Goodies
Every now any then the old topic will come up at the TFL forums about how people make codes, do borders, do the text, etc. This is how I've done it for over six years :)
Actions are a GREAT way to do something in bulk. I have an action for everything. For single things, I do everything manually way, but when I'm doing like 10, 20, 50, or whatever codes, I have actions that do almost everything for me in a fraction of the time. They make what might take an hour only take like 5 minutes. I just love actions :)
If you're an action virgin, there are readmes in each zip :)
Blank Canvas Actions
Opens one canvas in each size, with transparent backgrounds: 50x50, 75x50, 100x50, 100x35, 88x31, 200x40
Border Actions
Nine actions and two images. Makes single, double, thin, thick, solid, or dotted.
Text Action
Stroke and fill your text in less than a second.
Everything Else
Little things you might find useful. Flattening, saving, sharpening, etc.
How I Use Them
I use the "Blank Canvas" action once to get my sizes. I open the images I'm making codes of, then drag the first one to one of my canvases [I usually start with 100x50 because it has the most space]. I use Free Transform to shrink the image down to size and into position, and use the "Sharpen/Fade Sharpen" action if the image has gotten blurry. Then I drag it to the other sizes, using Free Transform again to resize if necessary. When I've made all I can with that picture, I use the "Flatten/Duplicate" action, and shrink the duplication. Then I do it all again, right over the ones I just made, and "Flatten/Duplicate" each time I make something I like :)
When I'm done I have a ton of minimized codes. I go to File/Close All, and save them all. I could keep working on them, but this works best for me because my computer is volatile and can decide to crash at any time, and I don't like wasting all the work I've done ;) So anyway, I save them all as .jpg and when they're all saved and closed, I make a transparent 100x100 canvas.
I make my text here, in the different ways I'll be using it on the different codes, and use the "Stroke/Fill FL Text" action. I recolor the result if needed, then start reopening up all of my codes, one size at a time. I tile the codes manually, then I use a border action. The borders are made on new layers, so they can be recolored, too. Then I drag the text to the first code and position it, then drag it to the next one, and so on. When I'm happy with my set, I use the "Flatten/Save/Close" action over and over, which does so to all the codes in like 30 seconds. Then I open up another size and do it again.
Sometimes, I'll do things a little differently if I'm in the mood to having my codes be really uniform [like my 50x50 River Phoenix codes]. I'll make a canvas with a transparent background in the size I'm doing, put a border on it, then do the text as I want it. I merge the visable layers [NOT flatten], then drag the layer to each code and position it. You can have it snap to the edges, which makes it way easier. Then you can use "Flatten/Save/Close", and you'll have lots of nice codes with the same borders and text.