Generator

Have you ever done the "select layer, hide all other layers, crop, save for web, step back" dance?  Sure you have.

You know exactly what I'm talking about.  You use one project file to generate multiple images then you have to play musical layers in order to export those images one.... at..... a.... time....

You active your layer, select the content, hide all other layers, then you have to crop it.  Then you have to save for web, and THEN remember to undo/step back in order to recover the content you just cropped out.  That crazy dance has seen it's last days.

Meet Generator.  Generator is a plug-in that's bundled with the newest update to Photoshop CC (version 14.1).  All you have to do to get it running is download the latest update and toggle the feature on in the file menu once you've opened a project.

Generator allows you to export individual layers, yes I said layers, as .jpg, .png, or .gif.  It does it without having to do the silly crop dance, AND ... it does it in (almost) real time.  It creates a new folder in your project's directory, or on the desktop if you haven't designated one yet.  It then begins to fill that folder with whatever files you've directed it to.  In addition to exporting in various formats, you can output the same layer multiple times and in multiple formats.  You can even set the quality level and the size.  It's super easy and hassle free.  This tool might just be my new best friend.

I just did a little test run myself and so far it looks like it works as advertised.  I'll admit, it wasn't an extensive test, but the preliminary results are exciting.  I can see this saving me tons and tons (AND TONS!) of time that I had previously been wasting exporting little bits and pieces of a project.

Do you design UIs?  You need this!  Do you design icon packs?  You need this!  Do you always work in only one layer ever?  You ... OK, you might not need this, but pretty much everyone else does!

The folks over at Photoshop.com Blog have already put together a quick tutorial.  It's only a couple of minutes long, so be sure to check it out!