Align options - How to distribute spacing with scripts?

[elotromiqui]

Image for reference.

How can I do that using script? I can't seem to find it on the illustrator scripting reference. Maybe I don't know the name of that tool and that's why I can't find it, but I would be glad if there was some kind of example of the usage of that in code.

[Silly-V]

While there's not a scripting way to align objects without using transform-translate functions and calculations and referencing art, dealign with its geometric/visible bounds and considering clipping paths, there's actually a much easier way to do the action possible via the UI and it's still possible to do by means of scripting!

The answer is (as long as your Ai version is CS6 or higher) to use an action which performs the aligning. Since alignment button presses can be recorded with Actions, it's possible to use the app.doScript() command to play these events and thus manipulate your selected artwork items.

Of course the common concern is how you cannot rely on multiple users to always have your required actions loaded. Fear not because this and other general instructions are all addressed within this post: Creating a dynamic action to use with app.doScript() method.

Take care!

[Inventsable · Accepted solution]

I tried to keep it simple enough to be talked through and I'm sure there will always be a better way out there, but one way to do this is to iterate over the selection and stack the current object's width (or height) plus an offset to the current total. I take a few shortcuts to functions that aren't below because it's long enough, but the full working script is here.

var exist = app.documents.length > 0;
var hasSelection = app.selection.length > 0;
function alignObjects() {
  if (exist && hasSelection) {
    // Get the [x1, y1, x2, y2] array for the bounding box of our current selection
    // x2 and y2 are not width and height, a Rect is upper left corner and bottom right corner : [minX, minY, maxX, maxY]
    var fullRect = getBounds(app.selection);
    // Centerpoint positions for total selection is width/2 or height/2 :
    var verticalMidpoint = (fullRect[2] - fullRect[0])/2;
    var horizontalMidpoint = (fullRect[3] - fullRect[1])/2;
    // declare our offsets
    var lastXOffset, lastYOffset;
    // Rearrange order of selection from left-right or top-down, in case these were selected out of order
    var selector = (/(horizontal)|x/i.test(arguments[0])) ? 'x' : 'y' ;
    var selection = orderByPosition(selector);
    // iterate through each item in our selection
    for (var i = 0; i < selection.length; i++) {
      // the current item is
      var target = selection;
      // declare transform properties
      var xPos, yPos;
      var width = target.width;
      var height = target.height;
      // Offset should be zero at first or when distribute isn't needed
      if ((i < 1) || (arguments.length == 1)) {
        lastXOffset = 0;
        lastYOffset = 0;
      } else {
        // but calculate position by total previous width/height plus an offset number:
        if (/(horizontal)|x/i.test(arguments[0])) {
          // horizontal adds previous item's width plus number from function and itself (previous value)
          lastXOffset = lastXOffset + selection[i-1].width + arguments[1];
        } else {
          // vertical adds previous height plus offset plus itself
          lastYOffset = lastYOffset + selection[i-1].height + arguments[1];
        }
      }
      // So if horizontal
      if (/(horizontal)|x/i.test(arguments[0])) {
        // and has two parameters (to distribute)
        if (arguments.length > 1) {
          // then the x position is the selection box's start/left plus the previous total width of our loop
          xPos = fullRect[0] + lastXOffset;
        } else {
          // but if only one parameter, keep the original x position
          xPos = target.geometricBounds[0];
        }
        // Now align -- y position is the selection box's midpoint plus half this item's height (align to it's center)
        target.position = [xPos, horizontalMidpoint + (height/2)]
      } else {
        // otherwise if vertical and distribute
        if (arguments.length > 1) {
          // y position is selection box top minus total height of loop
          yPos = fullRect[1] - lastYOffset;
        } else {
          // but if vertical and align without distribute, keep the original y
          yPos = target.geometricBounds[1];
        }
        // Align every x position to center of selection minus half this item's width, it's own center
        target.position = [verticalMidpoint - (width/2), yPos]
      }
    }
  }
}

[elotromiqui]

Wow, this is amazing! I didn't expect to get such an useful answer, thanks!