Hi Stefan, I think you already have answers to this, but for others who come to see this question in the future, I've written a splitting-text-into-characters script that has some extra capabilities. I took Carlos' script for inspiration and made the following modifications:
1. It handles area type.
2. It handles multi-line text.
3. It handles left, center, right justification.
4. It handles kerning, baseline shift, different fonts and point sizes.
5. It can split textframes into lines, words or characters.
EDIT: Updated code with some improvements, including a warning if you've selected lots of text (thanks Kurt!) also I found an obscure bug in converted overset area text frames that continue to advertise the original overset text even though it's no longer presentāI had to explicitly remove overset text before converting.
Edit: another update, I improved some things, added a UI, worked around Illustrator bug with parsing of words when punctuation is adjacent, added "Discard punctuation" option, and "Monospace" option for character spacing (this is for no reasonājust because I can).
Edit: just cleaned up structure a bit.
Update: I've had a look at @Kurt Gold's char_splitter action posted in this thread and it's *really* good for splitting text into characters. Which to use char_splitter action or splitTextFrame script? Have a look at this table:
|
|
char_splitter_1 action
|
splitTextFrame script
|
|
Handle point text
|
ā
|
ā
|
|
Handle rectangular area text with one cell
|
ā
|
ā
|
|
Handle area text with columns or rows
|
ā
|
ā
|
|
Handle path text
|
ā
|
ā
|
|
Handle text inside non-rectangular frame
|
ā
|
ā
|
|
Break text into Lines
|
ā
|
ā
|
|
Break text into Words
|
ā
|
ā
|
|
Break Text into Characters
|
ā
|
ā
|
|
Monospace characters
|
ā
|
ā
|
- Mark
/*
Split TextFrames.js
For Adobe Illustrator
by m1b
here: https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/script-error/m-p/12730864/thread-id/308920
ā¢ Inspired by CarlosCanto's splitSelectedWordsIntoCharacters.jsx
ā¢ Can split textframe into lines, words or characters.
ā¢ The `Discard punctuation` option discards non-alphanumeric characters
ā¢ The `Monospace` option spaces each character by a specified number of points.
*/
var SplitType = {
LINES: 0,
WORDS: 1,
CHARACTERS: 2
};
// global defaults
var settings = {
// split into lines, words or characters
splitType: SplitType.CHARACTERS,
// when splitting into words, ignore non alpha-numeric characters
discardPunctuation: false,
// when splitting into characters,
// space each character by n points
// 0 = do not space
monoSpace: false,
monoSpacePts: 10,
// show UI, or just go with settings we have here
showUI: true
};
// Wrd class just gave me a little help to break content into words
Wrd = function (contents, start, end, type) {
this.contents = contents;
this.start = start;
this.end = end;
this.type = type;
}
Wrd.type = {
NONWORD: 0,
WORD: 1,
}
Wrd.prototype.toString = function () {
return '['
+ this.contents + ' '
+ this.start + '-' + this.end + ' '
+ ['NONWORD', 'WORD'][this.type]
+ ']';
}
main();
function main() {
var doc = app.activeDocument,
items = doc.selection;
if (items.length < 1) {
alert('Please select one or more text frames and try again.');
return;
}
settings.items = items;
settings.action = splitTextFrames;
settings.getActionParams = function () { return [settings.items, settings.splitType] };
// show the UI
if (settings.showUI) {
invokeUI();
} else {
settings.action.apply(null, settings.getActionParams());
}
}
function splitTextFrames(items, splitType) {
// split into lines, words or characters
var splitFunction;
if (splitType === SplitType.WORDS) {
splitFunction = splitTextFrameLineIntoWords;
} else if (splitType === SplitType.CHARACTERS || splitType == undefined) {
splitFunction = splitTextFrameLineIntoCharacters;
}
// always work with array
if (!items.hasOwnProperty('0')) items = [items];
// check if large number of splits
var numberOfSplits = 0,
splitThis;
if (splitType === SplitType.LINES) {
splitThis = 'lines';
} else if (splitType === SplitType.WORDS) {
splitThis = 'words';
} else if (splitType === SplitType.CHARACTERS) {
splitThis = 'characters';
}
for (var i = items.length - 1; i >= 0; i--)
numberOfSplits += items[i][splitThis].length;
// warn user if large number of splits
if (numberOfSplits > 999)
if (!(confirm('Are you sure you wish to make ' + numberOfSplits + ' splits? It may take a long time and can\'t be cancelled once started.')))
return;
// loop over items
for (var i = items.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
var item = items[i];
// ignore everything except textFrames
if (item.constructor.name != 'TextFrame') continue;
// sorry can't handle text on path
if (item.kind == TextType.PATHTEXT) continue;
// change to point text, not area text
var item = convertAreaTextToPointText(item);
// split into lines
var itemLines = splitTextFrameIntoLines(item);
// stop here if we just want lines
if (splitFunction == undefined) continue;
// split each line further
for (var j = itemLines.length - 1; j >= 0; j--) {
splitFunction(itemLines[j], settings.discardPunctuation, settings.monoSpace && settings.monoSpacePts);
}
}
}
function splitTextFrameIntoLines(item) {
var y = item.position[1],
itemLines = [];
removeAutoLeading(item);
// loop over lines
for (i = item.lines.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
var h = item.height;
// ignore empty lines
if (item.lines[i].contents.length == 0) continue;
var _line = item.duplicate();
// remove other lines
for (var j = _line.lines.length - 1; j >= 0; j--) {
if (j != i) _line.lines[j].remove();
}
// remove a line for height calculation
item.lines[item.lines.length - 1].remove();
// remove \u0003 or height will be wrong
while (
item.lines.length > 0
&& item.characters[item.characters.length - 1].contents == '\u0003'
)
item.characters[item.characters.length - 1].remove();
// remove empty lines at start
while (_line.lines[0].contents.length == 0)
_line.characters[0].remove();
// remove \u0003 from end of line
while (_line.characters[_line.characters.length - 1].contents == '\u0003')
_line.characters[_line.characters.length - 1].remove();
// position
_line.top = y - h + _line.height;
itemLines.push(_line);
}
// remove the original item
item.remove();
return itemLines;
}
function splitTextFrameLineIntoWords(item, discardPunctuation) {
var x = item.position[0],
itemWords = [],
wordCharacters = /[A-Za-zĆ-ĆĆ-ƶĆø-Ćæ0-9-]+/g,
wordAndPunctuationCharacters = /[^\s]+/g,
matcher = discardPunctuation ? wordCharacters : wordAndPunctuationCharacters,
matched,
wrds = [],
lastStart = 0;
// match words in item.contents
// (using Wrd objects to store start, end and type)
matcher.lastIndex = 0;
while ((matched = matcher.exec(item.contents)) !== null) {
if (lastStart + matcher.lastIndex - matched[0].length != lastStart) {
// add non-word at start
wrds.push(new Wrd(
/* contents */ item.contents.substr(lastStart, matcher.lastIndex - matched[0].length - lastStart),
/* start */ lastStart,
/* end */ matcher.lastIndex - matched[0].length - 1,
/* type */ Wrd.type.NONWORD
));
}
// add word
wrds.push(new Wrd(
/* contents */ matched[0],
/* start */ matcher.lastIndex - matched[0].length,
/* end */ matcher.lastIndex - 1,
/* type */ Wrd.type.WORD
));
lastStart = matcher.lastIndex;
}
// add non-word at end
if (matcher.lastIndex > 0 && matcher.lastIndex <= item.contents.length - 1) {
wrds.push(new Wrd(
/* contents */ item.contents.substr(matcher.lastIndex, item.contents.length - matcher.lastIndex),
/* start */ matcher.lastIndex,
/* end */ item.contents.length - 1,
/* type */ Wrd.type.NONWORD
));
}
// loop over wrds
var wrd;
while (wrd = wrds.pop()) {
var w = item.width;
if (wrd.type == Wrd.type.WORD) {
// duplicate textFrame
var dup = item.duplicate();
// remove characters before wrd
for (var i = wrd.start - 1; i >= 0; i--)
dup.characters[i].remove();
// position
dup.left = x + w - dup.width;
}
// trim wrd from item
for (var i = wrd.end; i >= wrd.start; i--)
item.characters[i].remove();
itemWords.push(dup);
}
// remove the original item
item.remove();
return itemWords;
}
function splitTextFrameLineIntoCharacters(item, discardPunctuation, monoSpace) {
var x = item.position[0],
wordCharacters = /[A-Za-zĆ-ĆĆ-ƶĆø-Ćæ0-9-]+/g,
wordAndPunctuationCharacters = /[^\s]+/g,
matcher = discardPunctuation ? wordCharacters : wordAndPunctuationCharacters,
itemCharacters = [];
// loop over characters
for (i = item.characters.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
var w = item.width;
// ignore spaces and linefeeds
if (matcher.test(item.characters[i].contents)) {
// duplicate textFrame
var _character = item.duplicate();
// remove all other chars
for (var j = _character.characters.length - 1; j >= 0; j--) {
if (j != i) _character.characters[j].remove();
}
// position
if (monoSpace != false) {
_character.left = x + (monoSpace * i);
} else {
_character.left = x + w - _character.width;
}
}
// remove character from original item
item.characters[i].remove();
itemCharacters.push(_character);
}
// remove the original item
item.remove();
return itemCharacters;
}
function discardOversetText(item) {
var lastVisibleChar = item.lines[item.lines.length - 1].characters[item.lines[item.lines.length - 1].characters.length - 1],
lastOffset = lastVisibleChar.characterOffset;
// remove overset characters
for (var i = item.characters.length - 1; i >= lastOffset; i--)
item.characters[i].remove();
}
function convertAreaTextToPointText(item) {
if (item.kind == TextType.AREATEXT) {
var temp = item.duplicate();
// oversetText causes errors later
discardOversetText(temp);
// convert
temp.convertAreaObjectToPointObject();
// get fresh reference to converted textFrame
for (var i = 1; i < item.layer.textFrames.length; i++) {
if (item.layer.textFrames[i].uuid == item.uuid) {
var convertedItem = item.layer.textFrames[i - 1];
item.remove();
item = convertedItem;
break;
}
}
// remove unnecessary spaces before \u0003
for (var i = item.characters.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
if (item.characters[i].contents == '\u0003') {
if (i > 1 && item.characters[i - 1].contents == ' ')
item.characters[i - 1].remove();
}
}
if (item.characters[item.characters.length - 1].contents == ' ')
item.characters[item.characters.length - 1].remove();
}
return item;
}
function removeAutoLeading(item) {
var items = [];
if (item.hasOwnProperty('paragraphs')) {
items = item.paragraphs;
} else if (item.hasOwnProperty('lines')) {
items = item.lines;
} else if (item.hasOwnProperty('characters')) {
items = item.characters;
}
for (var i = 0; i < items.length; i++) {
if (items[i].contents.length == 0) continue;
var hasAutoLeading = items[i].characterAttributes.autoLeading;
if (hasAutoLeading) {
items[i].characterAttributes.leading = items[i].paragraphAttributes.autoLeadingAmount / 100 * items[i].characterAttributes.size;
items[i].characterAttributes.autoLeading = false;
}
}
}
// just UI from here
function invokeUI(p) {
var dialog = makeUI(p)
dialog.center();
var result = dialog.show();
dialog = null;
if (result === -1) {
// cancelled
return;
} else if (result === 1) {
// do action
settings.action.apply(null, settings.getActionParams());
}
function makeUI(p) {
var menuItems = ['Lines', 'Words', 'Characters'],
w = new Window("dialog", 'Split TextFrame'),
menuRow = w.add("Group {orientation:'row', alignment:['fill','top']}"),
discardPunctuationGroup = w.add("Group {orientation:'column', alignment:['fill','top'], margins:[0,7,0,0] }"),
stack = w.add("Group {orientation:'stack', alignment:['fill','fill']}"),
buttonRow = w.add("Group {orientation:'row', alignment:['right','top']}"),
mainMenu = menuRow.add("Dropdownlist {alignment:['left','center']}"),
monoSpaceGroup = stack.add("Group {orientation:'row', alignment:['fill','top']}"),
monoSpaceCheckbox = monoSpaceGroup.add("Group {orientation:'column', alignment:['fill','top'], margins:[0,7,0,0] }")
.add("Checkbox { alignment:['left','fill'], text:'Monospace', value:false, margins:[0,7,0,0] }"),
monoSpaceEditText = monoSpaceGroup.add("edittext", undefined, "0"),
discardPunctuationCheckbox = discardPunctuationGroup.add("Checkbox { alignment:['left','fill'], text:'Discard punctuation', value:false }"),
cancelButton = buttonRow.add('button', undefined, 'Cancel', { name: 'cancel' }),
okButton = buttonRow.add('button', undefined, 'Split', { name: 'ok' });
monoSpaceGroup.add("statictext", undefined, "pts");
for (var i = 0; i < menuItems.length; i++)
mainMenu.add('item', menuItems[i]);
discardPunctuationCheckbox.value = settings.discardPunctuation;
monoSpaceCheckbox.value = settings.monoSpace;
monoSpaceEditText.text = settings.monoSpacePts;
monoSpaceEditText.characters = 3;
mainMenu.preferredSize.width = 180;
mainMenu.title = 'Split into';
mainMenu.selection = settings.splitType;
updateUI();
okButton.onClick = splitButtonClicked;
cancelButton.onClick = cancelButtonClicked;
mainMenu.onChange = updateUI;
monoSpaceCheckbox.onClick = updateUI;
return w;
function splitButtonClicked() {
settings.splitType = mainMenu.selection.index;
settings.discardPunctuation = discardPunctuationCheckbox.value;
settings.monoSpace = monoSpaceCheckbox.value;
settings.monoSpacePts = Number(monoSpaceEditText.text);
w.close(1);
};
function cancelButtonClicked() {
w.close(-1);
}
function updateUI() {
var s = mainMenu.selection ? mainMenu.selection.index : 0;
monoSpaceGroup.visible = (s == SplitType.CHARACTERS);
monoSpaceEditText.enabled = monoSpaceCheckbox.value
discardPunctuationGroup.visible = (s != SplitType.LINES);
}
}
}
2 Correct answers
16
Replies
AdChoices