Place many files in one action

[Andy Lorentsen]

For a project I needed to place 2,000 files onto the artboard for batch conversion. I couldn't find a way to place all of them at once, so I had to click 2,000 times. Not only is this harmful to the wrist, but I inevitably ended up moving the mouse at times, which caused the affected SVG file to be placed wrong, and I would have to figure out which of the 2,000 images was affected and replace it. Obviously, all of this is no good.

So, is there a way to place all the files at once? A modifier key that allows you to do it in one click? If not, there really should be. Sorry if this is the wrong place to post.

[Ton Frederiks]

What kind of conversion did you need, often this is possible with a script or action.

[Andy Lorentsen]

This time, I needed to export all the files as PNGs at 256px. I'm interested in hearing your suggestion for automating that, but it wasn't really my issue.

[Ton Frederiks]

What did you try to automate this?

[Andy Lorentsen]

I haven't tried automating it, I just batch exported them, no issue there. I don't know the best way to automate the actual placing. I've made actions, but never tried making a script, which I would guess is the better option. Did you have an idea?

[Ton Frederiks]

Why don't you use Photoshop to open the svg, scale it and save as png? And create a batch from this action?

Why do you need to place them in Illustrator?

[Andy Lorentsen]

I don't know, I just know Illustrator's batch export is very effective. After doing some reading, it sounds like it would be best to use Bridge to process such a large batch. However, I still want to know if it's possible to do what I described in the post.