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Script: Adjust tracking (character spacing) of text

Guest
Oct 15, 2011 Oct 15, 2011

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PSE doesn't show the user all the text formatting capabilities available in PhotoShop, but this script can alter the tracking (character spacing) of the text on a layer.

Here are the steps to use the script:

  1. Open Notepad.
  2. Copy this text and paste it into Notepad:

    /*
    <javascriptresource>
    <name>Character Tracking</name>
    <enableinfo>true</enableinfo>
    <menu>automate</menu>
    <about>Adjust the kerning.</about>
    <category>Typography</category>
    </javascriptresource>
    */

var targettext = app.activeDocument.activeLayer.textItem
targettext.tracking = 30

 

  1. Use "Save As" with the File Type of "All Files" to save it as
    Character tracking.jsx
    in the
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 10\Presets\Scripts
    directory.
  2. Keep the .JSX file open in Notepad.
  3. Start PSE.  You'll have a new menu item:  File...Automation Tools...Character Tracking.
  4. Create a document in PSE with some text on a text layer.
  5. With a text layer selected, run the Character Tracking script.
  6. To adjust the tracking, simply switch to Notepad and change the numeric value after the equals sign, save the file and re-run it in PSE.  (No need to close and re-open PSE.)

You can use negative values, too -- any number between -1000 and 10000 is OK.

For example, here's the original:

character tracking original.png

Here the tracking was set to -50:
character tracking m50.png

And here the value was 300:
character tracking p300.png

It works on paragraph text as well.

Enjoy!

Ken

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New Here ,
Feb 28, 2013 Feb 28, 2013

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I've made a slight adjustment to this script. Instead of changing the file every time it will display a prompt where you enter the tracking value.

/*

<javascriptresource>

<name>Character Tracking...</name>

<enableinfo>true</enableinfo>

<menu>automate</menu>

<about>Adjust the kerning.</about>

<category>Typography</category>

</javascriptresource>

*/

if (app.documents.length > 0) {

    var targettext = app.activeDocument.activeLayer.textItem;

    targettext.tracking = parseInt(prompt("Select the tracking value", 0));

}

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New Here ,
May 18, 2013 May 18, 2013

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I've tried this on my mac with Elements 11. It works if you run the script through a piece of external scripting software, but not from the menus in Elements.

As soon as the text is selected, the menu option is greyed out to access the Character Tracking script. Any idea how to change the behaviour or script to be accepted in Elements on the Mac?

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New Here ,
Jul 19, 2013 Jul 19, 2013

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I've also tried this on my Mac with Elements 11, saving the script from TextEdit, then opening the PSE package in the Applications folder with "Show package contents" and copying it in the folder as mentioned above. However when I run the script from within PSE, I get the following message:

Error 8: Syntax error.

Line: 1

->  {\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\cocoartf1187\cocoasubrtf390

Does anybody know what this means and how to fix it?

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New Here ,
Jul 20, 2013 Jul 20, 2013

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By default TextEdit saves files as "rich text" (so it can support things like bold and italic. That causes Elements to get confused. To fix this, open TextEdit, then choose Format -> Make Plain Text. Now copy and paste in the script above and save the file.

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New Here ,
Aug 08, 2013 Aug 08, 2013

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Wonderful, works perfectly! Thanks!

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Community Beginner ,
Oct 22, 2013 Oct 22, 2013

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are these MAC or PC instructions.

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LEGEND ,
Oct 22, 2013 Oct 22, 2013

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Read the whole thred, Victor. Post #3 from Bittergal explains how to adapt it for macs.

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Community Beginner ,
Oct 22, 2013 Oct 22, 2013

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when I get my degree in computer science I'll understand all this.

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New Here ,
Dec 12, 2013 Dec 12, 2013

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In case this is helpful to anyone.... Similar to the Mac user, (although I am using a Windows PC) I too do not seem to have the option to select this new Character Tracking script in the Automation Tools list when I select & "highlight the actual words" in a Text Layer that I wished to "track". If you are having trouble you can tell if you have done this incorrectly if you look on the left PSE side-menu and you see that you are actively using PSE's Horizontal Type Tool.

The remedy for me was simply to use PSE's Move Tool, then click once to select the text layer field (as if to move it)-  now the Character Tracking script functionality under the Automation Tools menu was available for me to use.  

Oh and a big THANKS to the programmers of the script!

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New Here ,
Jun 19, 2014 Jun 19, 2014

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Automation tools is greyed out to me

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New Here ,
Nov 05, 2014 Nov 05, 2014

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I'm new to the iMac world . . . as of last week.  Anyways, I went to work on a Christmas card for a client and the type is all spaced out!

I've read through this . . . but, to be perfectly honest I have NO IDEA what it's saying . .. is there anyone who could give me the PSE for DUMMIES version on this issue?
I'm working with PSE 13

Thanks!!!!

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New Here ,
Feb 25, 2015 Feb 25, 2015

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Works great! Thanks so much for the script and instructions.

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Guest
Mar 05, 2015 Mar 05, 2015

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Stepped through the original instructions with the updated script (and Bittergal's Mac suggestions) and still can't seem to access the character tracking options. Should I be saving the script as .jsx or .txt? I can't figure out the former. What am I missing?

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Guest
Jun 15, 2015 Jun 15, 2015

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On a Mac, make sure that the extension is a .jsx NOT .txt. If your default settings are like mine, the ".txt" is hidden. Therefore the name will read "Character tracking.jsx" but it is really saved as "Character tracking.jsx.txt" You have to highlight the file and select "get info" (command + i) You can delete the ".txt" extension there and select that you want to use the .jsx extension in the popup. Worked for me; I hope it does for you!

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New Here ,
Sep 19, 2015 Sep 19, 2015

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This script worked for me, though I had to select the move tool instead of the text tool to make adjustments. The Character Tracking option is dimmed when the Text tool is selected. I'm using PSE10 on a PC.

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Explorer ,
Apr 03, 2016 Apr 03, 2016

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I'm using Elements 13 on Win10 and it worked great, after I read some of the posted replies to learn how to activate the Automation Tools menu.  Thanks to all.  I used to be on Photoshop CS 4 on Win XP, non of this Elements crap.  It had all kinds of tools for text.

So I can remember where I got this an dhow to use it, I added this to the bottom of the script code:

/*

# I found this script at https://forums.adobe.com/message/3972551

# April 3 2016 for my Photoshop Elements 13

# Change the targettext tracking above to useful number for text object i am working on

# Found 20 to work good with Ariel  Be sure to save this file

# Can change with PSE open.  Have image document open

# Select the text layer you want to change

# Select Move tool, not Text tool

# Select File menu then Automation Tools then select this file

# You will see kerning change in the text of the image layer selected

*/

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Community Expert ,
Oct 06, 2018 Oct 06, 2018

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Photoshop elements 2019 now includes Character Tracking.

trc.jpg

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Participant ,
Sep 25, 2020 Sep 25, 2020

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LATEST

It told me I don't have permission and asked if I want to save it in my rmadi file. What do I do? Who is the administrator?

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