When I started working on these gallery wrap simulation action sets, I had a vision of creating a tool to facilitate the sale of prints delivered to a customer in the form of a gallery wrap. In particular I envisioned a photo job where upon a customer who selected traditional prints was delivered those prints and in addition an extra 8 by 10 print where a selected frame was selected to be shown as a virtual large gallery wrap print, either hanging on an imaginary wall, or laying on an imaginary table.

This preview of a gallery wrapped print would for the cost of a single image and a few seconds in Photoshop would hopefully spark a lucrative sale. The image can be created and included with delivered photos along with a low key message encouraging an order.

Will this make a difference in the number of gallery wrapped prints ordered? I think so and so do a number of people who have tried this sales technique. Don’t rely on a customer’s imagination; give them something to examine to spark interest in the sale.

“Here are the prints you ordered Mrs Jones. This particular image looks so good in the prints I took the liberty of creating a simulation of how it might look if I printed it on canvas and mounted it like a gallery photo. This page shows what it might look like after printing. I can have it for you by the end of the week.”

How it works: If you can prep and print a gallery wrap for canvas, then you can do this. The technique is a close parallel to the preparation of a gallery wrap. You must first select the type of gallery wrap you are interested in promoting. The choices are a 20 by 30 inch landscape, 16 by 20 portrait orientation, a 20 inch square, and panoramic prints in either a 12 by 36 or 15 by 36. As you know when printing a gallery wrap, the image must be sized to include the wrapped edge. The 20 by 30 inch landscape features a 2 inch wrap, the others feature a 1.5 inch wrap. This extends the dimensions either 4 inches in the case of the landscape or 3 inches in the case of the other images.

Features: Highly customizable action to create a simulation of gallery wraps. It can create a simulation of:

• 20 by 30 landscape orientation with 2 inch wrap
• 16 by 20 portrait orientation with 1.5 inch wrap
• 20 by 20 square with 1.5 inch wrap
• 12 by 36 panoramic with 1.5 inch wrap
• 15 by 35 panoramic with 1.5 inch wrap

You can double or halve these dimensions and get the same results. i.e., an 8 by 10 with a 3/4 inch wrap looks just like a 32 by 40 with 3 inch wrap and both can be created by running the image through the 16 by 20 with 1.5 inch wrap routine.

So let’s say you printed an image that works great for a 16 by 20 and want to tease a client with a preview of how great this would look on canvas. Your image is already 16 by 20 inches. If you simply run it through the portrait simulation action, the image will be distorted to accommodate the wrap because the face is 16 by 20 but the actual print size on canvas would be 19 by 23 and you have a 16 by 20 prepared. You have a few options. You can expand the canvas in Photoshop very easily and fill the surround with black, white or any other color, or create a mirrored effect by copying the outer 1.5 inches of the image and doing a mirror transform and reassembling the image. It takes a few minutes to do by hand but not a big deal unless you are doing a lot of them. (I have an action for this in case you don’t already know…) In any case, you will get the best results and the edges will be accurate if you feed the proper sized image into the appropriate action. The feed sizes are listed on the actions themselves as a reminder.

Installation: This action is setup to be used by Microsoft Windows users. Create a folder named “wrapsim” (without quotes) in your C drive. The path should be “C:\wrapsim” (again with no quotes). Into that folder please unzip and place the contents of the zip folder. Double click on the .atn file and it should install automatically into Photoshop. If it doesn’t, start Photoshop and load that action manually. I would save the zip file in the wrapsim directory for convenience in the event you accidentally delete one of the template files. In the event you are an Apple OSX user you need to alter the action to look for the template files and store the temporary files in a particular location. I am sorry I don’t have access to a Mac to facilitate this for you. It shouldn’t be hard to do, and you can reinstall the atn file in the event you damage it.

Operation: As easy as printing a canvas, except this is a virtual canvas and you don’t need to get out the stapler. Size the image appropriately, run the action associated with that size and orientation. If you need to prepare the wrap you can use my gallery wrap action or perform a canvas size change or whatever method you would employ if you were printing a real canvas. The action will not alter the original file but it will close the file after cutting it up into the needed pieces and storing those pieces in your wrapsim folder.

After the action is run, please examine the layers of the template. You will see the template PSD is comprised of 3 groups. The first is where the image or images are contained. The second is where layers that are used for text messages are located. If you want to use the text layers, edit the text for what is appropriate for your use and save the template so you don’t need to edit this every time you use the action set. Lastly is the background image. In the demo a patterned, colored layer that is altered by the layer immediately above to give a little gradient from the top to the bottom. Notice the use of Hard Light and partial opacity on the lighting effect layer.

If you click on the simulated Image group folder and open it up you will see that inside that folder, there are two other folders, one for each of the two views available. You should click on the eye icon to display one or the other of this view. You can also turn off the text message group. If you are going to use this action to sell gallery wrapped canvases I would suggest altering the text layers to whatever you find appropriate for your uses. To do this, open that group and edit the two text layers or add whatever you want in the message group. After you make your edits, save the template and it will be there for the next time you run the action set.

If you expand the background image group you will see two layers. The first is a lighting effect that as you can see from the thumbnail changes the brightness of the wall image by altering the lower wall layer simulating a cast of light from the top right. This layer uses hard light blend mode with 54 percent opacity. You may have a background you want to place behind your simulation, or alter either the lighting effect layer or wall layer. In this image, the wall image is a pattern that was created using the paint bucket and a predefined pattern. Play with these layers to create the background effect that you find pleasing.

Once you have manipulated your image to your satisfaction, you can either save the image for either printing or emailing. There are two actions to make this a one click effort. The save a copy for print action will save a flattened jpg copy to the wrapsim folder. This image will be 8 by 10 at 300 DPI. If you want to post the image on the internet or email the image, you can run the save a copy for web or email. This image will also be stored in the wrapsim folder.

If you want to send me an image to run through my action, I can do so. Put Simulate a mirror wrap in the header. If you have a custom Photoshop request I take interesting jobs for FREE. Please thank me and offer me some prize. I will decline the prize ( unless it is a bazillion dollars ) , accept the thanks, and continue to enjoy what I do.

This action has been found to fail to run with installations of Photoshop in languages other than English. This action requires CS4 or CS5 to work properly and will run without editing on a PC environment. If you have a MacOS, you will need to modify the action. I have a PDF document that will help you do this, but this modification requires effort and some Photoshop skill, so you may want to pass on this if you aren’t sure you possess the ability to modify an action! The instructions are included in the download. If you want to test your editing skills visit this link.

Gallery Wrap Simulation Action for Photoshop CS4 / CS5 - License - Professional use

Price: $35.00