Can anyone tell me if there is a way to generate multiple shapes simultaneously using WIDTH x HEIGHT from a CSV worksheet of dimensions? Similar to the way varaiable data is used in Adobe Illustrator. The attached image describes a more detailed process with letters and saving but I'd like to just find a way to accomplish making the shapes. I basiclly have a list of W x H dimensions and need way to generate a lot of boxes with a single task. I only need to process around 10 shapes at a time but I need to do about 5K shapes all with different dimensions. Entering every value manually will take forever and I was hoping to automate this task.
2 Correct answers
Here is a simple example which you or someone else could edit or use as starting point.
#target illustrator
function test () {
var COL_NAME = 0;
var COL_WIDTH = 1;
var COL_HEIGHT = 2;
var OUTPUT_DIR = "~/Desktop/Ai Forums Test 08212020";
var csvFile = File.openDialog("Choose CSV file.", "*.csv");
var csvContents = "";
if (csvFile) {
csvFile.open('r');
csvContents = csvFile.read();
csvFile.close();
} else {
return;
}
var csvData = csvContents.split(/[\r\n]
...added Letters to sillyV's script
function test () {
var COL_NAME = 0;
var COL_WIDTH = 1;
var COL_HEIGHT = 2;
var COL_CHAR = 3;
var OUTPUT_DIR = "~/Desktop/Ai Forums Test 08212020";
Folder(OUTPUT_DIR).create();
var csvFile = File.openDialog("Choose CSV file.", "*.csv");
var csvContents = "";
if (csvFile) {
csvFile.open('r');
csvContents = csvFile.read();
csvFile.close();
}
var csvData = csvContents.split(/[\r\n]+/g);
var thisRow;
for (var i = 0; i < csvData.
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Replies
Here is a simple example which you or someone else could edit or use as starting point.
#target illustrator
function test () {
var COL_NAME = 0;
var COL_WIDTH = 1;
var COL_HEIGHT = 2;
var OUTPUT_DIR = "~/Desktop/Ai Forums Test 08212020";
var csvFile = File.openDialog("Choose CSV file.", "*.csv");
var csvContents = "";
if (csvFile) {
csvFile.open('r');
csvContents = csvFile.read();
csvFile.close();
} else {
return;
}
var csvData = csvContents.split(/[\r\n]+/g);
var thisRow;
for (var i = 0; i < csvData.length; i++) {
thisRow = csvData[i];
csvData[i] = thisRow.split(",");
}
var workDoc = app.documents.add();
var thisRecord, w, h, name, newRect;
var opts = new PDFSaveOptions();
for (var i = 1; i < csvData.length; i++) {
thisRecord = csvData[i];
name = thisRecord[COL_NAME];
w = thisRecord[COL_WIDTH] * 72;
h = thisRecord[COL_HEIGHT] * 72;
newRect = workDoc.pathItems.rectangle(0, 0, w, h);
newRect.selected = true;
workDoc.fitArtboardToSelectedArt(0);
newRect.stroked = false;
newRect.fillColor = workDoc.swatches.getByName("Black").color;
workDoc.saveAs(File(OUTPUT_DIR + "/" + name + ".pdf"), opts);
workDoc.pathItems[0].remove();
}
workDoc.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES);
};
test();
It uses the following data csv:
And it makes the following pdfs:
...added Letters to sillyV's script
function test () {
var COL_NAME = 0;
var COL_WIDTH = 1;
var COL_HEIGHT = 2;
var COL_CHAR = 3;
var OUTPUT_DIR = "~/Desktop/Ai Forums Test 08212020";
Folder(OUTPUT_DIR).create();
var csvFile = File.openDialog("Choose CSV file.", "*.csv");
var csvContents = "";
if (csvFile) {
csvFile.open('r');
csvContents = csvFile.read();
csvFile.close();
}
var csvData = csvContents.split(/[\r\n]+/g);
var thisRow;
for (var i = 0; i < csvData.length; i++) {
thisRow = csvData[i];
csvData[i] = thisRow.split(",");
}
var workDoc = app.documents.add();
var thisRecord, w, h, name, newRect, c;
var opts = new PDFSaveOptions();
var tframe = workDoc.textFrames.add();
for (var i = 1; i < csvData.length; i++) {
thisRecord = csvData[i];
name = thisRecord[COL_NAME];
w = thisRecord[COL_WIDTH] * 72;
h = thisRecord[COL_HEIGHT] * 72;
c = thisRecord[COL_CHAR];
newRect = workDoc.pathItems.rectangle(0, 0, w, h);
newRect.move(tframe, ElementPlacement.PLACEAFTER);
newRect.selected = true;
workDoc.fitArtboardToSelectedArt(0);
newRect.stroked = false;
tframe.contents = c;
tframe.textRange.characterAttributes.size = 48;
tframe.textRange.characterAttributes.fillColor = workDoc.swatches.getByName("White").color;
tframe.position = [newRect.left + newRect.width/2 - tframe.width/2, newRect.top - newRect.height/2 + tframe.height/2];
newRect.fillColor = workDoc.swatches.getByName("Black").color;
workDoc.saveAs(File(OUTPUT_DIR + "/" + name + ".pdf"), opts);
workDoc.pathItems[0].remove();
}
workDoc.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES);
};
test();
So, this script has been working great so far but I was getting this error when I was creating some artboards that were larger. [see image below]. Funny enough when I reversed the W x H dimensions the scripted worked. Seems each board is being created in the center location of the file and when that dimension exceeds Ai's working area I am getting this error.
Is it possible to create the artboards in the far left top of Ai's working areas and have the boxes draw out from the top left? Or maybe correct from the center location when Ai goes beyond the art area. None of the dimensions I will use will exceed Ai's art area but some dimensions may be or exceed 120".
Wonder if this can be done. Thx
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