sorting algoritm for illustrator

[marco98BC]

i have a daily task of organising dozens of objects(actually groups with vector text inside) in an as sefficient height as possible. i do this by hand as i have not found a good way to do this programmaticly, i am aware there is a javascript bin stacking algoritm but it only arranges it with the current rotate. i however want a script that keeps in account every possible rotation of 90 degreess or a multitude.

the result is for print, so a lot of small files can be combined to be printed at once with minimum loss of material ink and man hour.

if anyone can give me some pointers that would already be huge help(or even reccomend someone to sell it)

im pretty sure this has been done as i remember mimaki rip software doing this years ago

thanks in advance

a pre organised file:                        

a organized file:

[Mylenium]

As you already mentioned yourself, there are plug-ins to that effect, typically bundled with print-centric software suites. Doing this as a script is likely feasible, as it's a classic backtracking problem in mathematical terms - the complexity is the number of objects to the power of possible rotations and positions, meaning even a scenario with only a handful of objects could cause a script to run for forever to try out all possible combinations and find the best one (unless you add specific constraints that eliminate unwanted solutions right out of the gate).

Mylenium

[CarlosCanto]

try this plugin, let us know if it works for you

http://illustrator.e-cut.ru/index.php?view=function&functionid=0

[GerssonDelgado]

Hey  @CarlosCanto 

it´s works good, but isn´t for Free, I guess so!

let me know if  Im doing something wrong  😞

[CarlosCanto]

Hi Gerson, correct, it's not free, it costs $49 usd.

[GerssonDelgado]

Oh, Gracias!!

[femkeblanco]

Hi @CarlosCanto.  I downloaded e-cut, but I'm not able to load it.  I get this message when I open Illustrator (CS6):

It's not important enough to want to spend a lot of time troubleshooting, but I would be interested if you've come across such a message before and know a quick fix.  Thanks in advance. 

[CarlosCanto]

I haven't installed it but the same error has been reported before.

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator/what-should-be-correct-path-location-for-plugin-aip-files...

Did you install it here?

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator CS6 (64 Bit)\Plug-ins

these are the developer instructions

http://illustrator.e-cut.ru/index.php?view=article&id=68

[femkeblanco]

Thanks.  I'll have a look and get back. 

[Kurt Gold]

Gersson Delgado,

just a side note: In order to develop a plugin that Carlos mentioned it is required to do an incredible amount of very complex mathematical thoughts. Paying just about 50 Dollars for it is rather like getting a gift, in my eyes.

[CarlosCanto]

it is kind of a gift at that price, writing a plugin (or Extension or Script) takes a long time, the developer would hope to have a lot of sales to make it worth his/her time

[Kurt Gold]

Agreed, Carlos.

And I think it is not just the time and effort to develop it that should be mentioned here.

Usually, nesting applications are used in order to save precious material and therefore money. It is not just a nice-to-have script that may create some beautiful spring flower shapes.

Therefore I think it is a bit difficult to understand why some people think that it may or should be for free. The investment for the nesting application may often pay off after just using it during one production run.

[CarlosCanto]

I completely agree with you Kurt.