InDesign Script for Batch Creation

[Iggy24874866doe1]

Hi there,

I'm looking to create a script that helps me to create blank InDesign documents based on a CSV file.

The data I would like to change is as follows:

1. File name
2. Height
3. Width

Then, I would like to add an IF to the script that if larger than 5486.4 mm it will scale it down 50%, both Height and Width.

I got this far but I'm a bit stuck:

var file = File.openDialog("Document", undefined, false);
var folder = Folder.selectDialog("Document");
file.open("r");
var content = file.read().split("\n");

for (var i = 0; i < content.length - 1; i++) {
    var curLine = content[i].split("\t");
    var h = curLine[0];
    var w = curLine[1];
	 var mar = curLine[2];
	 var n = curLine[3];
    docName = n + "_" + h + "×" + w;
    try {
       var newDoc = app.documents.add(false);
       newDoc.documentPreferences.pageHeight = h;
       newDoc.documentPreferences.pageWidth = w;
       newDoc.marginPreferences.properties = {top: mar,left: mar,right: mar,bottom: mar};
       newDoc.save(new File(folder + "/" + docName + " .indd"));
       newDoc.close(SaveOptions.no)
       } catch(myError){}
    }

[Iggy24874866doe1]

It works!

Thank you for this.

The only thing I have missing now it's adding bleed to the file based on a column.

So it would be as follows:

FILE NAME, WIDTH, HEIGHT, BLEED

Is it possible to do this?

[rob day]

FILE NAME, WIDTH, HEIGHT, BLEED

Do you still want want the MARGIN column? In that case dp would be:

        dp.properties = {pageHeight:h, pageWidth:w, top:da[3], bottom:da[3], left:da[3], right:da[3], documentBleedTopOffset:da[4], documentBleedUniformSize:da[4]}

[Iggy24874866doe1]

Something else I would like to add after using it for a couple of weeks, is that I would like to add a graphic content box. This is my current code:

// Prompt user to select a CSV file
var f = File.openDialog("Please Choose a CSV file");
if (f == null) {
    alert("No file selected. Exiting script.");
    exit();
}

// Read the content of the CSV file
var content = readFile(f);
if (!content) {
    alert("Failed to read the CSV file. Exiting script.");
    exit();
}

// Split the content by lines
var lns = content.split("\n");
app.scriptPreferences.measurementUnit = MeasurementUnits.MILLIMETERS;

// Temporary document preset
var dp = app.documentPresets.add({ name: "Temp-" + new Date().getTime() });
var da, w, h, bleed;

for (var i = 0; i < lns.length; i++) {
    var nd = null;
    try {
        // Split the line into columns
        da = lns[i].split(",");
        if (da.length < 4) {
            $.writeln("Skipping line " + (i + 1) + ": Not enough data");
            continue; // Skip lines that don't have enough data
        }

        var docName = da[0].trim(); // Document Name from CSV
        w = parseFloat(da[1]); // Width from CSV
        h = parseFloat(da[2]); // Height from CSV
        bleed = parseFloat(da[3]); // Bleed value from CSV

        if (isNaN(w) || isNaN(h) || isNaN(bleed)) {
            $.writeln("Skipping line " + (i + 1) + ": Invalid dimensions or bleed");
            continue; // Skip if dimensions or bleed are not valid numbers
        }

        // Set document properties including bleed from the CSV
        dp.properties = {
            pageHeight: h,
            pageWidth: w,
            documentBleedTopOffset: bleed,
            documentBleedBottomOffset: bleed,
            documentBleedInsideOrLeftOffset: bleed,
            documentBleedOutsideOrRightOffset: bleed
        };

        // Create the document
        $.writeln("Creating document: " + docName);
        nd = app.documents.add(true, dp);

        // Calculate the size of the graphic content box (artboard size + bleed)
        var graphicFrameBounds = [
            -bleed,              // Top (starting from -bleed to include the bleed)
            -bleed,              // Left (starting from -bleed to include the bleed)
            h + bleed,           // Bottom (artboard height + bleed)
            w + bleed            // Right (artboard width + bleed)
        ];

        // Create the graphic content box
        $.writeln("Creating graphic content box");
        var graphicFrame = nd.pages[0].rectangles.add({
            geometricBounds: graphicFrameBounds,
            strokeWeight: 0 // Remove the stroke (no border)
        });

        // Construct the path to save the document
        var savePath = new File(f.parent + "/" + docName + ".indd");
        $.writeln("Saving document to: " + savePath.fsName);

        // Save the document
        nd.save(savePath);

    } catch (e) {
        $.writeln("Error on line " + (i + 1) + ": " + e.message);
    } finally {
        // Ensure the document is closed
        if (nd) {
            try {
                $.writeln("Closing document: " + docName);
                nd.close(SaveOptions.YES);  // Close the document without prompting
            } catch (e) {
                $.writeln("Error closing document on line " + (i + 1) + ": " + e.message);
            }
        }
    }
}

// Clean up
$.writeln("Cleaning up");
dp.remove();
app.scriptPreferences.measurementUnit = AutoEnum.AUTO_VALUE;

/**
 * Read a text file 
 * @ thefile path 
 * @ return the text 
 */
function readFile(p) {
    var f = new File(p);
    if (!f.exists) {
        $.writeln("File not found: " + p.fsName);
        return null;
    }
    f.open("r");
    var x = f.read();
    f.close();
    return x;
}

[rob day]

If you are trying to specify the content as graphic it would be:

var graphicFrame = nd.pages[0].rectangles.add({
  contentType: ContentType.GRAPHIC_TYPE,
  geometricBounds: graphicFrameBounds,
  strokeWeight: 0 // Remove the stroke (no border)
});