Photoshop scripting documentation

[y.antypas]

Hello devs,

I am planning to write some scripts for photoshop for a friend of mine. As of my knowlege the latest documentation for scripting dates back to 2020. Is there an active guide anywhere? I am looking to manipulate layers. I would like to distribute two uneven layers horizontally and center them vertically to be persice.

Any help is much appreciated. 

[c.pfaffenbichler]

I am aware of no newer version available as pdf. 

If you are new to Photoshop Scripting, I wonder if you might not be better off going with UXP right away instead of ESTK. 

Please post screenshots to illustrate the exact and complete layer structure of the image/s in question and th eintended operation. 

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

There are many features which aren't covered in the Scripting DOM, which is where AM or Action Manager code and the ScriptingListener plugin comes in handy.

[y.antypas · Accepted solution]

Hello @Stephen_A_Marsh , thank you for your reply.

Scripting Listener dowsnt work on Apple MacBookPro 13-inch, M2, 2022.
I was able to write the script with help from the documentation above. 

var doc = app.activeDocument;

var selectedLayers = getSelectedLayers();

if (selectedLayers.length == 2) {
    
    var result = idLayers(selectedLayers);

    var object = result.object
    var scale = result.scale

    var layersToDistribute = [object, scale];
    h0Vcenter(object)
    h0Vcenter(scale)
    distributeRow(object, scale);
} else {
    alert("Please select 2 players");
}
function h0Vcenter(layer) {
    var currentX = layer.bounds[0].value;
    var currentY = layer.bounds[1].value;
    var deltaX = -currentX;

    var centerY = doc.height.value / 2;
    var layerHeight = layer.bounds[3].value - layer.bounds[1].value;
    var targetY = centerY - layerHeight / 2;
    var deltaY = targetY - currentY;

    layer.translate(deltaX, deltaY);
}
function idLayers(layers) {
    var objectLayer = layers[0];
    var scaleLayer = layers[1];
    var objectWidth = objectLayer.bounds[2].value - objectLayer.bounds[0].value;
    var objectHeight = objectLayer.bounds[3].value - objectLayer.bounds[1].value;
    var scaleWidth = scaleLayer.bounds[2].value - scaleLayer.bounds[0].value;
    var scaleHeight = scaleLayer.bounds[3].value - scaleLayer.bounds[1].value;

    if (objectWidth * objectHeight < scaleWidth * scaleHeight) {
        var tempLayer = objectLayer;
        objectLayer = scaleLayer;
        scaleLayer = tempLayer;
    }

    return { object: objectLayer, scale: scaleLayer };
}
function getSelectedLayers() {
    var ActLay = app.activeDocument.activeLayer;
    ActLay.allLocked = true;
    var L = app.activeDocument.layers.length;
    var selLayers = new Array();
    for(var i = 0; i < L; i++) {
        var LayerType = app.activeDocument.layers[i].typename;
        var layerRef = app.activeDocument.layers[i];
        if (LayerType == "LayerSet" ) {
            var refLength = layerRef.layers.length;
            for(var j = 0; j < refLength; j++) {
                var refLay = layerRef.layers[j];
                if (refLay.allLocked == true){selLayers.push(refLay)}
            }
            continue;
        }
        if (layerRef.allLocked == true) {selLayers.push(layerRef)}
    }
    ActLay.allLocked = false;
    return selLayers;
}
function distributeRow(layer2, layer1) {
   
    var layer1Left = layer1.bounds[0].value;
    var layer1Right = layer1.bounds[2].value;
    var layer2Left = layer2.bounds[0].value;
    var layer2Right = layer2.bounds[2].value;

    var totalWidth = (layer1Right - layer1Left) + (layer2Right - layer2Left);
    var remainingWidth = doc.width.value - totalWidth;
    var spaceBetween = Math.round(remainingWidth / 3);

    var layer1Delta = spaceBetween - layer1Left;
    var layer2Delta = (spaceBetween * 2) + (layer1Right - layer1Left) - layer2Left;

    layer1.translate(layer1Delta, 0);
    layer2.translate(layer2Delta, 0);   
}

 so is UXP the new way of writing scripts or what?

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Scripting Listener dowsnt work on Apple MacBookPro 13-inch, M2, 2022.

Did you disable »Allow Tool Recording« in the Actions Panel? 

[c.pfaffenbichler]

You may have to »Open using Rosetta« for ScriptingListener.plugin to record. 

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

 so is UXP the new way of writing scripts or what?

By @y.antypas

UXP is certainly the future that is currently mapped.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

I am curious how many maps we’re going to see yet … 

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

Yeah, I'm not bothering with UXP yet, there have been too many previous forks in the road.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

I tried and so far I have not gotten far … coming from ESTK Scripting it seems a considerable change.