Six image wrap actions for the action tool of Photoshop®
Dinkla Canvas Wraps: Six Photoshop canvas wrap actions.
Text and Actions overhauled December 23th 2011.
Action Stop dialogs will explain what to do but here is more text
to inform you. If no Action Stop dialogs are shown you have to
toggle them on where appropriate and possibly the dialogs on
the functions too, it is explained here how: photoshopessentials
The Gallery Wrap asks for some size computing done by the
user. Instructions are in the action stops. The width of the digital
image is stretched over the width of the stretcher frame + the
wrap depth on both sides + some extra tolerance (42,25" or
105,64cm total sum as default in the menu). The aspect ratio of
the digital image is translated to the depth of the wrap and the
tolerance as well so the resulting frontal aspect ratio of the
stretcher frame will not correspond to the aspect ratio of the
original image. A consequence of the Gallery Wrap's use of
actual image data for the stretcher frame sides.
If that is not preffered you can use one of the following wrap
choices that are all based on copying data of the actual image to
extend the image character over the edges or adding white etc.
canvas for the wrap. In the actions the front of the stretched
canvas will be identical in shape and information to the original
digital image you started from. The image extensions for the
wraps do not affect the actual image.
The following five actions ask you to set the width of the
stretcher frame (40" or 100cm as the default) and the aspect
ratio of the digital image will add the height accordingly, the
aspect ratio between the digital image and stretched canvas will
be the same. If that doesn't correspond with your stretcher bar
sizes you either have to crop the digital image or deform it with a
resampling. The last is not an elegant solution but sometimes it
is just a fraction that is needed. Next to the size the wrap depth
has to be set (2" or 5cm is the default). Tolerance is added
automatically.
The most simple one is the Plain Wrap, the wrap sides can be
white, color filled, content aware filled (CS 5), patterned, filtered,
whatever way you like to decorate the stretcher side.
The Mirror, Deflection, Fast Extrusion and Precise Extrusion are
more complicated in processing but the sizes are as easy to set
as in the Plain Wrap Action. There's a wrap area selection at
some point where you can blur the sides if desired. You can also
stop the action there and use the area selection for another filter
and continue the action after that. Some trials with actions and
the action menu will make it easier to add your own choice of
filtering.
For the 4 complicated wraps there are limitations: The maximum
size in both directions covered by the actions is a bit less than 6
meters, 20 feet. The stretcher strip thickness can be 2 inches
maximum, there is a 1/8 inch tolerance per side added
automatically.
The minimum PPI number allowed at the stretcher frame size
setting will be 20 PPI. You can always upsample in that first
choice of the action to get above 20 PPI. It is not recommended
to upsample when the 20 PPI or more is already available. The
action will take more time than necessary if you select a high
PPI number there right away. Canvas print quality usually
requires less than 300 PPI input to the driver and optimal quality
will already be available at 150-200 PPI input, the quality of the
wrap isn't getting better with higher numbers and overall time in
processing and printing increases. So keeping the resolution at
200 PPI or lower may be wiser but given enough computing
power and scratch disc capacity it could be used with higher PPI
numbers. Large frames and high PPI numbers will take a lot of
time to process depending on the system the software runs on, a
manual method will not make that faster in my opinion despite
some extra steps in the actions to make them universal for many
sizes and resolutions.
On all wraps a grey line is added at the boundary of the image
warp, the printed page and halfway, two times half an inch white
in between, so it is easier to measure at the back of the stretcher
frame whether the image is in the center and whether the
tension is equal along the sides. That boundary isn't the ideal
extra canvas you would like to have for applying tension and
fixing the canvas with staples to the frame. It is more a minimum
of canvas added to get the largest prints possible from the fixed
widths of canvas rolls and printers. If possible use more canvas
for easier stretching. On the other hand if you like to have less
canvas material at the back and you are able to stretch with just
3/4 of an inch canvas at the back you could deselect the last two
canvas steps in an action. I would suggest to duplicate the
action set then to keep a unchanged one next to it. Some
experience with action editing may be required.
An extra image size resampling choice is added at the end of
each wrap action to add a percentage to the size in the direction
the canvas is transported on the printer. This compensates the
shrinking of the canvas after printing and varnishing. The actual
percentage to use depends on the canvas quality and varnishing
done. Some RIPs have the percentage already incorporated in
the substrate choices so in that case one should not add the
percentage here.
Two advices:
Please, always check the edges on the monitor to see whether it
is done correctly. By making the actions universal for sizes up to
almost 6 meter and for high and low resolutions there's always a
chance that the wrap isn't as nice as you would like. The content
of the image plays a role there too, some are nicer with a blurred
Extruded Warp than with a hard Mirror Wrap. As a result of
copying the image edges there's also the more pronounced
double image edge with all the flaws you wouldn't see on the
normal image edge. Light fall off on the edges, the scan that
should have been cropped a bit more,it all becomes more
pronounced when the edge is doubled with mirroring etc. Check
it, a large piece of canvas does take time in printing and a
misprint
With the Plain Wrap there's a chance that you will select a frame
side color that is beyond the gamut of the image itself, in the
conversion to the printer profile this darker or more saturated
color influences the image color depending on the rendering
chosen, for example Perceptual or Relative Colormetric with
BPC compared to Absolute Colormetric. To avoid that issue you
could select a color in the image itself with the Eyedropper tool.
On the Actions file downloaded:
Two bundles are in the ZIP: one with text and defaults with
metric units and one with imperial units. Unzip and remember
where the map is you unzipped to. Go to Actions in Photoshop
and click on the right top "text" icon for the Load function. Load
the Actions bundle.
Archive the original bundle as delivered and if you like to change
the defaults then extend the name with edited or something alike
and save that edited bundle separately. Stops that explain the
functions can be deselected (or just the dialog) if you already are
familiar with the functions. If your stretcher bar's thickness is
always the same then the defaults for the stretcher bar thickness
can be changed by double clicking on the function, deselect the
dialog for it too and save the edited bundle again.
Philosophy: My aim was to make the -Dinkla Canvas Wrap
Actions- reliable, fast, easy, flexible in esthetics and sizes,
without compromising the image data at the stretched canvas
front. No up- or downsampling is done in the default settings, no
data at the canvas front is replaced or lost. Of course the Gallery
Wrap by its nature has image content shifted to the wraps.
Copyright to all actions, action methods, texts and to certain
photographs used to illustrate them are held by the developer
Ernst Dinkla. You are free to download and use the actions but
you may not redistribute the actions themselves in any form
without permission of the developer. Please direct potential
users to the original webpages; Dinkla Canvas Wrap Actions
Donations are welcome. The site itself and some photographs
are copyright 2006 by Ernst Dinkla, Dinkla Grafische Techniek,
The Netherlands All right reserved.
Photoshop is a registered trademark of Adobe.
