AS) export single page PDFs from multi-artboards

// Save the artboards to PDF.
var myDoc = app.activeDocument;
var original_filename = myDoc.name.toString();
// alert (myDoc.name.toString() )
// Get the folder location
var destFolder = Folder.selectDialog('Select the folder to save the PDF files to:');
// Get the number of artboards to export from a dialogue
var total =  myDoc.artboards.length
//     Number.selectDialogue('Total Number of Files to be made')

if (destFolder) {
     for (i=0; i<total; i++)
     {
          var destFile = new File(destFolder+original_filename+"_"+i);          //     Assign incrementing filenames
          var pdfSaveOptions = new PDFSaveOptions();
          pdfSaveOptions.viewAfterSaving = false;          //     Don't want to see these fles in Reader
          pdfSaveOptions.SaveMultipleArtboards = true;
          var range = new String();
          range = (i+1).toString();
          pdfSaveOptions.artboardRange= range;     //     not Assign incrementing page range
          myDoc.saveAs (destFile,  pdfSaveOptions);     
     }
}     

I've run this script on the 3 art board document the Adobe sample scripts create. It's a just different coloured star on each artboard.

This script appears to work in as far as I get 3 files with just one artboard showing when I open the files in Adobe Reader. Problem is when I open them in AI, I can see all the artwork is still there and even more stranger is the fact that the numbers are still 1,2,3 whereas in Reader it's just page i showing as page 1 each time.

This could be a problem when the application I'm writing generates an image structure from the files if it sticks the excess data onto the GPU (not sure if it will or not). If it includes all the data, also it just makes the Application footprint bigger by a 8 MB or so of unnecessary baggage. An issue for a 'light weight' app.

I noticed the export ExportArtboardsPhotoshop.jsx script has this line:

psdExportOptions.saveMultipleArtboards = true;

It works in that context but in PDF context it only works in terms of what Reader shows not what exists in the files. Good one Adobe… Makes me wonder what the Multiple art boards method did before AI had multiple art boards. How was AI dividing the objects?!

Also I really need a SaveAsCopy (non-existent I think) method or I'll have to keep reopening the original file and then doing SaveAs.

Back to manual duplicating files in finder, batch renaming, opening them all and deleting excess. Or export to PSD and get my dimensions right or just oversized (I can always down sample in the app)…

This is truly a painful exercise!

I'm trying to do this right now using the Adobe sample script "SaveArtboardsAsPDF.jsx" as a start.

I don't no how to set the PDF options for page range. Where can I find the properties for this. I know pretty good JS (all be it in a different context than scripting Adobe apps) as opposed to almost no AppleScript. Will take either language for a result!

Please advice on PDF options properties to get me home somebody! Or at least point me in direction of the AI methods documentation

In JS and Pseudo Code so far:

// Save the artboards to PDF.

// Get the folder location
var destFolder = Folder.selectDialog('Select the folder to save the PDF files to:');
// Get the number of artboards to export from a dialogue
// Would be better to have an option to just query the appropriate property for total number of artboards in current document
var total = Number.selectDialogue('Total Number of Files to be made')

if (destFolder) {
     for (i=0; i<total; i++)
     {
          var destFile = new File(destFolder + i);          //     Assign incrementing filename
          var pdfSaveOptions = new PDFSaveOptions();
          pdfSaveOptions.viewAfterSaving = false          //     Don't want to see these fles in Reader
        //     Need to Set a pdfSaveOption for page range as: from i to i // what property
          documsaveAs (destFile,  pdfSaveOptions);     //  Is this going to save a new document rather than over the existing document 1?
     }
}     

Thanks in advance

Alastair

bump...

Nobody has any ideas? Am I the only one looking for this ability out of CS4? Am I unclear or just doing something wrong?