130** · 11-06-2008 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by Idjiit

So... in limited use, it'll get the job done. But Adobe will have to tweak a few things to have it be genuinely useful for this particular task.

so i actually went through that process the other day, except for the last part about exporting to jpeg

didn't see that.

and it could work for a few things but not batches. even though i rarely batch things i would still like to be able to easily.

so does anyone have the PS script that i could steal?

i'm using CS2 though, not CS3... would it still work for my older version? i see no reason why not.

**jacobsen1** · 11-06-2008 09:36 AM

Originally Posted by riderofbmx4130

so does anyone have the PS script that i could steal?

http://www.newschoolofphotography.co...ead.php?t=1270
and how to make your own (formatting is ****ed due to the new theme on the blog):
http://www.newschoolofphotography.com/?p=58

also, heads up, there's a way to get this to work for either orientation using scripts. When you resize, use file -> automate -> fit image instead of image size. Then type in the larger size in both boxes and it'll work. Place text is a bit harder as you have to use selections, contract them to where you want the text, then align the text to the selection. It works, but it takes a bit of time to dial in your action the first time. Writing the resize with a border should take ~5 minutes or less. But adding in your text and getting it just right can take a half hour.

**Ken** · 04-01-2009 01:26 AM

Hopefully this hasn't already been posted. Some other people have mentioned Image Magik's mogrify too.

Lightroom2 mogrify plug-in
http://timothyarmes.com/lr2mogrify.php

I tried it out, works good!

**ride5000** · 04-01-2009 06:34 AM

cool! i didn't know there was an LR2 plugin for it.

nice link, ken

**jacobsen1** · 04-01-2009 09:02 AM

now if only NN worked in LR...

IB http://picturecode.cachefly.net/vide...mH264Small.mov

**distorto** · 04-17-2009 08:13 PM

i know it's "welcome to 10-10-2007," but the Calvin and Hobbes comics are awesome!

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