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sensibleworld
sensibleworld
Participating Frequently
November 15, 2017
Answered

Script to Sort Artboard List Alphabetically

  • November 15, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 7620 views

I'm on the lookout for a simple script to sort an Illustrator artboard list alphabetically. (I don't need the artboards themselves rearranged on the canvas, just the order of the artboards in the list.)

In the example (image) below, the artboard list reads:

1. life-ring

2. wheelchair-alt

3. wheelchair

4. information

...

30. blind-walking

The desired result would be for the artboard list itself to be sorted to read:

1. assistive-listening

2. assistive-listening-telecoil

3. blind-walking

4. braille

...

30. wheelchair-alt

I've scoured the forums for solutions to this. The closest I could find is here: Sort artboards by name, but it doesn't seem to work in Illustrator CC. Also found this (How to sort objects alphabetically (inside of a layer)?), but it is layer-specific, not artboard.

Thanks so much for any help!

    Correct answer Service283589231bf1

    Never mind. It did alphabetize the artboards, it just didn't rearrange them. I forgot that I did that myself last week (using the Rearrange All artboard tool) so I thought it wasn't working at first. All good!

    2 replies

    CarlosCanto
    Community Expert
    CarlosCantoCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 1, 2019

    Hi majliniok, transitioning to the new forums ruined all scripts. 

    Here's the original script posted by OMOTI

    function sortArtboard() {  
    var doc = app.activeDocument,  
        properties = [],  
        i,  
        max;  
  
    function copyProperties(source) {  
        var props = {},  
            key;  
        for (key in source) {  
            try {  
                props[key] = source[key];  
            } catch (e) {  
            }  
        }  
        return props;  
    }  
  
    function pasteProperties(source, destination) {  
        var key;  
        for (key in source) {  
            destination[key] = source[key];  
        }  
    }  
  
    function compareName(a, b) {  
        var comparison = 0;  
        if (a.name > b.name) {  
            comparison = 1;  
        } else if (a.name < b.name) {  
            comparison = -1;  
        }  
        return comparison;  
    }  
  
    for (i = 0, max = doc.artboards.length; i < max; i += 1) {  
        properties.push(copyProperties(doc.artboards[i]));  
    }  
  
    properties.sort(compareName);  
  
    for (i = 0, max = doc.artboards.length; i < max; i += 1) {  
        pasteProperties(properties[i], doc.artboards[i]);  
    }  
  
}  
  
sortArtboard();
      M
      majliniok
      Participant
      December 1, 2019

      Thank You ! Now working great 🙂

        OMOTI
        OMOTI
        Inspiring
        November 18, 2017

        Hi,

        Artboard object probably has no method for sorting.

        Since it does not generate an Artboard object, it may run lightly.

        This try it.

        function sortArtboard() {
            var doc = app.activeDocument,
                properties = [],
                i,
                max;
            function copyProperties(source) {
                var props = {},
                    key;
                for (key in source) {
                    try {
                        props[key] = source[key];
                    } catch (e) {
                    }
                }
                return props;
            }
            function pasteProperties(source, destination) {
                var key;
                for (key in source) {
                    destination[key] = source[key];
                }
            }
            function compareName(a, b) {
                var comparison = 0;
                if (a.name > b.name) {
                    comparison = 1;
                } else if (a.name < b.name) {
                    comparison = -1;
                }
                return comparison;
            }
            for (i = 0, max = doc.artboards.length; i < max; i += 1) {
                properties.push(copyProperties(doc.artboards));
            }
            properties.sort(compareName);
            for (i = 0, max = doc.artboards.length; i < max; i += 1) {
                pasteProperties(properties, doc.artboards);
            }
        }
        sortArtboard();
          sensibleworld
          sensibleworldAuthor
          Participating Frequently
          November 18, 2017

          Awesome! That worked exactly as I needed it to. Thank you so much!

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