How do i enable thethe JavaScript console - Acrobat XI Standard?

[Guest]

I have a simple task (of exporting and saving pages of a pdf as specific names) that is repeated and id like to be able to automate somehow through JS.

I am trying to enable the console using this guide:

https://acrobatusers.com/tutorials/javascript_console

But find that the checkbox for "Enable JavaScript debugger after Acrobat is restarted" is not there. See my screenshot.

Is that only for PRO? What am i missing here?

(Windows 7 - and i am at my office)

Thanks in advance!

[try67]

What happens when you press Ctrl+J? Does the console window not open?

[Guest]

Correct nothing opens.

[JR Boulay]

Hi.

Yes, this is for the Pro version only.

To get the Console in Acrobat Standard you must use the "JavaScript Console for Adobe Reader 7.0" free utility, available on this page: Windjack Solutions, Inc. - Free Stuff

[Guest]

Thanks, i was wondering if this was the case. There were hints something changed with Reader X but i couldn't tell what, and i also couldn't tell which group Acrobat Standard fell into. Sounds like it falls into the same camp as Reader?

Im on my work computer so the registry edit piece of getting it working for Reader isnt particularly feasible for me.

Thanks for the guidance

[try67 · Accepted solution]

Acrobat Standard and Reader are very different. Acrobat has much more functionalities than Reader, including creating and editing PDF files in various ways. However, Acrobat Standard is more limited than Acrobat Pro, as the names suggest.

To achieve access to the JS Console there's no need for a registry edit. I wrote a script that allows you to access it via the menu bar.

All you have to do is create a new js file in the JavaScripts folder of the application with this code:

app.addMenuItem({ cName: "ShowConsole", cUser: "Show &JS Console", cParent: "Window", nPos: -1,
    cExec: "console.show()", cEnable: "event.rc = (true);"});

The next time you open Acrobat there will be a new menu item at the top of the Window menu that will launch the JS Console when clicked. You can even gain quick access to it using this key combination: Alt+W, J

Once the Console is opened you can use it just like in Acrobat Pro. This will even work in Reader, by the way.

[Guest]

Thanks so much, this worked great and was simple to do (i had tried putting the show console javascript into that folder but had been saving it as a .txt file rather than .js. Took me a second to figure out how to get w7 to show me the actual extenstion.

thanks!

[Karl Heinz Kremer]

For Acrobat Standard, you should not need to change the registry, installing the folder level JavaScript should be sufficient.