Blackmagic ATEM Mini User Manual Using Adobe Photoshop with ATEM

Installing the ATEM software on your computer also installs a Photoshop plug-in that lets you upload Photoshop graphics direct to the ATEM Mini’s media pool.

The plug-in connects to your computer via Ethernet the same way as any other computer running ATEM Software Control on your network. For example, another operator can be updating graphics live in Photoshop during your production and uploading them straight to ATEM’s media player using the plug-in.

This means you can accept graphics from designers in the application that 100% of the world’s designers use, Adobe Photoshop! You can even use the layers in a Photoshop image to keep variations of graphics, such as different titles in a graphic, and then select the layers in Photoshop you want, and then simply upload them at the press of a button. When uploading the layers are automatically flattened in real time before upload. This happens in the background and your document in Photoshop is unchanged by the export.

The ATEM export plug-in requires Adobe Photoshop CS5 or later. Install or reinstall the ATEM software after Photoshop is installed, to ensure the ATEM export plug-in is installed.

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TIP: If you are not streaming via ATEM Mini’s USB webcam output, but switching content over the HDMI output instead, you can upload graphics from the Photoshop plug-in via USB. However, due to the way USB establishes a connection to a single client only, you will need to close ATEM Software Control so the Photoshop plugin can access the USB connection, upload your graphics, then relaunch ATEM Software Control to access the media pool.

ATEM export plug-in

Setting up Plug-in Switcher Location

The first time the Photoshop export plug-in is run, it will ask you to select your switcher location. This is the IP address of the switcher so the plug-in can find the switcher to communicate with. By default, the IP is set to 192.168.10.240, which is what the switcher IP address is originally set to when first sold. If you want to export several versions of the same Photoshop file, you can use the export plug-in window to name each exported file and also choose whether to set the files to a media player after export.

Preparing Graphics for Upload

For best results, you will want to use a Photoshop document resolution that matches the video standard you’re using with your ATEM switcher. For 1080 HD you should use 1920 x 1080 pixels in resolution. For 720p HD formats you should use 1280 x 720 pixels.

When working with Photoshop documents for ATEM, you should not put any content on the background layer, but add all content to the layers above. The background layer should always be plain full frame black, and you should use a pre multiplied key setting in the ATEM keyer for keying graphics from Photoshop.