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clémentd23838165
Participant
December 19, 2018
Answered

Illustrator - Automatic image superposition - Batch processing

  • December 19, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 511 views

Hello all.
I'm looking forward to design several version of the same icon :

- one version with only the icon

- 5 others versions with the icon + differents adds-on (e.g. one with a red dot displayed on the corner lower left, another one with a little triangle, etc.).

All the files are .ai.

Is there a possibility to automatically create these variations of the same icon (i'm working with 200+ icons, and do it manually is painful).

I was thinking about batch processing something like :

1: open the mother icon file

2 : import the addon

3 : export in .ai

Doest it work ?

Have you another clue ?

Thanks !!

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer clémentd23838165

Hello All,

Thanks Ton for meaningful answer.

I have been able to do what I was expecting using this method :

STEP 1
- Make a script with :

. open the main icon in Ai

. import the additional icon as a csv file (eg. the red dot, the triangle, etc.)

. save as csv file

. close

STEP 2

- Running this script with batch processing to process the whole set of icon.

(Strangely AI always asked to save the original file, at the end of the process, I choosed "cancel" option and it worked correctly).

I experiences a few bug :

- I wasn't able to make a script which was :

. open icon

. import aditionnal icon n°1

. save as csv

. delete aditionnal icon n°1

. import aditionnal icon n°2

. save as csv

. delete aditionnal icon n°1

... etc.

The reason was that the file was saved each time with the same name, overwriting the previous version, so I couldn't generate the whole bunch of icons.

- I had to separate each result I wanted in a specific folder: for example to process the icons with a red dot and then a blue circle, I had to ensure that there was 2 final folders to save the files in: a "red dot" folder and a "blue circle" one. Without that, the files also were saved with the same name, overwriting the previous file.

3 replies

Ton Frederiks
Community Expert
Community Expert
December 27, 2018
clémentd23838165
clémentd23838165AuthorCorrect answer
Participant
December 28, 2018

Hello All,

Thanks Ton for meaningful answer.

I have been able to do what I was expecting using this method :

STEP 1
- Make a script with :

. open the main icon in Ai

. import the additional icon as a csv file (eg. the red dot, the triangle, etc.)

. save as csv file

. close

STEP 2

- Running this script with batch processing to process the whole set of icon.

(Strangely AI always asked to save the original file, at the end of the process, I choosed "cancel" option and it worked correctly).

I experiences a few bug :

- I wasn't able to make a script which was :

. open icon

. import aditionnal icon n°1

. save as csv

. delete aditionnal icon n°1

. import aditionnal icon n°2

. save as csv

. delete aditionnal icon n°1

... etc.

The reason was that the file was saved each time with the same name, overwriting the previous version, so I couldn't generate the whole bunch of icons.

- I had to separate each result I wanted in a specific folder: for example to process the icons with a red dot and then a blue circle, I had to ensure that there was 2 final folders to save the files in: a "red dot" folder and a "blue circle" one. Without that, the files also were saved with the same name, overwriting the previous file.

Ton Frederiks
Community Expert
Community Expert
December 27, 2018

You can try Variables.

Set up a .csv file with the name and location of your icons.

Load it into a template and export them usin Actions > batch using Data Sets as source.

You may have to rename the resulting files and add the .ai extension with Adobe Bridge (the files do not have an extension, looks like a bug).

Srishti Bali
Community Manager
Community Manager
December 27, 2018

Hi Clément,

Illustrator does allow you to automate the actions, please refer to this help article to for more details: Use actions to automate tasks in Illustrator

You can try recording an action to place images in Illustrator. (Not all tasks in actions can be recorded directly; however, you can insert most nonrecordable tasks using commands in the Actions panel menu.)

Regards,

Srishti