Exit
  • Global community
    • Language:
      • Deutsch
      • English
      • Español
      • Français
      • Português
  • 日本語コミュニティ
  • 한국 커뮤니티
0

Origination of "For" tag in Illustrator PDF saved with "Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities"?

Participant ,
Jul 09, 2024 Jul 09, 2024

Exiftool shows there is a "For" tag coming from [PostScript] on my Illustrator PDF when saved with "Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities".  This tag includes my name followed by a comma, as in: "First Last,". My name is not identified in the regular metadata fields such as Author/Creator, etc., and doesn't show up when I view the metadata otherwise.

 

  1. Where does Illustrator get the information from to write this tag?
  2. Can I retrieve this data using Illustrator ExtendScript?
  3. If I wanted to read/write to this location, what would be the namespace where it would be found?

 

Environment: I am using Illustrator 2023 & 2024 with a corporate license (not signed in via the Cloud) on MacOS Sonoma 14.5/

TOPICS
Scripting , Third party plugins
216
Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Adobe
Community Expert ,
Jul 09, 2024 Jul 09, 2024

As far as I can remember Illustrator has always written the name of the registered Illustrator user in the file.

 

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Participant ,
Jul 09, 2024 Jul 09, 2024

Is there a way to access wherever that comes from with an Illustrator ExtendScript .jsx, or does it require a separate call to the system?

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jul 09, 2024 Jul 09, 2024

I'll leave that to someone with scripting knowledge.

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jul 09, 2024 Jul 09, 2024
LATEST

The %%For is a commented section in the header of a Postscript/EPS file that identifies the account user name followed (sometimes) by the computer's name. This is one of a bunch dictated by the Postscript Language Document Structuring Conventions (DCS) Specifications. Most programs capable of saving PS/EPS files and PS print streams will have this information if it exists.

This information is less relevant these days but was helpful/necessary in print workflows to identify the file's source in a print queue. It usually follows the %%Creator and %%CreatorVersion. like so:

 

Screen Shot 2024-07-09 at 6.38.23 PM.png

 

So to answer "Where does Illustrator get the information from to write this tag?"

It's provided by your System to Illustrator

 

"Can I retrieve this data using Illustrator ExtendScript?"

Couldn't tell you, but like @Ton Frederiks mentions, maybe someone with scripting experience will chime in.

 

"If I wanted to read/write to this location, what would be the namespace where it would be found?"

In an exported PS/EPS files, it's in the header at the beginning of the file in plain text. In a PDF saved with Illustrator Editing enabled, it's part of the .AI/PS code attached so it can also be found by a text editor somewhere in the file.

 

 

Translate
Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines