Scripting Adobe InDesign

There are four Adobe InDesign scripts that I find indispensable. These scripts increase productivity and remove human error caused by tedious repetition. I would like to thank the script writers for freely sharing their code and the various sites for hosting the code.


Script #1: Raster Images to 100%

As a prepress operator, I have handled one or two layouts over the last two decades. In the past, it was more common for artists to build layouts with images at or close to final reproduction size (give or take say +/- 20%), with appropriate output sharpening applied for the image content and output/viewing conditions. Today, in my experience this is rarely the case, many layouts contain unsharpened images that have been scaled in the layout to either high or low extremes, rather than being sized and placed at the final 100% magnification.

A while back I read a blog post on scripting from Steve Nichols:

"I have seen some amazing uses of scripting including Shane Stanleys' AppleScript that would take all the Photoshop images in an InDesign document, crop, rotate (if necessary), resize, rename and replace, optimised for the layout. Brilliant!"

I have never been able to find that AppleScript from Shane, however after digging around the Adobe InDesign Exchange, I found another option in a cross platform JavaScript.

Images to 100% by Dmitriy Lapayev (Mac/Win):
www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/index.cfm?event=extensionDetail&extid=1509025

Resample Project Images to 100% by Dmitriy Lapayev (Mac/Win):
www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/index.cfm?event=extensionDetail&loc=en_us&extid=1612518

Thank you Dmitriy, great stuff! Now, all that service providers need is for their customers to run this script before submitting their files for output (I can dream). Although smaller file sizes are of benefit to the service provider, print customers also benefit from having their images optimised for the final print size. Image transforms such as large scaling factors and rotations may provide better quality when done in Photoshop, rather than relying on page layout transforms and an unknown RIP. Appropriate output sharpening can also be applied to the resized images, improving the appearance of the final output.

After running the script, one should open up the processed images in Photoshop to inspect their quality and perform sharpening as required. If the script's results are unsatisfactory with some images, one can copy/paste from the original layout to restore the transforms and links.



Script #2: Automated Multi-Page PDF Placement

PDF Multipage Import by Jimmy Shen (Mac/Win):
www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/index.cfm?event=extensionDetail&loc=en_us&extid=1046534

PDF Multipage Import OSX by Martin Sretr (Mac):
www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/index.cfm?event=extensionDetail&loc=en_us&extid=1046385

PDF Placer by Scott Zanelli (Mac/Win):
www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/index.cfm?event=extensionDetail&loc=en_us&extid=1379019

This is not about manually placing a multiple page PDF file into an InDesign file, which can be handled by later versions of InDesign in the Place dialog box - it is all about automatically placing the multiple PDF pages in a specific position on each InDesign page. Page after page after page. Before running the script, ensure that the InDesign file has the same amount of pages as the PDF pages being placed. I often run this script before creating simple impositions using the built in InDesign imposition feature.

Thank you Jimmy, Martin and Scott!



Script #3: Split Facing Pages

Separate Pages by "Harbs" (Mac/Win):
www.printisrael.com/indesign/scripts/freeware/SeparatePages.jsx

Thanks to "Harbs" from In-Tools.com and PrintIsrael.com for hosting the script.



Script #4: Relink Image Paths to Folder

AppleScript Code by Shane Stanley (Mac):
http://desktoppublishingforum.com/bb/archive/index.php?t-406.html

Shane Stanley wrote:

"Open your file, then run the script (paste into Script Editor window, save as script in Scripts folder in ID's Presets folder, run from ID's Scripts menu); it will ask you to choose the folder containg the pics. It will then search that folder and its subfolders looking for the pics, and update them where found."

Thanks Shane!

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