Photoshop 2015 artboards in scripting

[matias.kiviniemi]

Anyone seen info / had a chance to test how artboards will workout in scripting? I guess data model could be pretty similar, i.e. an artboard is just new kind of group. The primary effect is in rendering / display, but probably most scripts will at least need an adjustment in logic (i.e. do you run through all art boards as one/separate or just the "active one".

Sneak Peek: Artboards in Photoshop CC - YouTube

[Timothy N. Wright]

I can't vouch for the provenance of that code, so I'm not sure how/if it's supposed to work   Is there a specific thing you're trying to do with Artboards that you're trying to solve in ExtendScript?    My sample above includes all the artboard-specific scripting commands, otherwise you would handle Artboards as you would layer groups (for moving, selecting, naming, etc.)  For more sample code, you might take a look at the sample .jsx inside the "networkclientprototype" source in the latest Photoshop SDK (a mac app that deals in generator and network connections, but it demonstrates Artboard property-getting which might be useful).  And there's also a couple of Artboard export scripts, ArtBoards To Files.jsx/ArtBoards To PDF.jsx, inside the Photoshop Presets/Scripts folder. (code for Photoshop's File->Export items for Artboards).  The script listener plugin can also help to find Javascript by recording actions in Photoshop.

Converting Comps to Artboards is kind of a large problem, but one way to approach it is to repeatedly apply the comps and duplicate all the original layers into new groups and convert those into Artboards (see MakeArtboardFromLayerGroup/artboardFromLayerGroupEvent in the code above to convert groups into Artboards), and then move the new Artboard groups to an appropriate spot (using a move event, or something like it). To save space and promote easier re-use it might make sense to convert (some) of the layers into smart objects (using "newPlacedLayer" for which you can see some usage in some of the Presets/Scripts included w/the app, e.g. Merge to HDR)

[matias.kiviniemi]

Well, the SDK is still due an update just to get the docs straight and expose the artboard-stuff "as proper properties and methods.

[Timothy N. Wright]

True enough, the SDK/Scripting plugin should be changed to make them accessible through dot notation.  But that shouldn't affect the actual underlying implementation, or what you can do vis a vis scripting Artboards (it just makes the code prettier).  I was more wondering if there's anything beyond that, that's broken/missing/impossible to do right now, or there's a question of how to script it.  Maybe I could help with that in the mean time, since I don't control the SDK or the SDK release schedule personally. I can communicate it to the proper people, I just can't promise when it will happen.

[SASkievua]

thank you, your script is very usefull!

but how to set rulers origin in document?

your script is getting it, but I need to set it.

pls help!

[SASkievua]

BTW, sorry, but your code in TargetRulerOrigin() is slightly incorrect:

  return {x:rulerOrigin.getInteger(propRulerOriginH) / 65536,

  y:rulerOrigin.getInteger(propRulerOriginH) / 65536};

this fragment returns the SAME value for X and Y :))))

and replacing propRulerOriginH with propRulerOriginV doesn't works for some reason - ExtendScript Toolkit stops with error.

this function works for me only after I replaced it with this code:

function TargetRulerOrigin() {

        var ref = new ActionReference();

        ref.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID("Dcmn"), charIDToTypeID("Ordn"), charIDToTypeID("Trgt") );

        var desc = executeActionGet(ref);

        return {x:desc.getInteger(stringIDToTypeID('rulerOriginH')) >> 16,

                     y:desc.getInteger(stringIDToTypeID('rulerOriginV')) >> 16};

}

[Timothy N. Wright]

Yes, that is correct, thanks.  You can only have one property per get I think, so you either have to call two "set" actions with different properties/references, or get all the document properties, as in your version.  Here's some additions to set the ruler origin (again, caveats.. no extensive testing.. etc.)

var actionSet = charIDToTypeID( "setd" );

var keyTo = charIDToTypeID( 'T   ' );

function SetTargetRulerOrigin(inX, inY) {

  var theRef = new ActionReference();

  theRef.putProperty(classProperty, propRulerOriginH);

  theRef.putEnumerated(classDocument, typeOrdinal, enumTarget);

  var setDescriptor = new ActionDescriptor();

  setDescriptor.putReference(idnull,theRef);

  setDescriptor.putInteger( keyTo, inX * 65536 );

  executeAction( actionSet, setDescriptor, DialogModes.NO );

  theRef = new ActionReference();

  theRef.putProperty(classProperty, propRulerOriginV);

  theRef.putEnumerated(classDocument, typeOrdinal, enumTarget);

  setDescriptor = new ActionDescriptor();

  setDescriptor.putReference(idnull,theRef);

  setDescriptor.putInteger( keyTo,  inY * 65536 );

  executeAction( actionSet, setDescriptor, DialogModes.NO );

  }

//Ruler set/get test.

var oldRulerOrigin = TargetRulerOrigin();

SetTargetRulerOrigin(100,100);

var newRulerOrigin = TargetRulerOrigin();

alert("Artboards\n" +

  "Changed Ruler Origin from: " + PointToString(oldRulerOrigin) + " to: " + PointToString(newRulerOrigin)

);

[Timothy N. Wright]

And here's another corrected version of TargetRulerOrigin()

function TargetRulerOrigin() {

  var theRef = new ActionReference();

  theRef.putProperty(classProperty, propRulerOriginH);

  theRef.putEnumerated(classDocument, typeOrdinal, enumTarget);

  var getDescriptor = new ActionDescriptor();

  getDescriptor.putReference(idnull,theRef);

  var rulerOriginX = executeAction( actionGet, getDescriptor, DialogModes.NO );

  theRef = new ActionReference();

  theRef.putProperty(classProperty, propRulerOriginV);

  theRef.putEnumerated(classDocument, typeOrdinal, enumTarget);

  getDescriptor = new ActionDescriptor();

  getDescriptor.putReference(idnull,theRef);

  var rulerOriginY = executeAction( actionGet, getDescriptor, DialogModes.NO );

  return {x:rulerOriginX.getInteger(propRulerOriginH) / 65536,

           y:rulerOriginY.getInteger(propRulerOriginV) / 65536};

  }

[Chuck Uebele]

Tim, has this been documented yet in any SDK?

[SASkievua]

thank you very much for your help!

your code doing exactly what it should!

thanks again! :)))

[Rune L-H]

I'm trying to read the current value of "autoExpandEnabled". Anyone knows how to find it?

[robertpaige]

I have been trying to create a script all night that will turn my existing PSDs into Artboards for one document. Has anyone had any luck on this?