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J
joep10800191
Known Participant
May 3, 2018
Answered

Script to move all objects to pasteboard

  • May 3, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 1867 views

Hi friends,

Was wondering if anyone could help me out. In our publications, we have content automatically generated and placed page by page throughout the InDesign file and was wondering if there was a way to write a script to automatically move all content onto the pasteboard (left or right side, depending on which side of the spread the content is on).  I'm very new to the scripting world and don't have much of a background in it at all, but what we've been using is the following script that I pieced together (it may not even be the most efficient way to accomplish this):

var myObj = new Array;
myObj = app.selection;
app.activeWindow.activeSpread.groups.add(myObj);
app.activeWindow.activeSpread.groups.item(0).select();
var s =app.activeDocument.selection[0];    
s.move([-8,-.25])  
  s.ungroup(); 

Users just select all on the left side of the spread, run the script and it moves everything off the pasteboard. We have a similar one for the right side too. Is there a way to automate this so users don't have to go page by page running this to move everything onto the pasteboard

Thank you for your patience!

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Benreyn

Hi joep,

I modified the script, though it could definitely use some cleanup as it is quite rough and dirty, but I hope it gets you going in the right direction. I would also suggest learning about loops, counting objects, and how to approach and solve these problems programmatically.

var doc = app.activeDocument;

var numOfPages = doc.pages.length;

for(var i = 0; i < numOfPages; i++) {

    if(i % 2 == 1) {

        var thisPage = doc.pages.item(i);

        if(thisPage.pageItems.length >= 2) {

            var items = thisPage.pageItems.everyItem();

            var group = doc.groups.add(items);

            group.move([10, 0]);

            group.ungroup();

        } else if (thisPage.pageItems.length == 1) {

            var item = thisPage.pageItems.item(0);

            item.move([10, 0]);

        } else {

            //do nothing

        }

   } else {

        var thisPage = doc.pages.item(i);

        if(thisPage.pageItems.length >= 2) {

            var items = thisPage.pageItems.everyItem();

            var group = doc.groups.add(items);

            group.move([-6, 0]);

            group.ungroup();

        } else if (thisPage.pageItems.length == 1) {

            var item = thisPage.pageItems.item(0);

            item.move([-6, 0]);

        } else {

            //do nothing

        }

   }

}

2 replies

Benreyn
Benreyn
Participating Frequently
May 3, 2018

Below is a short and simple script that will find the number of pages, and for each page it will find the number of items, group them, then move to the pasteboard left or right sides depending on if the page is odd or even, then ungroup and on to the next page. You will have to adjust the move parameters to fit your needs.

var doc = app.activeDocument;

var numOfPages = doc.pages.length;

for(var i = 0; i < numOfPages; i++) {

    if(i % 2 == 1) {

        var thisPage = doc.pages.item(i);

        var items = thisPage.pageItems.everyItem();

        var group = doc.groups.add(items);

        group.move([10, 0])

        group.ungroup();

   } else {

       var thisPage = doc.pages.item(i);

       var items = thisPage.pageItems.everyItem();

       var group = doc.groups.add(items);

       group.move([-6, 0])

       group.ungroup();

   }

}

    J
    joep10800191Author
    Known Participant
    May 4, 2018

    Thank you Benreyn, think I'm getting close. I have a follow-up question:

    1) How would I set this up to work even if some pages are empty or there is only one item on the page? If I run this with a blank page (or a page with just one item) I'll get a "Cannot create page item. No valid parent found" error.

    If I add 2 objects to all of the pages that script seems to work great and I can adjust the parameters accordingly. Just wondering if there's a way for it to A) ignore pages that have 0 objects and B) still move an object if it's the only one on the page.

    Thanks again!

    Benreyn
    BenreynCorrect answer
    Participating Frequently
    May 7, 2018

    Hi joep,

    I modified the script, though it could definitely use some cleanup as it is quite rough and dirty, but I hope it gets you going in the right direction. I would also suggest learning about loops, counting objects, and how to approach and solve these problems programmatically.

    var doc = app.activeDocument;

    var numOfPages = doc.pages.length;

    for(var i = 0; i < numOfPages; i++) {

        if(i % 2 == 1) {

            var thisPage = doc.pages.item(i);

            if(thisPage.pageItems.length >= 2) {

                var items = thisPage.pageItems.everyItem();

                var group = doc.groups.add(items);

                group.move([10, 0]);

                group.ungroup();

            } else if (thisPage.pageItems.length == 1) {

                var item = thisPage.pageItems.item(0);

                item.move([10, 0]);

            } else {

                //do nothing

            }

       } else {

            var thisPage = doc.pages.item(i);

            if(thisPage.pageItems.length >= 2) {

                var items = thisPage.pageItems.everyItem();

                var group = doc.groups.add(items);

                group.move([-6, 0]);

                group.ungroup();

            } else if (thisPage.pageItems.length == 1) {

                var item = thisPage.pageItems.item(0);

                item.move([-6, 0]);

            } else {

                //do nothing

            }

       }

    }

      FRIdNGE
      FRIdNGE
      Inspiring
      May 3, 2018

      Hi,

      Already written:

      https://www.dropbox.com/s/23lg0uimzrd7sv2/InDesign_PlayWithThePasteboard.mp4?dl=0

      Best,

      Michel, from FRIdNGE

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