Custom Picture Package Layouts

Photoshop 7's Picture Package feature enables you to print multiple copies of one (or several) images on a single page. Photoshop includes a variety of preset combinations, but you can also add your own layouts.

By default, Photoshop provides 16 different layouts for an 8x10 inch page, 3 layouts for a 10x16 inch page, and one layout for an 11x17 inch page.

Those pre-set layouts, however, may not suite your needs, especially if you've got a printer that handles larger paper. Here's how you can add your own configurations to the Picture Package dialog box's Layout pop-up menu.

To create a custom Picture Package layout, do this:
1. In a text-editing application, create a new file.

2. In the first line of the file, enter the following elements (separated by a space):
• A letter for the unit of measurement: I (for inches), P (for pixels), C (for centimeters). All numbers in the file use the specified unit.
• The width of the document.
• The height of the document.
Note: The width and height of the document should not exceed the printable area of the paper. For example, if you plan to print on 8.5x11 paper, specify 8x10 (or the printable area of a page on your printer) as the document size.

3. In the second line of the file, enter the name of the layout as you want it to appear in the Picture Package dialog box. You can enter up to 75 characters.

4. In the subsequent lines of the file, enter the position and dimensions for images in the layout using the following elements (separated by a space):
• The position of the image in relation to the left edge of the document (the x position of the image).
• The position of the image in relation to the top edge of the document (the y position of the image).
• The width of the image.
• The height of the image.
Enter the position and dimensions for each image in the layout on a separate line. You can specify up to 50 images per layout.

5. To add comments to the file, start the line with a semi-colon (;). Lines beginning with a semi-color are ignored, as are blank lines.

6. Save the file in the Photoshop> Presets> Layouts folder as a Text Only (.txt) file.

Here is an example of a preset for three 4x6 images on an 8x10 page:
----------------
;The following line defines the page size
I 8 10
;The following line is the layout name for the pop-up menu
3 (4x6)
;The following line is the location of the first image
0 0 4 6
;The following line is the location of the second image
4 0 4 6
;The following line is the location of the third image
0 6 6 4
----------------

Here's a sample of what the above preset will produce:

For info on how to produce multiple images on a single page with Picture Package, check this link.