Operate Illustrator in Python

[Raymond ZJH]

I am a Python novice and I want to write a program in Python to operate Adobe Illustrator. How can I call the Illustrator API (including its objects, properties, and methods) ? It would be best to provide specific examples, such as using a Python program to create a TextFrame and assign it a value of "Python" in yellow. Thank you.

[Manan Joshi · Accepted solution]

You can start from the following Github repo

https://github.com/lohriialo/illustrator-scripting-python

-Manan

[Raymond ZJH]

Hi @Manan Joshi  That's fine. Thank you! I will study it carefully.

[m1b]

Hi @Raymond ZJH since you mention your are a python novice, and on the off-chance you are better at Javascript, another option would be to use ExtendScript, which is basically Javascript from circa 1999. It might be simpler to set up because Illustrator has a native ExtendScript scripting API.

- Mark

[Raymond ZJH]

Hi @m1b  Thank you for your suggestion! Perhaps you are right. I used to frequently use VBScript to operate Illustrator in VBA because I needed to use it in conjunction with Office Excel. However, due to the limitations of VBA, I wanted to switch to a different development environment. The reason why I chose PYTHON is because of its ecosystem, and its future extension applications may be more extensive. Also, for some reason, I always feel that Javascript is difficult to learn. Perhaps it's because there are relatively few reference materials for learning it, as I haven't gone through a systematic programming education process and don't have a professional background.

[m1b]

Yep, I get what you mean @Raymond ZJH but here is another consideration: 99% of the example scripts you find will be in ExtendScript, and they are by far the most accessible way to learn specific details (as opposed to a beginner level ES3 course, which would be a good first step).

- Mark