BlogStompBlog » Blog it Faster, Blog it Better!

How to Make That Silly “Stop” Command Go Way

Thursday, March 11, 2010 Posted in QT&T

When we built BlogStomp we had two main priorities :: Make a tool that completes a whole lot of tasks simply, and make it do those things very, very quickly. While we definitely feel that we accomplished our goals, we keep finding new ways to improve on our original designs.

One easy way to make BlogStomp even faster is to disable the “Stop” command line in the action. We included that command line for users who want the flexibility to move their logo around each time they “Stomp” an image for their blog. But if you find yourself using your logo in the same place every time you use BlogStomp, I can help you speed up your process even more than BlogStomp already has!

Check it ::

Go to your Actions Palette Menu and take your Actions Palette out of Button Mode.

Locate your BlogStomp actions. Find the Stop command line and delete it altogether. Now BlogStomp will run seamlessly as a one-click blog-prep tool! : )

Put your Actions Palette back in Button Mode and run the actions on a few images.

Your super-fast BlogStomp actions just got even faster!!

Well, that’s all I got — check back soon for more QuickTricks&Tips from your friends at BlogStomp!

peace.

by admin

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Adding a Black Stroke to the White Frame

Sunday, December 6, 2009 Posted in QT&T, feedback

Another bit of feedback we’ve seen from time to time is from folks who love using our White Frame style, but also use a blog with a white background. Not wanting their images to fade into the background with nothing to distinguish one from the other, we’ve been asked several times how to add a small black stroke around their Stomped, blog-ready images. As always, we are here to help! : )

Try this ::

Open a blog-ready image.

Open up your actions in List Mode ::

Locate the “Flatten Image” command line ::

Hit the Record button ::

Duplicate the layer ::

Go to your Layer Effects menu ::

Select Stroke ::

Set the color to 100% Black ::

Set the Size to 1 px and the Position to “Inside” ::

Flatten the image ::

Press Stop. You should now have these three new steps ::

Repeat this for all your other BlogStomp actions. **DON’T FORGET TO SAVE YOUR ACTIONS** when you are finished, or else these changes could be lost. : )

peace.

by admin

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The Export/Save Debate

Saturday, November 21, 2009 Posted in QT&T

So some BlogStompers have asked us about an issue they are seeing with the Export command. It seems that using the command “Export” instead of the command “Save” has caused some folks to see a difference in the color saturation of their BlgoStomped images. As photographers ourselves, it is our strictest priority to make sure that we (and you) are putting our best “foot” forward as you post images to your blog. If you have seen similar issues with the final look of your BlogStomped images, then follow the steps below to try a different solution.

Open a blog-ready .jpg
Make sure your Actions Palette is not in Button Mode, navigate down to your BlogStomp set, and locate your SOLO H action.
Hit the triangle to the left of the action name to expand the action.
Find and highlight (click) the command that reads “Export”
With Export highlighted, click the trash can icon at the bottom-right of your Actions Palette
Now, highlight the “Flatten Image” command just above where the “Export” command used to be
Click the circle at the bottom-left of the Actions Palette to begin recording
Now go to File and choose Save As (or SHIFT-COMMAND-S)
Navigate to the Stomped! folder on your desktop when it prompts you
Click Save
Then click the square at the bottom-left of the Actions Palette to stop recording

The reason we didn’t initially build BlogStomp like that is that your “Saved” blog images will likely be 200k-300k this way, whereas with the Export command they will be around 100k and your blog will load more quickly.

If this works for you and you prefer the look of your “saved” blog-ready files over the “exported” ones, then repeat these steps for your other BlogStomp actions and you will be good to go! Be sure to save your action set after you make these changes so that you won’t have to do this again. Thanks, and please let us know what you discover!

peace.

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Export Command for Windows Users

Monday, October 12, 2009 Posted in QT&T

One of the questions we are asked frequently by Windows users is “What happened to my images after BlogStomp got done working it’s magic??”. (some minor paraphrasing here…) ; )

We realized a little late that we hadn’t covered that in our video tutorials in our Support Theater, so I thought I’d address it here. It’s a very simple adjustment — check it out ::

Before you begin, have two or three images open in Photoshop that are re-sized to 900 px by 600 px (or similar size) @ 72 ppi. This will help as you make the changes listed below.

1. With the BlogStomp actions loaded in Photoshop, navigate to your Actions Palette Menu (top right of the Actions Palette).

If your Actions Palette is in Button Mode, un-check that option so that you see the actions listed.

2. Navigate to the actions that are giving you problems (likely, this is all of the BlogStomp actions…) and open up the action by clicking the drop down arrow to the left of the action name.

3. Now navigate to the command labeled “Export” at the end of the action.

Double-click on that command, and a large dialog box should open up.

Click the “Save” button at the top right of that dialog box, then when you are prompted, navigate to the place where you’ve put your “Stomped!” folder. (This may be on your desktop, or somewhere else that you put it when you installed your actions.)

4. Click “Save” again, and you have now corrected the export error for this action. You should not have to do this again for this action.

Repeat these previous four steps with SOLO H, SOLO V, DUO H, and DUO V and you should have no further troubles with these actions.

Please let us know if you have any other questions, and thank you for choosing BlogStomp!

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Installing BlogStomp on a PC

Sunday, September 6, 2009 Posted in QT&T, info

BlogStomp was originally designed and created on Mac computers. But the beautiful thing about BlogStomp is that it lives and works in Photoshop. Since this is the case, it is a cross-platform tool; not specific to one OS or another. So here’s a quick set of instructions for some of our PC using friends who may be having trouble.

1. Download the ZIP folder from BlogStomp.

2. “Unzip” (or decompress) the file.

3. Locate the resulting folder.

4. Drag or place or save the folder to your “My Documents” folder.

5. Open this folder.

6. Select which blog image size you wish to use and open the corresponding folder.

7. Double-click the .ATN file to load these actions into Photoshop.

8. Drag or place or save the folder entitled “Stomped!” to your desktop.

From here I would refer you to our Support Theater video instructions. There you will be shown how to replace our logo file with your own logo, and also how to begin to use BlogStomp.

Until next time.

peace.

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Quick Tips & Tricks #1 | Changing Colors

Tuesday, July 28, 2009 Posted in QT&T

Hey there, BlogStompers!!

Chip here, coming at ya with the first of our Quick Tips & Tricks blog posts. In today’s video Craig is going to show you how to change the frame/tab/divider color of your final blog images to match your branding/blog theme/etc. This is one of the best ways to perpetuate your studio’s brand across all avenues. You have customized your website, your blog, and your print collateral — now customize BlogStomp to work harder for you!!

Also, if you had previously looked at BlogStomp, but black and white were not the best options for you, watch this short video and give BlogStomp another thought.

The speed and efficiency will amaze you, and the customability will take your images to the next level.

by admin

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Nate Smith, You’re the BIG WINNER!!

Thursday, July 23, 2009 Posted in friends

Hearty Congratulations go out to Nathan Smith of Smith Fine Art for winning BlogStomp’s first ever online giveaway!! Nate won a free copy of Stomped!, so check his blog and look for more awesome things from him soon!

Nathan-Smith-Headshot-0002

Congrats again, Nate!

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Welcome to the BlogStompBlog!!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009 Posted in QT&T, coming soon!, feedback, friends, info, new releases, samples, thoughts

Hey everybody!

You have made your way to the official blog of BlogStomp! The purpose of this blog is for us to continually and consistently post thoughts, new developments, and tricks&tips for BlogStomp! It will be our sounding board to you guys, and you are more than invited to leave a comment or two and share your BlogStomp experiences with us. Daily and weekly we will toss up new releases, new discoveries, and new ways to use BlogStomp right here on this blog, so you’re going to want to go ahead and subscribe to the RSS feed!

We will be posting monthly QuickTricks&Tips for BlogStomp, little shortcuts and time-savers that make this already-awesome tool even better! Along with that, we will be inviting you to send us your best QT&T discoveries as you use and get familiar with BlogStomp! We will also be having Friends of BlogStomp as guest contributors from time to time. You’ll never know who you’ll see on here next!

There will be something for everyone here, so make sure you don’t miss one single post! Thanks, and we’ll be talkin’ to you!

the BlogStomp team

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