Photoshop script to put an image into a local file to replace a layer image and export as a new JPEG?

Question

We are working on downloading finished product photo for a website and put it into a custom layer in photoshop. It takes a long time to do manually so i'm trying to see if we can automate the process by downloading the JPEG into a local folder and output the final product into another folder as a JPEG.

Workflow - -Download JPEG into folder -Move to Photoshop file -Replace layer image in photoshop with new downloaded JPEG -Export new photoshop file as a JPEG in output folder (possibly into google drive)

A screenshot of the photoshop file is here. enter image description here

I'm not a coder so I used ChatGPT to do try and build an introductory code and I'm just seeing if it will work.

// Load required modules
const request = require('request');
const fs = require('fs');

// Download the JPEG file from a URL and save it in a local folder
const imageUrl = 'https://example.com/image.jpg';
const downloadFolder = '/path/to/download/folder';
const fileName = 'downloaded_image.jpg';

request(imageUrl)
  .pipe(fs.createWriteStream(`${downloadFolder}/${fileName}`))
  .on('close', function() {
    console.log('JPEG downloaded successfully');
    
    // Open the Photoshop file
    const photoshopFile = '/path/to/your/photoshop/file.psd';
    const docRef = app.open(new File(photoshopFile));
    
    // Replace the layer image in Photoshop with the new downloaded JPEG
    const layerName = 'Layer 1';
    const layerRef = docRef.layers.getByName(layerName);
    const newLayerRef = docRef.artLayers.add();
    newLayerRef.name = layerName;
    docRef.activeLayer = newLayerRef;
    docRef.selection.selectAll();
    docRef.paste();
    docRef.selection.deselect();
    layerRef.remove();

    // Export the new Photoshop file as a JPEG and save it in the output folder
    const outputFolder = '/path/to/output/folder';
    const outputFileName = 'new_file.jpg';
    const jpegOptions = new JPEGSaveOptions();
    jpegOptions.quality = 8; // adjust the quality as needed
    docRef.saveAs(new File(`${outputFolder}/${outputFileName}`), jpegOptions);
    docRef.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES);

    console.log('New Photoshop file saved as JPEG');
    
    // Upload the new file to Google Drive (assuming you have authenticated and authorized access)
    const { google } = require('googleapis');
    const drive = google.drive({ version: 'v3', auth: YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN });
    const fileMetadata = { name: outputFileName };
    const media = { body: fs.createReadStream(`${outputFolder}/${outputFileName}`) };
    drive.files.create({ resource: fileMetadata, media: media, fields: 'id' }, function (err, file) {
      if (err) {
        console.error('Error uploading file to Google Drive:', err);
      } else {
        console.log(`New file uploaded to Google Drive with ID: ${file.data.id}`);
      }
    });
});

I haven't tried it yet I'm just seeing if it's even possible and if i'm on the right track.

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 25 '23 at 15:52

I'm not sure getting ChatGPT to write code without even checking it is the way forward - as I'm not sure it qualifies a Minimal, Reproducible Example.

However, let's look at the tasks: Download image: Swap downloaded image with layer in Photoshop file. Save it.

The central part needs reworking as it ran into several errors:

// Switch off any dialog boxes
displayDialogs = DialogModes.ERROR; // OFF

const imageName = '\\path\\to\\downloaded_image.jpg';
var fileRef = new File(imageName);
var imageRef = app.open(fileRef);
// Select all
imageRef.selection.selectAll();
//copy image
activeDocument.selection.copy();
//select nothing
app.activeDocument.selection.deselect();

const photoshopFile = '\\path\\to\\my\\Photoshop_file.psd';
// open photoshop file
// .PSD are trated differently so the code is a bit different.
var id511 = charIDToTypeID( "Opn " );
var desc109 = new ActionDescriptor();
var id512 = charIDToTypeID( "null" );
desc109.putPath( id512, new File(photoshopFile) );
executeAction( id511, desc109, DialogModes.NO );
// make a reference to the Photoshop file
var docRef = app.activeDocument;

// Replace the layer image in Photoshop with the new downloaded JPEG
const layerName = 'Layer 1';
const layerRef = docRef.layers.getByName(layerName);
// make a reference to the active layer
docRef.activeLayer = layerRef;
// Select all
docRef.selection.selectAll();
// Delete the pixels
docRef.selection.clear();
// Select nothing
app.activeDocument.selection.deselect();
docRef.paste();

Instead of deleting the layer - just delete the pixels and past the image onto the same layer.

Also there was no copy command in your script so it wouldn't have got very far.

Photoshop script to put an image into a local file to replace a layer image and export as a new JPEG?

1 Answers1