Configuring image processing profiles
What are processing profiles?
Processing profiles are used by FotoWare to apply image processing or third-party processing to files when a user requests a download or sends images to a workflow (action). They can also be used in the FotoWeb Desktop Extension for Adobe InDesign to process a file directly before placing it in the layout.
FotoWare has built-in mechanisms for changing image file formats, image resizing, color conversion with ICC profiles, watermarking and sharpening. In addition, processing profiles can be used to deliver files to a third-party system which can process the files in any way before delivering them back to FotoWeb.
Important!
1. Most of the functionality in processing profiles that is described in the below paragraphs only applies to processing of image file formats. FotoWare processing profiles can store images in these output formats: TIF, TIF with JPEG compression, JPEG, EPS JPEG (with TIF preview) and PNG 8 bit.
2. For non-image files, users can only apply processing profiles that have been configured for external processing. If a profile that involves external processing and image operations (color space, resizing etc) has been assigned to an archive and configured to be applied to all download operations, image processing will be skipped for the non-image files.
3. When a processing profile set (a collection of processing profiles from which the user can choose) has been assigned to an archive, a user can only choose from those profiles that involve download of the original asset or external processing when processing non-image formats.
Learn how to assign a processing profile that you have made to an archive.
Creating a Processing Profile
Log on to FotoWare and open the Tools menu and choose Manage site. The site management opens on a separate tab. Expand the Workflows node in the panel on the left and choose Processing profiles. Finally, click on Add processing profile to create a new profile.
General settings
Start by naming the processing profile and entering a description of what it does.
File format and color space
Here you can choose the output format of the processed file. If you would like to change the color space also, you can choose the output color space, the type of rendering intent and the ICC profile to be used for the conversion. It is also possible to embed the ICC profile in the output file. If the file has an embedded ICC profile before the processing, this profile will be used as the input profile.
Use the ... button next to the ICC profile field to select a profile or to upload a profile from the local computer to the server. See more info in ICC profiles in the paragraph below.
Image Size
Here you can set resizing options. You can choose not to change the output size, to resample the image or to simply stamp the file with a resolution or size without altering image data.
Watermarking
If you would like to add a watermark to all files before they are delivered to the client, you can do that here.
If you would like to add custom watermarks to the list, you can upload custom watermarks to the server by going to the Watermarks node on the Manage Site page and choosing Upload.
Tip: When creating a watermark you can achieve transparency by making sure those areas have a color value of 128 in R, G and B channels.
Sharpening
To add unsharp mask to the pictures, check the corresponding box and adjust the Amount, Radius and Threshold settings. If you are uncertain about the optimum values, try with the default settings first.
Assigning the processing profile or profile set to an archive
After completing the configuration of processing profiles and optionally adding them to a set, you can assign them to an archive.