Problem Importing Pantone Swatches Using Javascript

[Robin - JR Press]

We have two Macs running Mojave and InDesign 16.4.1. One of the scripts we use generates a Pantone Swatch in the Swatches palette based upon numerical input ie. you type "485" into a dialog and PANTONE 485 U shows up in your swatches.

It uses the following code (abbreviated for simplicity):

var myIndesignDoc = app.activeDocument;
var myPantone = "PANTONE 485 U"; 
myIndesignDoc.importAdobeSwatchbookSpotColor (myPantone);

We've just added a new Mac to the department running Catalina and InDesign 17.0.1. Although I tested the script was working on the new system it now appears that in practice certain swatches (PANTONE 4021 U, PANTONE 2028 U) can't be added to the palette in this manner, but only on this specific Mac. They can still be added manually by going to "New Colour Swatch..." and searching in the library so we know they are on the machine but the script is not functioning as it should. 

Before we upgrade the operating system and Adobe CC on the other two Macs, does anyone have any ideas why this might not be working? Is there a potential fix or work around? The example provided is not a big deal however this snippet is also used to add swatches to our proof documents which is a major part of our workflow... any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[rob day · Accepted solution]

Hi Robin, for .importAdobeSwatchbookSpotColor to work the color has to be in one of the .acb files located in the InDesign ⁨Presets⁩>⁨Swatch Libraries⁩ folder. The Pantone .acb files that get installed haven’t been updated since CS6, so for the code to work there would have to be an .acb file that includes the swatch installed in the ⁨Swatch Libraries⁩ folder.

I have updated .acb files, which I downloaded using Pantone’s Color Manager a few years ago, so "PANTONE 2028 U" works on my installation.

[Robin - JR Press]

Thanks Rob, that information is invaluable! I will explore the .acb files and see if I can implement a solution. I will post here with results once they are known.  

[Robin - JR Press]

We are running Pantone Color Manager but it appears that the library it installed on the new Mac did not include swatches from Pantone's 2019 expanded collection. A direct copy of the .acb file from one of the old macs and a restart of InDesign fixed the issue. Thank you Rob for your expertise and assitance.