Retrobatch Sample Workflows
Included below are some common workflows. Be sure to read the Basics page to learn how to add and modify workflows and write images. Contact us if you have suggestions for other workflows we should include, or need help putting one together.
Each workflow below is shown in the format of the node name with an arrow indicating a directional link to the next node. For example: Node name → node name → node name. Add the nodes shown in one of the examples below to your canvas to get started.
Capture Date on Photos:
Read Folder → Text Watermark → Write Images
Drag and drop a folder of images onto the Read Folder Node. Click on the Text Watermark node to add the capture date, or any other text to watermark images. For additional options, click on the cogwheel in the inspector palette and a drop-down menu of tokens are available including current date, capture date, copyright and author. Add a 'Set General Metadata' node before the 'Text Watermark' node to quickly edit copyright and author information which can then be used for a text watermark if desired. Click on the Write Images Node and click on 'Choose' in the inspector to select a folder to write your images into.
AddCaptureDateToPhotos.retrobatch
Convert HEIC images to JPEG
Read Folder → Rules → Write Images
Drag and drop a folder of images onto the Read Folder node. The Rules node is set up so that if any images in a folder are .heic or .heif, they will be converted to the file type you select in the Write Images node. Click on the Write Images Node and click on 'Choose' in the inspector to select a folder to write your images into.
Multiple Sizes for Web Site
This sample takes a single folder of images, and writes it out three different ways using branches. The first branch takes the source image and scales it to a fixed width of 1000 pixels. It then writes out as a lossy compressed JPEG at 50% quality with a file prefix of "scaled_". It also writes out a lossless compressed JPEG-XL image with a file prefix of "scaled_full". The second branch resizes the image to a fixed width of 200 pixels, and then writes it out as a lossy compressed jpeg with a file prefix of "thumb_".
Hot Dog or Not?
Read Folder → Classify Images → Rules → Write Images
Available in Retrobatch Pro. The Rules node is set up to pull out any images whose classification includes 'hotdog'. Image classification information can be found by clicking on an image in the preview window, then clicking the 'i' in the lower righthand corner of the window. To start, drag and drop a folder of images onto the Read Folder node. Click on the Write Images Node and click on 'Choose' in the inspector to select a folder to write your images into.
PNG Crush and sRGB
Read Folder → Change Color Profile → Write Images
Available in Retrobatch Pro. Drag and drop a folder of images onto the Read Folder node. The Change Color Profile node is set up to change the color profile to sRGB if it isn’t already, and then saves the images as optimized PNGs. The PNG step is very intensive, and can take a while to run. In addition, PNGs are stripped of their color profile to save on space. Most browsers will default to sRGB if a profile is not present. Click on the Write Images Node and click on 'Choose' in the inspector to select a folder to write your images into.
PNGCrushConvertTosRGB.retrobatch
Social Scrub
Read Folder → Remove GPS → Delete Metadata → Write Images
This workflow is useful for removing all identifying information from an image including its GPS location, date, time, etc. Perform this workflow prior to uploading images to social media to minimize identifying information being shared. Drag and drop a folder of images onto the Read Folder node. Click on the Write Images Node and click on 'Choose' in the inspector to select a folder to write your images into.
Screenshot Windows to Layered Photoshop / PSD / Acorn image
Screenshots & Windows → PSD Maker → Write Images
Available in Retrobatch Pro. The Screenshots and Windows node takes a screenshot of either one image per window or one image per screen. All windows present in the screenshot will be placed into a multi-layer PSD file. Click on the Write Images Node and click on 'Choose' in the inspector to select a folder to write your images into.
ScreenWindowsToPSD.retrobatch ScreenWindowsToAcorn.retrobatch
Classify and Set Keywords
Read Folder → Classify Images → Set Specific Metadata → Write Images
This workflow uses Machine Learning to figure out what's in the image, and sets the metadata keyword based on what it found. In the Classify Images node, set the classification model if you have multiple options present. The Set Specific Metadata node will add the top classification matched by that model as the keyword.
ClassifyAndSetKeywords.retrobatch
Export RAW Images From Photos and Import to New Album as HEIC
Photos Export → Write Images → Photos Import
Use the Photos Export node to select all RAW images, write them out as compressed HEIC (which are a lot smaller than RAW files), and then take those compressed images and re-import them to Photos with a custom album name.
PhotosRAWProcesstoHEIF.retrobatch
Add a "TOP SECRET" Repeating Watermark to Your Images
Read Folder → Text Watermark → Write Images
The secret with this workflow is the choice of the "Stencil" font along with the option to tile the watermark.
Remove Transparency
Read Folder → Matte → Write Images
Removing transparency from images is a matter of drawing an image onto a solid background. Add a Matte node to the workflow (located in the Color Effect category). Within the Matte palette, select a background color.
When the images are written out, the transparency (also known as the alpha channel) will be gone.
Split up Multi-Page PDFs
Read Folder → Layer / Page Splitter → Write Images
Available in Retrobatch Pro. A simple technique is to drag and drop a PDF file onto Retrobatch's canvas. A Read File node will be created. Add the other nodes listed above. The split out pages of the PDF will be displayed in the preview window. In the Write Images node, choose a folder to write to. If desired, choose a different file type under the 'convert to:' option. This workflow also can be used to split up animated GIFs, multi-layer PNGs, TIFFs, Icon, PSD, and Acorn files into single images.
To increase the resolution of the created images, add a 'Set DPI' node before the Layer/Page Splitter node and increase the DPI.
Many PDFs contain a transparent background. Add a Matte node after the Layer/Page Splitter node if a background color is desired.
Create a Multipage PDF from Single Images
Read Folder → PDF Maker → Write Images
Available in Retrobatch Pro. Throw any images you want to combine into a PDF into a folder for the Read Node, then let Retrobatch work its magic. The images will be combined into a multipage PDF in the order in which they are listed in the folder.
CreateaMultipagePDFfromSingleImages.retrobatch
Convert Images to CMYK (or Other Color Profile)
Read Folder → Change Color Profile → Write Images
Available in Retrobatch Pro. In the Change Color Profile node, choose "Generic CMYK Profile" (or any other CMYK profiles you might have installed). Additional common color profiles: sRGB, grayscale (generic gray profile), Display p3, LAB (generic lab).
ConvertImagestoCMYK.retrobatch
Set Author and Copyright Metadata to Use for Watermarking
Read Folder → Set General Metadata → Text Watermark → Write Images
In the Set General Metadata node, enter any desired information to be included with your image file. Use the text watermark cogwheel dropdown menu to use any of these metadata values (title, description, copyright, author) as a watermark.
SetAuthorandCopyrightMetadatatoUseforWatermarking.retrobatch
Rename or Convert RAW Files
Read Folder → Write Images
Include the RAW files in the Read Folder. In the Write Images folder, select a file type to convert to. If nothing is selected, Retrobatch will default to JPG. Make adjustments to the file name if desired. Use free text, or click on the cogwheel for additional options to include in the file name including capture data and current date.
Add a Drop Shadow
Read Folder → Add a Border → Drop Shadow → Trim to Edges → Write Images
Drop shadows can be used to make it appear as if an image is casting a shadow. If an image doesn't already contain transparency, the drop shadow will not be visible. This workflow adds transparency around the edges of images, then adds a drop shadow.
- Click on the 'Add a Border' node to select it.
- Click on the color well in the inspector palette to bring up the colors palette. Slide the opacity down to 0%. The border width is measured in pixels.
- Creating a border much larger than the drop shadow is okay, as any excess will be removed with the 'trim to edges' node.
- Click on the drop shadow node and adjust the settings if desired.
If you would like your images to be written at a certain width/height, add a Scale node after the Trim to Edges node.
DropShadowAndBorder.retrobatch
App Images and Open in App
App Images: Drag and drop an application onto Retrobatch's canvas. Retrobatch will create a Read Folder and display whatever app images are present in that app's images folder.
Open in App: Available in Retrobatch Pro. Adding the 'Open in App' node after the 'Write Images' node results in the images Retrobatch has written opening in another selected app. The images passed to the app do need to have a representation on disk somewhere. For example, if you create the following workflow: Read Folder → Color Invert → Open in App → Write Images, you won't observe the color invert edits when the images open in the app, because they weren't written to disk prior to the Open in App node acting. The workflow would need to be Read Folder → Color Invert → Write Images → Open in App.
Set Top Classification as a Metadata Keyword
Read Folder → Classify Images → Set Specific Metadata → Write Images
In the Classify Images node pick a model. To see what classifications come up with a given model, click the 'i' in the lower righthand corner of the Retrobatch canvas. In the Set Specific Metadata node, click IPTC and choose 'Keywords' from the drop-down menu. Click the cogwheel and choose 'Top Classification'.
TopClassificationToMetadata.retrobatch
Square Crop and Add a Border
Read Folder → Crop → Add Border → Write Images
In the Crop node, choose 'Aspect Ratio' and '1x1 (square)'. Choose where you want the crop to be placed with the location widget. In the Border node, adjust the border color and width. If adding a black border, it may help to toggle the Preview window background color located in the lower righthand corner of the canvas to see the appearance of the border.
SquareCropandAddaBorder.retrobatch
Pull Out Specific Pages of PDFs
Read Folder → Layer & Page Splitter → Rules → Write Images
The specific page number of 5 is used to illustrate this example. In the Rules node, set the criteria to 'File Name' 'ends with' and enter 'page 5.pdf'. Multiple Rules nodes can be strung together to pull out different page numbers.
PullOutSpecificPagesofPDFs.retrobatch
Extract Native Images From PDFs (Pro Only)
Read → PDF Image Extractor → Write Images
Images in PDF files can be extracted without re-compressing or re-encoding them. The PDF Image Extractor node is the magic piece to this. This node will break out the images from a PDF - even multiple images in a single page will be copied out. So what you end up with are pure bitmap images, without the encompassing PDF.
ExtractNativeImagesFromPDF.retrobatch
Export Photos To Multiple Folders With Size Limit (Pro Only)
Photos Export → JavaScript → Write Images
This example will allow you to select an album from the Photos app, and then pipe images through a custom bit of JavaScript which determines if the file size of the image is too large to fit in the current folder and if it is then to put it in a new folder (incremented by numbers). A limit of 10MB per folder is set in the JavaScript, but this can be changed within the node properties. This sample was inspired by an episode of ATP where one of the hosts, Marco Arment, needed to export his Photos library to multiple optical disks.
ExportPhotosToMultipleFoldersWithSizeLimit.retrobatch
Write Back Resized Images to Original Folders and Subfolders
Read Folder → Scale → Write Images
This example will read images from a folder and its subfolders, resize them to 50% of the original size, and then write them back to the same folder the image came from with a resized suffix added to the file name. This is acomplished by turning on the "Include images in subfolders" option of the Read Folder node, and using the Source Folder Path token in the Write node. If you have a folder layout like this:
After running the workflow the images will be written out as:
BaseFolder/image_a.jpeg
BaseFolder/image_a_resized.jpeg
BaseFolder/subfolder/image_b.jpeg
BaseFolder/subfolder/image_b_resized.jpeg
BaseFolder/subfolder_two/image_c.jpeg
BaseFolder/subfolder_two/image_c_resized.jpeg