white image thumbnails

We have a few logos in white color. When it is viewed in mediabin it appears as empty white image. Is it possible to add a background for this image (only for thumbnails) so that this can be viewed properly on mediabin?

TIA

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

Migrateduser

Hi,

I don't know if you found a solution in the meantime, but here's a "duct tape" solution that you may be interested in.

First, create a Photoshop file with two layers. A black one, and an empty one on top of it. Name the empty one "Logo".

Put the Photoshop file in a share to which the username running the MediaBin service has at least read access.

Create a new task, and add the following operations in it:
Image Size
PSD Layer Replacer
Flattener

Image Size is to make your image the same size of the Photoshop file
In PSD Layer Replacer specify the UNC path to the Photoshop file, and give "Logo" as the layer to be replaced

Now, when you insert your file, use this new task as an insertion task instead of the default one.

IT WILL NOT MODIFY YOUR IMAGE: ONLY THE PREVIEW IMAGE WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE TRANSFORMATIONS

Hope this helps... My files are attached (rename the task definition to .tsk to import)

lyman

Nice solution. A simpler one would be to try using something like the Inverse primitive as an insertion task which would make them show up as black, or the Levels or Curves (or one of the other adjustments) to change them to gray (again, as noted, the insertion task would only affect the logo.

I am afraid that the flattener behavior was designed to imitate Photoshop and in this case the result is not what is expected.

Cheers,

Lyman

suj

Thanks for the files and solution Folco. I tried this on our server.
I changed the image resize task to have bicubic with print size as "same as input" but it does not seem to retain the original dimension of the image. Also, the logo seems to be aligned to the top left corner. I tried the "no resampling" option but it aligns the image to the top, and retains the dimensions of the black background. Any idea, how to solve this? fyi, i'm trying this with eps files.

The inverse adjustment may confuse the users because we also have black logos in the same folder.

TIA

suj

I managed to nail down the alignment issue by making the dimension of the background layer same as the incoming file. I believe this should work for me as all the uploaded logos has almost the same dimension. The only issue I find is that the inserted image information is also altered although on doing "get original" it gives back the same white logo without any changes. For eg:, it does not have the Dimension metadata and few other metadata and also the image resolution seems to be altered. Why does mediabin alter the image information inserted using a "psd layer replacer" when it claims that this only affects the preview?

lyman

I am afraid you have hit an unintended side effect of an unanticipated use of this primitive! Insertion tasks do not alter the image data of retrieved assets but they may affect the metadata. This is, for example, useful in the somewhat common case in which a metadata adder primitive is used to add a copyright notice, for example.

The usual use case for the Layer Replacer is when you essentially want the output image to look like the "background" image and want the image being replaced inserted into the existing image. This is the basis for demos like the credit card image, or the poster on the side of a bus terminal. To be honest, nobody to my knowledge has ever used this as an insertion task although it is a clever idea!

There are some alternate means to the same end that may produce less confusing results. One idea is to play with the watermark adder primitive. By making the watermark image cleverly enough especially by means of Photoshop's Blend If layer parameters, you can make a Black watermark that allows the image to show through.

The easiest way to do this is to create a single layer watermark file consisting of a single black image. Then set the Blend Mode to "Lighten". This should give you what you expect.

Migrateduser

[...] To be honest, nobody to my knowledge has ever used this as an insertion task although it is a clever idea!

I should probably change my signature to "tester of the unexpected"...

The easiest way to do this is to create a single layer watermark file consisting of a single black image. Then set the Blend Mode to "Lighten". This should give you what you expect.

Nice idea! What about a small technical article about it? I'm sure several people would be interested!

lyman

Good idea. Added to my list!

Cheers,

Lyman Hurd

pfs_style.css

dudamic

Dear all,
we are facing similar issues. We have to manage a wide range of white gif files in MediaBin, sample attached. Therefore we see two ways:
- Generating the gif file with a download task from the original eps file (ideal scenario for us)
- Proper display of the gif file in MediaBin (We require a standard insert task: we have build one for eps file by adding a grey layer to the white ones)

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Michael

Migrateduser

I think the "watermark" solution suggested above should work...

dudamic

We received a great solution from support so that we can create on the fly the gif files from the eps files and we don't have to post the gif files in MediaBin.

Migrateduser

Hm, and what would that be? A Hot Folder?

Just curious, if you can (and care to) share...

suj

Can anyone provide the details to the "watermark solution" that I can pass on to my graphic designer to get the psd done? Unfortunately, my trial version of photoshop expired, else I would have given it a shot.

TIA

lyman

Here's an example watermark file I came up with. It should be included with a watermarking task that says "stretch to fit".

Cheers,

Lyman Hurd

dudamic

Dear all,
here is the solution we have in place:
- task
- xml file to call AGS
A directory must be created called "AGS Command Files" under "MBDataDirector" and the xml has to be stored there.

Give it a try and let me know what you get. It is also possible to adjust the output size and the aspect ratio.

Cheers

Michael