Automatically creating multiple images with another image overlayed

[heinlein]

I'm trying to automate product image creation with a print placed over several templates to achieve same result as this https://www.redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/Visi...6117.EIU9L (and tons of other) sites have.

At the moment everything's being done in Photoshop semi-automatically, but I believe that sites like that have this automated, since there are so many different product images for a single print.

Basically what I'm trying to achieve is to create all those images based on a single print image and multiple template images, ideally also creating a PSD file for each print-template pair so that the designer could manipulate layers by hand if the need arises.

From what I've learned GIMP has pretty powerful automation options, but doesn't have all the functions that are there in Photoshop, for instance smart objects which are used in the current workflow. So I need your advice regarding whether these steps can be somehow reproduced using GIMP's existing functionality to the same effect, and is it actually possible to automate such task completely so it is ran on a server as a part of product creation in CMS. At first I thought OpenCV lib is the way to go, but seems like multiple complex shape transformations for a ton of different templates is something that seems like near-impossible task there, so GIMP is a main option I'm considering right now.

Here are the steps that are taken in Photoshop. I'm translating what designer wrote, sorry in advance if I mess up some terminology since I have rather sketchy knowledge of image manipulation.

1. The initial template, the print will be overlayed on it


2. Here's the separate print image


3. Smart object (white rectangle) which will contain the print, and some layers on top of it that have shadows and effects


4. Smart object is being transformed to match template's product shape -- here's the first tricky part which raises questions. Is it possible to recreate such complex transformation shape in GIMP and is possible to tie it to the template file, so that print takes different shapes when overlayed on different templates?


5. Smart object's modified to contain print image -- here's another thing which is not yet clear how to do in GIMP and if it even possible to achieve the same effect. From what I can get I need to insert print image in different places for each template, it has to be of slightly different sizes and have the aforementioned shape transformation for each template separately.


6. And then other images can be made by changing the contents of smart-object


So, to reiterate my question, can I reproduce the same workflow in GIMP and make it completely automatic?

[rich2005]

Quote:...big....snip....
So, to reiterate my question, can I reproduce the same workflow in GIMP and make it completely automatic?

Completely automatic ?   I do not think so

You can use a template much the same as PS see: https://www.gimp-forum.net/Thread-T-shirt-Mock-Up

..but it is very much up to the user to turn on / off the various layers / layer groups, changing colours / logo etc.

Quote:Smart object is being transformed to match template's product shape -- here's the first tricky part which raises questions. Is it possible to recreate such complex transformation shape in GIMP and is possible to tie it to the template file, so that print takes different shapes when overlayed on different templates?

You might be better off Krita which has a usable grid deformation filter

[heinlein]

Thanks for the info!