[Gimp-user] Adding text to many files.

[Bernard Rankin]

> > Basically, I've got a bunch of pictures from a party/event that I want to do 

> several things to:
> > 
> > 1)  Resize to 4x6 @ 300 PPI 
> > 2)  Add a sllightly transucent ~ 1" white bar on top of the image (accross the 
> bottom).
> > 3)  Over the white bar, on the left, place a small 1"x1" logo.
> > 4)  Over the white bar, centered on the remainder, put the names of the people 
> in the photo. (Reducing text size if needed to fit on one line.)
> > 5)  Over the white bar, centered on the remainder, put the name of the event 
> on the next line.
> > 6)  Add a black border to entire image.
> > 7)  Export as JPEG.
> > 
> > There is a CSV file that contains the "names of the people in each photo" to 
> file name mapping.  (One line per image file.)
> > 
> > Can this be automated with the GIMP?
> 
> Yes, if you're familiar with one of the programming languages supported
> for GIMP Plugins (C, Python, Script-Fu by default - there may be
> others).  You'll need to become familiar with the plugin API.  In 2.6,
> look under the Help menu for "Procedure Browser".  The way you use these
> is dependent on the language you choose.
> 

Thank you for the help.

These photos need to be printed as a hard-copy... hence the need to downsize to 4"x6"@300ppi 

I'm kinda familiar with Python as a web scripting language, but I've never used it for a GUI or as a plug-in language.

How involved is writing a GIMP plug-in?  

For the overlay, Is is possible to simply make a "template" GIMP file, replace the text field values as needed, and merge with a resized version of the base file?  

> 
> However, if you really do need to update the image itself and you want
> to program it yourself, you might find it easier to automate this with
> ImageMagick.  The advantage to this option is that it's more scripted
> from the shell and doesn't require running a UI interface.  GIMP can (I
> believe - I never use it this way) be run without the UI but I'm not
> sure it's particularly easier to script in this way.  
> 

I'll check out ImageMagick.. thanks for the lead.  Ideally, I'd still like to create the template overlay file in GIMP, though. (If imagemagick supports such a thing... )