ADOBE IMAGE READY For create quickly banners or other images for WEB pages, you can use variables to define which elements in a template are dynamic (changeable). A variable’s type corresponds to the type of data you want to change in a template. Visibility variables let you show or hide the content of a layer. Pixel Replacement variables let you replace the pixels in the layer with pixels from another image file. Text Replacement variables let you replace a string of text in a type layer. This option is available for Adobe Image Ready 7.0 or CS but saving in SWF formats is valid only for CS versions Follow the next steps:
Defining variables
- In the Layers palette, select a layer for which you want to define variables. (must by a normal Layer not a Background layer; you cannot define variables for the Background layer.) Choose Image > Variables > Define, or choose Variables from the Layers palette menu.
- Choose Image > Variables > Define, or choose Variables from the Layers palette menu.
- 1. Select one or more types of variables:
- Pixel Replacement to replace the pixels in the layer with pixels from another image file.
- Text Replacement to replace a string of text in a type layer.
- Visibility to show or hide the content of the layer.
- 2. If desired, enter names for the variables. See the help for conventions about variable names
- 3. For Pixel Replacement variables, click Pixel Replacement Options, and do the following:
- Choose a method for scaling the replacement image:
- Click a handle on the alignment icon to choose an alignment for placing the image inside the bounding box.
- To define variables for an additional layer, choose a layer from the Layer pop-up menu. Repeat Steps 1 through 3.
- Click OK.
Using data Sets Follow the next steps:
- Choose Image > Variables > Data Sets, or choose Variables from the Layers palette menu. Then choose Data Sets from the pop-up menu at the top of the dialog box, or click Next. (You must define at least one variable before you can edit the default data set.)
- 1.Select a variable from the Name pop-up menu or the list at the bottom of the dialog box.
- 2. Edit the variable data:
- For Visibility variables , select Visible to show the layer’s content or Invisible to hide the layer’s content.
- For Pixel Replacement variables , click Browse (Windows) or Choose (Mac OS) and select a replacement image file.
- For Text Replacement variables , enter a text string in the Value text box.
- Repeat Steps 1 and 2 for every variable in the template.
- Click OK, or click Next..
Importing data sets from external files You can quickly create a large number of data sets by creating an external text file that contains all the variable information and loading that file into a PSD document containing variables. One good way to accomplish this is to enter your data into a text file and then export it to a tab or comma-separated file.All the variable names are listed on the first line, in the order that the values are given in subsequent lines. Each subsequent line represents one data set, with the values for each variable given. Example data set: <<For a template with 3 variables: a label which can be visible or not, a text layer with the image name a layer with image itself Variable1, Variable2, Variable3 true, TULIP, c:\My Documents\tulip.jpg false, SUNFLOWER, c:\MyDocuments\sunflower.jpg false, CALLA LILY, c:\My Documents\calla.jpg true, VIOLET, c:\My Documents\violet.jpg >>
- Choose File > Import > Variable Data Sets.
- Choose Image > Variables > Data Sets.
- Click the Import button.
- Enter the name of the text file to import.
- Set up the appropriate import options.
- Click OK.
Preview data-driven graphics:
- Enable Preview Document mode.
- In the options bar, choose a data set from the Data Set pop-up menu, clicks the next and previous arrows. The data changes in the document window
Processing all data sets Once you have variables and one or more data sets defined, you can output, in batch mode, images using the data set values. You can output images as PSD files, optimized images, or SWF images. To process data sets:
- Choose File > Export > Data Sets as Files.
- Enter a base name for all files generated. You may create your own file-naming scheme if you want.
- Click the Choose button to select a destination directory for your files.
- Choose data sets to export.
- In the Save As text box, choose an export format and set the format-dependent export parameters.
- Click OK.
When exporting to SWF format, you can see multiple images in one HTML file. This is useful for quick visual scans. For instance, you can check if text was truncated, or choose a version from multiple data sets you’ve exported all to one file.
