Script that opens a selected InDesign image in Photoshop

[Sesamme]

I used to have an old script that would open any image from InDesign in Photoshop in one click.

However somehow, with the newer version of InDesign, none of the scripts that I had or found online, work. (I am on Mac, InDesign 2023 and Photoshop 2024).

I am not a scripter, so I've asked ChatGPT to write one. After about an hour of several unsuccesful attempts we have finally managed to produce a working Java Script! So here I share it with you. You are welcome to improve it.

imagesToPS();

function imagesToPS() {
    if (app.selection.length > 0) {
        var selectedPageItem = app.selection[0]; // Assuming the first selected item is a page item
        if (selectedPageItem.constructor.name == "Image") {
            var filePath = selectedPageItem.itemLink.filePath;
            openImageInPhotoshop(filePath);
        } else {
            alert("Selected item is not an image.");
        }
    } else {
        alert("No items selected.");
    }
}

function openImageInPhotoshop(filePath) {
    try {
        var bt = new BridgeTalk();
        bt.target = "photoshop";
        bt.body = 'app.bringToFront(); app.open(new File("' + filePath + '"));';
        bt.onError = function (inBT) {
            alert("Error opening image in Photoshop: " + inBT.body);
        };
        bt.onResult = function (resObj) {};
        bt.send();
    } catch (e) {
        alert("Error opening image in Photoshop: " + e);
    }
}

[Rene Andritsch]

You can simply “ALT” click an image to open it in Photoshop. No need for a script.

[Sesamme]

hmmm, click where exactly? I tried to ALT click on the image, on the image box, on the link in the links panel - nothing works. are you sure it works on Mac?

[rob day]

I tried to ALT click on the image

Sorry, on a Mac it’s Option- Double-Click with one of the selection tools active—a single click won‘t do it. There’s also Edit>Edit Original, which can be assigned a key command.

[Sesamme]

Got it! But it only opens the image in the default app, which is not Photoshop for most types of images. This means I need to change all my images to open in Photoshop by default - really wouldn't want to do that 🙂 This is the reason why these sctipts exist.

[Rene Andritsch]

You only have to change it once for an image type like png, jpg, tiff etc.

[rob day]

But it only opens the image in the default app

On MacOS you can set default file associations from the Finder. Get Info on a PNG or other image format and there is an option to choose which app opens the file by default.

[Sesamme]

This is not a solution and totally counterproductive, I don't need any of these images to open in Photoshop by default, and I know how to do it. Anyway - I have a working sctipt, and it's great, so no need for that anyway.

[rob day]

Control or Right-Click > Edit With > Photoshop

[Sesamme]

Thats too much clicking - I need a shortcut. Unfortunately it's impossible to attach shortcuts to the native Edit With command.

[rob day]

Hi @Sesamme , i assume you want to run a Photshop script on the opened file otherwise you would just use alt/option-double-click as @Rene Andritsch suggests? I use this template which exposes a Photoshop JS that is easier to edit than the ChatGPT version’s body string

imagesToPS()


/**
* Open all of the doument’s linked images 
* and runs the Photoshop function psScript()
* return void
*/

function imagesToPS(){
    var bt = new BridgeTalk();  
    bt.target = "photoshop"; 
    if (app.documents.length > 0) {
        var lnks = app.documents[0].links;
        for (var i = 0; i < lnks.length; i++){
            if (lnks[i].parent.constructor.name == "Image") {
                openImage(lnks[i].filePath, bt);
            } 
        };   
    } else {
        alert("No Documents Open")
        return
    }
}

/**
* Open Image in Photoshop 
* @ param Image’s file path 
* @ param Bridgetalk instance 
* return void
*/
function openImage(pa, bt){
    bt.body = psScript.toString() + "\rpsScript('"+pa+"');";
    bt.onError = function( inBT ) { alert(inBT.body); };  
    bt.onResult = function(resObj) { } 
    bt.send(1000);   

    //the photoshop script to run on the opened file
    function psScript(pa) {  
        var f = open (File(pa));
        //do something
        f.close()
    }  
};

[Sesamme]

I do not need to perform any actitons - just open in Photoshop. But ALT click doesn't work for me unless I am clicking something wrong. 

Strangely your script crashes InDesign! 🙂

However I do have a similar sript, but it opens all images, not just one selected. I actually gave it to ChatGPT and asked to rework it so that it opens one image - that's how I got my script, which works...

This is the script I gave to ChatGPT:

imagesToPS();

function imagesToPS() {
    var bt = new BridgeTalk();
    bt.target = "photoshop";

    if (app.documents.length > 0) {
        var lnks = app.documents[0].links;
        for (var i = 0; i < lnks.length; i++) {
            if (lnks[i].parent.constructor.name == "Image") {
                openImage(lnks[i].filePath, bt);
            }
        }
    } else {
        alert("No Documents Open");
        return;
    }
}

function openImage(filePath, bt) {
    bt.body = psScript.toString() + "\rpsScript('" + filePath + "');";
    bt.onError = function (inBT) {
        alert(inBT.body);
    };
    bt.onResult = function (resObj) {};

    // Wait for Photoshop to be ready
    bt.send(1000);

    function psScript(filePath) {
        app.bringToFront();
        var imageFile = new File(filePath);
        if (imageFile.exists) {
            open(imageFile);
            // Do something
        } else {
            alert("File not found: " + filePath);
        }
    }
}

[rob day]

Also on the script—if you really just want to open the link in Photoshop you don‘t need the BridgeTalk object and extra code. You only need BridgeTalk code when you need to run a Photoshop script on the opened file.

This opens the original:

if (app.selection.length > 0) {
    var s = app.selection[0]; 
    if (s.constructor.name == "Image") {
        s.itemLink.editOriginal();
    } else {
        alert("Selected item is not an image.");
    }
} else {
    alert("No items selected.");
}

[Sesamme]

again - this only opens the file with whatever app is associated with it - not Photoshop specifically. For this I don't need a sctipt - it's already built into InDesign