Printing Multiple Duplicate Images Per Page In Photoshop - Please Help

Hi Guys,

Please forgive me if this sounds like a newbie question! I have just finished putting very many weeks work into Photoshopping a scanned image and now I want to print it with multiple duplicate unaltered images per A4 sheet.

The image is 15cm x 7.3cm, so theoretically I should be able to print 4 of these on an A4 page no problem. However, the solution to how to do this simply and without altering the original image at all complete alludes me. I have tried using google to find a solution and have tried the File -> Automate -> Picture Package option, but besides being overly complicated this also seems to alter the dimensions of your original image. I have also heard about a "long way" of doing things, which involves creating a new A4 sized image and duplicating your image manually 4 times on this page sized image - however I am also quite stumped as to how I should do this without losing any detail of the original image.

If any of you gents could please provide some guidance for me then I would be eternally grateful as I really am at my wits end with this now. Thanks in advance!

Well, you could simply duplicate your image layer 4 times, and then organize the layers on the page so they fit properly.

You just need to watch your margins.

Hi!

Thanks for the reply. I've had a play around in the print dialogue box and if I turn off image location locking I can move one single image around the screen. Please can you outline how I would duplicate the original image and make it so I can position all 4 images in the print dialogue on the A4 page?

Sorry, I'm quite new to photoshop as this was my first time using it. Cheers!

save your original phototype as jpeg to its highest quality.
close it.
reopen again then duplicate 4 times. rearrange them to fit on a 4 paper.

to duplicate image/layers ...go to layer>duplicate layer

to rearrange images...use the move tool (the first top icon on your tool palettes...top right hand side)

Have you tried Automate > Contact Sheet?

Hi Angel Girl,

Thanks for the reply. I have tried saving to the highest setting as a jpeg, reopening and then duplicating 4 times (within the same document), but they just appear to overlap each other. Do I need to produce another A4 sized image and then duplicate the image layer 4 times onto this? It seems like quite a long winded way to do things, but at this stage I just want to get it to work as I have been trying long enough.

Thanks for the reply benno32's. I have had a look at both automate -> contact sheets, and automate -> picture package, both of them appear to change the original image somehow.

I really cant believe something so simple can be so hard to achieve in Photoshop I know I'm not stupid, so I'm definately missing something. Please help guys!

Hi Ralphy, no you're not stupid..I remember my newbie days in photoshop...everything seemed so complicated

when you duplicate images, they do overlap each other. this is when you use the move tool to move them around the page...rearrange as you see fit.
also when using the move tool, make sure you have ticked the "show bounding box/auto select layer' (located below select/filter menu tab)

make sure too that you highlight which ever layer your'e trying to move, to activate it.

Or after you duplicate your image 4 times increase the canvas size (Image > Canvas size) to be 2x your image width and height. Then
reposition your duplicated layer into the four corners. Photoshop
has not got the best printing support, usually profesional designers use
Photoshop with Indesign to print their work.

Hi angel_girl & benno32,

Thanks for your help! I think the thing I was missing was altering the canvas size that benno32 mentioned because initially there wasn't enough space to move the 4 duplicates around. It doesn't seem like an entirely efficient way to handle the problem though as the image is so detailed it takes a long time to duplicate it 4 times and I occassionally get the "operation could not be complete because scratch disc is full" error.

Does Indesign handle this type of task more efficiently? Also is it easy to use? If so then it may well be worth me investing in.

Thanks!

Indesign is a page layout software, mainly used for print work. It is also used for making ebook PDF's and the like. Magazines, Brochures etc are mostly all put together using indesign nowadays. I would say it's worth investing in if you need to combine typogaphy and multiple pictures & design elements together. But it may be over the top for just imposing images for printing. Can your printer driver maybe gang your image 4 up for you? Maybe something in the page setup?

**BIG HINT** -- Do NOT re-save Jpgs!!! (sorry angel_girl, not a direct hit to you, but something I have learned the hard way)
If you are trying to keep the quality of the image as pure as possible, this will just bring it down. Remember that 'jpg' is a form of compression, and if you re-compress an already compressed image, you lose that much more quality. Test it out,... try saving a jpg, then open it, resave it again... and repeat 5 times. you will DEFINITELY see it's degradation.

I create business cards on photoshop, and though I know there are templates and other approaches out there, I found that they are unreliable, so I go about it manually to put 10 to a page for me.

How you should approach it is that you have your image that you have worked on, flatten it or group the layers into a 'smart object', open a new A4, and drag the 'smart object' into the new A4 page. then position it accordingly. repeat 3 more times. THEN you can save the new A4 doc and you will not have lost as much quality.

-Sel

Hi,

Just wanted to thank everyone who gave me helpful replies in this thread. It's helped a bundle and saved me a lot of time. Have recently purchased Indesign and find that to be superbly helpful for setting up page designs with the images I've produced (cheers Benno).

Sel_888, Thanks so much for those hints. It appears that with Smart Objects I can achieve an equally desireable result without leaving photoshop!

Just wanted to ask a final thing. I'm printing these images in very high resolution. WIll I get a higher quality result using Smart Objects in Photoshop, or saving the psd file and positioning it within the Indesign software?

Thanks so much once again!

I don't believe that a 'smart object' can directly import to a Indesign template. I personally haven't worked with Indesign, but I think I am going to run out and get it if it is all and everything that people say it is. (I need to design up some brochures myself for my businesses)
I am not even sure if Indesign will accept .psd files neither. If that IS the case, I recommend saving your image (smart object) into the rawest/uncompressed format you can get (either a .tiff or .raw), THEN bring it into your Indesign template. That will reduce any quality loss to a minimum.

have fun! and let me know how it turned out.
-Sel

Smart Objects will not have bearing on the quality of a picture. Indesign will import .psd files and just about any other adobe format. Indesign Secrets have some good tips for indesign.

Go to File - Automate - Multi Picture Package, choose your file and set the option to 4.
Regards
Dave