Follow up: Now I'm sure that the German version of InDesign behaves different to the American version. I just checked that with a friend in Egypt who is working with an American version of InDesign CS4 6.0.4. Uwe ... View more

Hi Steven, I checked the default document preferences in UI (no document is open). "Facing pages" is off. See screen shot: 6_DefaultDocPreferences_NoOtherDocOpen.png With "app.documentPreferences.facingPages = true;" I can change that to "Facing pages: on". "app.documentPreferences.facingPages = false;" will bring it back to "Facing pages: off". However, when I do "app.document.add()" or do it's equivalent in UI, InDesign takes the last used document preset to construct a new document. If the last used document preset happens to be one with option "Facing pages: on", the new doc will logically obtain all properties not included in the script. Therefore an "app.document.add()" only will yield in a document with all properties defined according to the last used document preset. To change this you can either: use a different document preset like the default preset "app.document.add(true, app.documentPresets[0])" which happens to be a single pages document by default with a master spread definition of one single page or try to give all the needed properties and remove master page number two : var myDoc = app.documents.add(); with(myDoc.documentPreferences){      facingPages = false;      pageWidth = "150mm";      pageHeight = "250mm";      pagesPerDocument = 5;      // ...      }; with(myDoc.viewPreferences){      rulerOrigin = RulerOrigin.PAGE_ORIGIN;      horizontalMeasurementUnits = MeasurementUnits.MILLIMETERS;      verticalMeasurementUnits = MeasurementUnits.MILLIMETERS;      // ...      }; with(myDoc.masterSpreads.item(0).pages.item(0).marginPreferences){      top = "0mm";      left = "0mm";      right = "20mm";      bottom = "0mm";      columnCount = 1;      // ...      }; //I know there might be a "myDoc.masterSpreads.item(1)", but it will never be applied to the doc pages //Therefore I can delete it. Cautiously I will put that in an if statement: if(myDoc.masterSpreads.item(0).pages.length>1){         myDoc.masterSpreads.item(0).pages.item(1).remove();         }; With that approach in the beginning my master spread will always contain two pages. I cannot see the possibility to define my master spread to one page only in advance. Now I tried to implement your suggestion with "app.documentPreferences.facingPages = false;" in front of the code, but it does not influence the construction of the master spread. One word about "app.documentPresets[0]": I found that it's default after a fresh install of InDesign is "Facing pages: off". However you can edit this later to "Facing pages: on", so my bet is to stay with the solution working only with "app.document.add()", add all necessary properties and remove the needless master page when building single sided documents. Uwe ... View more

Thank you, Peter. But: //Code2: // record current state var state = app.documentPreferences.facingPages == true; app.documentPreferences.facingPages = false; myDoc = app.documents.add (); // restore state app.documentPreferences.facingPages = state; // now continue with myDoc myDoc.documentPreferences.pageWidth = "150mm"; myDoc.documentPreferences.pageHeight = "300mm"; yields nothing new: 4_NewDocFromCode2.png If I put in another line for facingPages set to false: //Code 3: // record current state var state = app.documentPreferences.facingPages == true; app.documentPreferences.facingPages = false; myDoc = app.documents.add (); // restore state app.documentPreferences.facingPages = state; // now continue with myDoc myDoc.documentPreferences.facingPages = false; myDoc.documentPreferences.pageWidth = "150mm"; myDoc.documentPreferences.pageHeight = "300mm"; I'll get the following doc: 5_NewDocFromCode3.png which is not the thing I want, because masterSpreads.item(0) still consists of two pages… So it seems that app.documentPreferences.facingPages = false; in front of myDoc = app.documents.add (); does nothing at all. I use a German version of InDesign CS4 6.0.4 on a German Mac OS X 10.5.8. Maybe that's the point. Uwe ... View more

Stephan, sorry to say, but your suggestion is not working for me (InDesign CS4 6.0.4 German Version on Mac OS X 10.5.8). Instead of generating a single page document above code uses part of the previous used document preference file. What I am doing wrong? See also the screen shots: 1_PreviousUsedSettings.png 2_PreviousDocFromTheSettings.png 3_NewDocFromCode.png //NewDoc_SinglePages_SingleMasterSpreadPage.jsx //31.01.2010 //DOES NOT WORK AS EXPECTED: //1.No single page in MasterSpread[0] //2.No single page file //3.Therefore: marginPreferences, columnCount and columnGutter only for left pages as expected //AS EXPECTED: //1.Number of pages generated as stated in previous used documentPreferences setting //Suggestion by Peter Kahrel: //http://www.hilfdirselbst.ch/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=432223#432223 //Triggered by Stephan: //http://forums.adobe.com/message/2556914#2556914 // record current state var state = app.documentPreferences.facingPages == true; app.documentPreferences.facingPages = false; //Function call for an A4 sized document: myDoc = addDocSinglePageWidthHeight(210,297); // restore state app.documentPreferences.facingPages = state; //Function by: Michael L. Haile //http://forums.adobe.com/message/2556113#2556113 //~ function addDocument ( w, h ){ //Edited by Uwe Laubender: //function name //MeasurementUnits=Millimeters function addDocSinglePageWidthHeight ( w, h ){           var myDocument = app.documents.add();           myDocument.viewPreferences.horizontalMeasurementUnits = MeasurementUnits.MILLIMETERS;           myDocument.viewPreferences.verticalMeasurementUnits = MeasurementUnits.MILLIMETERS;           myDocument.viewPreferences.rulerOrigin = RulerOrigin.pageOrigin;           myDocument.documentPreferences.pageWidth = w;           myDocument.documentPreferences.pageHeight = h;           // want only one page 'spread' and set the margins           var myMasterSpread = myDocument.masterSpreads.item(0);           var myMarginPreferences = myMasterSpread.pages.item(0).marginPreferences;           myMarginPreferences.left = 0;           myMarginPreferences.top = 0;           myMarginPreferences.right = 0;           myMarginPreferences.bottom = 0;           myMarginPreferences.columnCount = 1;           myMarginPreferences.columnGutter = 0;           myDocument.pages[0].appliedMaster = myMasterSpread;           return myDocument;      }; The following code does what I want: app.documents.add(true, app.documentPresets[0]); app.activeDocument.documentPreferences.pageWidth="100mm"; app.activeDocument.documentPreferences.pageHeight="200mm"; It generates a single sided document with a single page master spread, 100 x 200 mm. Uwe ... View more

@Peter: I think you mean the following thread: http://www.hilfdirselbst.ch/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=405554#405554 In essence Hans Haesler pointed out, that it might be a good idea to use the standard document preferences: app.documents.add(true, app.documentPresets[0]); Uwe ... View more

Hi, Tony! I found that the private label is indeed stored in a IDML file. For example a label set by app.activeDocument.insertLabel("Uwe","Laubender"); is stored in the designmap.xml part of the IDML file: <Properties>         <Label>             <KeyValuePair Key="Uwe" Value="Laubender"/>         </Label>     </Properties> You can strip those labels from the IDML by deleting the above properties. Uwe ... View more

Hi, fuzzyericlim! Use "fontStyle" for your font weight to define the style as well. Example: sty.appliedFont = "Univers"; sty.fontStyle="55 Roman"; Uwe ... View more

Harbs, just an observation: today I had a problem that I could solve with "recompose()". It's a CS4 script, that takes out an text asset from a library, places it to a page, then simply stores it back to the same library. Nothing complex, just a single text frame, just placing and storing: and "puff", the assets preview is lost or never composed: //JavaScript var d=app.activeDocument; //All assets in the library are single text frames var libraryName = app.libraries.item("MyLibrary.indl"); for(n=0;n<libraryName.assets.length;n++){     var assetName=libraryName.assets.item(n).name;     var assetDescription=libraryName.assets.item(n).description;     var assetLabel=libraryName.assets.item(n).label;     var assetAssetType=libraryName.assets.item(n).assetType;          libraryName.assets.item(n).placeAsset(d);          //Do something exciting with the placed asset...          libraryName.assets .remove();          libraryName.store(d.textFrames.item(0));          libraryName.assets[0].name=assetName;     libraryName.assets[0].description=assetDescription;     libraryName.assets[0].label=assetLabel;     libraryName.assets[0].assetType=assetAssetType;          d.textFrames.item(0).remove();          }; Adding: d.textFrames.item(0).recompose(); to the (now) blank line 17 does the trick. Uwe Edit: tried the same in InDesign CS3: worked without recompose(). ... View more

Hello, Marc! Wow. That was the solution I was hoping for. Great tutorial. Thank you very much! Uwe ... View more

There is a typo in my last line of code. It should read: app.selection[0].rotationAngle=rA; Uwe ... View more

You can use the visibleBounds in case the text frame got a stroke width and you want to know the overall width and height. It's all in the Object Model Viewer of the ESTK. But let me asume the text frame is rotated. Now your formula: height = top-bottom width = left-right is not true any more. In that case you could rotate it back to zero (rotationAngle=0) and do the measurements then… But don't forget to rotate it back to its original position: //Store the actual rotation angle of the selected object to a variable: var rA=app.selection[0].rotationAngle; //Set the objects rotation angle back to zero: app.selection[0].rotationAngle=0; //Now the object is prepared for measuring. //Then store the visual bounds to a variable: var gB=app.selection[0].visibleBounds; //visibleBounds is an Array of four entries (gB[0] to gB[3]) //in the format [y1, x1, y2, x2] of the current coordinate system. //You get its width by substracting x1 from x2: var oW=gB[3]-gB[1]; //And its height by substracting y1 from y2: var oH=gB[2]-gB[0]; //Then restore the objects rotation angle: app.selection[0].rotationAngle=a; Uwe ... View more

Oh, don't thank me for introducing you to the toSource()-method. Your thanks must go to Dirk Becker who introduced me to that method. Uwe ... View more

You might want to add another if-statement: if(app.selection[0].allGraphics[0].fillColor.name == "Black") Because you can colorize a bitmap TIFF to any color of your swatches panel, it would be unfortunate to overprint a color like "Yellow" to a background color like "Cyan". The output you'll get would be a green. Imagine your overprinting bitmap TIFF overlaps different colors the effect might not what you want at all. Uwe ... View more

Of course you need something like this: if (app.selection[0].allGraphics[0].properties.toSource().match(/space:"Schwarzweiß"/g)=="space:\"Schwarzweiß\""){     app.selection[0].allGraphics[0].overprintFill=true; }; The fillColor="Yellow" was for testing only. Uwe ... View more

Hi, Ariel! Try something like this (a bitmap TIFF image is selected): if (app.selection[0].allGraphics[0].properties.toSource().match(/space:"Schwarzweiß"/g)=="space:\"Schwarzweiß\""){     app.selection[0].fillColor="Yellow";     }; Since I'm working with an german version of InDesign the space-property for an bitmap TIFF image is "Schwarzweiß". So figure out what the ESTK exactly tells you when you check with the properties.toSource()-method. It might be: match(/space:"bitmap"/g) which translates to: if (app.selection[0].allGraphics[0].properties.toSource().match(/space:"bitmap"/g)=="space:\"bitmap\""){      app.selection[0].fillColor="Yellow";      }; Uwe ... View more

At least when they are TIFF images. Uwe ... View more

Ariel, you can apply "overprint" to grayscale images as well. Uwe ... View more

Thank you, Harbs. So now I know that the comma in the function call cannot be replaced by a string. Uwe ... View more

Oops. Forget the error message. This was a mistake. Error was "Object is invalid". Uwe ... View more

Hello Marc, I wanted to give your function (thank you for that!) a little UI using a prompt to feed in the two page numbers. First I tried the following: var a = prompt(     "",     "1,"+app.activeDocument.pages.length, //Predefined page numbers: first & last page     "Insert TWO page numbers for swapping pages sepparated by a comma."+"\n"+"First and last page of the document are:"     ); swapPages(a); That doesn't work as expected. I had a test with a 12-pages document and "$.writeln(a);" wrote "1,12" to the console of the ESTK. Error: "p0 is not defined" Why isn't it posible to use the string "1,12" to feed the function? I was looking for a solution, so I enhanced the code by: var b=a.split(","); swapPages(b[0],b[1]); That is working now. But still the question remains… Uwe ... View more

I cannot test the VB script, but: doc = app.activeDocument; doc.groups.everyItem().ungroup(); ungroups only the first level of grouped objects. If groups are nested in groups it will only do half (or less) the job. Uwe ... View more

After searching the Object Model Viewer (OMV) of the ESTK and Jongware's corresponding html-documentation, I fear that it is not possible to script InDesign's Ink Manager. Please, correct me if I'm wrong… Uwe ... View more

Hi, Jongware! Thank you for clarification. Interesting to see how Adobe implements GREP functionality with core JavaScript. Again the same example, but this time no InDesign involved: var myArray1 = new Array("1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0,ß,q,w,e,r,t,z,u,i,o,p,ü,a,s,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,ö,ä,y,x,c,v,b,n,m,Q,W,E,R,T,Z,U,I,O,P,Ü,A,S,D,F,G,H,J,K,L,Ö,Ä,Y,X,C,V,B,N,M,_,œ,æ,ç,µ,Á,Û,Ø,Å,Í,Ï,Ì,Ó,ˆ,Œ,Æ,Ù,Ç"); myArray1.join().match(/\w/g) InDesign CS3 ExtendScript Toolkit 2 does not get the "ß". InDesign CS4 ExtendScript Toolkit does it. An improvement. Obviously Adobe is in command here altering GREP inside their Core JavaScript-implementation of ExtendScript. Another try with JavaScript inside HTML: <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head>       <title>Test_match(/\w/g)</title> </head> <body> </body> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">   //Here comes the code:     var myArray1 = new Array("1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0,ß,q,w,e,r,t,z,u,i,o,p,ü,a,s,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,ö,ä,y,x,c,v,b,n,m,Q,W,E,R,T,Z,U,I,O,P,Ü,A,S,D,F,G,H,J,K,L,Ö,Ä,Y,X,C,V,B,N,M,_,œ,æ,ç,µ,Á,Û,Ø,Å,Í,Ï,Ì,Ó,ˆ,Œ,Æ,Ù,Ç");     var myString = myArray1.join().match(/\w/g);     alert(myString); </script> </html> Safari 4.0.3, FirefFox 3.5.3 and Opera 9.2.7 (all on Mac OS X 10.5.8) together with Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 (LiveView) do not get the "ß". Thank you again for commenting, Uwe Laubender ... View more

Hi Arul! The error report states Line 21. You did not post the whole code. The 3 lines of code which are available work as expected. Tested this with CS3 and CS4. To investigate further we definitively need to see more code 😉 and/or a description of the InDesign text frames you‘re working with. Maybe one or all of the text frames you want to group are locked? Regards, Uwe Laubender ... View more

Hi, Theun! Search for "$ID/" or "Localization" in the pdf or html-documentation of the InDesign CS4 SDK: Feature development with Scripting.pdf p12 "Localization" or to clarify the issue: ar42s03s05.html see also: idml-specification.pdf p224 "IDML Example 62. Default StrokeStyles" Greetings, Uwe ... View more

Hi, Jongware! $ID/ does it: myOutsideGuide_Left.strokeType = "$ID/Dashed"; I tested that line on a German version of InDesign CS4 6.0.3 and InDesign CS3 5.0.4 on Mac OS X 10.5.7. Without "$ID/" there was an error. Greetings, Uwe ... View more

Jongware, Peter Thank you for answering that miracle 🙂 In the meantime I did a little research at Marc Autrets superb web site in the "geek" department. http://http://marcautret.free.fr/geek/indd/unicode/part1.php My french is lousy but nevertheless I came across the following two lines of code: var selText = app.activeDocument.selection[0]; alert(selText.contents); In case of an meta character the number of the enummerator will show up! At least something. Even better: http://http://marcautret.free.fr/geek/indd/unicode/InDiCode.zip Marc states that InDiCode 1.0c is working with InDesign CS to CS3. To my joy that is true as well with InDesign CS4 (6.0.3) 🙂 Except I minor glitch at: But you can look up the unicode value at the info palette. Uwe ... View more