Photoshop Elements 3: The Missing Manual

Processing Multiple Files

The formerly humble Batch Processor has gotten a makeover in Elements 3 with several additions to make it more useful for prolific photographers. It's also got a new name: Process Multiple Files. You can do a lot of very useful things with the new version, too, like adding copyright information or captions to multiple files or even using some of the Quick Fix auto commands, as well as renaming files and changing their formats.

To call up the batch processing window, go to File → Process Multiple Files in the Editor (Mac or Windows) or the Windows File Browser. In the Mac File Browser, go to Automate → Process Multiple Files. You see yet another of the headache-inducing giant Elements dialog boxes, but this one is actually pretty easy to understand. If you look closely, you see that the dialog box is divided into sections, each with a different specialty (see Figure 8-8).

Tip

"Process Multiple Files" is the name of the command, but you can run it on just one photo if you want. Just open your photo, go to File → Process Multiple Files, and choose "Opened Files" as your source. You can even opt to save the new version to the desktop without overwriting your original.

The following sections cover each main section of the Process Multiple Files dialog box. You have to use the first section (which tells Elements which files you want to process), but you'll probably only want to make use of one or two of the other sections at any one time. (Of course, you ...