I have an InDesign page that has many elements that are all on one layer. Is there an easy way or script I can use to move each individual element to its own layer?
Here is a bit more of an explanation of why I need this:
1. I understand this is not what InDesign is intended for, however I am in this situation and looking for an easy fix.
2. The screen shot below is of a website page design that was created in InDesign. I am showing the 1 and only layer in the file with its contents exposed in the layer panel. What I would like to do is have each one of these elements on a separate layer.
3. The reason I want to do this is because I am then going to use a scrip that will export the page as a layered PSD file based on the layers in InDesign. I have multiple pages I have to do this for and it is time consuming moving each element to an individual layer one by one.
I'm wondering if there is a script available that will take the contents of the layer and move each item out to a separate layer. Or if I have to just keep doing it manually.
1 Correct answer
I've tried the script on only 3 empty TextFrames regardles of stacking order 😞
It was too quick !!
Ofcourse stacking order is very important !!!
In my environment there is ONE page only and ONE source Layer only.
In such conditions script written below works.
var fl = app.activeDocument.layers.firstItem();
var items = fl.pageItems.everyItem().getElements();
var i = items.length;
while ( i-- ) {
app.activeDocument.layers.add( { name : 'Layer_'+i } )
items.itemLayer = app.activeDocument.layers.item
...
16
Replies
Thank you!!!
That worked, however—and I might be pressing my luck here—is there any way to have it create the layers in the same order as the were originally stacked?
Below is
1. Screen shot of the page before running the script
2. Screen shot after running the script. It successfully created the layers, however out of order so items are burried
3. In case it is helpful, a screen shot of what the layers list looks like after running the script.
Thanks!
I've tried the script on only 3 empty TextFrames regardles of stacking order 😞
It was too quick !!
Ofcourse stacking order is very important !!!
In my environment there is ONE page only and ONE source Layer only.
In such conditions script written below works.
var fl = app.activeDocument.layers.firstItem();
var items = fl.pageItems.everyItem().getElements();
var i = items.length;
while ( i-- ) {
app.activeDocument.layers.add( { name : 'Layer_'+i } )
items.itemLayer = app.activeDocument.layers.itemByName( 'Layer_'+i );
}
fl.remove();
Now you don't need to select enything. Just open document witch ONE page and ONE layer and run the script. Stacking order should be saved.
regards
a.
This is AMAZING! I cannot thank you enough!! You saved me so much time.
Very much appreciated.
Thanks!
Thanks AbhishekI was trying to avoid this manual process. Wondering if there’s an easier way to do this in Indesign?
By @Nilesh1234567890
There is - although not free and PC only - my ID-Tasker tool - but probably overkill for one time job - unless you are willing to send me your file and describe how you want your objects to be split into separate layers and I'll do it for you for free.
In my tool - you can load complete structure of your document - with 800+ properties and then sort & filter by those properties and then move to different layers.
So, for example, you can move Rectangles to a specific layer - or only Rectangles that have:
- image inside from a specific folder,
- and / or specific string in the path / name,
- and / or with a specific stroke's color / thickness,
- and / or specific location on left / or right pages - in a specific range of pages,
- etc. etc. etc.
If you want to split objects by text contents - you have access to 400+ text properties, so, you can split by:
- applied language,
- specific word / phrase,
- formatting,
- number of text lines,
- applied color,
- etc.
Then, after you set your requirements, you can save it as a Task and run next day / week / month, or process server full of INDD files overnight.
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