Adobe Illustrator10 Scripting Guide Illustrator 10.0 10

User Manual: adobe Illustrator - 10.0 - Scripting Guide Free User Guide for Adobe Illustrator Software, Manual

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A DOBE
ILLUSTRATOR ® 10
S CRIPTING GUIDE

Adobe Developer Support
345 Park Avenue
San Jose, CA 95110-2704
408-536-9000
FaxYI: 206-628-5737
ada@adobe.com

http://partners.adobe.com

Europe:
PO Box 12356
Edinburgh EH11 4GJ
United Kingdom
+44.131.458.6800
Fax: +44.131.458 6801
euroADA@adobe.com




ii

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide
Copyright 2000 Adobe Systems Incorporated.
All Rights Reserved.
The information in this document is furnished for informational use only, is subject to
change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Adobe Systems
Incorporated. Adobe Systems Incorporated assumes no responsibility or liability for any
errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this document. The software described in this
document is furnished under license and may only be used or copied in accordance with
the terms of such license.
Adobe, Adobe After Effects, Adobe PhotoDeluxe, Adobe Premiere, Adobe Photoshop,
Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Type Manager, ATM and PostScript are
trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated that may be registered in certain jurisdictions.
Macintosh and Apple are registered trademarks, and Mac OS and AppleScript are
trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Microsoft, Visual Basic, Windows, Windows 95,
Windows 98, and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All
other products or name brands are trademarks of their respective holders.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
About this manual . .
What is scripting? . .
Why use scripting? .
What about actions?.
System requirements
Mac OS . . . . .
Windows . . . .

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.11
.12
.12
.13
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.14
.14

Chapter 2: Scripting Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Object model concepts . . . . . .
Object classes . . . . . . . .
Object inheritance. . . . . . .
Object elements or collections
Object references . . . . . . .
Scripting concepts . . . . . . . . .
Comments . . . . . . . . . .
About long script lines . . . .
Values. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Variables . . . . . . . . . . .
Properties . . . . . . . . . . .
Operators . . . . . . . . . . .
Commands and methods . . .
Conditional statements . . . .
Control structures . . . . . . .
Handlers and subroutines. . .
Testing and troubleshooting . . . .
About error handling . . . . . . . .

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.15
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.16
.17
.17
.17
.17
.18
.18
.20
.21
.22
.22
.23
.24
.25
.27
.29

iv

Table of Contents

Chapter 3: Scripting Illustrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Looking at Illustrator’s objects and commands .
AppleScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Visual Basic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Your first Illustrator script . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating an AppleScript script . . . . . . .
Creating a Visual Basic script. . . . . . . .
VBScript. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adding features to “Hello World” . . . . . . . .
Measurement units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Unit conversion to points . . . . . . . . . .
Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fixed points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Zero point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fixed rectangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Page item positioning and dimensions . . .
Object references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Object references in AppleScript . . . . . .
Object references in Visual Basic. . . . . .
Object containment: document vs. layer . . . .
Working with selections . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Working with paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Working with color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Working with symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Working with symbol items . . . . . . . . . . .
Working with text art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Transformation matrices. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using a matrix in an AppleScript script . . .
Using a matrix in a Visual Basic script . . .
Working with variables and datasets . . . . . .
Datasets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Launching and quitting Illustrator from a script .
Launching and quitting from AppleScript . .
Launching and quitting from Visual Basic. .
Some objects that cannot be created by a script
User Interaction Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . .
AppleScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Visual Basic and JavaScript . . . . . . . .
The Scripts menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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.31
.31
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.34
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.41
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.56

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Supported scripting languages
Script files . . . . . . . . . . .
Installing scripts . . . . . . . .
Executing other scripts . . . .

Table of Contents

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.56
.56
.57
.57

Chapter 4: AppleScript Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
About the script examples . . . . . . . . . .
Illustrator’s object model. . . . . . . . . . .
application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
art style, art styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
brush, brushes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
character, characters . . . . . . . . . . . .
CMYK color info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
compound path item, compound path items.
dataset, datasets . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
document, documents . . . . . . . . . . . .
ellipse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
EPS save options . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
fixed point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
fixed rectangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flash export options . . . . . . . . . . . . .
GIF export options . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
gradient, gradients. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
gradient color info . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
gradient stop, gradient stops . . . . . . . .
gradient stop info . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
graph item, graph items . . . . . . . . . . .
gray color info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
group item, group items . . . . . . . . . . .
Illustrator save options. . . . . . . . . . . .
insertion point, insertion points . . . . . . .
JPEG export options. . . . . . . . . . . . .
layer, layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
line, lines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
mesh item, mesh items . . . . . . . . . . .
page item, page items . . . . . . . . . . . .
paragraph, paragraphs . . . . . . . . . . .
path item, path items . . . . . . . . . . . .
path point, path points . . . . . . . . . . . .

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.59
.60
.62
.65
.67
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.75
.77
.82
.83
.90
.92
.95
.97
.99
101
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vi

Table of Contents

path point info . . . . . . . . . . .
pattern, patterns . . . . . . . . . .
pattern color info. . . . . . . . . .
PDF open options . . . . . . . . .
PDF save options . . . . . . . . .
Photoshop options. . . . . . . . .
Photoshop export options . . . . .
placed item, placed items . . . . .
plugin item, plugin items . . . . . .
PNG24 export options . . . . . . .
PNG8 export options . . . . . . .
polygon . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
raster item, raster items . . . . . .
rectangle. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
RGB color info . . . . . . . . . . .
rounded rectangle . . . . . . . . .
spot, spots . . . . . . . . . . . . .
spot color info . . . . . . . . . . .
star. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SVG export options . . . . . . . .
swatch, swatches . . . . . . . . .
symbol, symbols . . . . . . . . . .
symbol item, symbol items . . . .
tab stop info . . . . . . . . . . . .
tag, tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
text art item, text art items . . . . .
text face, text faces . . . . . . . .
text path, text paths . . . . . . . .
variable, variables . . . . . . . . .
view, views . . . . . . . . . . . .
word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Command reference. . . . . . . .
activate . . . . . . . . . . . .
apply . . . . . . . . . . . . .
close . . . . . . . . . . . . .
colorize . . . . . . . . . . . .
concatenate matrix . . . . . .
concatenate rotation matrix . .
concatenate scale matrix . . .
concatenate translation matrix
convert to paths . . . . . . . .

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165
166
168
170
171
174
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181
185
188
190
193
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198
199
200
202
204
205
207
210
212
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216
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230
232
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235
239
239
240
241
241
242
242
243
243
244

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

copy . . . . . . . . .
count . . . . . . . .
cut. . . . . . . . . .
delete . . . . . . . .
display . . . . . . .
do javascript . . . .
do script . . . . . . .
duplicate . . . . . .
equal matrices . . .
exists . . . . . . . .
export . . . . . . . .
export variables . . .
get. . . . . . . . . .
get identity matrix . .
get rotation matrix. .
get scale matrix . . .
get translation matrix
end tell . . . . . . .
invert matrix . . . . .
make . . . . . . . .
move . . . . . . . .
open. . . . . . . . .
paste . . . . . . . .
print . . . . . . . . .
quit . . . . . . . . .
redraw. . . . . . . .
rotate . . . . . . . .
save . . . . . . . . .
scale . . . . . . . .
set. . . . . . . . . .
singular matrix . . .
transform . . . . . .
translate. . . . . . .
update. . . . . . . .

Table of Contents

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vii

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268
269

Chapter 5: Visual Basic Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
About the script examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Illustrator’s object model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Referencing and creating objects in Visual Basic . . . . . . .
Syntax differences between Sub and Function methods .

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271
272
274
275

viii

Table of Contents

Application . . . . . . . .
ArtStyle . . . . . . . . .
ArtStyles . . . . . . . . .
Brush . . . . . . . . . .
Brushes . . . . . . . . .
Character . . . . . . . .
Characters . . . . . . . .
CMYKColor . . . . . . .
Color . . . . . . . . . . .
CompoundPathItem . . .
CompoundPathItems . .
DataSet . . . . . . . . .
DataSets. . . . . . . . .
Document . . . . . . . .
Documents . . . . . . .
EPSSaveOptions . . . .
ExportOptionsFlash . . .
ExportOptionsGIF . . . .
ExportOptionsPhotoshop
ExportOptionsJPEG . . .
ExportOptionsPNG24 . .
ExportOptionsPNG8 . . .
ExportOptionsSVG . . .
Gradient . . . . . . . . .
Gradients . . . . . . . .
GradientColor . . . . . .
GradientStop . . . . . .
GradientStops . . . . . .
GraphItem . . . . . . . .
GraphItems . . . . . . .
GrayColor . . . . . . . .
GroupItem . . . . . . . .
GroupItems . . . . . . .
IllustratorSaveOptions . .
Layer. . . . . . . . . . .
Layers . . . . . . . . . .
Matrix . . . . . . . . . .
MeshItem . . . . . . . .
MeshItems . . . . . . . .
PageItem . . . . . . . .
PageItems . . . . . . . .
Paragraph . . . . . . . .

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383

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Paragraphs . . . . . .
PathItem . . . . . . . .
PathItems . . . . . . .
PathPoint . . . . . . .
PathPoints . . . . . . .
Pattern . . . . . . . . .
Patterns . . . . . . . .
PatternColor . . . . . .
PDFOpenOptions . . .
PDFSaveOptions . . .
PhotoshopFileOptions .
PlacedItem. . . . . . .
PlacedItems . . . . . .
PluginItem . . . . . . .
PluginItems . . . . . .
RasterItem . . . . . . .
RasterItems . . . . . .
RGBColor . . . . . . .
Spot . . . . . . . . . .
Spots . . . . . . . . .
SpotColor . . . . . . .
Swatch. . . . . . . . .
Swatches . . . . . . .
Symbol. . . . . . . . .
Symbols . . . . . . . .
SymbolItem . . . . . .
SymbolItems. . . . . .
Tag . . . . . . . . . .
Tags . . . . . . . . . .
TextArtItem . . . . . .
TextArtItems . . . . . .
TextFace. . . . . . . .
TextFaces . . . . . . .
TextLine . . . . . . . .
TextLines . . . . . . .
TextPath . . . . . . . .
TextPaths . . . . . . .
TextPath_PathItems . .
TextRange . . . . . . .
Variable . . . . . . . .
Variables. . . . . . . .
View . . . . . . . . . .

Table of Contents

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x

Table of Contents

Views . . . . . . . . . .
Word . . . . . . . . . . .
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Chapter : Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493
AppleScript . . . . . . .
Visual Basic . . . . . . .
Internet resources . . . .
Adobe Systems, Inc.
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1
Introduction

Welcome to scripting, arguably the most exciting new feature of Illustrator. No other
feature, new or old, can save you as much time, effort, and money as scripting.

About this manual
This manual provides an introduction to scripting Adobe Illustrator 10 on Mac OS and
Windows. We realize that not every Illustrator user will be familiar with programming
terms, concepts, and techniques, so we’ve included Chapter 2, “Scripting Basics,” which
contains introductory information that should help get you started with scripting. If you’re
an experienced AppleScript scripter or Visual Basic programmer, you will probably want
to skip to Chapter 3 to get the specifics on scripting Illustrator.
This manual consists of the following chapters:
1. An introduction to scripting.
2. The basics of each platform’s scripting language: AppleScript in Mac OS and
Visual Basic in Windows. If you are new to scripting, be sure to read this
chapter. Beginners are heartily encouraged to consult the Bibliography for books
on AppleScript and Visual Basic.
3. A brief introduction to the specifics of scripting Illustrator. Concepts and
approaches specific to the application are covered here, such as measurement
units, matrices, and color models.
4. The Illustrator AppleScript Reference. Here you’ll find details and examples for
every object and command in Illustrator’s AppleScript dictionary.
5. The Illustrator Visual Basic Reference. Details and examples are provided for
every class in Illustrator’s Visual Basic type library.
6. A bibliography of helpful resources for learning more about scripting.
11

12

What is scripting?

Introduction

What is scripting?
A script is a series of commands that tells Illustrator to perform a series of actions. These
actions can be simple, and affect only a single, selected object in the current document;
or complex, and affect all of the objects in all of your Illustrator documents. The actions
might involve only Illustrator, or they might involve other applications, such as word
processors, spreadsheets, and database management programs. Many of the tasks you
can perform with Illustrator’s tools, menus, palettes, and dialog boxes can be performed
by a script (a notable exception is third-party plug-ins, which cannot be scripted at this
time).
We naturally think of scripting as a way to automate repetitive tasks, but it can also be a
creative tool. You can use scripts for creative tasks that would be too difficult or time
consuming to do manually. For example, you could write a script to systematically create
a series of objects, modifying the new objects’ position, stroke, and fill properties along
the way. You could also write a script that accessed Illustrator’s built-in transformation
matrix functions to stretch, scale and distort a series of objects. Without scripting, you’ll
likely miss out on the creative potential of such labor-intensive techniques.
Scripting isn’t just for computer programmers—it’s for everybody. You don’t need a degree
in computer science or mathematics to write scripts that can automate a wide variety of
common tasks. If you can read this text, you can write scripts.

Why use scripting?
Graphic design is a field characterized by creativity, but aspects of the actual work of
illustration and page layout are anything but creative. When you think about the work that
you do, chances are good you’ll find that you spend most of your time doing the same or
similar production tasks, over and over again. In fact, you’ll probably notice that the time
you spend placing and replacing images, correcting errors in text, and preparing files for
printing at an imagesetting service provider often reduce the time you have available for
doing creative work.
Wouldn’t it be great if you had an assistant—one that wouldn’t mind doing some or all of
the boring, repetitive tasks for you? With that kind of help, you’d have more time to
concentrate on the creative aspects of your work.
With a small investment of time, Illustrator scripting can be the assistant you need. You
can start with short, simple scripts that save you a few seconds every day, and move on
to scripts that work all night while you’re sleeping.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

What about actions?

13

Think about your work—is there a repetitive task that’s driving you crazy? If so, you’ve
identified a candidate for a script. What are the steps involved in performing the task?
What are the conditions in which you need to do the task? Once you understand the
process you go through to perform the task, you’ll be ready to turn it into a script.

What about actions?
Illustrator actions are different from scripts. An Illustrator action is a series of tasks you
have recorded while using the application—menu choices, tool choices, object selection,
and other commands. When you “play” an action, Illustrator performs all of the recorded
commands.
You record, play, edit and delete actions using Illustrator’s built-in Actions palette. The
“Automating Tasks” chapter in the Adobe Illustrator User Guide covers actions in detail.
With the introduction of scripting for Illustrator, it is important to avoid any confusion about
the difference between actions and scripting. Actions and scripts are both ways of
automating repetitive tasks, but they work very differently. The following points summarize
the key differences.
• Actions use a program’s user interface to do their work. As an action runs, menu
choices are executed, objects are selected, and recorded paths are created. Scripts
do not use a program’s user interface to perform tasks, and can execute faster than
actions.
• Actions have very limited facilities for getting and responding to information. You
cannot add conditional logic to an action. Therefore, actions cannot make decisions
based on the current situation. Scripts are capable of getting information and making
decisions and calculations based on the information they receive from Illustrator.
• A script can execute an action, but actions cannot execute scripts.

System requirements
The language you use to write scripts depends on the operating system of the platform
you’re using: AppleScript for Mac OS; Visual Basic for Windows. While the two scripting
systems differ, the ways that they work with Illustrator are very similar. Each example
script shown in this manual will be shown in both systems. Make sure the scripting plug-in
is installed on your system before attempting to script Illustrator.

14

System requirements

Introduction

Mac OS
To write scripts on Mac OS, you must have Mac OS version 8.6 or later. You will also need
AppleScript and a script editor installed. AppleScript and the Script Editor application
from Apple come installed on all supported versions of Mac OS. The default location for
the Script Editor application is the Apple Extras folder. In the unlikely event that these
items are not installed on your system, reinstall them from your original system software
CD-ROM.
As your scripts become more complex, you may find the need for debugging and
productivity features not found in Script Editor. Third-party script editors, such as Script
Debugger (from Late Night Software, http://www.latenightsw.com) or Scripter (from Main
Event Software, http://www.mainevent.com) provide additional features that aid script
development.
If your script would benefit from a complete user interface, you might want to use
FaceSpan (http://www.facespan.com) or Real Basic (http://www.realsoftware.com)—
programs created in these development environments can have complete graphical user
interfaces as well as send AppleScript commands to Illustrator.
We use the Script Editor from Apple in this manual.

Windows
To use Illustrator scripting in Windows, you must have Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, or
Windows 2000. You will also need the Microsoft Visual Basic development environment or
one of the applications that contain a Visual Basic editor. Many applications that support
the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) language contain a built-in editor. Applications
that contain a built-in editor include: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Visio. You can
use any Visual Basic editor to create your scripts.
As your scripts become more complex or require a user interface, you will find the need
for a complete development environment than one of the built-in editors. The Microsoft
Visual Basic development environment comes in a variety of package, all of which
provide everything you need to script Illustrator.
In this manual, we use the Microsoft Visual Basic development environment’s editor.

2
Scripting Basics

If you use Illustrator, then you work with documents and their contents. You create
documents, layers, colors, and design elements. If you do all of this, you’ve probably
gotten used to thinking of an Illustrator document as a series of objects.
Automating Illustrator with scripting uses the same object-oriented way of thinking. The
heart of a scriptable application is the object model. In Illustrator, the object model is
comprised of documents, layers, colors, and page items—objects that can appear in an
Illustrator document. Each type of object has its own special properties, and every object
in an Illustrator document has its own identity.
In this chapter, we’ll cover the basic concepts of scripting for both AppleScript on Mac OS
and Visual Basic on Windows. This brief introduction to the basic concepts and syntax of
each scripting language is by no means complete or exhaustive. The bibliography
contains references to more complete language guides for both scripting languages.
For detailed information on using your particular scripting system with Illustrator, see the
appropriate reference chapter later in this manual. Experienced scripters may want to
skip to those chapters now.

Object model concepts
The terminology of object oriented programming can be hard to understand, at first.
“Objects” belong to “classes” and have “properties” you manipulate using “commands”
(AppleScript) or “methods” (Visual Basic). What do these words mean in this context?
Here’s a way to think about objects and their properties. Imagine that you live in a house
that responds to your commands (you can think of this house as technologically
advanced, or magical, or both). The house is an object, and its properties might include
the number of rooms, the color of the exterior paint, or the date of its construction.

15

16

Object classes

Object model concepts

Your house can also contain other objects. Just like your house can contain other objects,
the objects within the house can also contain a number of smaller objects. Each room, for
example, is an object in the house, while each window, door, or appliance is an object
inside of the room.
Each object can respond to various commands according to its capabilities. Windows and
doors, for example, can open or close—but the floor and ceiling cannot. Using scripting,
you can talk to each object directly, or you can talk to them as part of the house. You have
to be very specific, though—you can’t tell your house to open a window without telling it
which window you want to open. So windows, just like all other objects, need names or at
least a numbering system so you can refer to them specifically. “Tell the house to open
the north window of the living room,” you might say.
Objects also have properties that describe specific details about them, like color and size.
Imagine that the properties of objects in your house can be changed. You might say,
“Door, paint yourself blue.” Because your door can respond to the command “paint,” you’ll
soon have a door of a different color.
Now let’s apply this object model idea to Illustrator. The Illustrator application is the house,
its documents are the rooms, and the objects in your documents are the windows and
doors. You can tell Illustrator documents to add and remove objects. You can ask objects
to get or change their properties.

Object classes
Objects with the same properties and behaviors are grouped into “classes.” In the house
example, windows and doors belong to their own classes, since they have unique
properties, like number of panes for windows or the door style for doors. In Illustrator,
every type of graphic object—paths, text, meshes, etc.—belongs to its own class, each
with its own set of properties and behaviors. Properties such as visible bounds,
width, and height, for example, are common to all page items.

Object inheritance
Object classes may also “inherit,” or share, the properties of a parent, or superclass.
When an class inherits properties, we call that class a child, or subclass of the class from
which it inherits properties. So in our house example, windows and doors are subclasses
of an openings class, since they are both openings in a house. In Illustrator, path
items, for example, inherit geometric properties like width and height from the
page item class.
Classes will often have properties that aren’t shared with their superclass. In our house,
both a window and door inherit an opened property from the opening class, but a window

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Scripting concepts

17

has number of panes property which the opening class doesn’t. In Illustrator, path
items, for example, have the property stroke color which isn’t inherited from the
page item class.

Object elements or collections
Object elements (AppleScript) or collections (Visual Basic) are objects contained within
other objects. For example, rooms are elements (or collections) of our house, contained
within the house object. In Illustrator, documents are elements of the application object,
and page items are elements of a document object.

Object references
The objects in your documents are arranged in a hierarchy like the house object—page
items are in layers, which are inside a document, which is inside Illustrator. When you
send a command to an Illustrator object, you need to make sure you send the message to
the right object. To do this, you identify objects by their position in the hierarchy. You
might, for example, write the following statement.
AppleScript
page item 1 of layer 1 of document 1
Visual Basic
Documents(1).Layers(1).PageItems(1)

When you identify an object in this fashion, you’re creating an object reference.
AppleScript and Visual Basic use different ways of creating object references, but the idea
is the same—to give the script a way of finding the object you want to work with.

Scripting concepts
Comments
Comments are a way to add descriptive text to a script. Comments come in handy when
you want to document the operation of a script (for yourself or for someone else). The use
of comments is the most important technique for good scripting. Comments are where
you should leave important notes about the specific operation of a script that might
provide valuable help when the script is modified at a later date. The time you save later
trying to figure out what the script does may be your own. Comments are ignored by the
scripting system as the script executes and cause no run-time speed penalty.

18

About long script lines

Scripting concepts

AppleScript

To enter a single-line comment in an AppleScript, type “--” to the left of your description.
For multiple line comments, start your comment with the characters “(*” and end it with
“*)”.
-- this is a single-line comment
(* this is a
multiple line comment *)

Visual Basic

In Visual Basic, enter “'” (a single straight quote) to the left of the comment.
' This is a comment

About long script lines
In some cases, individual script lines are too long to print on a single line in this guide.
AppleScript

AppleScript uses the special character (¬) to show that the line continues to the next line.
This continuation character denotes a “soft return” in the script. You can enter this
character in the script editor by pressing Option-Return at the end of the line you wish to
continue.
Visual Basic

Visual Basic uses a special character (_) to show that the line continues to the next line.
This continuation character denotes a “soft return” in the script. You can enter this
character in the editor by pressing Shift--(dash) at the end of the line you wish to
continue.

Values
Values are the data your scripts use to do their work. Most of the time, the values used in
your scripts will be numbers or text.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Scripting concepts

AppleScript
Value type:

What it is:

Example:

Boolean

Logical true or false.

true

Integer

Whole numbers (no decimal
points). Integers can be
positive or negative.

14

Real

A number which may contain
a decimal point.

13.9972

String

A series of text characters.
Strings appear inside
(straight) quotation marks.

"I am a string"

List

An ordered list of values. The
values of a list may be any
type.

{10.0, 20.0, 30.0, 40.0}

Object reference

A specific reference to an
object.

document 1

Record

An unordered list of
properties, Each property is
identified by its label.

{name: "you", index: 1}

What it is:

Example:

Visual Basic
Value type:
Boolean

Logical true or false

true

Long

Whole numbers (no decimal
points). Longs can be positive
or negative.

14

Double

A number which may contain
a decimal point.

13.9972

String

A series of text characters.
Strings appear inside
(straight) quotation marks.

"I am a string"

Array

A list of values. Arrays
contain a single value type
unless the type is defined as
Variant.

Array(10.0, 20.0, 30.0, 40.0)

Object reference

A specific reference to an
object.

Application.Documents(1)

User-defined

A collection of elements
referenced by a key and
stored as a key-value pair.

Var.name = "you"
Var.index = 1

19

20

Variables

Scripting concepts

Variables
Variables are containers for data. A variable might contain a number, a string, a list (or
array), or an object reference. Variables have names, and you refer to a variable by its
name. To put data into a variable, we assign the data to the variable. The file name of the
current Illustrator document or the current date are both examples of data that can be
assigned to a variable.
Why not simply enter the value directly in the script rather than using a variable? When
you use a value directly the flexibility of script is reduced. By using variables the scripts
you write will be reusable in a wider variety of situations. As a script executes, it can
assign data to the variables that reflect the state of the current document and selection,
for example, and then make decisions based on the content of the variables.
In AppleScript, it is not important to declare your variables before assigning values to
them. In Visual Basic, however, it is considered good form to declare all of your variables
before using them with the Dim statement. Using the Dim statement assigns a value type
to the variable, which helps us keep our scripts clear and readable. Memory is also used
more efficiently if variables are declared before use. If you start your scripts in Visual
Basic with the line Option Explicit, you will be required to declare all variables
before assigning data to them.
Visual Basic
Option Explicit
Dim thisNumber As Single
thisNumber = 10

Assigning values to variables is fairly simple, as shown below.
AppleScript
set thisNumber to 10
set thisString to "Hello, World!"
Visual Basic
thisNumber = 10
thisString = "Hello, World!"

Variables can also be used to store references to objects. In AppleScript, a reference is
returned when you create a new object in an Illustrator document. This returned reference

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Scripting concepts

21

points to the newly created object. Storing references in variables is just the same as
assigning any other value to the variable.
set thisLayer to make new layer at beginning of document 1

or you can fill the variable with a reference to an existing object:
set thisLayer to layer 1 of document 1

Visual Basic works similarly, however, there is an important distinction to note. If you are
assigning an object reference to a variable you must use the Set command. For
example, to assign a variable as you create a layer, use Set:
Set thisLayer = Illustrator.Documents(1).Layers.Add

or in reference to an existing layer, since it is also an object reference, use Set:
Set thisLayer = Illustrator.Documents(1).Layers(1)

If you are simply trying to assign a value to a variable in Visual Basic that is not an object
reference, do not use set but simply use Visual Basic’s assignment operator, the equals
sign:
thisNumber = 12

Try to use descriptive names for your variables—something like firstPage or
corporateLogo, rather than x or c. While it will take a little more time to type the
longer names, using them will make your scripts much easier to read. The length of a
variable’s name has no effect on the execution speed of your script, so use descriptive
names. You can also give your variable names a standard prefix so that they’ll stand out
from the objects, commands, and keywords of your scripting system. Variable names
must be a single word, but you can use internal capitalization (such as myFirstPage)
or underscore characters (my_first_page) to create more readable names. Variable
names cannot begin with a number, and they can’t contain punctuation or quotation
marks.

Properties
Both AppleScript and Visual Basic allow you to define properties for your scripts. Script
properties are much like variables, but with additional features and requirements specific
to each language. Since the meaning and usage of script properties differs so greatly

22

Operators

Scripting concepts

between AppleScript and Visual Basic, please consult the bibliography for appropriate
language references.

Operators
Operators perform calculations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) on
variables or values and return a result. For example:
docWidth/2

would return a value equal to half of the content of the variable docWidth. So if
docWidth contained the number 20.5, the value returned would be 10.25.
You can also use operators to perform comparisons (equal to, not equal to, greater than,
or less than). For example:
docWidth > docHeight

Would return the value true if docWidth is greater than docHeight, or false, if it
is not.
Some operators differ between AppleScript and Visual Basic. For example, AppleScript
uses the non-equality symbol (≠, use Option- = from keyboard), while Visual Basic uses
the greater and less than symbols juxtaposed: <>.
Both scripting systems use the ampersand (&) as the concatenation operator to join two
strings.
"Pride " & "and Prejudice."

would return the string “Pride and Prejudice.”

Commands and methods
If objects are “nouns” and properties are “adjectives” in our scripting systems, then
commands (AppleScript) or methods (Visual Basic) are the “verbs”—they’re the parts of
the script that make things happen. The type of the object you’re working with determines
which methods you can use to manipulate it.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Scripting concepts

23

AppleScript

In AppleScript, use the make command to create new objects, the set command to
assign object references to variables and to change object properties, and the get
command to retrieve objects and their properties.
Visual Basic

In Visual Basic, use the Add method to create new objects, the Set statement to assign
object references to Visual Basic variables or properties, the assignment operator ( = )
to retrieve and change object properties.

Conditional statements
If you could speak to Illustrator in the course of a work session, you might say, “If the
selected object is a path, then set its stroke width to 12 points.” Conditional statements
make decisions—they give your scripts a way to evaluate something (the color of the
selected object, or the number of color swatches in the document, or the date) and then
act according to the result. Most conditional statements start with the word if in both
scripting systems.
The following examples check the number of currently open documents. If no documents
are open, the scripts display a messages in a dialog box.

24

Control structures

Scripting concepts

AppleScript
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
activate
set documentCount to count every document
if documentCount = 0 then
display dialog "No Illustrator documents are open!"
end if
end tell
Visual Basic
Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim documentCount as long
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
documentCount = appRef.Documents.Count
If documentCount = 0 then
MsgBox "No Illustrator documents are open!"
End If
End Sub

Control structures
If you could talk to Illustrator, you might say, “Repeat the following procedure twenty
times.” In scripting terms, this sort of direction is called a “control structure.” Control
structures provide for repetitive processes, or “loops.” The idea of a loop is to repeat some
action over and over again, with or without changes each time through the loop, until
some condition is met.
Both AppleScript and Visual Basic have a variety of different control structures to choose
from. The simplest form of a loop is one that repeats some series of script operations a
set number of times.
AppleScript
repeat with counter from 1 to 20
display dialog counter
end repeat
Visual Basic
For counter = 1 to 20
MsgBox counter
Next

A more complicated type of control structure includes conditional logic, so that it loops
while or until some condition is true or false.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Scripting concepts

25

AppleScript
repeat while flag = false
set flag to (button returned of display dialog "Quit?") = "Cancel"
end repeat
repeat until flag = true
set flag to (button returned of display dialog "Quit?") = "OK"
end repeat
Visual Basic
Do While flag = false
flag = (MsgBox ("Quit?", vbOKCancel)) = vbCancel
loop
Do Until flag = true
flag = (MsgBox ("Quit?", vbOKCancel)) = vbOK
loop

Handlers and subroutines
Handlers (in AppleScript) or subroutines (in Visual Basic) are scripting modules you can
refer to from within your script. Handlers and subroutines are ways to re-use parts of
scripts. Typically, you send one or more values to a handler (or subroutine), and it returns
one or more values. Handlers (and subroutines) can be used for performing conversions
from one measurement system to another, or for calculating the geometric center point of
an object from its geometric bounds.
There’s nothing special about the code used in subroutines and handlers—they are
simply conveniences that save you from having to type the same lines of code over and
over again in your script. If you find yourself typing or pasting the same lines of code into
several different places in a script, you’ve identified a good candidate for a subroutine or
handler.

26

Handlers and subroutines

Scripting concepts

AppleScript
-- Calculate the geometric center of a selected art item
-- Assumes you have a single art item selected
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
-- Get the selection from the current document
set selectedItems to selection
(* Make sure there is a selected item, and that the selection is not
text *)
if selectedItems ≠ {} and class of selectedItems ≠ text then
-- Get the first item from the list and get it bounds
set firstItem to item 1 of selectedItems
set itemBounds to geometric bounds of firstItem
end if
end tell
set itemCenter to GetItemCenter(itemBounds)
display dialog "Center x:" & item 1 of itemCenter & ", y:" & item 2 of
itemCenter

-- This handler finds the center of an item given its bounds
on GetItemCenter(itemBounds)
-- Assign coordinates from the bounds to individual variables
set {itemLeft, itemTop, itemRight, itemBottom} to itemBounds
-- Calculate the center position
set xCenter to (itemLeft + itemRight) / 2
set yCenter to (itemTop + itemBottom) / 2
return {xCenter, yCenter}
end GetItemCenter
Visual Basic
Private Sub Command1_Click()
' Calculate the geometric center of a selected art item
' Assumes you have a single art item selected
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim selectedObjects As Variant
Dim objectBounds As Variant
Dim objectCenter As Variant
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then

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Testing and troubleshooting

27

selectedObjects = appRef.Documents(1).Selection
If TypeName(selectedObjects) = "Variant()" Then
objectBounds = selectedObjects(0).GeometricBounds
objectCenter = GetItemCenter(objectBounds)
MsgBox ("Center x:" & objectCenter(0) & ", y:" &
objectCenter(1))
End If
End If
End Sub

' The following lines define the function
Function GetItemCenter(sourceBounds As Variant) As Variant
Dim left As Single
Dim top As Single
Dim right As Single
Dim bottom As Single
Dim xCenter As Single
Dim yCenter As Single
left = sourceBounds(0)
top = sourceBounds(1)
right = sourceBounds(2)
bottom = sourceBounds(3)
xCenter = (left + right) / 2
yCenter = (top + bottom) / 2
GetItemCenter = Array(xCenter, yCenter)
End Function

Testing and troubleshooting
Both scripting environments provide tools for monitoring the progress of your script while
it is running—which make it easier for you to track down any problems your script might
be encountering or causing.
AppleScript

While the basic syntax of your script will be checked when compiled, it is possible to
create and compile scripts in AppleScript that will not run properly. The Script Editor
doesn’t have extensive debugging tools, but it does have the an Event Log window.

28

Handlers and subroutines

Testing and troubleshooting

To watch the commands your script sends and the results it receives, choose Controls >
Open Event Log. The Script Editor displays the Event Log window. Check the Show
Events and Show Events Results options at the top of the Event Log window and then run
your script. As the script executes, you’ll see the commands sent to Illustrator, and
Illustrator’s responses.

In addition, the Result window (choose Controls > Show Result) will display the value
from the last script statement evaluated. Third-party editors offer additional debugging
features.

Visual Basic

In Visual Basic, you can stop your script at any point, or step through your script one line
at a time. To stop your script at a particular line, select that line in your script and choose

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

About error handling

29

Debug > Toggle Breakpoint. When you run the script, Visual Basic will stop at the
breakpoint you have set. Choose Debug > Step Into (or press F8) to execute the next line
of your script, or choose Run > Start (or press F5) to continue normal execution of the
script. You can also observe the values of variables defined in your script using the Watch
window—a very valuable tool for debugging your scripts. To view a variable in the Watch
window, select the variable and choose Debug > Quick Watch. Visual Basic displays the
Quick Watch dialog box. Click the Add button. Visual Basic displays the Watch window.
If you have closed the Watch window, you can display it again by choosing View > Watch
Window.

About error handling
Imagine that you’ve written a script that formats the current text selection. What should
the script do if the current selection turns out not to be text at all, but a path item? “Error
handling” is code you add to your script to respond to conditions other than those you
expect it to encounter.

30

Handlers and subroutines

About error handling

If you have complete control over the situations in which your script will run, there’s no
need for you to worry about error handling. If not, however, you’ll have to add some error
handling capabilities to your script. The following examples show how to how you can
stop a script from executing when a specific file cannot be found.
AppleScript
--Store a reference to the fifth path item of the document in a variable
--If the object does not exist in the current document, display a message
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
activate
try
set itemCount to count of path items in current document
set fifthItem to path item 5 of current document
on error
display dialog "Couldn't locate 5th path object - Only " ¬
& itemCount & " objects."
end try
end tell
Visual Basic
Private Sub Command1_Click()
' Store a reference to the fifth path item of the document in a
' variable. If the object does not exist in the current document,
' display message.
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim docRef As Illustrator.Document
Dim aiObject As Illustrator.PathItem
Dim numObjects As Single
Dim errorMessage As String
Set docRef = appRef.ActiveDocument
numObjects = docRef.PathItems.Count
On Error GoTo DisplayError
Set aiObject = docRef.PathItems(5)
Exit Sub
DisplayError:
errorMessage = "Couldn't locate 5th path object - Only "
errorMessage = errorMessage & numObjects & " objects."
MsgBox errorMessage
End Sub

3
Scripting Illustrator

At this point, you should have a good idea of what scripting is and how it works. We are
ready to begin looking at scripting Adobe Illustrator.

Looking at Illustrator’s objects and commands
While the objects and commands available in Illustrator are all documented in this guide,
you can also view them from inside your scripting system.

AppleScript
To view Illustrator’s AppleScript dictionary:

1. Start Illustrator and then your script editor. Apple’s Script Editor comes with all
Macintosh systems. If you can’t find the Script Editor application, you’ll have to
reinstall it from your Mac OS System CD.
2. In Script Editor, choose File > Open Dictionary. Script Editor displays an Open
File dialog.
3. Find and then select the Illustrator application and click the OK button. Script
Editor displays a list of Illustrator’s objects and commands. You’ll also be able to
see the properties and elements associated with each object, as well as the
parameters for each command.

31

32

Looking at Illustrator’s objects and commands

Scripting Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Looking at Illustrator’s objects and commands

33

Visual Basic
To view Illustrator’s type library:

1. In any Visual Basic project, choose Project > References. Visual Basic displays
the References dialog box. If you are using a built-in editor in a VBA application,
choose Tools > References.
2. Turn on the “Adobe Illustrator 10.0 Type Library” option from the list of available
references and click the OK button. If the library does not appear in the list of
available references, reinstall Illustrator with your scripting plugins.

3. Choose View > Object Browser. Visual Basic displays the Object Browser
window.
4. Choose “Illustrator” from the list of open libraries shown in the top-left pull-down
menu. Visual Basic displays the classes and the members of those classes in
the Object Browser window.

34

The application

Scripting Illustrator

5. Click an object class or class member. Visual Basic displays more information
about the object in the frame at the bottom of the Object Browser window.

The application
In all of your scripts, in either AppleScript or Visual Basic, the first thing you refer to is the
application. As we’re concerned here with Illustrator 10, that is the application your scripts
will target.

Your first Illustrator script
The traditional first project in any programming language is to display the message “Hello
World!” In this example, we’ll create a new Illustrator document, then add a text art item
containing this message.

Creating an AppleScript script
To create an AppleScript script follow these steps:
1. Locate and open Script Editor.
2. Enter the following script. The lines preceded by -- are comments, and will be
ignored by the scripting system. They’re included to document the operation of
the script. As you look through the script, you’ll see how we create, then

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Your first Illustrator script

35

address, each object in turn. The AppleScript command tell indicates the
object that will receive the next message we send.
-- Send the following commands to Illustrator
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
-- Create a new document with the string "Hello World"
set docRef to make new document
set textRef to make new text art item in docRef ¬
with properties {contents: "Hello World!", position:{200,
200}}
end tell

3. Run the script. Illustrator will create a new document, add a text art item at
position (200, 200) and set the text to “Hello World!”.

Creating a Visual Basic script
To create a Visual Basic script follow these steps:
1. Start Visual Basic and create a new project. Add the “Adobe Illustrator 10.0 Type
Library” reference to the project, as shown earlier. If you are using a built-in
editor in a VBA application, skip to step 4.
2. Add a form to the project.
3. Create a new button on the form. Double-click the button to open the Code
window.

36

Your first Illustrator script

Scripting Illustrator

4. Enter the following code. The lines preceded by’ (single-quote) are
comments, and will be ignored by the scripting system. They’re included to
describe the operation of the script. As you look through the script, you’ll see
how we create, then address each object in turn.
'Hello World! Script
Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim documentRef As Illustrator.Document
Dim sampleText As Illustrator.TextArtItem
'Create a new document and assign it to a variable
Set documentRef = appRef.Documents.Add
'Create a new text art item and assign it to a variable
Set sampleText = documentRef.TextArtItems.Add
'Set the contents and position of the TextArtItem
sampleText.Position = Array(200, 200)
sampleText.Contents = "Hello World!"
End Sub

5. Save the form.
6. Start Illustrator.
7. Return to Visual Basic and run the program. If you created a form, click the
button you created earlier.
8. Run the script. Illustrator will create a new document, add a text art item at the
specified position, and set the text to “Hello World!”.

VBScript
You don't need to use Visual Basic to run scripts on Windows. Another way to script
Illustrator is to use a VBA editor (such as the one that is included in Microsoft Word) or to
use Windows Scripting Host.
Windows Scripting Host is part of Windows2000. If you don't have Windows2000, you can
download Windows Scripting Host from : http://msdn.microsoft.com/scripting/
Both VBA and Windows Scripting Host use VBScript as their scripting language. The
syntax for VBScript is very similar to the Visual Basic syntax. The three main differences
relating to the scripts shown in this guide are:

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

•

Your first Illustrator script

37

VBScript is not as strongly typed as Visual basic. In Visual Basic you say:
Dim aRef as Illustrator.PathItem

in VBScript you say:
Dim aRef

For VBScript simply omit the "as X" part

•

VBScript does not support the "as New Illustrator.Application" form.
In Visual Basic you retrieve the Application object as:
Dim appRef as New Illustrator.Application

In VBScript you write the following to retrieve the Application object:
Dim appRef
Set appRef = CreateObject("Illustrator.Application")

•

VBScript does not support enumerations. Here’s an example of how to close the
frontmost document without saving. In Visual Basic:
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
appRef.ActiveDocument.Close (aiDoNotSaveChanges)

In VBScript you must use integer values instead of the enumeration. (See
“Enumerations reference” at the end of Chapter 5 to find the values that correspond
to the various enumerations.) The corresponding VBScript is:
Dim appRef
Set appRef = CreateObject("Illustrator.Application")
appRef.ActiveDocument.Close ( 2 )

Here is an example of Hello World! for VBScript:
'Hello World! script
Dim appRef
Dim documentRef
Dim SampleText

38

Adding features to “Hello World”

Scripting Illustrator

'Create a new document and assign it to a variable
Set appRef = CreateObject("Illustrator.Application")
Set documentRef = appRef.Documents.Add

'Create a new text art item and assign it to a variable
Set SampleText = documentRef.TextArtItems.Add
'Set the contents and position of the TextArtItem
SampleText.Position = Array(200, 200)
SampleText.Contents = "Hello World!"

To run this script create a text file and copy the script into it. Save the file with a
"vbs" extension. If you have Windows Scripting Host installed, you can double-click
on the file to execute the script.
Another way to execute the script is to choose File>Scripts>Browse from the Scripts
menu in Illustrator and select the file.

Adding features to “Hello World”
Next, let’s create a new script that makes changes to the Illustrator document you created
with your first script. Don’t worry if you’ve closed the Illustrator document without saving
it—just run your script to create a new one.
Our second script will demonstrate how to:
1. Get the active document.
2. Get the width of the active document.
3. Resize the text art item to match the document’s width.
Adding features to the AppleScript script

To create the enhanced script follow these steps:
1. Choose File > New in Script Editor to create a new script.
2. Enter the following code.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Adding features to “Hello World”

39

tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
-- current document is always the active document
set docRef to the current document
set docWidth to the width of docRef
-- resize the text art item to match the page width
set width of text art item 1 of docRef to docWidth
-- alternatively, one can reference the item directly, as follows:
set width of text art item 1 of current document to docWidth
end tell

3. Save the script.
4. Make sure you have the document created by the original “Hello World” script
open, then run the script.
Adding features to the Visual Basic script

To create the enhanced script follow these steps:
1. Open the project you created for the “Hello World” script, if it’s not already open.
2. Add a new button to the form.
3. Double-click the button to display the Code window, then enter the following
code.
Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim documentRef As Illustrator.Document
Dim sampleText As Illustrator.TextArtItem
Dim documentWidth As Single
' Get the active document
Set documentRef = appRef.ActiveDocument
documentWidth = documentRef.Width
Set sampleText = documentRef.TextArtItems(1)
' Resize the TextArtItem to match the document width
sampleText.Width = documentWidth
sampleText.Left = 0
End Sub

4. Save the form.
5. Open the original document you created using the “Hello World” script, then
return to Visual Basic and run the script.

40

Measurement units

Scripting Illustrator

6. Click the button you created in Step 2.

Measurement units
Illustrator always uses points as the unit of distance measurement. One inch is equal to
72 points. Even if you change the current document ruler’s units of measurement,
Illustrator will still use points when communicating with your scripts. Your scripts will need
to perform any unit conversions needed to represent your measurements as points. For
example, to move the current selection to a position 2 inches to the right of and 6 inches
above its current position, you’d use the following script in AppleSccript:
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
(* first, manually select the text art item from the previous exercise or use AppleScript to make the
selection *)
set selection to text art item 1 of current document
(* There are 72 points per inch. To translate an item by 2 inches to the right and 6 inches to
the left, multiply by 72 translate selection delta x (2 * 72) delta y (6 * 72) *)
end tell

and this script for Visual Basic:
Private
Dim
Dim
Dim
Dim

Sub Command1_Click()
appRef As New Illustrator.Application
documentRef As Illustrator.Document
selectedObjects As Variant
objectRef As Variant

Set documentRef = appRef.ActiveDocument
selectedObjects = documentRef.Selection
If TypeName(selectedObjects) = "Variant()" Then
For Each objectRef In selectedObjects
There are 72 points per inch, so the following will move the
'object 2" to the right and 6" up
objectRef.Translate 144, 226
Next
End If
End Sub

If your script depends on adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing specific
measurement values for units other than points, the script will need to convert between
the units numerically. For example, to use English measurements such as inch values for
coordinates or measurement units, your script will need to multiply all inch values by 72 to

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Coordinates

41

convert to points, since there are 72 points in an inch. To use metric measurements such
as centimeters, you will need to multiply all centimeter values by 28.346, since there are
28.346 points in a centimeter.

Unit conversion to points
This table displays the conversion formulae for various units of measurement:
Unit

Conversion formula

centimeters

28.346 points = 1 centimeter

inches

72 points = 1 inch

millimeters

2.834645 points = 1 millimeter

picas

12 points = 1 pica

Qs

0.709 point = 1 Q (1 Q equals 0.23 millimeter)

Coordinates
Illustrator uses simple two-dimensional geometry to record the position of objects in a
document. The coordinates used in Illustrator are the same as the “traditional” geometric
coordinate system you learned about in school. The horizontal component of a coordinate
pair (or “point”) is referred to as “x” and the vertical position is denoted by “y”. You can see
these coordinates in the Info palette when you select or create an object in Illustrator.
Illustrator scripting uses a special class called fixed point to receive and return
coordinate data. The fixed point is represented as a list of two items in AppleScript and as
a variant array of two elements in Visual Basic. In both cases, the first item is the
horizontal or “x” coordinate, while the second item is the vertical or “y” coordinate. The
position (Position in Visual Basic) of objects on a document are described with a
fixed point.

Fixed points
In AppleScript, a fixed point with an x coordinate of 5.0 and a y coordinate of 10.2 is
represented as a list that looks like this:
{5.0, 10.2}

42

Coordinates

Scripting Illustrator

In Visual Basic, a fixed point with an x coordinate of 5.0 and a y coordinate of 10.2 is
represented as a variant array that looks like this:
Array (5.0, 10.2)

Note that if you declare an array to hold the values of a point, you should pass 1 as the
dimension, since Visual Basic uses index position 0 for the first item in an array.
Dim aPoint(1) As Single
aPoint(0) = 5.0
aPoint(1) = 10.2

Zero point
The zero point (0, 0) for coordinate numbering in Illustrator is in the lower left corner of the
document. On the horizontal axis, coordinates to the right of the ruler’s zero point are
positive numbers, and on the vertical axis, coordinates above the zero point are positive.
The page origin (PageOrigin in Visual Basic) of a document defines the lower left
corner of the printable region of the document as a fixed point.

Fixed rectangle
To work with rectangular coordinates where there are a pair of x and y values, Illustrator
uses the special class called a fixed rectangle. This class is comprised of a list
with four items in AppleScript and a variant array with four elements in Visual Basic. The
coordinates of a fixed rectangle in order are: left, top, right, bottom.
In AppleScript, a fixed rectangle with a left-top corner of (5.0, 200.0) and a right-bottom
corner of (100.0, 20.0) is represented by a list that looks like this:
{5.0, 200.0, 100.0, 20.0}

In Visual Basic, a fixed rectangle with a left-top corner of (5.0, 200.0) and a right-bottom
corner of (100.0, 20.0) is represented by a variant array that looks like this:
Array (5.0, 200.0, 100.0, 20.0)

Alternatively, you can define your array and assign values to its elements like this:
Dim boundsRect(3) As Single
boundsRect(0) = 5.0
boundsRect(1) = 20.0

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Object references

43

boundsRect(2) = 100.0
boundsRect(3) = 200.0

Page item positioning and dimensions
Every object, or page item, in a document has a position described by a fixed point and a
width and height. The maximum value allowed for the width or height of a page item is
16348 points.

position
Position
control bounds
ControlBounds

visible bounds
VisibleBounds

geometric bounds
GeometricBounds
page origin
PageOrigin

Detail
(0,0)

Every page item also has three properties that describe the object’s overall extent using
fixed rectangles. The geometric bounds (GeometricBounds in Visual Basic) of a
page item are the rectangular dimensions of the object excluding stroke width. The
visible bounds (VisibleBounds in Visual Basic) of a page item are the
dimensions of the object including any stroke widths. Finally, the control bounds
(ControlBounds in Visual Basic) define the rectangular dimensions of the object
including in- and out- control points.

Object references
The different scripting languages take different approaches to object references.

44

Object references

Scripting Illustrator

Object references in AppleScript
In AppleScript, Illustrator returns object references by index position or name. For
example, a reference to the first path in layer 2 would be: path item 1 of layer 2
of document 1. An object’s index position may change when other objects are
created or deleted. For example, when a new path item is created on layer 2, it will
become path item 1 of layer 2 of document 1. This new object displaces
our original path item, forcing it to index position 2. Therefore, any references made to
path item 1 of layer 2 of document 1 will refer to the new object. Consider
the following sample script.
-- Make 2 new objects and try to select both
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set newDocument to make new document
set rectPath to make new rectangle in newDocument
set starPath to make new star in newDocument
set selection of newDocument to {rectPath, starPath}
end tell

This script will not select both the rectangle and the star. It will select only the star. Try
running the script with the Event Log window open to observe the references returned
from Illustrator for each of the consecutive make commands. You will notice that both
commands return the same object reference: path item 1 of layer 1 of
document 1.
Therefore, the script really says:
set selection of document 1 to ¬
{path item 1 of layer 1 of document 1, path item 1 of layer 1 of
document 1}

Instead, you might try referencing the objects by name, such as:
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set newDocument to make new document
make new rectangle in newDocument with properties {name:"rectangle"}
make new star in newDocument with properties {name:"star"}
set selection of newDocument to ¬
{path item "rectangle" of newDocument, path item "star" of
newDocument}
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Object containment: document vs. layer

45

This example illustrates the need to uniquely identify objects. It is recommended that you
assign names to objects you need to access at a later time, as there’s no guarantee
you’re accessing the objects you expect when accessing them by index.

Object references in Visual Basic
Object references in Visual Basic are dynamic and remain valid until disposed.
To create a star and rectangle, and then select them, you could do:
Private Sub Command1_Click()
'Make 2 new objects and select both
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim pathItemsRef As Illustrator.PathItems
Dim rectPath As Illustrator.PathItem
Dim starPath As Illustrator.PathItem
Set pathItemsRef = appRef.ActiveDocument.ActiveLayer.PathItems
Set rectPath = pathItemsRef.Rectangle(50, 70, 100, 200)
Set starPath = pathItemsRef.Star(40, 70, 200, 110, 5, False)
Dim pathSelection(1) As Variant
Set pathSelection(0) = rectPath
Set pathSelection(1) = starPath
appRef.Selection = pathSelection
End Sub

Object containment: document vs. layer
In Illustrator, all artwork objects are contained in layers, groups or compound paths that
are themselves contained in a document. The index of an object in a layer or group
indicates the object’s position in the stacking order of the layer or group. This means that
page item 1 of layer 1, or Layers(1).PageItems(1) in Visual Basic, is
the frontmost object in a document, while page item 2 of layer 1, or
Layers(1).PageItems(2) in Visual Basic, lies directly behind in the stacking order.
Note that if you delete all the layers in a document, the document is left with the default
empty layer called Layer 1.
When you refer to an object in your document, you can reference it directly as part of the
document or by its complete containment hierarchy, including layers and any group or
compound path if valid. When you refer to objects contained by the document directly, you
can access the entire flattened contents of the document, without regard to the

46

Object containment: document vs. layer

Scripting Illustrator

containment of objects within layers, groups, or compound paths. All objects, whether or
not they are contained in groups or compound paths, are returned as individual objects
contained by the document. The following scripts demonstrate how to reference an object
as part of a document.
In AppleScript:
-- Get reference for first page item of document 1
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set pageItemRef to page item 1 of document 1
end tell

In Visual Basic:
Private Sub Command1_Click()
'Get reference for first page item of document 1
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim documentRef As Illustrator.Document
Dim pageItemRef As Illustrator.PageItem
Set documentRef = appRef.ActiveDocument
Set pageItemRef = documentRef.PageItems(1)
End Sub

In the scripts below, the variable pageItemRef will not necessarily refer to the same
object as the above script since this script includes a reference to a layer:
In AppleScript:
-- Get reference for first page item of layer 1 of document 1
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set pageItemRef to page item 1 of layer 1 of document 1
end tell

In Visual Basic:
Private Sub Command1_Click()
'Get reference for first page item of document 1
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim documentRef As Illustrator.Document
Dim pageItemRef As Object

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Working with selections

47

Set documentRef = appRef.ActiveDocument
Set pageItemRef = documentRef.Layers(1).PageItems(1)
End Sub

Working with selections
There are instances where you will want to write scripts that act upon the currently
selected object(s). For example, you might want to have a script that applies formatting to
selected text, or changes a selected path’s shape. To do this, you need to know the
number of selected objects and the type of each object. The following scripts work with
the current selection.
In AppleScript:
--selection sorter
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set selectedObjects to selection
try
if selectedObjects is {} then
display dialog "No objects are selected"
else
if class of selectedObjects = list and ¬
(count of items in selectedObjects > 1) then
--selection contains more than one object.
else
--a single object is selected. What is it?
set selectedObjectClass to class of selectedObjects
if selectedObjectClass = list then ¬
set selectedObjectClass to class of item 1 of
selectedObjects
if selectedObjectClass = text then
-- text is selected
else
-- determine what type of object is selected.
if selectedObjectClass = path item then
-- object is a path item
else if selectedObjectClass = compound path item then
-- object is a compound path
else if selectedObjectClass = raster item then
-- object is a raster image
else if selectedObjectClass = placed item then
-- object is a placed image
else if selectedObjectClass = mesh item then
-- object is a mesh

48

Working with selections

else if selectedObjectClass
-- object is a text art item
else if selectedObjectClass
-- object is a plugin art item
else if selectedObjectClass
-- object is a point of a path
else if selectedObjectClass
-- object is a group
end if
end if
end if
end if
on error errString
display dialog errString
end try
end tell

Scripting Illustrator

= text art item then
= plugin item then
= path point then
= group item then

In Visual Basic:
'Selection sorter
Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim documentRef As Illustrator.Document
Set documentRef = appRef.ActiveDocument
selectedObjects = documentRef.Selection
If TypeName(selectedObjects) = "String" Then
'text is selected
Else
'Is anything selected?
If selectedObjects = Empty Then GoTo noSelection
For Each artObject In selectedObjects
selectedObjectClass = TypeName(artObject)

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Working with paths

49

Select Case selectedObjectClass
'Something is selected, let’s find out what it is.
Case "PathItem"
'Object is a path item
Case "CompoundPathItem"
'Object is a compound path
Case "RasterItem"
'Object is a raster image
Case "PlacedItem"
'Object is a placed image
Case "MeshItem"
'Object is a mesh
Case "TextArtItem"
'Object is a text art item
Case "PluginItem"
'Object is a plugin art item
Case "PathPoint"
'Object is a point of a path
Case "GroupItem"
'Object is a group of objects
End Select
Next
End If
Exit Sub
noSelection:
MsgBox "Select an object and try again."
End Sub

Working with paths
Path items include all artwork that is comprised of paths, including rectangles, ellipses,
polygons, as well as freeform paths. In Illustrator, every path is comprised of a series of
points. Path items, as well as path points, can be created and manipulated from a script.
Every aspect of a path point can be accessed from scripting, including the anchor
point (AnchorPoint in Visual Basic) and both control points, known as the left
direction (LeftDirection in Visual Basic) and right direction
(RightDirection in Visual Basic) properties. Refer to the Illustrator Plug-in Software
Development Kit Function Reference for more information on working with paths, bezier
curves and path points. This document is available in Adobe Acrobat® Portable
Document Format (PDF) as part of the Illustrator Software Development Kit (SDK). The

50

Working with color

Scripting Illustrator

SDK can be downloaded from the Adobe Solutions Network web site (http://
partners.adobe.com/asn/developer/sdks.html).
path point
PathPoint
path item
PathItem

right direction
RightDirection

anchor
Anchor

left direction
LeftDirection

Working with color
Swatches can be created and manipulated from your scripts. You can also create new
patterns, gradients and spot colors from scripts. Just as in the user interface, percentages
(0.0 through 100.0) are used to specify grayscale, individual CMYK values and spot tints.
The range 0.0 to 255.0 is used for the individual RGB color values. Special attention
should be paid to working with CMYK and RGB color values. Illustrator 10 supports only a
single color model within each document, either CMYK or RGB. When you specify a
CMYK color value in a document that uses the RGB color model, Illustrator will convert
the values to RGB and return an RGB color, and vice-versa when specifying RGB colors
in a CMYK document. However, there is some data loss during this conversion. Refer to
the “Applying Color” chapter in the Adobe Illustrator User Guide for more information on
working with color.

Working with symbols
Symbols are art objects that are stored in the Symbols palette and applied to
documents. You can create, delete and duplicate symbols. When you create
symbols, Illustrator adds them to the Symbols Palette for the target document.
When you save the document, Illustrator also saves the symbols you created and
used in the document.

Working with symbol items
Symbol items refer to instances of symbols in a document. You can create, delete, and
duplicate symbol items. They are “linked” to the symbol definition such that changing the

51

Working with text art

Scripting Illustrator

definition of a symbol causes all of the instances of the symbol to change as well. Symbol
items are Illustrator art objects and therefore can be treated as other art objects or page
items. In other words, you can rotate, resize, select, lock, hide and perform other
operations on them.

Working with text art
There are three types of text art items in Adobe Illustrator: point text, path text, and area
text. The kind property (Kind in Visual Basic) of a text art item is used to determine the
type of the text art item. While all three kinds of text art have some common
characteristics, such as an orientation, each kind of text art also has unique
characteristics.

All three kinds of text art have least one text path associated with them. A text path
(TextPath in Visual Basic) is not the same as a path art item, but defines the text art
item’s position on the artboard and its orientation (horizontal or vertical). Point text is
defined completely by the properties of its text art item and associated text path.
For path and area text, text paths are associated with normal path art items. These path
art items can be accessed and manipulated to modify the appearance of the associated
text art item. If the text art item is path text, it will have a text path offset property
(TextPathOffset in Visual Basic), which indicates where on the path object the text
begins.
All text art objects also have at least one line of text depending on the object’s geometry.
A line of text (TextLine in Visual Basic) is all of the characters that fit on a single line
in the text art item. Text art will have multiple text lines if it contains hard line breaks or its
characters flow to a new line because they do not fit in the width of the text art. Unlike
characters, paragraphs and words, lines can only be created by the Illustrator application.
Refer to the “Using Type” chapter in the Adobe Illustrator User Guide for more information
on working with text art.

52

Transformation matrices

Scripting Illustrator

Transformation matrices
Thanks to the matrix class and the many commands that support matrices, you have
access to the power of geometric transformation matrices. Transformation matrices are
mathematical concepts originating in the field of linear algebra. Geometric manipulations
like scaling, rotating and moving can all be described using transformation matrices.
Matrices are the basis of how Illustrator internally performs a user’s request to scale,
rotate or move an object. Using the command set available to create, concatenate, and
apply matrices, you can transform objects in documents with programmatic precision and
control. By concatenating a series of rotation, translation and scaling matrices together
and applying the resulting matrix, you can perform a large series of geometric
transformations in record speed. The following examples demonstrate how to combine
multiple modifications in a single matrix and then apply the matrix to every object in a
document.
Refer to the Illustrator Plug-in Software Development Kit Function Reference for more
information on working with transformation matrices.

Using a matrix in an AppleScript script
(* This script gets the identity matrix, combines it with a
rotation matrix and a scale matrix and then applies the
resulting matrix to all page items. *)
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set transformationmatrix to get identity matrix
set transformationmatrix to concatenate rotation matrix ¬
transformationmatrix angle 45.0
set transformationmatrix to concatenate scale matrix ¬
transformationmatrix horizontal scale 60
transform every page item of document 1 using transformationmatrix
end tell

Using a matrix in a Visual Basic script
'This example shows how to apply 2 transformations to all art in
'a document using the matrix command. This is more efficient than
'performing these transformations one at a time
Private Sub ApplyMatrix_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim moveMatrix As Illustrator.Matrix
Dim totalMatrix As Illustrator.Matrix

53

Working with variables and datasets

Scripting Illustrator

'Move art half an inch to the right and 1.5 inch up on the page
Set moveMatrix = appRef.GetTranslationMatrix(72# * 0.5,
72# * 1.5)
'Add a rotation to the translation. We rotate 10 degrees counter clockwise
Set totalMatrix = appRef.ConcatenateRotationMatrix(moveMatrix,
10)
'Apply the transformation to all art in the document
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim artItem As Illustrator.PageItem
Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
For Each artItem In frontDocument.PageItems
artItem.Transform totalMatrix
Next
End Sub

A matrix object in Illustrator is comprised of 6 properties. In AppleScript, these properties
are: mvalue_a, mvalue_b, mvalue_c, mvalue_d, mvalue_tx, and
mvalue_ty. In Visual Basic, these properties are: MValueA, MValueB, MValueC,
MValueD, MValueTX, and MValueTY. By experimenting with the matrix concatenation
commands in both AppleScript and Visual Basic, you can discover how to construct
matrices that can applied to perform movement (also called translation), rotation, scaling,
skewing and other transformations. See the script examples for the matrix commands for
working samples.

Working with variables and datasets
By creating dynamic objects, you can create data-driven graphics. You can define
dynamic objects by using variables. In scripting, the variable class corresponds
to these variables. Variables are document-level objects; therefore, you create them in the
document object. You can add and delete variables to/from a script by using the Add and
Remove/ RemoveAll methods (Visual Basic) or make and delete (AppleScript).

Datasets
Datasets are closely related to variables in that a dataset collects variables and their
associated dynamic data into a single object. The DataSet (VB) / dataset (AS) class
is the object that corresponds to an AI DataSet. The dataset collection in the
document class provides methods so you can create, update and delete datasets.

54

Launching and quitting Illustrator from a script

Scripting Illustrator

Launching and quitting Illustrator from a script
Your scripts can control the activation and quitting of the Illustrator application. Take note
of the particular comments below for your scripting system.

Launching and quitting from AppleScript
Use the activate and quit commands to control Illustrator’s run state. The
activate command will bring the Illustrator application to the front if it is not already
the frontmost application. Note that if the clipboard contains data at the time of quitting,
Illustrator may show a dialog asking if the data on the clipboard should be saved for other
applications. You can avoid this dialog by clearing the clipboard with the statement:
set the clipboard to {}

Launching and quitting from Visual Basic
In Visual Basic, the Activate method will bring the Illustrator application to the front if it
is not already frontmost.
Note that if the clipboard contains data at the time of quitting, Illustrator may show a
dialog prompting the user to save the data on the clipboard for other applications. You can
avoid this dialog by clearing the clipboard with the command:
Clipboard.Clear

Some objects that cannot be created by a script
Following are some objects that cannot be created from a script:
• Art styles
• Brushes
• Graphs
• Mesh art
• Plugin art
• Spirals

55

User Interaction Levels

Scripting Illustrator

User Interaction Levels
An application will usually present a dialog when it needs to provide feedback or request
information. This is called user interaction, and is useful and expected when you are
directly interacting with the application. On the other hand, when a script is interacting
with an application, an unexpected dialog will bring the execution of the script to a halt
until the dialog is dismissed. This can be a serious problem in an automation environment
where there is typically no one present to deal with dialogs.
The Illustrator 10 application class contains a user interaction level property. By setting
this property a script can control the level of interaction allowed during script execution.
All interaction is normally suppressed in an automation environment, and some
interaction might be useful where scripts are being used in a more interactive fashion.

AppleScript
There are four possible values for the user interaction level property in AppleScript:
• never interact

No interaction is allowed

• interact with self

Interact only with scripts executed from the scripts menu

• interact with local Interact with script executed on the local machine (including self)
• interact with all

Interact with all scripts

Using AppleScript, it is possible to send commands from one machine to another. The
four possible values allow you to control interaction based on the source of the script
commands. For example, if the application is acting as a server for remote users, it would
be difficult for a remote user to dismiss a dialog, but it would be no problem for someone
sitting in front of the machine. In this case, an interaction level of ‘interact with local’ would
prevent dialogs from halting remote scripts but would allow dialogs to be presented for
local scripts.

Visual Basic and JavaScript
There are two possible values for the UserInteractionLevel property in Visual Basic:
• aiDontDisplayAlerts

No interaction is allowed

• aiDisplayAlerts

Interaction is allowed

56

The Scripts menu

Scripting Illustrator

The Illustrator 10 Windows scripting interface doesn’t support remote script execution so
it doesn’t need to provide values based on where a script is being executed.

The Scripts menu
Illustrator 10’s interface includes a Scripts menu (File>Scripts) which provides quick and
easy access to your scripts. To execute a script from the Scripts menu simply select it in
the menu. The script associated with the selected menu item will be then be executed.

Notes
If there is an error encounter during script execution an error dialog will be displayed
containing the error message returned by the script.
It is not possible to execute scripts that contain the do script (DoScript in Visual
Basic) command from the Scripts menu. Attempting to do so will result in an error.

Supported scripting languages
The Scripts menu supports AppleScript and JavaScript scripts for Mac OS, and VBScript,
JavaScript, and Visual Basic scripts for Windows.

Script files
For a file to be recognized by Illustrator as a valid script file it must have the correct file
type (Mac OS) or name extension (Mac OS and Windows).

Script Type

File Type

Extension

Platform(s)

AppleScript

compiled script

.scpt

Mac OS

JavaScript

text

.js

Mac OS &
Windows

VBScript

text

.vbs

Windows

Visual Basic

executable

.exe

Windows

Note: For files on Mac OS (9.x and 10.x) it is possible for files to be identified by the
classic file type and creator codes, file name extensions, or both. The.scpt extension is
only required for AppleScript files which do not have file type information, such as those
installed with Mac OS X. There is no harm in having a name extension when a file has file
type codes.

57

The Scripts menu

Scripting Illustrator

Installing scripts
To install a script in the Scripts menu, place it in the Scripts folder (Illustrator
10>Presets>Scripts). The names of the scripts in the Scripts folder, less any file
name extension, will be displayed in the Scripts menu. Any number of scripts may be
installed in the Scripts menu.
Note: Scripts added to the Scripts folder while Illustrator is running will not appear in the
Scripts menu until the next time you launch Illustrator.
If you have a large collection of scripts you wish to use, you may use sub-folders in the
Scripts folder to help organize the scripts in the Scripts menu. Each subfolder will be
displayed as a separate submenu containing the scripts in that subfolder.
Note: Because of a limitation in the Mac OS, there is a limit of 4 levels of nested subfolders inside the Scripts folder for the Mac OS version of Illustrator.

Executing other scripts
A Browse item is provided at the end of the Scripts menu (File>Scripts>Browse…)
which allows you to execute scripts which are not installed in the Scripts folder. Selecting
the Browse menu item will display a file browser dialog which will allow you to select a
script file for execution. Only files which are of one of the supported file types, as listed in
the Script Files section above will be displayed in the browse dialog. When a script file is
selected in the browse dialog, it will be executed the same way as an installed script.

58

The Scripts menu

Scripting Illustrator

4
AppleScript Reference

This reference section describes the objects and commands in Illustrator’s AppleScript
dictionary. All of the objects in the dictionary are presented alphabetically. Following the
objects is a command reference which lists all of the commands in the Illustrator
dictionary.
Each object listing includes the following:
• Elements that are contained within the object.
• Properties of the object, including value type, read-only status, and an explanation.
• Valid commands.
• Notes to explain special issues.
• Script examples.
Throughout this guide, when an object inherits properties from another object, we repeat
all of the property definitions to maximize usability.

About the script examples
The examples presented here do not necessarily represent the most efficient way to
construct an AppleScript script. All example scripts are written in a manner that should be
easy to read and understand. The samples contain little error checking, and assume that
the proper context exists for the scripts to execute in, i.e., that there is a document open,
items selected, etc. The purpose of these examples is to show you how to address and
work with Illustrator’s objects. These examples may be combined to make scripts with
greater functionality.

67

60

Illustrator’s object model

AppleScript Reference

Illustrator’s object model
A good understanding of Illustrator’s object model will improve your scripting abilities. This
diagram shows the containment hierarchy of the object model, starting with the
application object. Note that the layer, group item, and all text classes can contain
additional objects of the same class which can in turn contain additional nested objects.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Illustrator’s object model

application

text face

document
color-related
classes
page item
gradient
compound
path item

pattern

path item
tag

layer
graph
item

spot

mesh item
swatch

group item

tag
path point

path item
tag

tag

art style

placed
item

tag

brush

plugin
item

tag

data set

raster
item

tag

symbol

symbol
item

path item

variable

text art
item

text path
tag

view

character

insertion
point

line

paragraph

text classes

text

word

61

62

application

AppleScript Reference

application
The Adobe Illustrator application object, which contains all other Illustrator objects.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

document

name, index, before/after, range, test

text face

name, index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

The best type for the application
object's value. Always returns
reference.

class

browser available

R/O

boolean

Is a web browser available?

class

R/O

class

The application object's class,
which is application.

object reference

The active (frontmost)
document in Illustrator.

current document
default type

R/O

class

The default type for the
application object's value.
Always returns
reference.

free memory

R/O

integer

The amount of unused memory
(in bytes) within the Adobe
Illustrator partition.

frontmost

R/O

boolean

Is this the frontmost (active)
application?

name

R/O

string

The application's name (not
related to the filename of the
application file). Always returns

"Adobe
Illustrator 10".
properties

scripting version

R/O

record

All of the application's
properties returned in a single
record (properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

string

The version of the Scripting
plugin.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

application

R/O Value type:

What it is:

settings

Illustrator preferences

Preferences for the Illustrator
application.

selection

list (of object references)

All of the currently selected
objects in the active (frontmost)
document. See the note for
more information.

user interaction level

interact with all/interact
with local/interact with
self/never interact

The level of interaction with the
user that is allowed when
handling script commands.
Default: interact with all

string

The version of the Adobe
Illustrator application.

version

R/O

Valid Commands
• activate
• copy
• cut
• do script
• launch
• paste
• quit
• redraw

Notes
In Illustrator, the application’s selection can be accessed as well as modified. The
selection will contain an empty list, {}, when there are no selected objects. To deselect
all objects in the current document, simply set the selection to an empty list. A
reference to an insertion point is returned when there is an active insertion point in the
contents of a text art item. Similarly, a reference to a range of text is returned when
characters are selected in the contents of a text art item.

63

64

application

AppleScript Reference

Illustrator does not support the select command to change the application’s current
selection. Use set the selection to in place of select.
-- Select the first object in the document
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
-- Make sure there is a page item to select
if (document 1 exists) and (page item 1 of document 1 exists) then
set the selection to page item 1 of document 1
end if
end tell

Example 1.1
You don’t need to make objects part of the selection to act on them. The selection is most
useful for moving objects to and from the clipboard using the cut, copy and paste
commands, which act on the current selection. The clipboard can be used effectively for
moving data between applications that do not share common object classes.
Note that Illustrator must be the frontmost application when executing any command that
deals with the clipboard. We bring Illustrator to the front in Example 1.1 by using
AppleScript’s activate command.
-- Copy the current selection to the clipboard then paste it into a new document
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
-- If Illustrator is not the frontmost application, activate it.
if not frontmost then activate
-- Make sure there is a document to copy from
if (count of documents) > 0 then
-- and a selection to work with
set selectedItems to selection of current document
if selectedItems is not {} then
copy
set colorSpace to color space of current document
make new document with properties {color space:colorSpace}
paste
end if
end if
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

art style, art styles

65

art style, art styles
An art style or list of art styles. Each art style defines a set of appearance attributes that
you can apply non-destructively to page items. Art styles are contained in documents.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the art style
object's value. Always returns
reference.

class

R/O

class

The art style object's class,
which is art style.

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the document
that contains this art style.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the art style
object, which is
reference.

index

R/O

integer

The index of this art style.

name

R/O

string

The name of this art style.

properties

R/O

record

All of the properties of this
object returned as a record.

Valid Commands
• apply
• count
• delete
• exists

Notes
Illustrator’s art styles can be accessed from scripting, but cannot be created.
You cannot delete default art styles.

66

art style, art styles

AppleScript Reference

Example 2.1
This example demonstrates how to apply art styles to newly created groups of objects.
Note how this script deals with the fact that applying an art style to a group item does not
apply the art style to the page items contained in the group.
-- Duplicate and group the selected path items, then apply
-- a user-selected art style to the items in the new group
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10" to ¬
set selectedItems to selection of document 1
-- Check for empty selection or a text selection before proceeding
if selectedItems is not {} and class of selectedItems is not text then
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
-- Create the new group to contain the duplicated items
set groupRef to make new group item at document 1
-- Duplicate the selected items to the new group
set newItemList to duplicate selectedItems to beginning of groupRef
-- Get art style names for display in the choice list
set artStyleNames to name of every art style of document 1
end tell
-- Present dialog and let user choose the style to apply
set styleName to (choose from list artStyleNames ¬
with prompt "Style for selection?") as string
if styleName is not "" then
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
(*
The chosen art style is applied to the list of items returned by the
duplicate command, rather than to the new group itself, because the
apply command works on individual path items, not groups of items
*)
apply art style styleName of current document to newItemList
end tell
end if
end if

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

brush, brushes

67

brush, brushes
A brush or list of brushes. Brushes are contained in documents.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the brush
object's value. Always returns
reference.

class

R/O

class

The brush object's class, which
is brush.

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the document
that contains this brush.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the brush
object, which is
reference.

index

R/O

integer

The index of this brush.

name

R/O

string

The name of this brush.

properties

R/O

record

All of the properties of this
object returned as a record.

Valid Commands
• apply
• count
• exists

Notes
Additional brushes may be created by the user within Illustrator. Illustrator’s brushes can
be accessed from scripting, but cannot be created.

68

brush, brushes

AppleScript Reference

Example 3.1
This example demonstrates how to apply a series of brushes to objects.
-- Duplicate the current selection (if it is a single item)
-- and apply each available brush to the new object
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10" to ¬
set selectedItems to selection
-- Check for selection of single non-text object
if class of selectedItems is text or (count of items of selectedItems) is
not 1 then
display dialog "Select a single path item before running this script"
else
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set pathItem to item 1 of selectedItems
-- Get the item's position and use it to tile the new items below
set {itemX, itemY} to position of pathItem
-- Get a list of all brushes and apply each brush to the selectec item
set brushList to every brush of current document
-- Get coordinates of upper-left of document
set docLeft to 0
set docTop to height of current document
set brushCount to count of items of brushList
repeat with i from 1 to brushCount
set aBrush to item i of brushList
set itemOffset to i * 20 -- use to tile the duplicated items
-- Duplicate the selected path item, tiling them from the
-- upper-left of the document
set pathRef to duplicate pathItem to beginning of current document ¬
with properties {position:{docLeft + itemOffset, docTop itemOffset}}
-- Must clear the document's selection before applying a brush
-- since the duplicate above seems to add to it each time through
set selection of current document to {}
apply aBrush to pathRef

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

end repeat
end tell
end if

brush, brushes

69

70

character, characters

AppleScript Reference

character, characters
A character or list of characters in the contents of a text art item.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

character

index, before/after, range, test

insertion point

index, before/after, range, test

line

index, before/after, range, test

paragraph

index, before/after, range, test

text

index, before/after, range

word

index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

auto kerning

boolean

Should the font’s built-in kerning
rules be used?

baseline

real

Bottom position of horizontallyoriented text or left position of
vertically-oriented text.

baseline shift

real

The baseline offset.

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the character
object's value. Always returns
reference.

character offset

R/O

integer

Offset from beginning (in
characters).

class

R/O

class

The character object's class,
which is text.

clipping

R/O

boolean

Is there a clipping path
associated with the text art item
containing this character?

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the text art item
that contains this character.

string

The contents of the character
as a string.

contents

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

character, characters

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the
character object, which is
string. The string value
returned is the value contained
in the character’s
contents property.

direction

normal/rotated/KumiMoji

The direction of characters in a
vertical text block.

evenodd

boolean

Should the even-odd rule be
used to determine fills?

fill color

The character’s fill color.
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

fill overprint

boolean

Should art beneath the filled
character be overprinted?

filled

boolean

Should the character’s path be
filled?

string

The name of the text face (font).

integer

The index of this character in
the complete string.

kerning

real

The character spacing between
characters.

leading

real

The leading.

font
index

R/O

length

R/O

integer

Length (in characters).

note

R/O

string

A note associated with the text.

properties

record

All of the character’s properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

resolution

real

The resolution of the path in
dots per inch.

scaling

fixed point

Horizontal and vertical scaling
specified as a point value.

size

real

The font size.

stroke cap

butted/rounded/
projecting

The type of cap on the
character’s stroke.

71

72

character, characters

Property:

AppleScript Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

stroke color

The character’s stroke color.
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

stroke dash offset

real

The default distance to start the
stroke dash pattern.

stroke dashes

list (of real numbers)

The lengths for dashes and
gaps in dashed lines, starting
with the first dash length,
followed by the first gap length,
and so on. Set to an empty list,
{}, for a solid line.

stroke join

mitered/rounded/beveled The type of joins in the
character’s stroke.

stroke miter limit

real

The angle at which a stroke join
switches from mitered to
beveled.

stroke overprint

boolean

Should art beneath the stroked
character be overprinted?

stroke width

real

The width of the stroke.

stroked

boolean

Should the character’s path be
stroked?

horizontal/vertical

Should this text be displayed
horizontally? Use the text

text orientation

R/O

path

class to modify this

value.
text path

tracking

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• make

R/O

object reference

A reference to the text path
associated with the text art item
containing this text.

real

The uniform spacing amount
between characters.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

character, characters

73

• move

Notes
The text contained within text art items in Illustrator can be accessed using the
character, insertion point, word, line, paragraph and text classes.
The properties and valid commands for all of these classes are similar, but not identical.
For example, while character has a kerning property, the other text classes do not.

Example 4.1
In the example below, the selection property has all of the properties that
character or any other text class would have.
-- Make the currently selected text superscript
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
-- Make sure one or more characters of text are selected
set selectedText to selection of current document
if class of selectedText is text ¬
or class of selectedText is character then
-- Adjust the properties of the selected text to superscript it
set fontSize to size of selectedText
set fontBaseline to baseline shift of selectedText
set properties of selectedText to ¬
{size:fontSize / 2, baseline shift:fontBaseline + (fontSize / 2)}
end if
end tell

Example 4.2
This example demonstrates how to use character properties to create unique effects from
a script.
(* Distort every character in the first text art item of a document by incrementally modifying the
horizontal scaling of each character to give the effect of stretching words out *)
-- A smaller value for this property means more difference between largest and
-- smallest horizontal scaling of the characters
property pVariability : 1.0

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character, characters

AppleScript Reference

tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
-- Is there is a document and a text art item to work with
if (exists text art item 1 of current document) then
-- Make sure the text art item contains some text
set textArtItem to first text art item of current document
if textArtItem is not "" then -- contains some text
-- Gather info needed to calculate the scale factor
set characterCount to count of characters in textArtItem
set factor to (characterCount + 1) / 2
-- Iterate over each character, changing its horizontal scale
repeat with i from 1 to characterCount
set hScaling to (factor - i) / factor
if hScaling < 0 then set hScaling to -hScaling
set widthScale to 100 * pVariability - (hScaling * 100)
set scaling of character i of text art item 1 of document 1 ¬
to {widthScale, 100.0}
end repeat
end if
end if
end tell

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CMYK color info

75

CMYK color info
A CMYK color specification, used to specify a CMYK color in conjunction with the color
property.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

cyan

real

The cyan color value as a value
in the range 0.0 - 100.0.

magenta

real

The magenta color value as a
value in the range 0.0 - 100.0.

yellow

real

The yellow color value as a
value in the range 0.0 - 100.0.

black

real

The black color value as a value
in the range 0.0 - 100.0.

Valid Commands
none

Notes
This class is used to define a record which contains the color component values of a
CMYK color. It is used for specifying and retrieving color information from an Illustrator
document or from page items in a document.
If the color space of a document is RGB and you specify the color value for a page
item in that document using CMYK color info, Illustrator will translate the CMYK
color specification into a RGB color specification. The same thing happens if the
document’s color space is CMYK and you specify colors using RGB color info.
Since this translation can cause information loss you should specify colors using the color
info class that matches the document’s color space.

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CMYK color info

AppleScript Reference

Example 5.1
This example demonstrates how to create a new swatch in a document and assign a
CMYK color to the swatch.
-- Make a new CYMK color swatch in the current document
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if not (exists swatch "Yellow" in current document) then
set swatchColor to {cyan:50.0, magenta:20.0, yellow:20.0, black:0.0}
make new swatch at beginning of current document with properties ¬
{name:"Yellow", color:swatchColor}
end if
end tell

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compound path item, compound path items

77

compound path item, compound path items
A compound path or list of compound paths. Compound paths are objects composed of
multiple intersecting paths, resulting in transparent interior spaces where the original
paths overlapped.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

path item

name, index, before/after, range, test

tag

name, index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the compound
path item object's value. Always
returns reference.

normal/multiply/screen/
overlay/soft light/hard
light/color dodge/color
burn/darken/lighten/
difference/exclusion/hue/
saturation blend/color
blend/luminosity/numeric

The mode to use when
compositing this object. An
object is considered
composited when its opacity is
set to less than 100.0 (or
100%).

class

The compound path item
object's class, which is always

blend mode

class

R/O

compound path
item.
container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the layer that
contains this compound path
item.

control bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the
compound path item object,
which is reference.

boolean

Is this compound path editable?

fixed rectangle

The object’s bounds excluding
the stroke width.

graph item object

The graph item contained in this
compound path.

editable
geometric bounds
graph item

R/O

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compound path item, compound path items

Property:

R/O Value type:

AppleScript Reference

What it is:

group item

group item object

The group items contained in
this compound path.

height

real

The height of the compound
path item excluding stroke
width, calculated from the
geometric bounds.

hidden

boolean

Is this compound path item
hidden?

index

R/O

integer

The position of this compound
path item in the current stacking
order of the containing layer,
where compound path item 1 is
always the topmost compound
path item.

inheritance

R/O

class

The class that is the parent for
this class. Always returns
page item.

isolated

boolean

Is this object isolated?

knockout

unknown/disabled/
enabled/inherited

Is this object used to create a
knockout?

object reference

The layer to which this
compound path item belongs.

locked

boolean

Is this compound path item
locked?

mesh item

mesh item object

The mesh item contained in this
compound path item.

name

string

The name of this compound
path item.

opacity

real

The opacity of this object,
where 100.0 is completely
opaque and 0.0 is completely
transparent.

path item

path item object

The path item contained in this
compound path.

placed item

placed item object

The placed item contained in
this compound path.

plugin item

plugin item object

The plugin item contained in
this compound path.

position

fixed point

The position of the top left
corner of the compound path
item excluding stroke width.

layer

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

compound path item, compound path items

Property:

R/O Value type:

properties

record

All of the compound path item’s
properties returned in a single
record (properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

raster item

raster item object

The raster item contained in this
compound path.

selected

boolean

Is this compound path item
selected?

slices

boolean

Preserve slices?

symbol item

symbol item object

The symbol item contained in
this compound path.

text art item

text art item object

The text art item contained in
this compound path.

URL

string

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this compound path
item.

visibility variable

anything

The visibility variable to which
this compound path is bound.

fixed rectangle

The object’s visible bounds,
including stroke width of any
objects in the illustration.

real

The width of the compound
path item excluding stroke
width, calculated from the
geometric bounds.

visible bounds

width

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• move
• translate
• rotate
• scale
• transform

R/O

What it is:

79

80

compound path item, compound path items

AppleScript Reference

Notes
Paths contained within a compound path or group in a document will be returned as
individual paths when a script asks for the paths contained in the document. However,
paths contained in a compound path or group will not be returned when a script asks for
the paths in a layer which contains the compound path or group.
All paths inside of a compound path share property values. Therefore, if you set the value
of a property of any one of the paths in the compound path, all other path’s matching
property will be updated to the new value.

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compound path item, compound path items

81

Example 6.1
This example demonstrates how to get a list containing all of the paths in a document that
are not part of a compound path or a group by iterating through each layer in the
document.
-- A handler which return paths in a document that are not part of a
-- compound path or group
to GetPathItemsOfDocument(docRef)
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set pathItemList to {}
set layerCount to count of layers of docRef
repeat with i from 1 to layerCount
set pathItemList to pathItemList & path items of layer i of docRef
end repeat
end tell
return pathItemList
end GetPathItemsOfDocument
-- Call handler
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10" to set docRef to current document
set allPathItems to GetPathItemsOfDocument(docRef)

Example 6.2
Compound paths contain path items that can be accessed from a script. This example
shows how to duplicate the paths in a compound path and then group them in a new
group item.
-- Create a group containing a set of paths duplicated from the
-- first compound path item of the document
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set pathItemList to path every item of ¬
compound path item 1 of current document
set groupRef to make new group item at beginning of ¬
layer 1 of document 1
duplicate pathItemList to beginning of groupRef
end tell

82

dataset, datasets

AppleScript Reference

dataset, datasets
An object, or list of objects, that contains variables and their dynamic data.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the dataset’s
value. Always returns
reference.

class

R/O

class

The dataset object’s class,
which is dataset.

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the art object
that contains this dataset.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the dataset.
Always returns
reference.

index

R/O

integer

The index of this dataset in the
art object.

name

string

The name of the dataset.

properties

record

all of the dataset’s properties
returned in a single record

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• display
• exists
• make
• update

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

document, documents

document, documents
An Illustrator document or a list of documents. Documents are contained in the
application object.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

art style

name, index, before/after, range, test

brush

name, index, before/after, range, test

compound path item

name, index, before/after, range, test

dataset

name, index, before/after, range, test

gradient

name, index, before/after, range, test

graph item

name, index, before/after, range, test

group item

name, index, before/after, range, test

layer

name, index, before/after, range, test

mesh item

name, index, before/after, range, test

page item

name, index, before/after, range, test

path item

name, index, before/after, range, test

pattern

name, index, before/after, range, test

placed item

name, index, before/after, range, test

plugin item

name, index, before/after, range, test

raster item

name, index, before/after, range, test

spot

name, index, before/after, range, test

swatch

name, index, before/after, range, test

symbol

name, index, before/after, range, test

symbol item

name, index, before/after, range, test

tag

name, index, before/after, range, test

text art item

name, index, before/after, range, test

variable

name, index, before/after, range, test

view

index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

The best type for the document
object's value. Always returns
reference.

class

83

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document, documents

AppleScript Reference

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

class

R/O

class

The document object's class,
which is document.

color space

R/O

RGB/CMYK

The color specification system
to use for this document’s color
space.

crop marks

fixed rectangle

The boundary of the
document's cropping box for
output.

crop style

standard/japanese

The style of the document's
cropping box, either standard or
japanese.

current dataset

object reference

The currently active dataset.

current layer

object reference

The active layer in the
document.

object reference

The document's current view.

current view

R/O

default fill color

The color to fill new paths if
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/ default filled is true.
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

default fill overprint

boolean

Will art beneath a filled object
be overprinted by default?

default filled

boolean

Should a new path be filled?

default stroke cap

butted/rounded/
projecting

Default type of line capping for
paths created.

default stroke color

The stroke color for new paths if
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/ default stroked is true.
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

default stroke dash offset

real

The default distance into the
dash pattern at which the
pattern should be started for
new paths.

default stroke dashes

list (of real numbers)

Default lengths for dashes and
gaps in dashed lines, starting
with the first dash length,
followed by the first gap length,
and so on. Set to an empty list,
{}, for a solid line.

default stroke join

mitered/rounded/beveled Default type of joints in new
paths.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

document, documents

R/O Value type:

What it is:

default stroke miter limit

real

Specifies when a join is mitered
(pointed) or beveled (squaredoff) by default, when default
stroke join is set to mitered.

default stroke overprint

boolean

Will art beneath a stroked
object be overprinted by
default?

default stroke width

real

Default width of stroke for new
paths.

default stroked

boolean

Should a new path be stroked?

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the
document object's value.
Always returns
reference.

file path

R/O

file specification

The file associated with the
document, which includes the
complete path to the file.

geometric bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The object’s bounds excluding
the stroke width.

height

R/O

real

The height of the document,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

index

R/O

integer

The position of this document in
the stacking order of all open
documents. The current
(frontmost) document is always
document 1.

boolean

Has the document been
modified since the last save?

modified
name

R/O

string

The document's name (not the
complete file path to the
document).

output resolution

R/O

real

The current output resolution for
the document in dots per inch
(dpi).

fixed point

The zero-point of the page in
the document without margins,
relative to the overall height and
width.

boolean

Does this document print as
tiled output?

page origin

print tiles

R/O

85

86

document, documents

AppleScript Reference

Property:

R/O Value type:

properties

record

All of the document's properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

ruler origin

fixed point

The zero-point of the rulers in
the document relative to the
bottom left of the document.

ruler units

R/O

selection

What it is:

unknown/inches/
The default units for the rulers
centimeters/points/picas/ in the document.
millimeters/qs
list (of object references)

The list of references to the
objects in this document's
current selection.

show placed images

R/O

boolean

Are placed images displayed in
the document?

split long paths

R/O

boolean

Are long paths to be split when
printing?

stationery

R/O

boolean

Is the document saved as a
stationery file?

tile full pages

R/O

boolean

Should full pages be tiled when
printing this document?

use default screen

R/O

boolean

Should the printer's default
screen be used when printing
this document?

visible bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The object’s visible bounds,
including stroke width of any
objects in the illustration.

width

R/O

real

The width of this document,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

Valid Commands
• close
• count
• exists
• export
• make
• open

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87

• print
• save

Notes
Illustrator’s default document settings—those properties starting with the word “default”—
are global settings that affect the current document. Be sure to modify these default
properties only when a document is open. Note that if you set default properties to
desired values before creating new objects, you can streamline your scripts, eliminating
the need to specify properties such as fill color and stroked that have
analogous default properties.
A document’s color space, height, and width can only be set when the
document is created. Once a document is created, these properties cannot be changed.
The frontmost document can be referred to as either current document or
document 1.

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document, documents

AppleScript Reference

Example 7.1
The following example shows how to make sure a document is open before setting any of
the application’s default properties.
-- Check to make sure a document is open in Illustrator
-- before setting the application's default stroke width to 8 points
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if not (document 1 exists) then
make new document with properties {color space: CMYK, width: 100.0,
height: 50.0}
end if
set the default stroke width of document 1 to 8.0
end tell

Example 7.2
The following example shows how to make new documents with custom defaults.
-- Present a dialog to the user to choose a new document type
-- from, then create a new document with its properties set accordingly
-- Note: You can only change writable document defaults when a document is open
-- Prompt user for new document properties from list of choices
set listChoice to (choose from list ¬
{"CMYK, filled, 2 pt stroke with dashes", ¬
"RGB, filled, no stroke", ¬
"RGB, no fill, 1 pt stroke"} ¬
with prompt "What kind of new document to create?")
if listChoice is not false then
-- Gather the values needed to set the document's properties
set documentType to item 1 of listChoice
set fillPaths to (documentType contains "filled")
set strokePaths to (documentType contains "pt stroke")
set strokeWidth to 0.0
if documentType contains "1 pt" then
set strokeWidth to 1.0
else if documentType contains "2 pt" then
set strokeWidth to 2.0

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document, documents

AppleScript Reference

end if
if documentType contains "with dashes" then
set strokeDashes to {2.5, 1, 2.5, 1, 2.5, 1}
else
set strokeDashes to {}
end if
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
-- Create a document with the requested color space
if documentType starts with "CMYK" then
set docRef to make new document with properties {color space:CMYK}
else
set docRef to make new document with properties {color space:RGB}
end if
-- Set the document's properties with one command
set properties of docRef to ¬
{default filled:fillPaths ¬
, default stroked:strokePaths ¬
, default stroke width:strokeWidth ¬
, default stroke dashes:strokeDashes}
end tell
end if

Example 7.3
This example demonstrates how to use document properties in other applications. In this
case, the script uses the file path property of the active document to open the folder
containing the Illustrator document in the Finder.
-- Reveal and select a document’s file icon in the Finder
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set filePath to file path of current document
end tell
tell application "Finder"
activate
reveal filePath
end tell

90

ellipse

AppleScript Reference

ellipse
A class used to create an elliptical path in an Illustrator document. This class can only be
used to create new path item objects.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

bounds

W/O

fixed rectangle

The bounds of the ellipse.

inscribed

W/O

boolean

Is the ellipse path inscribed
(drawn inside the rectangle
described by the bounds)?

reversed

W/O

boolean

Is the ellipse path reversed?

Valid Commands
• make

Notes
Illustrator’s ellipse object is available exclusively for use with the make command.
The class of the object created will be a path item. Therefore, the properties for an ellipse
are write-once (W/O) in the sense that they can be used only to specify the creation of a
new path item. This special class allows you to quickly create complex path items using
the straightforward properties provided. If you do not specify any properties when making
a new ellipse, default values will be used. Properties usually associated with path items,
such as fill color, can also be specified at the time of creation.

Example 8.1
This examples demonstrates how to create a series of ellipses based on the geometry of
a single selected object.
-- Embellish a single selected path item by adding a bright red
-- ellipse to each point on the path
property pEllipseScale : 0.1
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
activate
set selectedItems to selection
-- A bit of sanity checking

91

ellipse

AppleScript Reference

if (count of selectedItems) is not 1 ¬
or class of selectedItems is text ¬
or class of item 1 of selectedItems is not path item then
display dialog "Please select a single path item before running this
script"
else
set pathItem to item 1 of selectedItems
-- Set ellipse color based on document color space
set docColorSpace to color space of current document
if docColorSpace is RGB then
set ellipseColor to {red:255.0, green:0.0, blue:0.0}
else
set ellipseColor to {cyan:0.0, magenta:100.0, yellow:100.0,
black:0.0}
end if
-- Gather needed info about the path item to be embellished
set itemWidth to width of pathItem
set itemHeight to height of pathItem
set pathPointList to anchor of every path point of pathItem
-- Calculate the position and bounds for each ellipse
repeat with aPoint in pathPointList
set {x, y} to aPoint
set
set
set
set

rectLeft to x - (itemWidth * pEllipseScale)
rectRight to x + (itemWidth * pEllipseScale)
rectTop to y + (itemHeight * pEllipseScale)
rectBottom to y - (itemHeight * pEllipseScale)

set ellipseRect to {rectLeft, rectTop, rectRight, rectBottom}
make new ellipse at beginning of current document ¬
with properties {bounds:ellipseRect, inscribed:true ¬
, reversed:false, stroke color:ellipseColor, fill
color:ellipseColor} ¬
end repeat
end if
end tell

92

EPS save options

AppleScript Reference

EPS save options
Options which may be supplied when saving a document as an Illustrator EPS file. See
the save command in the command reference for additional details.

Properties
Property:
CMYK PostScript

R/O Value type:
boolean

What it is:
Use CMYK PostScript? default:

false
compatibility

Illustrator 3/Illustrator 4/
Illustrator 5/Illustrator 6/
Illustrator 7/Illustrator 8/
Illustrator 9/Illustrator 10

Specifies the version of the
Illustrator file format to create.
default: Illustrator

10

embed all fonts

boolean

Include fonts used in the EPS
file? default: false

embed linked files

boolean

Are linked image files to be
included in the saved
document? default: false

flatten output

preserve paths/preserve
appearance

How should transparency be
flattened for file formats before
Illustrator 10. default:

preserve
appearance
included document thumbnails

boolean

Include thumbnail image of the
EPS artwork? default: true

japanese file format

boolean

Save the file using Japanese
version of file format? Valid only
for Illustrator 3 - 5 compatibility.
default: false

PostScript

level 1/level 2/level 3

Specifies the PostScript level to
use when saving the file.
default: level 3

preview

none/BW Macintosh/
color Macintosh/BW
TIFF/color TIFF/
transparent color TIFF

Specifies the format for the EPS
preview image. default:

color Macintosh

Notes
Postscipt level 1 is only valid for compatibility with Illustrator 8 or earlier.

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93

This class is used to define a record containing properties that specify options when
saving a document as an EPS file. EPS save options can only be used in
conjunction with the save command. It is not possible to get or create an EPS save
options object.
It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Example 9.1
This handler processes a folder of Illustrator files, saving each as an EPS file with level 2
PostScript and Illustrator 10 compatibility. The files are save to the folder specified in the
destinationFolder parameter. Note that the class property is specified in the
record to ensure that Illustrator can determine the save option class.
-- fileList is a list of aliases to Illustrator files
-- destinationFolder is an alias to a folder where the EPS files are to be saved
set sourceFolder to choose folder with prompt "Source folder?"
tell application "Finder" to
set fileList to every file of folder sourceFolder as alias list
set destinationFolder to choose folder with prompt "Destination folder?"
set destinationPath to destinationFolder as string
repeat with aFile in fileList
tell application "Finder" to set fileName to name of aFile
set newFilePath to destinationPath & fileName & ".EPS"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
open aFile
save current document in file newFilePath as eps ¬
with options {class:EPS save options ¬
, compatibility:Illustrator 10 ¬
, preview:color Macintosh ¬
, embed linked files:true ¬
, include document thumbnails:true ¬
, embed all fonts:true ¬
, japanese file format:false ¬
, CMYK PostScript:true ¬
, PostScript:level 2}

94

EPS save options

close current document saving no
end tell
end repeat

AppleScript Reference

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

fixed point

95

fixed point
A pair of values that defines the coordinates for a point. Stored as a list of two real
numbers, where the first item is the horizontal (x) coordinate of the point and the second
item is the vertical (y) coordinate of the point. For example, {10.0, 5.0} would
specify a point where the x coordinate is 10.0 and the y coordinate is 5.0.

Notes
The point is used to specify the coordinates for many properties of objects in Illustrator.
All distance and measurement values in Illustrator use the points unit of measure.
It is not possible to get or create a fixed point object.

Example 10.1
The values in fixed point can be used in a number of way in a script.
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if (count of documents)>0 then
-- Get the position of a page item
set itemPos to position of page item 1 of document 1
--> {100.0, 200.0}
-- Assigns the two values in a fixed point to two variables
set {x, y} to itemPos
--> x = 100.0, y = 200.0
-- or assign to two variables directly
set {x, y} to position of page item 1 of document 1
--> x = 100.0, y = 200.0
-- Change the x value in a fixed point
set item 1 of itemPos to (item 1 of itemPos) + 100.0
--> {200.0, 200.0}
-- Change position of a page item
set position of page item 1 of document 1 to itemPos
-- or change it using the individual variables
set position of page item 1 of document 1 to {x + 100.0, y}
end if

96

fixed point

end tell

AppleScript Reference

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

fixed rectangle

97

fixed rectangle
Four coordinates that defines the rectangular geometry of an object. Stored as a list of
four real numbers, where the first item is the leftmost horizontal coordinate of the
rectangle, the second item is the top vertical coordinate of the rectangle, the third item is
the rightmost horizontal coordinate, and the fourth item is the bottom vertical coordinate
of the rectangle.

Notes
The fixed rectangle is used to specify the geometry for a number of properties for objects
in Illustrator. All distance and measurement values in Illustrator use the points unit. It is
not possible to get or create fixed rectangle object.
Remember that in the Illustrator coordinate system, vertical coordinates increase from
bottom to top, which is the opposite of screen coordinates. This mean that the top
coordinate value in a fixed rectangle will be larger than the bottom coordinate value.

Example 11.1
The values in a fixed rectangle can be used in a number of way in a script.
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
-- Get the bounds of a page item
set itemBounds to geometric bounds of page item 1 of document 1
--> {100.0, 400.0, 300.0, 200.0}
-- Assigns the four values in a rectangle point to four variables
set {l, t, r, b} to itemBounds
--> l = 100.0, t = 400.0, r = 300.0, b = 200.0
-- or assign to four variables directly
set {l, t, r, b} to geometric bounds of page item 1 of document 1
--> l = 100.0, t = 400.0, r = 300.0, b = 200.0
-- Calculate center of page item from its bounds
set xCenter to ((item 1 of itemBounds) + (item 3 of itemBounds)) / 2
set yCenter to ((item 2 of itemBounds) + (item 4 of itemBounds)) / 2
--> xCenter = 200.0, yCenter = 300.0
-- or calculate the center using the individual coordinate variables
set xCenter to (l + r) / 2
set yCenter to (t + b) / 2

98

fixed rectangle

AppleScript Reference

--> xCenter = 200.0, yCenter = 300.0
-- Change the left value in a fixed rectangle
set item 1 of itemBounds to (item 1 of itemBounds) + 100.0
--> {200.0, 400.0, 300.0, 200.0}
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Flash export options

99

Flash export options
You can supply a number of options when exporting a document as Flash (.SWF). See
the export command in the command reference for additional details.

Properties
Property:
artboard clipping

R/O Value type:
boolean

What it is:
Should the resulting image be
clipped to the artboard? default:

false
curve quality

integer

How much curve information
should be preserved (0-10,
default: 7)

export style

Flash file/layers to files/
layers to Flash frames

How the Flash file should be
created (default: Flash file)

frame rate

real

When exporting layers to Flash
frames (0.01-120, default: 12)

generate HTML

boolean

export as HTML file (default:
true)

JPEG method

optimized/standard

What method to use (default:
standard)

JPEG quality

integer

Level of compression (0-10,
default: 3)

looping

boolean

Should the Flash file be set to
loop when run (default: false)

read only

boolean

Export as read only file (default:
false)

replacing

yes/no/ask

If a file with the same name
already exists, should it be
replaced?
Default: ask

resolution

real

Pixels per inch (72-2400,
default: 72)

Notes
This class is used to define a record containing properties that specify options when
exporting a document as a Flash (.SWF) file. Flash export options can only be
supplied in conjunction with the export command. It is not possible to get or create a
Flash export options object.

100

Flash export options

AppleScript Reference

It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
all properties not specified.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

GIF export options

GIF export options
Options which may be supplied when exporting a document as a GIF file. See the
export command in the command reference for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

antialiasing

boolean

Should the resulting image be
anti-aliased? default: true

artboard clipping

boolean

Should the resulting image be
clipped to the artboard? default:

false
color count

integer

The number of colors in the
exported color table. range: 2 -

256. default: 128
color dither

none/diffusion/pattern
dither/noise

The method used to dither
colors. default: diffusion

color reduction

selective/adaptive/
perceptual/web

The method used to reduce the
number of colors in the
document. default:

selective
dither percent

integer

How much should the colors be
dithered? range: 0 - 100.
default: 88

horizontal scaling

real

The horizontal scaling factor to
apply to the resulting image.
range: 0.0 - 100.0. default:

100.0
information loss

integer

The level of information loss
during compression (as a
percentage). range: 0 - 100.
default: 0

interlaced

boolean

Should the resulting image be
interlaced? default: false

matte

boolean

Should the artboard be matted
with a color? default: true

101

102

GIF export options

Property:
matte color

AppleScript Reference

R/O Value type:
RGB color info

What it is:
The color to use when matting
the artboard. default:

{255.0, 255.0,
255.0}
saving as HTML

boolean

Should the resulting image be
saved with an accompanying
HTML file? default: false

transparency

boolean

Should the resulting image use
transparency? default: true

vertical scaling

real

The vertical scaling factor to
apply to the resulting image.
range: 0.0 - 100.0

web snap

integer

How much should the color
table be changed to match the
web pallet? range: 0 - 100,
where 100 is the maximum
change. default: 0

Notes
This class is used to define a record containing properties that specify options when
exporting a document as a GIF file. GIF export options can only be supplied in
conjunction with the export command. It is not possible to get or create an GIF
export options object.
It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

GIF export options

103

Example 12.1
This handler processes all Illustrator files in a specific folder, exporting each as a scaled
GIF image. Note that the class property is specified in the record to ensure that
Illustrator can determine the export option class.
-- fileList is assumed to be a list of aliases to Illustrator files
-- destinationFolder is assumed to be an alias to a folder where the
-- GIF files are to be exported
on ExportFilesAsGIF(fileList, destinationFolder)
set destinationPath to destinationFolder as string
repeat with aFile in fileList
tell application "Finder" to ¬
set fileName to name of aFile
set newFilePath to destinationPath & fileName & ".gif"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
open aFile
export current document to file newFilePath as GIF with options ¬
{class:GIF export options ¬
, color count:256 ¬
, color reduction:adaptive ¬
, information loss:0 ¬
, color dither:none ¬
, dither percent:100 ¬
, web snap:0 ¬
, transparency:false ¬
, interlaced:false ¬
, matte:true ¬
, matte color:{red:128, green:0, blue:60} ¬
, horizontal scaling:50.0 ¬
, vertical scaling:50.0 ¬
, antialiasing:true ¬
, artboard clipping:false ¬
, saving as HTML:false}
close current document saving no
end tell
end repeat

104

GIF export options

AppleScript Reference

end ExportFilesAsGIF
-- Call handler
set sourceFolder to choose folder with prompt "Source folder?"
tell application "Finder" to ¬
set fileList to every file of folder sourceFolder as alias list
set destinationFolder to choose folder with prompt "Destination folder?"
ExportFilesasGIF(fileList, destinationFolder)

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

gradient, gradients

gradient, gradients
A gradient definition or gradient definitions. Gradients are contained in documents.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

gradient stop

index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the gradient
object's value. Always returns
reference.

class

R/O

class

The gradient object's class,
which is gradient.

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the document
that contains this gradient.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the gradient
object's value. Always returns
reference.

entire gradient

list (of gradient stop info)

All of the gradient stops in the
gradient.

gradient type

linear/radial

The type of the gradient.

integer

The position of this gradient in
the application.

name

string

The gradient’s name.

properties

record

All of the gradient’s properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

index

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• make

R/O

105

106

gradient, gradients

AppleScript Reference

Notes
Illustrator’s gradient object represents a gradient as defined in the Illustrator
application. Additional gradients may be created by the user within Illustrator or via a
script.

Example 13.1
This example shows how to create a linear RGB gradient.
-- create a new RGB gradient with three gradient stops
property pGradientName : "RGB Hot Streak"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if not (exists gradient pGradientName in current document) then
set newgradient to make new gradient at beginning of ¬
current document
with properties {name:pGradientName, kind:linear}
-- Since all new gradients are created with 2 gradient stops,
-- create another stop for the 3 stop gradient
make new gradient stop at beginning of newgradient
set properties of gradient stop 1 of newgradient to ¬
{midpoint:50.0, ramp point:0.0,¬
color:{red:255.0, green:255.0, blue:0.0}}
set properties of gradient stop 2 of newgradient to ¬
{midpoint:50.0, ramp point:50.0, color:{red:255.0, green:127.0,
blue:127.0}}
set properties of gradient stop 3 of newgradient to ¬
{midpoint:50.0, ramp point:100.0, color:{red:255.0, green:0.0,
blue:0.0}}
end if
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

gradient color info

gradient color info
A gradient color specification, used to specify a gradient color in conjunction with the
color property.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

angle

real

The gradient vector angle (in
degrees).

gradient

object reference

A reference to the gradient
object that defines the gradient
to use in this color definition.

hilite angle

real

The gradient hilite vector angle
(in degrees).

hilite length

real

The gradient hilite vector length.

length

real

The gradient vector length.

matrix

matrix

An additional transformation
matrix to manipulate the
gradient path.

origin

fixed point

The gradient vector origin.

Notes
This class is used to define a record which contains the color component values of a
gradient color swatch. It is used for specifying and retrieving color information from an
Illustrator document or from page items in a document.

Example 14.1
This example demonstrates how to set a path item’s fill color to a gradient color.
-- Set fill color of the first path in the current document
-- to the first gradient in the document
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set the fill color of path item 1 of document 1 to ¬
{gradient:gradient 1 of document 1}
end tell

107

108

gradient stop, gradient stops

AppleScript Reference

gradient stop, gradient stops
A gradient stop definition or definitions contained in a specific gradient.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the gradient
stop object's value. Always
returns reference.

class

R/O

class

The gradient stop object's class,
which is gradient

stop.
The color linked to this gradient
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/ stop.
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

color

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the gradient that
contains this gradient stop.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the gradient
stop object's value. Always
returns reference.

index

R/O

integer

The position of this gradient
stop in the gradient.

real

The midpoint of the blend
between this stop’s and the next
stop’s colors. range: 13.0 -

midpoint

87.0
properties

record

All of the gradient stop’s
properties returned in a single
record (properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

ramp point

real

The location of the color in the
gradient. range: 0.0 -

100.0
Valid Commands
• count
• delete

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

gradient stop, gradient stops

109

• duplicate
• exists
• make

Notes
Illustrator’s gradient stop object represents a point on a specific gradient defined in
the Illustrator application. Each gradient stop specifies a color change in the containing
gradient.

Example 15.1
This example demonstrates how to reverse the colors in a gradient by getting, then
switching, the colors of the contained gradient stops.
-- This handler reverses the colors in gradient identified
-- by the gradientRef parameter
on ReverseGradientColors(gradientRef)
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
-- Get a list of the gradient's colors
set colorList to color of every gradient stop of gradientRef
-- Tell AppleScript to reverse the order of the list
set colorList to reverse of colorList
-- Iterate over the gradient resetting its colors
set colorCount to count of items in colorList
repeat with i from 1 to colorCount
set color of gradient stop i of gradientRef to (item i of colorList)
end repeat
end tell
end ReverseGradientColors
-- call handler
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10" to set gradientRef to ¬
gradient 1 of document 1
ReverseGradientColors(gradientRef)

110

gradient stop info

AppleScript Reference

gradient stop info
Gradient stop information of a specific gradient, returned by the entire gradient
property of a gradient.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

color

The color linked to this gradient
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/ stop.
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

midpoint

real

The midpoint of the blend
between this stop’s and the next
stop’s colors. range: 13.0 -

87.0
ramp point

real

The location of the color in the
gradient. range: 0.0 -

100.0
Notes
When you get the entire gradient property of a gradient, a list of gradient
stop info records is returned, one record for each gradient stop in the gradient.
The gradient stops for a new gradient can be specified by providing a list of gradient
stop info records in the entire gradient property. The following applies when
creating a gradient from a list of gradient stop info records:
• a gradient stop’s location in the gradient is determined by its ramp point value, not
the gradient stop info record’s order in the entire gradient list.
• the midpoint value of the last gradient stop info record in the entire
gradient list is not used for the newly created gradient and need not be provided. If it is
present, its value must be in the valid range.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

gradient stop info

111

Example 16.1
This example shows how to create a circular CMYK gradient using a list of gradient stop
info records.
-- Create a new CMYK gradient with 4 gradient stops
property pGradientName : "CMYK Circle"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if not (exists gradient pGradientName in current document) then
set
,
,
,
,
,
,
,

entireGradient to {{midpoint:50.0, ramp point:0.0 ¬
color:{cyan:0.0, magenta:0.0, yellow:0.0, black:100.0}} ¬
{midpoint:50.0, ramp point:33.3 ¬
color:{cyan:0.0, magenta:0.0, yellow:100.0, black:0.0}} ¬
{midpoint:50.0, ramp point:66.7 ¬
color:{cyan:0.0, magenta:100.0, yellow:0.0, black:0.0}} ¬
{midpoint:50.0, ramp point:100.0 ¬
color:{cyan:100.0, magenta:0.0, yellow:0.0, black:0.0}}}

set gradientRef to make new gradient in current document with
properties ¬
{name:pGradientName, kind:radial, entire gradient:entireGradient}
end if
end tell

112

graph item, graph items

AppleScript Reference

graph item, graph items
A graph item is a graph or a list of graphs.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

tag

name, index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the graph item
object's value. Always returns
reference.

normal/multiply/screen/
overlay/soft light/hard
light/color dodge/color
burn/darken/lighten/
difference/exclusion/hue/
saturation blend/color
blend/luminosity/numeric

The mode to use when
compositing this object. An
object is considered
composited when its opacity is
set to less than 100.0 (or
100%).

class

The graph item object's class,
which can be any one of the
specific classes that are
children of the page item class,
including compound path item,
group item, mesh item, path
item, placed item, plugin item,
raster item, and text art item.

compound path object

The compound path contained
in this graph item.

object reference

A reference to the layer that
contains this graph item.

content variable

The content variable to which
this graph item is bound.

blend mode

class

R/O

compound path item
container

R/O

content variable
control bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The bounds of the graph item
including stroke width and
controls.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the graph
item object's value. Always
returns reference.

boolean

Is this graph item editable?

editable

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

graph item, graph items

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

geometric bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The object’s bounds excluding
the stroke width.

group item

group item object

The group items contained in
this graph item.

height

real

The height of the graph item,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

hidden

boolean

Is this graph item hidden?

integer

The position of this graph item
in the current stacking order of
the containing layer, where
graph item 1 is always topmost.

isolated

boolean

Is this object isolated?

knockout

unknown/disabled/
enabled/inherited

Is this object used to create a
knockout?

object reference

The layer to which this graph
item belongs.

locked

boolean

Is this graph item locked?

mesh item

mesh item object

The mesh item contained in this
graph item.

name

string

The name of this graph item.

opacity

real

The opacity of this object,
where 100.0 is completely
opaque and 0.0 is completely
transparent.

path item

path item object

The path item contained in this
graph item.

placed item

placed item object

The placed item contained in
this graph item.

plugin item

plugin item object

The plugin item contained in
this graph item.

position

fixed point

The position of the top left
corner of the graph item.

properties

record

All of the graph item’s
properties returned in a single
record (properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

raster item

raster item object

The raster item contained in this
graph item.

selected

boolean

Is this object selected?

index

layer

R/O

R/O

113

114

graph item, graph items

Property:

AppleScript Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

slices

boolean

Preserve slices?

symbol item

symbol item object

The symbol item contained in
this graph item.

text art item

text art item object

The text art item contained in
this graph item.

URL

string

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this graph item.

visibility variable

anything

The visibility variable to which
this graph item is bound.

fixed rectangle

The object’s visible bounds,
including stroke width of any
objects in the illustration.

real

The width of the graph item,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

visible bounds

width

R/O

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• move
• rotate
• scale
• transform
• translate

Notes
Note that it is not necessary to set the type of the content variable before binding.
Illustrator automatically sets the type to graph.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

graph item, graph items

115

Example
-- an AppleScript to demonstrate how to determine if a graph exists, set
-- its name, select it and move it.
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set g1Exists to (exists graph item 1 of document 1)
if (g1Exists = 1) then
set name of graph item 1 of document 1 to "MyFirstGraph"
set selected of graph item 1 of document 1 to true
set strtPos to position of graph item 1 of document 1
set newX to (item 1 of strtPos) + 50
set newY to (item 2 of strtPos) + 50
set position of graph item 1 of document 1 to {newX, newY}
set endPos to position of graph item 1 of document 1
end if
end tell

116

gray color info

AppleScript Reference

gray color info
A gray color specification, used to specify a gray color in conjunction with the color
property.

Properties
Property:
gray value

R/O Value type:
real
range: 0.0 - 100.0

What it is:
The tint of the gray.

Notes
This class is used to define a record which contains the tint value of a gray color. It is used
for specifying and retrieving color information from an Illustrator document or from page
items in a document.
Gray colors are specified using a real value that ranges from 0.0 to 100.0 for the tint of
color, where 0.0 represent white and 100.0 represents black.

Example 17.1
This example demonstrates how to create a gray color swatch.
-- Create a new gray color swatch (35% black) in the current document
property pSwatchName : "35% Gray Swatch"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if not (exists swatch pSwatchName in current document) then
make new swatch at beginning of current document with properties ¬
{name:pSwatchName, color:{gray value:35.0}}
end if
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

group item, group items

group item, group items
A grouped set of art objects.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

compound path item

name, index, before/after, range, test

graph item

name, index, before/after, range, test

group item

name, index, before/after, range, test

mesh item

name, index, before/after, range, test

page item

name, index, before/after, range, test

path item

name, index, before/after, range, test

placed item

name, index, before/after, range, test

plugin item

name, index, before/after, range, test

raster item

name, index, before/after, range, test

symbol item

name, index, before/after, range, test

tag

name, index, before/after, range, test

text art item

name, index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the group item
object's value. Always returns
reference.

normal/multiply/screen/
overlay/soft light/hard
light/color dodge/color
burn/darken/lighten/
difference/exclusion/hue/
saturation blend/color
blend/luminosity/numeric

The mode to use when
compositing this object. An
object is considered
composited when its opacity is
set to less than 100.0 (or
100%).

class

The group item object's class,
which is always group

blend mode

class

R/O

item.
clipped

boolean

Is the group item clipped to its
first path item?

compound path item

compound path object

The compound path contained
in this group item.

117

118

group item, group items

AppleScript Reference

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the layer that
contains this group item.

control bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the group
item object's value. Always
returns reference.

boolean

Is this group item editable?

fixed rectangle

The object’s bounds excluding
the stroke width.

graph item

graph item object

The graph item contained in this
group item.

height

real

The height of the group item
excluding stroke width,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

hidden

boolean

Is this group item hidden?

editable
geometric bounds

R/O

inheritance

R/O

class

The class that is the parent for
this class. Always returns
page item.

index

R/O

integer

The position of this group item
in the current stacking order of
the containing layer, where
group item 1 is always the
topmost group item.

isolated

boolean

Is this object isolated?

knockout

unknown/disabled/
enabled/inherited

Is this object used to create a
knockout?

object reference

The layer to which this group
item belongs.

locked

boolean

Is this group item locked?

mesh item

mesh item object

The mesh item contained in this
group item.

name

string

The name of this group item.

opacity

real

The opacity of this object,
where 100.0 is completely
opaque and 0.0 is completely
transparent.

page item

page item object

The page item from which this
group item inherits.

layer

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

group item, group items

R/O Value type:

What it is:

path item

path item object

The path item contained in this
group item.

placed item

placed item object

The placed item contained in
this group item.

plugin item

plugin item object

The plugin item contained in
this group item.

position

fixed point

The position of the top left
corner of the group item
excluding stroke width.

properties

record

All of the group item’s
properties returned in a single
record (properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

raster item

raster item object

The raster item contained in this
group item.

slices

boolean

Preserve slices?

selected

boolean

Is this group item selected?

symbol item

symbol item object

The symbol item contained in
this group item.

text art item

text art item object

The text art item contained in
this group item.

URL

string

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this group item.

visibility variable

anything

The visibility variable to which
this group item is bound.

fixed rectangle

The visible bounds of all visible
artwork, including stroke width
of any objects in the illustration.

real

The width of the group item
excluding stroke width,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

visible bounds

width

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists

R/O

119

120

group item, group items

AppleScript Reference

• make
• move
• translate
• rotate
• scale
• transform

Notes
Group items can contain all of the same page items that a layer can contain, including
other nested groups.
Paths contained within a group or compound path in a document will be returned as
individual paths when a script asks for the paths contained in the document. However,
paths contained in a group or compound path will not be returned when a script asks for
the paths in a layer which contains the group or compound path.
A new group can be created that contains the contents of a vector art file if you provide a
file specification to the vector file (EPS or PDF) in the with data parameter of the
make command. The resulting group will be the same object as if the user had placed the
file from the user interface using the File > Place… command with the embed checkbox
checked.

Example 18.1
Create a new group item from the contents of a vector art file, either EPS or PDF.
-- Create a new group whose contents will be the contents of a vector art file
-- fileRef is an alias or file reference to the vector file to be placed
on EmbedVectorFile(fileRef)
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set groupRef to make new group item in document 1 with data fileRef ¬
with properties {position:{0, 600}}
end tell
return groupRef
end EmbedVectorFile
-- Call handler

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

group item, group items

set fileRef to choose file with prompt "Select vector file to place"
set groupRef to EmbedVectorFile(fileRef)

121

122

group item, group items

AppleScript Reference

Example 18.2
New groups can be easily created and populated with objects. This example
demonstrates how path items can be created in a container group.
-- Create a new group, then add rectangles to it using
-- the available placement options
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set groupRef to make new group item in document 1
set rectRef to make new rectangle at beginning of groupRef with
properties ¬
{bounds:{150, 550, 350, 350}, fill color:{blue:255}}
make new rectangle at after rectRef with properties ¬
{bounds:{100, 600, 300, 400}, fill color:{red:255}}
set rectRef to make new rectangle at end of groupRef with properties ¬
{bounds:{0, 700, 200, 500}, fill color:{green:255}}
make new rectangle before rectRef with properties ¬
{bounds:{50, 650, 250, 450}, fill color:{black:100}}
end tell

Example 18.3
This example demonstrates how to select all of the page items in a document that are not
part of a group by testing the container property of all items with a whose clause.
-- Select only the page items in a document that are not part of
-- a group and that are not themselves groups
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
-- First deselect everything in the document
set selection of current document to {}
if (count of page items of current document) > 0 then
set layerCount to count of layers in current document
repeat with i from 1 to layerCount
set layerRef to layer i of current document
set selected of (every page item of current document ¬

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

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123

whose container is layerRef ¬
and class is not group item) to true
end repeat
end if
end tell

Example 18.4
This example shows how to create a clipping mask using the first path item in a group
item. This is the same effect as you get when you use the Object > Clipping Mask > Make
command in the user interface.
-- Create a group of paths, then clip the group to the first path in the group
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
-- Create a group to contain the paths to be clipped
set groupRef to make new group item in document 1
-- Add some path items to the group
make new rectangle at end of groupRef with properties ¬
{bounds:{200, 350, 300, 250}, fill color:{cyan:100}, stroked:false}
make new rectangle at end of groupRef with properties ¬
{bounds:{300, 250, 400, 150}, fill color:{magenta:100},
stroked:false}
make new rectangle at end of groupRef with properties ¬
{bounds:{300, 350, 400, 250}, fill color:{yellow:100}, stroked:false}
make new rectangle at end of groupRef with properties ¬
{bounds:{200, 250, 300, 150}, fill color:{green:255}, stroked:false}
-- Get a little fancy and create a rotated star at the center of the group
set pathRef to make new star at beginning of groupRef with properties ¬
{center point:{300, 250}, radius:25, inner radius:4, point count:4 ¬
, fill color:{black:100}, opacity:40, stroked:false}
set rotationMatrix to get rotation matrix angle 45
transform pathRef using rotationMatrix about center
-- Create the path that the group will be clipped with
-- The clipping path must be the first (frontmost) path in the group
make new star at beginning of groupRef with properties ¬
{center point:{300, 250}, radius:80, inner radius:25, point count:4 ¬
, stroked:false, filled:false}
-- Now clip the group to the top path

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group item, group items

set clipped of groupRef to true
end tell

AppleScript Reference

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Illustrator save options

Illustrator save options
Options which may be supplied when saving a document as an Illustrator file. See the
save command in the command reference for additional details.

Properties
Property:
compatibility

R/O Value type:
Illustrator 3/Illustrator 4/
Illustrator 5/Illustrator 6/
Illustrator 7/Illustrator 8/
Illustrator 9/Illustrator 10

What it is:
Specifies the version of the
Illustrator file format to create.
default: Illustrator

10

embed all fonts

boolean

Embed all fonts used by the
document in the saved file?
Only for Illustrator 9 or greater
documents. default: false

embed ICC profile

boolean

Embed the document’s ICC
profile in the saved file? Only for
Illustrator 9 or greater
documents. default: false

flatten output

preserve paths/preserve
appearance

How should transparency be
flattened for file formats before
Illustrator 9 or greater ?default:

preserve
appearance
font subset threshold

real

Include a subset of fonts when
less than this percentage of
characters are used. Only for
Illustrator 9 or greater
documents. range: 0.0 -

100.0. default: 100.0
include linked files

boolean

Are linked image files to be
included in the saved
document? Only for Illustrator 7
or later documents. default:

false
japanese file format

boolean

Save using the Japanese
version of the file format? Only
for Illustrator 3, 4 or 5
documents. default: true

125

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Illustrator save options

AppleScript Reference

Valid Commands
• save

Notes
This class is used to define a record containing properties used to specify options when
saving a document as an Illustrator file. Illustrator save options can only be
supplied in conjunction with the save command. It is not possible to get or create an
Illustrator save options object.
It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Example 19.1
This handler processes a folder of Illustrator files, saving each with Illustrator 7
compatibility. Note that the class property is specified in the record to ensure that
Illustrator can determine the save option class.
-- fileList is a list of aliases to Illustrator files
-- destinationFolder is an alias to a folder where the Illustrator
-- files are to be saved
on SaveFilesAsIllustrator7(fileList, destinationFolder)
set destinationPath to destinationFolder as string
repeat with aFile in fileList
tell application "Finder" to ¬
set fileName to name of aFile
set newFilePath to destinationPath & fileName & ".ai7"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
open aFile
save current document in file newFilePath as Illustrator ¬
with options {class:Illustrator save options ¬
, compatibility:Illustrator 7 ¬
, flatten output:preserve appearance}
close current document saving no
end tell

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127

end repeat
end SaveFilesAsIllustrator7

-- Call handler
set sourceFolder to choose folder with prompt "Source folder?"
tell application "Finder" to ¬
set fileList to every file of folder sourceFolder as alias list
set destinationFolder to choose folder with prompt "Destination folder?"
SaveFilesAsIllustrator7(fileList, destinationFolder)

128

insertion point, insertion points

AppleScript Reference

insertion point, insertion points
One or more insertion points in the contents of a text art item.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

character

index, before/after, range, test

insertion point

index, before/after, range, test

line

index, before/after, range, test

paragraph

index, before/after, range, test

text

index, before/after, range

word

index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

auto kerning

R/O

boolean

Should the font’s built-in kerning
rules be used?

real

Bottom position of horizontallyoriented text or left position of
vertically-oriented text.

baseline

baseline shift

R/O

real

The baseline offset.

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the insertion
point object's value. Always
returns reference.

character offset

R/O

integer

Offset from beginning (in
characters).

class

R/O

class

The application object's class,
which is insertion

point.
clipping

R/O

boolean

Is there a clipping path
associated with the text art item
containing this insertion point?

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the text art item
that contains this insertion
point.

string

The contents of the insertion
point as a string. Always returns
an empty string.

contents

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

insertion point, insertion points

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the
insertion point object, which is
string. The string value is
always a null string, "".

direction

R/O

normal/rotated/KumiMoji

The direction of characters in a
vertical text block.

evenodd

R/O

boolean

Should the even-odd rule be
used to determine fills?

fill color

R/O

The character’s fill color.
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

fill overprint

R/O

boolean

Should art beneath the filled
character be overprinted?

filled

R/O

boolean

Should the character’s path be
filled?

font

R/O

string

The name of the text face (font).

index

R/O

integer

The index of this insertion point
in the complete string.

leading

R/O

real

The leading.

length

R/O

integer

Length (in characters).

note

R/O

string

A note assigned to the object.

record

All of the insertion point’s
properties returned in a single
record (properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

properties

resolution

R/O

real

The resolution of the path in
dots per inch.

scaling

R/O

fixed point

Horizontal and vertical scaling
specified as a fixed point.

size

R/O

real

The font size.

stroke cap

R/O

butted/rounded/
projecting

The type of cap on the
character’s stroke.

stroke color

R/O

The character’s stroke color.
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

129

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insertion point, insertion points

AppleScript Reference

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

stroke dash offset

R/O

real

The default distance to start the
stroke dash pattern.

stroke dashes

R/O

list (of real numbers)

The lengths for dashes and
gaps in dashed lines, starting
with the first dash length,
followed by the first gap length,
and so on. Set to an empty list,
{}, for a solid line.

stroke join

R/O

mitered/rounded/beveled The type of joins in the
character’s stroke.

stroke miter limit

R/O

real

The angle at which a stroke join
switches from mitered to
beveled.

stroke overprint

R/O

boolean

Should art beneath the stroked
character be overprinted?

stroke width

R/O

real

The width of the stroke.

stroked

R/O

boolean

Should the character’s path be
stroked?

text orientation

R/O

horizontal/vertical

The orientation of the text. Use
the text path class to
modify this value.

text path

R/O

object reference

A reference to the text path
associated with the text art item
containing this insertion point.

tracking

R/O

real

The uniform spacing amount
between characters.

Valid Commands
• count
• exists

Notes
An insertion point is logically located between two characters in a text art item. Each
insertion point is before the corresponding character in a text art item. Insertion point 1 is
before character 1, etc.
The properties of an insertion point are the same as the character at the same position in
the text art item. For example, the font for insertion point 2 of text art item 1 will be the
same as the font for character 2 of text art item 1.

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131

You can set the properties for an insertion point, but only setting the contents property will
have any affect on the text art item. The result of setting the contents of an insertion point
to a string value is to insert the string in the text art item at the insertion point’s location.
Setting the contents to an empty string has no affect.

Example 20.1
This example shows several way of working with insertion points.
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
-- Set insertion point karat to beginning of a text art item
set selection to insertion point 1 of text art item 1 of document 1
-- Add a string to end of a text art item
set contents of insertion point -1 of text art item 1 of document 1 ¬
to " Some new text."
-- Since the default type of an insertion point is string, asking for
-- a particular insertion point returns its contents. To get a reference
-- to an insertion point you need to ask for a reference
set insertionRef to ¬
insertion point after word 3 of text art item 1 of document 1 as
reference
set contents of insertionRef to " more words"
end tell

132

JPEG export options

AppleScript Reference

JPEG export options
Options which may be supplied when exporting a document as a JPEG file. See the
export command in the command reference for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

antialiasing

boolean

Should the resulting image be
anti-aliased? default: true

artboard clipping

boolean

Should the resulting image be
clipped to the artboard? default:

false
blur

real

The amount of blurring to apply
to the resulting image. range:
0.0 - 2.0. default: 0.0

horizontal scaling

real

The percent horizontal scaling
factor to apply to the resulting
image. range: 0.0 - 100.0.
default: 100.0

matte

boolean

Should the artboard be matted
with a color? default: true

matte color

RGB color info

The color to use when matting
the artboard. default:

{255.0, 255.0,
255.0}
optimization

boolean

Should the resulting image be
optimized for web viewing?
default: true

quality

integer

The quality of the resulting
image. range: 0 - 100.
default: 30

saving as HTML

boolean

Should the resulting image be
saved with an accompanying
HTML file? default: false

vertical scaling

real

The percent vertical scaling
factor to apply to the resulting
image. range: 0.0 - 100.0.
default: 100.0

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

JPEG export options

133

Notes
This class is used to define a record containing properties that specify options when
exporting a document as a JPEG file. JPEG export options can only be supplied
in conjunction with the export command. It is not possible to get or create an JPEG
export options object.
It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Example 21.1
This handler processes all Illustrator files in a specific folder, exporting each file as a
medium-quality JPEG image. Note that the class property is specified in the record to
ensure that Illustrator can determine the export option class.
-- fileList is a list of aliases to Illustrator files
-- destinationFolder is an alias to a folder where the JPEGs are to be exported
on ExportFilesAsJPEGMedium(fileList, destinationFolder)
set destinationPath to destinationFolder as string
repeat with aFile in fileList
tell application "Finder" to ¬
set fileName to name of aFile
set newFilePath to destinationPath & fileName & ".jpg"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
open aFile
export current document to file newFilePath as JPEG with options ¬
{class:JPEG export options ¬
, quality:60 ¬
, blur:0.5 ¬
, horizontal scaling:50.0 ¬
, vertical scaling:50 ¬
, matte:false}
close current document saving no
end tell
end repeat

134

JPEG export options

AppleScript Reference

end ExportFilesAsJPEGMedium

-- Call handler
set sourceFolder to choose folder with prompt "Source folder?"
tell application "Finder" to ¬
set fileList to every file of folder sourceFolder as alias list
set destinationFolder to choose folder with prompt "Destination folder?"
ExportFilesAsJPEGMedium(fileList, destinationFolder)

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

layer, layers

135

layer, layers
A layer or list of layers. Layers may contain nested layers, which are called sublayers in
the user interface.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

compound path item

name, index, before/after, range, test

graph item

name, index, before/after, range, test

group item

name, index, before/after, range, test

layer

name, index, before/after, range, test

mesh item

name, index, before/after, range, test

page item

name, index, before/after, range, test

path item

name, index, before/after, range, test

placed item

name, index, before/after, range, test

plugin item

name, index, before/after, range, test

raster item

name, index, before/after, range, test

symbol item

name, index, before/after, range, test

text art item

name, index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

The best type for the layer
object's value. Always returns
reference.

The mode used when
color blend/color burn/
compositing an object.
color dodge/darken/
difference/exclusion/hard
light/hue/lighten/
luminosity/multiply/
normal/overlay/
saturation blend/screen/
soft light

blending mode

class

R/O

color
container

class

R/O

class

The layer object's class, which
is layer.

RGB color info

The layer's selection mark color.

object reference

A reference to the document
that contains this layer.

136

layer, layers

AppleScript Reference

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the layer
object's value. Always returns
reference.

dim placed images

boolean

Are placed images to be
rendered as dimmed in this
layer?

editable

boolean

Is this layer editable? Setting
this property to false locks
the layer.

has selected artwork

boolean

Is any object in this layer
selected? Setting this property
to false deselects all objects in
the layer.

integer

The position of this layer in the
current stacking order of layers
in this document, where layer 1
is always the topmost layer in
the stacking order.

index

R/O

isolated

boolean

Is this object isolated?

knockout

unknown/disabled/
enabled/inherited

Is this object used to create a
knockout?

name

string

The name of this layer.

opacity

real

The opacity of this layer, where
100.0 is completely opaque and
0.0 is completely transparent.

preview

boolean

Is this layer displayed using
preview mode?

printable

boolean

Is this layer printed when
printing the document?

properties

record

All of the layer's properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

slices

boolean

Preserve slices?

visible

boolean

Is this layer visible?

Valid Commands
• count
• delete

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

layer, layers

137

• duplicate
• exists
• make
• move

Notes
Illustrator’s layer object contains all of the page items in the specific layer as elements.
Your script can access page items as elements of either the layer object or as elements
of the document object. When accessing page items as elements of a layer, only
objects in that layer can be accessed. To access page items throughout the entire
document, be sure to refer to them as elements of the document.

Example 22.1
The stacking order of existing layers in a document can be manipulated using the move
command. Example 22.1 demonstrates how to move a layer to the top of the stacking
order (index position 1).
-- Move the 2nd layer to the top of the stacking order
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if (count of layers of current document) > 1 then
move layer 2 of document 1 to before layer 1 of document 1
end if
end tell

Example 22.2
Commands that deal with changes to an object’s reference, including the creation of new
objects with the make command, return a reference to the new or modified object in their
result. This example takes makes use of this situation by storing the reference returned
for a newly created layer and then creating a new path item in the layer using the
reference.
-- Make a new layer at the top of the layer stack
-- then create a new path in the layer
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"

138

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AppleScript Reference

set layerRef to make layer at document 1 with properties{name: "Our
Layer"}
make new rectangle at beginning of layerRef
end tell

Example 22.3
Example 22.3 demonstrates the power of constructing simple tests (with the whose
clause) to selectively delete layers in a document based on their names. In this case, the
script deletes all layers in the current document that have names starting with the word
"Temporary."
-- Delete layers that have a name which begin with a particular string
set partialName to "Layer"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
delete (every layer of document 1 whose name starts with partialName)
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

line, lines

line, lines
A line or lines of text in a text art item.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

character

index, before/after, range, test

insertion point

index, before/after, range, test

line

index, before/after, range, test

paragraph

index, before/after, range, test

text

index, before/after, range

word

index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

auto kerning

boolean

Should the font’s built-in kerning
rules be used?

baseline

real

The bottom of the text lines up
on the screen here.

baseline shift

real

The baseline offset.

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the line
object's value. Always returns
reference.

character offset

R/O

integer

Offset from beginning (in
characters).

class

R/O

class

The line object's class, which is

text.
clipping

R/O

boolean

Is there a clipping path
associated with the text art item
containing this line?

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the text art item
that contains this line.

string

The contents of the line as a
string.

class

The default type for the line
object, which is string. The
string value returned is the
value contained in the line’s
contents property.

contents
default type

R/O

139

140

line, lines

Property:

AppleScript Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

direction

normal/rotated/KumiMoji

The direction of characters in a
vertical text block.

evenodd

boolean

Should the even-odd rule be
used to determine fills?

fill color

The line’s fill color.
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

fill overprint

boolean

Should art beneath the filled
line be overprinted?

filled

boolean

Should the line’s path be filled?

font

string

The name of the text face (font).

integer

The index of this line in the
complete string.

real

The leading.

index

R/O

leading
length

R/O

integer

Length (in characters).

note

R/O

string

A note associated with the text.

record

All of the line’s properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

real

The resolution of the path in
dots per inch.

scaling

fixed point

Horizontal and vertical scaling
specified as a fixed point.

size

real

The font size.

stroke cap

butted/rounded/
projecting

The type of cap on the
character’s stroke.

stroke color

The line’s stroke color.
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

stroke dash offset

real

properties

resolution

R/O

The default distance to start the
stroke dash pattern.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

line, lines

R/O Value type:

What it is:

stroke dashes

list (of real numbers)

stroke join

mitered/rounded/beveled The type of joins in the
character’s stroke.

stroke miter limit

real

The angle at which a stroke join
switches from mitered to
beveled.

stroke overprint

boolean

Should art beneath the stroked
line be overprinted?

stroke width

real

The width of the stroke.

stroked

boolean

Should the line’s path be
stroked?

The lengths for dashes and
gaps in dashed lines, starting
with the first dash length,
followed by the first gap length,
and so on. Set to an empty list,
{}, for a solid line.

text orientation

R/O

horizontal/vertical

The orientation of the text. Use
the text path class to
modify this value.

text path

R/O

object reference

A reference to the text path
associated with the text art item
containing this line.

real

The uniform spacing amount
between characters.

tracking

141

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists

Notes
Illustrator’s text can be accessed using the character, insertion point, word,
line, paragraph and text classes.
Lines of text cannot be created. When the contents property of a text art item is
modified, Illustrator will create text lines as it reflows the text within the text art item.

142

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AppleScript Reference

Example 23.1
Lines of text can be located with matching characteristics using the whose clause, as
this script demonstrates.
-- Color red all lines of text containing more than 80 characters
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if (count of text art items in document 1) > 0 then
set textItemCount to count of text art items in document 1
repeat with i from 1 to textItemCount
set (fill color of every line of text art item i of document 1 ¬
whose length > 80) to {red:255.0}
end repeat
end if
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

matrix

143

matrix
A transformation matrix specification, used to transform the geometry of objects.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

mvalue_a

real

Matrix property a.

mvalue_b

real

Matrix property b.

mvalue_c

real

Matrix property c.

mvalue_d

real

Matrix property d.

mvalue_tx

real

Matrix property tx.

mvalue_ty

real

Matrix property ty.

Valid Commands
• concatenate matrix
• concatenate rotation matrix
• concatenate scale matrix
• concatenate translation matrix
• equal matrices
• get identity matrix
• get rotation matrix
• get scale matrix
• get translation matrix
• invert matrix
• singular matrix

Notes
This class is used to define a record which contains the component values of an
Illustrator transformation matrix. It is used for specifying and retrieving matrix information
from an Illustrator document or from page items in a document.
Matrices are used in conjunction with the transform command and as a property of a
number of objects. A matrix specifies how to transform the geometry of an object. You can

144

matrix

AppleScript Reference

generate an original matrix using get identity matrix, get translation
matrix, get scale matrix, or get rotation matrix.
A matrix is a record containing the matrix values, not a reference to a matrix object.
The matrix commands listed above operate on the values of a matrix record. If a
command modifies a matrix, a modified matrix record is returned as the result of the
command. The original matrix record passed to the command is not modified.

Example 24.1
A matrix can be generated to effect a scale transformation using the get scale

matrix command.
-- Scale all art in a document to 50% vertical size
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if (count of page items in document 1) > 0 then
set scaleMatrix to get scale matrix horizontal scale 100.0 vertical
scale 50.0
transform every page item in document 1 using scaleMatrix
end if
end tell

Example 24.2
If you need to apply multiple transformations to objects it is more efficient to use the
matrix suite than to apply the transformations one at a time. The following script
demonstrates how to combine multiple matrices together.
-- Scale, rotate, and translate all art in a document
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if (count of page items in document 1) > 0 then
set matrixDef to ¬
get scale matrix horizontal scale 100.0 vertical scale 50.0
set matrixDef to ¬
concatenate rotation matrix matrixDef angle -45.0
set matrixDef to ¬
concatenate translation matrix matrixDef delta x 50.0 delta y -50.0

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

transform every page item in document 1 using matrixDef
end if
end tell

matrix

145

146

mesh item, mesh items

AppleScript Reference

mesh item, mesh items
A gradient mesh art object or list of gradient mesh art objects.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

tag

name, index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the mesh item
object's value. Always returns
reference.

normal/multiply/screen/
overlay/soft light/hard
light/color dodge/color
burn/darken/lighten/
difference/exclusion/hue/
saturation blend/color
blend/luminosity/numeric

The mode to use when
compositing this object. An
object is considered
composited when its opacity is
set to less than 100.0 (or
100%).

class

The mesh item object's class,
which is always mesh

blend mode

class

R/O

item.
compound path item

compound path object

The compound path contained
in this mesh item.

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the layer that
contains this mesh item.

control bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the mesh
item object's value. Always
returns reference.

boolean

is this mesh item editable?

fixed rectangle

The object’s bounds excluding
the stroke width.

graph item

graph item object

The graph item contained in this
mesh item.

group item

group item object

The group items contained in
this mesh item.

editable
geometric bounds

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

mesh item, mesh items

R/O Value type:

What it is:

height

real

The height of the mesh item,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

hidden

boolean

Is this mesh item hidden?

inheritance

R/O

class

The class that is the parent for
this class. Always returns
page item.

index

R/O

integer

The position of this mesh item
in the current stacking order of
the containing layer, where
page item 1 is always topmost.

isolated

boolean

Is this object isolated?

knockout

unknown/disabled/
enabled/inherited

Is this object used to create a
knockout?

object reference

The layer to which this mesh
item belongs.

layer

R/O

locked

boolean

Is this mesh item locked?

name

string

The name of this mesh item.

opacity

real

The opacity of this object,
where 100.0 is completely
opaque and 0.0 is completely
transparent.

page item

page item object

The page item from which this
mesh item inherits.

path item

path item object

The path item contained in this
group item.

placed item

placed item object

The placed item contained in
this mesh item.

plugin item

plugin item object

The plugin item contained in
this mesh item.

position

fixed point

The position of the top left
corner of the mesh item.

properties

record

All of the mesh item’s properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

raster item

raster item object

The raster item contained in this
mesh item.

slices

boolean

Preserve slices?

147

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mesh item, mesh items

Property:

AppleScript Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

selected

boolean

Is this mesh item selected?

symbol item

symbol item object

The symbol item contained in
this mesh item.

text art item

text art item object

The text art item contained in
this mesh item.

URL

string

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this mesh item.

visibility variable

anything

The visibility variable to which
this compound path is bound.

fixed rectangle

The object’s visible bounds,
including stroke width of any
objects in the illustration.

real

The width of the mesh item,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

visible bounds

width

R/O

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• move
• translate
• rotate
• scale
• transform

Notes
Mesh items cannot be created from a script, but can be duplicated, copied and pasted.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

page item, page items

149

page item, page items
Any art object or list of art objects. Every art object and group in a document is a page
item. You may refer to a page item as an element of a document, layer, or group
item.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

tag

name, index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the page item
object's value. Always returns
reference.

normal/multiply/screen/
overlay/soft light/hard
light/color dodge/color
burn/darken/lighten/
difference/exclusion/hue/
saturation blend/color
blend/luminosity/numeric

The mode to use when
compositing this object. An
object is considered
composited when its opacity is
set to less than 100.0 (or
100%).

class

The page item object's class,
which can be any one of the
specific classes that are
children of the page item class,
including compound

blend mode

class

R/O

path item, group
item, mesh item,
path item, placed
item, plugin item,
raster item, and
text art item.
compound path item
container
content variable

R/O

compound path object

The compound path contained
in this page item.

object reference

A reference to the layer that
contains this page item.

anything

The content variable to which
this page item is bound

150

page item, page items

AppleScript Reference

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

control bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the path
item object's value. Always
returns reference.

boolean

Is this page item editable?

fixed rectangle

The object’s bounds excluding
the stroke width.

graph item

graph item object

The graph item contained in this
page item.

group item

group item object

The group items contained in
this page item.

height

real

The height of the page item,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

boolean

Is this page item hidden?

integer

The position of this page item in
the current stacking order of the
containing layer, where page
item 1 is always topmost.

isolated

boolean

Is this object isolated?

knockout

unknown/disabled/
enabled/inherited

Is this object used to create a
knockout?

object reference

The layer to which this page
item belongs.

locked

boolean

Is this page item locked?

mesh item

mesh item object

The mesh item contained in this
page item.

name

string

The name of this page item.

opacity

real

The opacity of this object,
where 100.0 is completely
opaque and 0.0 is completely
transparent.

path item

path item object

The path item contained in this
page item.

placed item

placed item object

The placed item contained in
this page item.

plugin item

plugin item object

The plugin item contained in
this page item.

editable
geometric bounds

R/O

hidden
index

layer

R/O

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

page item, page items

R/O Value type:

What it is:

position

fixed point

The position of the top left
corner of the page item.

properties

record

All of the page item’s properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

raster item

raster item object

The raster item contained in this
page item.

selected

boolean

Is this object selected?

slices

boolean

Preserve slices?

symbol item

symbol item object

The symbol item contained in
this page item.

text art item

text art item object

The text art item contained in
this page item.

URL

string

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this page item.

visibility variable

anything

The visibility variable to which
this page item path is bound.

fixed rectangle

The object’s visible bounds,
including stroke width of any
objects in the illustration.

real

The width of the page item,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

visible bounds

width

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• move
• translate
• rotate
• scale
• transform

R/O

151

152

page item, page items

AppleScript Reference

Notes
The page item class give you complete access to every art object contained in an
Illustrator document. The page item class is the superclass of all artwork objects in a
document. The classes compound path item, group item, mesh item, path
item, placed item, plugin item, raster item, and text art item, each
inherit a set of properties from the page item class.
You cannot create a page item directly. You must use create one of the specific page
item subclasses, such as path item.

Example 25.1
The stacking order of existing page items in a layer can be manipulated using the move
command. Example 1 demonstrates how to move a page item to the top of the stacking
order (index position 1) in a layer.
-- Move the last page item of layer 1 to the top of the stacking order
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if (count of page items of layer 1 of document 1) > 1 then
move last page item of layer 1 of document 1 to ¬
beginning of layer 1 of document 1
end if
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

paragraph, paragraphs

paragraph, paragraphs
A paragraph or list of paragraphs of text in the contents of a text art object.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

character

index, before/after, range, test

insertion point

index, before/after, range, test

line

index, before/after, range, test

paragraph

index, before/after, range, test

text

index, before/after, range

word

index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

auto kerning

boolean

Should the font’s built-in kerning
rules be used?

baseline

real

Bottom position of horizontallyoriented text or left position of
vertically-oriented text.

baseline shift

real

The baseline offset.

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the paragraph
object's value. Always returns
reference.

character offset

R/O

integer

Offset from beginning (in
characters).

class

R/O

class

The paragraph object's class,
which is text.

clipping

R/O

boolean

Is there a clipping path
associated with the text art item
containing this paragraph?

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the text art item
that contains this text.

contents

string

The contents of the character
as a string.

default tab size

real

The default distance between
tab stops.

153

154

paragraph, paragraphs

AppleScript Reference

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the
paragraph object, which is
string. The string value
returned is the value contained
in the paragraph’s
contents property.

desired letter spacing

real

The desired letter spacing
expressed as a percentage,
where 100.0 is 100%.

desired word spacing

real

The desired word spacing
expressed as a percentage,
where 100.0 is 100%.

direction

normal/rotated/KumiMoji

The direction of characters in a
vertical text block.

evenodd

boolean

Should the even-odd rule be
used to determine fills?

fill color

The text’s fill color.
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

fill overprint

boolean

Should art beneath the filled
text be overprinted?

filled

boolean

Should the text’s path be filled?

first line indent

real

The left indent of the first line of
text.

font

string

The name of the text face (font).

hanging punctuation

boolean

Should punctuation appear
outside the margins of the
paragraph?

hyphenation

boolean

Is hyphenation enabled for the
paragraph?

integer

The index of this text in the
complete string.

justification

unknown/left/center/
right/justify full lines/
justify all lines

The text justification for the
paragraph.

leading

real

The leading.

left indent

real

The left indent of the margin.

integer

Length (in characters).

index

length

R/O

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

paragraph, paragraphs

R/O Value type:

What it is:

limit consecutive hyphenations

boolean

Is there a limit on the number of
consecutive hyphenated lines?

maximum consecutive hyphens

integer

The maximum number of
consecutive hyphenated lines if

limit consecutive
hyphenations is set to
true.
maximum letter spacing

real

The maximum letter spacing
expressed as a percentage,
where 100.0 is 100%.

maximum word spacing

real

The maximum word spacing
expressed as a percentage,
where 100.0 is 100%.

minimum after hyphen

integer

The minimum number of
characters after a hyphen.

minimum before hyphen

integer

The minimum number of
characters before a hyphen.

minimum letter spacing

real

The minimum letter spacing
expressed as a percentage,
where 100.0 is 100%.

minimum word spacing

real

The minimum word spacing
expressed as a percentage,
where 100.0 is 100%.

string

A note associated with the text.

properties

record

All of the character’s properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

repeated character processing

boolean

Should Repeated Character
Processing be used in the
paragraph?

real

The resolution of the path in
dots per inch.

right indent

real

The right indent of margin.

scaling

fixed point

Horizontal and vertical scaling
specified as a fixed point.

size

real

The font size.

note

resolution

R/O

R/O

space before

real

The spacing before paragraphs.

stroke cap

butted/rounded/
projecting

The type of cap on the
character’s stroke.

155

156

paragraph, paragraphs

Property:

AppleScript Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

stroke color

The text’s stroke color.
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

stroke dash offset

real

The default distance to start the
stroke dash pattern.

stroke dashes

list (of real numbers)

The lengths for dashes and
gaps in dashed lines, starting
with the first dash length,
followed by the first gap length,
and so on. Set to an empty list,
{}, for a solid line.

stroke join

mitered/rounded/beveled The type of joins in the
character’s stroke.

stroke miter limit

real

The angle at which a stroke join
switches from mitered to
beveled.

stroke overprint

boolean

Should art beneath the stroked
text be overprinted?

stroke width

real

The width of the stroke.

stroked

boolean

Should the text’s path be
stroked?

tab stops

list (of tab stop info)

The tab stop settings for the
paragraph.

text orientation

R/O

horizontal/vertical

The orientation of the text. Use
the text path class to
modify this value.

text path

R/O

object reference

A reference to the text path
associated with the text art item
containing this paragraph.

real

The uniform spacing amount
between characters.

tracking

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

paragraph, paragraphs

157

• make

Notes
Illustrator’s text can be accessed using the character, insertion point, word,
line, paragraph and text classes. All text is contained within text art items.
The paragraph class has additional properties that other related classes do not share,
including properties for margins, tab stop settings, hyphenation, and word/letter spacing.

Example 26.1
The hyphenation of all text can be quickly changed from a script, as this example shows.
-- Enable hyphenation for every paragraph of the current document
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if (count of text art items of document 1) > 0 then
set itemCounter to count of text art items of document 1
repeat with i from 1 to itemCounter
set hyphenation of (every paragraph of text art item i of document
1) to true
end repeat
end if
end tell

158

path item, path items

AppleScript Reference

path item, path items
A path or list of paths. A path is comprised of path points that define its geometry.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

path point

index, before/after, range, test

tag

name, index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

area

R/O

real

The area of this path in square
points. An area may be
negative or even 0. The paths
winding order is determined by
the sign of area. If the area is
negative, the path is wound
counter-clockwise. Selfintersecting paths may contain
sub-areas that cancel each
other out. Therefore, it is
possible for a path’s area to
appear as zero even though it
has apparent area.

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the path item
object's value. Always returns
reference.

normal/multiply/screen/
overlay/soft light/hard
light/color dodge/color
burn/darken/lighten/
difference/exclusion/hue/
saturation blend/color
blend/luminosity/numeric

The mode to use when
compositing this object. An
object is considered
composited when its opacity is
set to less than 100.0 (or
100%).

class

The path item object's class,
which is always path

blend mode

class

R/O

item.
clipping

boolean

Is this path to be used as a
clipping path?

closed

boolean

Is this path closed?

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

path item, path items

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the compound
path item, layer or group item
that contains this path item.

compound path object

The compound path contained
in this path item.

compound path item
control bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the path
item object's value. Always
returns reference.

boolean

Is this path item editable?

editable
entire path

list (of path point info)

All the path item's path points.

evenodd

boolean

Use the even-odd rule to
determine insideness?

fill color

cmyk color info/gray
color info/rgb color info/
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

The fill color of the path.

fill overprint

boolean

Will art beneath a filled object
be overprinted?

filled

boolean

Should the path be filled?

fixed rectangle

The object’s bounds excluding
the stroke width.

graph item

graph item object

The graph item contained in this
path item.

group item

group item object

The group items contained in
this path item.

guides

boolean

Is this path a guide object?

height

real

The height of the path item
excluding stroke width,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

hidden

boolean

Is this path item hidden?

integer

The position of this path item in
the current stacking order of the
containing layer, where path
item 1 is always the topmost
path item.

geometric bounds

index

R/O

R/O

159

160

path item, path items

AppleScript Reference

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

inheritance

R/O

class

The class that is the parent for
this class. Always returns
page item.

isolated

boolean

Is this object isolated?

knockout

unknown/disabled/
enabled/inherited

Is this object used to create a
knockout?

object reference

The layer to which this path
item belongs.

locked

boolean

Is this path item locked?

mesh item

mesh item object

The mesh item contained in this
path item.

name

string

The name of this path item.

note

string

The note text assigned to the
path.

opacity

real

The opacity of this object,
where 100.0 is completely
opaque and 0.0 is completely
transparent.

page item

page item object

The page item from which this
path item inherits.

placed item

placed item object

The placed item contained in
this path item.

plugin item

plugin item object

The plugin item contained in
this path item.

positive/negative

Used in the creation of
compound paths.

position

fixed point

The position of the top left
corner of the path item
excluding stroke width.

properties

record

All of the path item’s properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

raster item

raster item object

The raster item contained in this
path item.

resolution

real

The resolution of the path (in
dots per inch).

selected

boolean

Is this object selected?

layer

polarity

R/O

R/W

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

path item, path items

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

selected path points

R/O

list (of object references)

All of the selected path points in
the path.

slices

boolean

Preserve slices?

stroke cap

butted/rounded/
projecting

The type of line capping.

stroke color

cmyk color info/gray
color info/rgb color info/
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

The stroke color for the path.

stroke dash offset

real

The default distance into the
dash pattern at which the
pattern should be started.

stroke dashes

list (of real numbers)

The lengths for dashes and
gaps in dashed lines, starting
with the first dash length,
followed by the first gap length,
and so on. Set to an empty list,
{}, for a solid line.

stroke join

mitered/rounded/beveled Type of joints for the path.

stroke miter limit

real

Are joins mitered (pointed) or
beveled (squared-off)?

stroke overprint

boolean

Will art beneath a stroked
object be overprinted?

stroke width

real

Width of stroke.

stroked

boolean

Should the path be stroked?

symbol item

symbol item object

The symbol item contained in
this path item.

text art item

text art item object

The text art item contained in
this path item.

URL

string

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this path item.

visibility variable

anything

The visibility variable to which
this path item is bound.

fixed rectangle

The object’s visible bounds,
including stroke width of any
objects in the illustration.

real

The width of the path item
excluding stroke width,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

visible bounds

width

R/O

161

162

path item, path items

AppleScript Reference

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• move
• translate
• rotate
• scale
• transform

Notes
The path item class give you complete access to paths in Illustrator.

Example 27.1
The stroke width and color of a path can be easily set, as demonstrated in this example.
-- Set the stroke of the first path to a red 4 point line
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if (count of path items of document 1) > 0 then
set properties of path item 1 of document 1 to ¬
{stroke width:4.0, stroke color:{red:255.0}}
end if
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

path point, path points

163

path point, path points
A point or points on a specific path. Each path point is made up of a fixed point (anchor)
and a pair of handles (left direction and right direction).

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

anchor

What it is:

fixed point

The position of this point’s
anchor point.

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the path point
object's value. Always returns
reference.

class

R/O

class

The path point object's class,
which is path point.

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the path item that
contains this path point.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the path
point object's value. Always
returns reference.

index

R/O

integer

The position of this path point in
the path item.

left direction

fixed point

The position of the path point’s
left direction point (in position).

point type

smooth/corner

Is this a corner path point or a
curve path point?

properties

record

All of the path point’s properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

right direction

fixed point

The position of the path point’s
left direction point (out position).

selected

none/anchor selected/
left selected/right
selected/left right
selected

Which points in this path point
are currently selected?

Valid Commands
• count
• delete

164

path point, path points

AppleScript Reference

• duplicate
• exists
• make

Notes
A path point represents a point of a path, with its pair of control points, or handles. Any
point can considered a corner point. Setting the point type property of a path point to
a corner forces the left and right direction points to be on a straight line when the user
attempts to modify them in the user interface.

Example 28.1
Example 28.1 demonstrates how a path point of a path can be modified.
-- Move the first point in a path to the same spot as the last point
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if (count of path items of document 1) > 0 then
set lastAnchor to anchor of last path point of path item 1 of document
1
set anchor of path point 1 of path item 1 of document 1 to lastAnchor
end if
end tell

Example 28.2
Example 28.2 demonstrates how to retrieve the coordinates of every point on a path.
-- Returns the coordinates of each point on a path
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if (count of path items of document 1) > 0 then
set anchorList to (anchor of every path point of path item 1 of
document 1)
end if
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

path point info

165

path point info
Path point information for a specific path item, returned by the entire path property
of a path item.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

anchor

fixed point

The position of a path point’s
anchor point.

left direction

fixed point

The position of a path point’s
left direction point (in position).

point type

smooth/corner

Is this a corner path point or a
curve path point?

right direction

fixed point

The position of a path point’s
left direction point (out position).

Notes
All of the path points in a specific path item can be retrieved and specified using entire
path, which returns a list of path point info records.

Example 29.1
Example 29.1 demonstrates how to get every path point for a specific path item.
-- Returns the path points of the first path
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if (count of path items of document 1) > 0 then
set pointList to entire path of path item 1 of document 1
end if
end tell

166

pattern, patterns

AppleScript Reference

pattern, patterns
A pattern definition or list of definitions contained in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the pattern
object's value. Always returns
reference.

class

R/O

class

The pattern object's class,
which is pattern.

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the document
that contains this pattern.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the pattern
object's value. Always returns
reference.

index

R/O

integer

The position of this pattern in
the application.

name

string

The pattern name.

properties

record

All of the pattern properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists

Notes
Illustrator’s pattern object represents a pattern as defined in the Illustrator application.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

pattern, patterns

Example 30.1
Example 30.1 demonstrates how the name of a pattern can be retrieved.
-- Returns the name of the first pattern
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set pathname to name of pattern 1 of document 1
end tell

167

168

pattern color info

AppleScript Reference

pattern color info
A pattern color specification, used to specify a pattern color in conjunction with the
color property.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

matrix

matrix

An additional transformation
matrix to manipulate the
prototype pattern,

pattern

object reference

A reference to the pattern
object that defines the pattern
to use in this color definition.

reflect

boolean

Is the prototype reflected before
filling?

reflect angle

real

The axis (in degrees) around
which to reflect.

rotation

real

The angle (in degrees) to rotate
the prototype pattern before
filling.

scale factor

fixed point

The horizontal and vertical
scaling to scale the prototype
pattern expressed as a fixed
point.

shear angle

real

The angle (in degrees) to slant
the shear by.

shear axis

real

The axis (in degrees) to shear
with respect to.

shift angle

real

The angle (in degrees) to
translate the unscaled
prototype pattern before filling

shift distance

real

The distance to translate the
unscaled prototype pattern
before filling.

Notes
Pattern colors are created using a reference to an existing pattern in a document. A
matrix may be specified to further transform the pattern color.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

pattern color info

169

Example 31.1
Example 31.1 demonstrates how the default fill color of the current document can be set
to a pattern color specification.
--This script sets the default fill of the document to the first pattern
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set default fill color of document 1 to {pattern:pattern 1 of document
1}
end tell

170

PDF open options

AppleScript Reference

PDF open options
You can supply an option when opening a PDF file. See the open command in the
command reference for additional details.

Properties
Property:
page

R/O Value type:
integer

What it is:
What page should be used
when opening a multipage
document (default: 1)

Notes
This class is used to define a record containing properties used to specify options when
opening a document as a PDF file. PDF open options can only be supplied in
conjunction with the open command. It is not possible to get or create a PDF open
options object.
It is not necessary to specify values for this property; Illustrator will assign it a default
value.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PDF save options

171

PDF save options
Options which may be supplied when saving a document as an Acrobat PDF file. See the
save command in the command reference for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

color compression

none/automatic/JPEG
minimum/JPEG low/
JPEG medium/JPEG
high/JPEG maximum/
ZIP4bit/ZIP8bit

The type of color bitmap
compression used.
default: ZIP8bit

color downsampling

real

The downsampling resolution to
use for color images in dots per
inch (dpi). If set to zero (0), no
downsampling occurs.
default: 300.0

compatibility

Acrobat 4/Acrobat 5

Specifies the version of the
Acrobat file format to create.
default: Acrobat 5

compress art

boolean

Is line art and text to be
compressed?
default: true

embed all fonts

boolean

Are all fonts to be embedded?
default: true

embed ICC profile

boolean

Should the document’s ICC
profile be embedded in the
saved file?
default: true

font subset threshold

real
range: 0.0 - 100.0

Include a subset of fonts when
less than this percentage of
characters are used.
default: 100.0

generate thumbnails

boolean

Should thumbnails be
generated for the saved
document?
default: true

grayscale compression

none/automatic/JPEG
minimum/JPEG low/
JPEG medium/JPEG
high/JPEG maximum/
ZIP4bit/ZIP8bit

Specifies type of grayscale
bitmap compression used.
default: ZIP8bit

172

PDF save options

Property:

AppleScript Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

grayscale downsampling

real

The downsampling resolution to
use for grayscale images in
dots per inch (dpi). If set to zero
(0), no downsampling occurs.
default: ZIP8bit

monochrome compression

none/CCITT3/CCITT4/
ZIP/run length

Specifies type of monochrome
bitmap compression used.
default: ZIP

monochrome downsampling

real

The downsampling resolution to
use for monochrome images in
dots per inch (dpi). If set to zero
(0), no downsampling occurs.
default: 1200

preserve editability

boolean

Should Illustrator editing
capabilities be preserved when
saving the document?
default: true

Notes
This class is used to define a record containing properties used to specify options when
saving a document as a PDF file. PDF save options can only be supplied in
conjunction with the save command. It is not possible to get or create a PDF save
options object.
It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Example 32.1
This handler processes a folder of Illustrator files, saving each file as a PDF file, with
Illustrator editability and Acrobat 4 compatibility. Note that the class property is
specified in the record to ensure that Illustrator can determine the save option class.
-- fileList is a list of aliases to Illustrator files
-- destinationFolder is an alias to a folder where the PDF files are to be saved
on SaveFilesAsPDF(fileList, destinationFolder)
set destinationPath to destinationFolder as string
repeat with aFile in fileList

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PDF save options

173

tell application "Finder" to set fileName to name of aFile
set newFilePath to destinationPath & fileName & ".pdf"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
open aFile
save current document in file newFilePath as pdf ¬
with options {class:PDF save options ¬
, compatibility:Acrobat 4 ¬
, preserve editability:true}
close current document saving no
end tell
end repeat
end SaveFilesAsPDF

-- Call handler
set sourceFolder to choose folder with prompt "Source folder?"
tell application "Finder" to ¬
set fileList to every file of folder sourceFolder as alias list
set destinationFolder to choose folder with prompt "Destination folder?"
SaveFilesAsPDF(fileList, destinationFolder)

174

Photoshop options

AppleScript Reference

Photoshop options
You can supply options when opening a Photoshop file.See the open command in the
command reference for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

area

R/O

real

The area of this path in square
points. An area may be
negative or even 0. The paths
winding order is determined by
the sign of area. If the area is
negative, the path is wound
counter-clockwise. Selfintersecting paths may contain
sub-areas that cancel each
other out. Therefore, it is
possible for a path’s area to
appear as zero even though it
has apparent area.

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the path item
object's value. Always returns
reference.

normal/multiply/screen/
overlay/soft light/hard
light/color dodge/color
burn/darken/lighten/
difference/exclusion/hue/
saturation blend/color
blend/luminosity/numeric

The mode to use when
compositing this object. An
object is considered
composited when its opacity is
set to less than 100.0 (or
100%).

class

The path item object's class,
which is always path

blend mode

class

R/O

item.
clipping

boolean

Is this path to be used as a
clipping path?

closed

boolean

Is this path closed?

content variable

anything

The content variable to which
this path item is bound.

object reference

A reference to the compound
path item, layer or group item
that contains this path item.

container

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Photoshop options

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

control bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the path
item object's value. Always
returns reference.

editable

boolean

Is this path item editable?

entire path

list (of path point info)

All the path item's path points.

evenodd

boolean

Use the even-odd rule to
determine insideness?

fill color

cmyk color info/gray
color info/rgb color info/
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

The fill color of the path.

fill overprint

boolean

Will art beneath a filled object
be overprinted?

filled

boolean

Should the path be filled?

fixed rectangle

The object’s bounds excluding
the stroke width.

guides

boolean

Is this path a guide object?

height

real

The height of the path item
excluding stroke width,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

hidden

boolean

Is this path item hidden?

geometric bounds

R/O

index

R/O

integer

The position of this path item in
the current stacking order of the
containing layer, where path
item 1 is always the topmost
path item.

inheritance

R/O

class

The class that is the parent for
this class. Always returns
page item.

isolated

boolean

Is this object isolated?

knockout

unknown/disabled/
enabled/inherited

Is this object used to create a
knockout?

object reference

The layer to which this path
item belongs.

boolean

Is this path item locked?

layer
locked

R/O

175

176

Photoshop options

Property:

AppleScript Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

name

string

The name of this path item.

note

string

The note text assigned to the
path.

opacity

real

The opacity of this object,
where 100.0 is completely
opaque and 0.0 is completely
transparent.

positive/negative

Used in the creation of
compound paths.

position

fixed point

The position of the top left
corner of the path item
excluding stroke width.

preserve image maps

boolean

Should image maps be
preserved when the document
is converted? (default: true)

preserve layers

boolean

Should layers be preserved
when the document is
converted? (default: true)

preserve slices

boolean

Should slices be preserved
when the document is
converted? (default: true)

properties

record

All of the path item’s properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

resolution

real

The resolution of the path (in
dots per inch).

selected

boolean

Is this object selected?

list (of object references)

All of the selected path points in
the path.

stroke cap

butted/rounded/
projecting

The type of line capping.

stroke color

cmyk color info/gray
color info/rgb color info/
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

The stroke color for the path.

stroke dash offset

real

The default distance into the
dash pattern at which the
pattern should be started.

polarity

selected path points

R/W

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

Photoshop options

R/O Value type:

What it is:

stroke dashes

list (of real numbers)

stroke join

mitered/rounded/beveled Type of joints for the path.

stroke miter limit

real

Are joins mitered (pointed) or
beveled (squared-off)?

stroke overprint

boolean

Will art beneath a stroked
object be overprinted?

stroke width

real

Width of stroke.

stroked

boolean

Should the path be stroked?

URL

string

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this path item.

visibility variable

anything

The visibility variable to which
this path item is bound.

fixed rectangle

The object’s visible bounds,
including stroke width of any
objects in the illustration.

real

The width of the path item
excluding stroke width,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

visible bounds

width

R/O

The lengths for dashes and
gaps in dashed lines, starting
with the first dash length,
followed by the first gap length,
and so on. Set to an empty list,
{}, for a solid line.

177

178

Photoshop export options

AppleScript Reference

Photoshop export options
Options which may be supplied when exporting a document as a Photoshop file. See the
export command in the command reference for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

antialiasing

boolean

Should the exported image be
anti-aliased? default: true

color space

Gray/RGB/CMYK

The color space of the exported
file. default: RGB

compound shapes

boolean

Export compound shapes as
shape layers? (default: true)

editable text

boolean

Export text objects as editable
text layers? (default: true)

embed ICC profile

boolean

Should an ICC profile be
embedded in the exported
image? default: false

hidden layers

boolean

Should the hidden layers of the
Illustrator document be
preserved in the exported
image? default: false

image map

boolean

For RGB documents, should
the image maps be preserved
in ImageReady 3.0 format?
(default: true)

nested layers

boolean

Should the nested layers of the
Illustrator document be
preserved in the exported
image? default: false

resolution

real

The resolution of the exported
image (in dots per inch). default:

150.0
slices

boolean

Preserve slices in exported
document? (default: true)

warnings

boolean

Should a warning dialog be
displayed because of conflicts
in the export settings? (default:
true)

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:
write layers

Photoshop export options

R/O Value type:
boolean

179

What it is:
Should the layers of the
Illustrator document be
preserved in the exported
image? default: true

Notes
This class is used to define a record containing properties that specify options when
exporting a document as a Photoshop file. Photoshop export options can only
be supplied in conjunction with the export command. It is not possible to get or create
an Photoshop export options object.
It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Example 33.1
This handler saves all files in a folder as layered Photoshop files. Note that the class
property is specified in the record to ensure that Illustrator can determine the save option
class.
-- fileList is a list of aliases to Illustrator files
-- destinationFolder is an alias to a folder where the Photoshop files
-- are to be saved
on SaveFilesAsPhotoshop(fileList, destinationFolder)
set destinationPath to destinationFolder as string
repeat with aFile in fileList
tell application "Finder" to set fileName to name of aFile
set newFilePath to destinationPath & fileName & ".ps"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
open aFile
export current document to file newFilePath as Photoshop ¬
with options {class:Photoshop export options ¬
, embed ICC profile:true ¬
, resolution:120}

180

Photoshop export options

AppleScript Reference

close current document saving no
end tell
end repeat
end SaveFilesAsPhotoshop

-- Call handler
set sourceFolder to choose folder with prompt "Source folder?"
tell application "Finder" to ¬
set fileList to every file of folder sourceFolder as alias list
set destinationFolder to choose folder with prompt "Destination folder?"
SaveFilesAsPhotoshop(fileList, destinationFolder)

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

placed item, placed items

181

placed item, placed items
An artwork item (optionally stored in an external file) placed in a document. A placed item
must correspond to a file containing vector-graphic data, such as a PICT, EPS or PDF file.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

tag

name, index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the placed
item object's value. Always
returns reference.

normal/multiply/screen/
overlay/soft light/hard
light/color dodge/color
burn/darken/lighten/
difference/exclusion/hue/
saturation blend/color
blend/luminosity/numeric

The mode to use when
compositing this object. An
object is considered
composited when its opacity is
set to less than 100.0 (or
100%).

blend mode

bounding box

R/O

fixed rectangle

Dimensions of placed item
regardless of transformations.

class

R/O

class

The placed art item object's
class, which is always
placed item.

compound path object

The compound path contained
in this placed item.

object reference

A reference to the layer that
contains this placed item.

anything

The content variable to which
this placed item is bound.

compound path item
container

R/O

content variable
control bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the placed
item object's value. Always
returns reference.

editable

boolean

Is this placed item editable?

file path

file specification

The file containing the placed
artwork.

182

placed item, placed items

AppleScript Reference

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

geometric bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The object’s bounds excluding
the stroke width.

graph item

graph item object

The graph item contained in this
placed item.

group item

group item object

The group items contained in
this placed item.

height

real

The height of the placed item,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

hidden

boolean

Is this placed item hidden?

index

R/O

integer

The position of this placed item
in the current stacking order of
the containing layer, where
page item 1 is always topmost.

inheritance

R/O

class

The class that is the parent for
this class. Always returns
page item.

isolated

boolean

Is this object isolated?

knockout

unknown/disabled/
enabled/inherited

Is this object used to create a
knockout?

object reference

The layer to which this placed
item belongs.

locked

boolean

Is this placed item locked?

matrix

matrix

The transformation matrix
applied to the placed item.

mesh item

mesh item object

The mesh item contained in this
placed item.

name

string

The name of this placed item.

opacity

real

The opacity of this object,
where 100.0 is completely
opaque and 0.0 is completely
transparent.

page item

page item object

The page item from which this
placed item inherits.

path item

path item object

The path item contained in this
placed item.

placed item

placed item object

The placed item contained in
this placed item.

plugin item

plugin item object

The plugin item contained in
this placed item.

layer

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

placed item, placed items

R/O Value type:

What it is:

position

fixed point

The position of the top left
corner of the placed item.

properties

record

All of the placed item’s
properties returned in a single
record (properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

raster item

raster item object

The raster item contained in this
placed item.

selected

boolean

Is this placed item selected?

slices

boolean

Preserve slices?

symbol item

symbol item object

The symbol item contained in
this placed item.

text art item

text art item object

The text art item contained in
this placed item.

URL

string

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this placed item.

visibility variable

anything

The visibility variable to which
this placed item is bound.

fixed rectangle

The object’s visible bounds,
including stroke width of any
objects in the illustration.

real

The width of the placed item,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

visible bounds

width

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• move
• rotate
• scale
• transform
• translate

R/O

183

184

placed item, placed items

AppleScript Reference

Notes
When you create a placed item, Illustrator may display a dialog. To avoid this dialog,
check the box to turn the warning off the first time the dialog is displayed.
It is not necessary to set the type of the content variable before binding.
Illustrator automatically sets the type to image.
Users can place vector art files, such as EPS and PDF files, with the File >
Place... command in Illustrator. Placed items can be created from vector art files
in a script using the technique illustrated in the following example.

Example 34.1
This example places a vector art file in the current document.
-- Create a new placed vector art item
-- fileRef is an alias or file reference to the vector file to be placed
-- itemPosition is a fixed point at which to position the placed item
property itemPosition: {100.0, 200.0}
set fileRef to choose file with prompt "Select vector art file"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set placedRef to make new placed item in document 1 with properties ¬
{file path:fileRef, position:itemPosition}
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

plugin item, plugin items

plugin item, plugin items
An art object or objects created by an Illustrator plug-in.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

tag

name, index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the plugin item
object's value. Always returns
reference.

normal/multiply/screen/
overlay/soft light/hard
light/color dodge/color
burn/darken/lighten/
difference/exclusion/hue/
saturation blend/color
blend/luminosity/numeric

The mode to use when
compositing this object. An
object is considered
composited when its opacity is
set to less than 100.0 (or
100%).

class

The plugin item object's class,
which is always plugin

blend mode

class

R/O

item.
compound path item

compound path object

The compound path contained
in this plugin item.

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the layer that
contains this plugin item.

control bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the
document object's value.
Always returns
reference.

boolean

Is this plugin item editable?

fixed rectangle

The object’s bounds excluding
the stroke width.

graph item

graph item object

The graph item contained in this
plugin item.

group item

group item object

The group items contained in
this plugin item.

editable
geometric bounds

R/O

185

186

plugin item, plugin items

Property:

AppleScript Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

height

real

The height of the plugin item,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

hidden

boolean

Is this plugin item hidden?

index

R/O

integer

The position of this plugin item
in the current stacking order of
the containing layer, where
plugin item 1 is always the
topmost plugin item.

inheritance

R/O

class

The class that is the parent for
this class. Always returns
page item.

isolated

boolean

Is this object isolated?

knockout

unknown/disabled/
enabled/inherited

Is this object used to create a
knockout?

object reference

The layer to which this plugin
item belongs.

locked

boolean

Is this plugin item locked?

mesh item

mesh item object

The mesh item contained in this
plugin item.

name

string

The name of this plugin item.

opacity

real

The opacity of this object,
where 100.0 is completely
opaque and 0.0 is completely
transparent.

page item

page item object

The page item from which this
plugin item inherits.

path item

path item object

The path item contained in this
plugin item.

placed item

placed item object

The placed item contained in
this plugin item.

position

fixed point

The position of the top left
corner of the plugin item.

properties

record

All of the plugin item’s
properties returned in a single
record (properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

raster item

raster item object

The raster item contained in this
plugin item.

selected

boolean

Is this plugin item selected?

layer

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

plugin item, plugin items

R/O Value type:

What it is:

slices

boolean

Preserve slices?

symbol item

symbol item object

The symbol item contained in
this plugin item.

text art item

text art item object

The text art item contained in
this plugin item.

URL

string

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this plugin item.

visibility variable

anything

The visibility variable to which
this plugin item is bound.

fixed rectangle

The object’s visible bounds,
including stroke width of any
objects in the illustration.

real

The width of the plugin item,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

visible bounds

width

R/O

187

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• move
• translate
• rotate
• scale
• transform

Notes
Plug-in items cannot be created from a script, but can be duplicated, copied and pasted.

188

PNG24 export options

AppleScript Reference

PNG24 export options
Options which may be supplied when exporting a document as a PNG file with 24-bit
color. See the export command in the command reference for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

antialiasing

boolean

Should the resulting image be
anti-aliased? default: true

artboard clipping

boolean

Should the resulting image be
clipped to the artboard? default:

false
horizontal scaling

real

The percent horizontal scaling
factor to apply to the resulting
image. range: 0.0 - 100.0.
default: 100.0

matte

boolean

Should the artboard be matted
with a color? default: true

matte color

RGB color info

The color to use when matting
the artboard. default:

{255.0, 255.0,
255.0}
saving as HTML

boolean

Should the resulting image be
saved with an accompanying
HTML file? default: false

transparency

boolean

Should the resulting image use
transparency? default: true

vertical scaling

real

The percentage vertical scaling
factor to apply to the resulting
image. range: 0.0 - 100.0.
default: 100.0

Notes
This class is used to define a record containing properties that specify options when
exporting a document as a PNG24 file. PNG24 export options can only be
supplied in conjunction with the export command. It is not possible to get or create a
PNG24 export options object.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PNG24 export options

189

It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Example 35.1
This handler saves all files in a folder as 24 bit PNG files in HTML format scaled to 50%.
Note that the class property is specified in the record to ensure that Illustrator can
determine the save option class.
-- fileList is a list of aliases to Illustrator files
-- destinationFolder is an alias to a folder where the PNG files are to be saved
on SaveFilesAsPNG24HTML(fileList, destinationFolder)
set destinationPath to destinationFolder as string
repeat with aFile in fileList
tell application "Finder" to set fileName to name of aFile
set newFilePath to destinationPath & fileName & ".png"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
open aFile
export current document to file newFilePath as PNG24 ¬
with options {class:PNG24 export options ¬
, horizontal scaling:50.0 ¬
, vertical scaling:50.0 ¬
, saving as HTML:true}
close current document saving no
end tell
end repeat
end SaveFilesAsPNG24HTML

-- Call handler
set sourceFolder to choose folder with prompt "Source folder?"
tell application "Finder" to ¬
set fileList to every file of folder sourceFolder as alias list
set destinationFolder to choose folder with prompt "Destination folder?"
SaveFilesAsPNG24HTML(fileList, destinationFolder)

190

PNG8 export options

AppleScript Reference

PNG8 export options
Options which may be supplied when exporting a document as a PNG file with 8-bit color.
See the export command in the command reference for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

antialiasing

boolean

Should the resulting image be
anti-aliased? default: true

artboard clipping

boolean
default: false

Should the resulting image be
clipped to the artboard?

color count

integer
range: 2 - 256
default: 128

The number of colors in the
exported color table. This value
can range from 2 to 256. The
default value is 128 if the
property is not set explicitly.

color dither

none/diffusion/pattern
dither/ noise
default: diffusion

The method used to dither
colors.

color reduction

selective/adaptive/
perceptual/web
default: selective

The method used to reduce the
number of colors in the
document.

dither percent

integer
range: 0 - 100
default: 88

How much should the colors be
dithered as a percentage?

horizontal scaling

real
range: 0.0 - 100.0
default: 100.0

The percentage horizontal
scaling factor to apply to the
resulting image.

interlaced

boolean
default: false

Should the resulting image be
interlaced?

matte

boolean

Should the artboard be matted
with a color? default: true

matte color

RGB color info

The color to use when matting
the artboard. default:

{255.0, 255.0,
255.0}
saving as HTML

boolean

Should the resulting image be
saved with an accompanying
HTML file?

transparency

boolean

Should the resulting image use
transparency? default: true

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:
vertical scaling

PNG8 export options

R/O Value type:
real

191

What it is:
The percentage vertical scaling
factor to apply to the resulting
image. range: 0.0 - 100.0.
default: 100.0

web snap

integer

How much should the color
table be changed to match the
web pallet as a percentage?
range: 0 - 100. default: 0

Notes
This class is used to define a record containing properties that specify options when
exporting a document as a PNG8 file. PNG8 export options can only be supplied
in conjunction with the export command. It is not possible to get or create an PNG8
export options object.
It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Example 36.1
This handler saves all files in a folder as 8 bit PNG files in HTML format with dithering and
interlacing. Note that the class property is specified in the record to ensure that
Illustrator can determine the save option class.
-- fileList is a list of aliases to Illustrator files
-- destinationFolder is an alias to a folder where the PNG files are to be saved
on SaveFilesAsPNG8HTML(fileList, destinationFolder)
set destinationPath to destinationFolder as string
repeat with aFile in fileList
tell application "Finder" to set fileName to name of aFile
set newFilePath to destinationPath & fileName & ".png"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
open aFile
export current document to file newFilePath as PNG8 ¬

192

PNG8 export options

AppleScript Reference

with options {class:PNG8 export options ¬
, color count:64 ¬
, color reduction:web ¬
, color dither:pattern dither ¬
, dither percent:50 ¬
, interlaced:true ¬
, saving as HTML:true}
close current document saving no
end tell
end repeat
end SaveFilesAsPNG8HTML

-- Call handler
set sourceFolder to choose folder with prompt "Source folder?"
tell application "Finder" to ¬
set fileList to every file of folder sourceFolder as alias list
set destinationFolder to choose folder with prompt "Destination folder?"
SaveFilesAsPNG8HTML(fileList, destinationFolder)

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

polygon

193

polygon
A class used to create a multi-sided path in an Illustrator document. This class can only
be used to create new path item objects.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

center point

W/O

The center point for the
polygon. default: {200.0,

fixed point

300.0}
radius

W/O

real

The radius of the polygon’s
points. default: 50.0

reversed

W/O

boolean

Is the polygon path reversed?
default: false

sides

W/O

integer (unsigned)

The number of sides for the
polygon. default: 8

Valid Commands
• make

Notes
Illustrator’s polygon object is available to use with the make command exclusively. The
class of the object created will be a path item. Therefore, the properties for a polygon are
write-once (W/O) in the sense that they can be used only to specify the creation of a new
path item. This special class allows you to quickly create complex path items using the
properties provided. If you do not specify any properties when making a new polygon,
default values will be used. Properties usually associated with path items, such as fill
color, can also be specified at the time of creation.

Example 37.1
Example 37.1 demonstrates how to create a polygon.
-- Make an octagon in document 1
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set pathRef to make new polygon in document 1 with properties ¬
{center point:{200.0, 200.0}, radius:40.0, sides:8}
end tell

194

raster item, raster items

AppleScript Reference

raster item, raster items
A bitmap art object or list of objects.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

tag

name, index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the raster item
object. Always returns
reference.

blend mode

normal/multiply/screen/
overlay/soft light/hard
light/color dodge/color
burn/darken/lighten/
difference/exclusion/hue/
saturation blend/color
blend/luminosity/numeric

The mode to use when
compositing this object. An
object is considered
composited when its opacity is
set to less than 100.0 (or
100%).

bounding box

fixed rectangle

Dimensions of raster item
regardless of transformations.

class

R/O

class

The raster item’s class.

color space

R/O

Gray/RGB/CMYK

The color space of the raster
image.

compound path object

The compound path contained
in this raster item.

object reference

A reference to the layer that
contains this raster item.

anything

The contents of the variable to
which this raster item is bound.

compound path
container

R/O

content variable
control bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the raster
item. Always returns
reference.

editable

boolean

Is this raster item editable?

embedded

boolean

Is the raster art embedded
within the illustration?

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

raster item, raster items

R/O Value type:

file path

What it is:

file specification

The file containing the raster
artwork, if it is stored externally.

fixed rectangle

The object’s bounds excluding
the stroke width.

graph item

graph item object

The graph item contained in this
raster item.

group item

group item object

The group items contained in
this raster item.

height

real

The height of the raster item,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

hidden

boolean

Is this raster item hidden?

geometric bounds

R/O

index

R/O

integer

The position of this raster item
in the current stacking order of
the containing layer, where
raster item 1 is always the
topmost raster item.

inheritance

R/O

class

The class that is the parent for
this class. Always returns
page item.

isolated

boolean

Is this object isolated?

knockout

unknown/disabled/
enabled/inherited

Is this object used to create a
knockout?

object reference

The layer to which this raster
item belongs.

locked

boolean

Is this raster item locked?

matrix

matrix

The transformation matrix of the
raster art object.

name

string

The name of this raster item.

opacity

real

The opacity of this object,
where 100.0 is completely
opaque and 0.0 is completely
transparent.

page item

page item object

The page item from which this
raster item inherits.

path item

path item object

The path item contained in this
raster item.

placed item

placed item object

The placed item contained in
this raster item.

layer

R/O

195

196

raster item, raster items

Property:

AppleScript Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

plugin item

plugin item object

The plugin item contained in
this raster item.

position

fixed point

The position of the top left
corner of the raster item.

properties

record

All of the raster item’s
properties returned in a single
record (properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).d

selected

boolean

Is this raster item selected?

slices

boolean

Preserve slices?

no data/data from file/
modified data

The status of the linked image,
if the image is stored externally.

symbol item

symbol item object

The symbol item contained in
this raster item.

text art item

text art item object

The text art item contained in
this raster item.

URL

string

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this raster item.

visibility variable

anything

The visibility variable to which
this raster item is bound.

fixed rectangle

The object’s visible bounds,
including stroke width of any
objects in the illustration.

real

The width of the raster item,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

status

visible bounds

width

Valid Commands
• colorize
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• make
• move
• rotate

R/O

R/O

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raster item, raster items

197

• scale
• transform
• translate

Notes
You can create raster items from a script if you use an external file. You can also
create new raster items by duplicating or copying and pasting an existing raster
item.
Note that it is not necessary to set the type of the content variable before binding.
Illustrator automatically sets the type to image.

Example 38.1
This script creates a new raster item using a linked file selected by the user.
-- Make a new raster item in the first document
set rasterfile to choose file with prompt "Select file to import"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
make new raster item in document 1 with properties ¬
{position: {200, 300}, file path:rasterfile}
end tell

198

rectangle

AppleScript Reference

rectangle
A class used to create a rectangular path in an Illustrator document. This class can only
be used to create new path item objects.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

bounds

W/O

The bounds of the rectangle.
default: {100.0,

fixed rectangle

200.0, 175.0,
100.0}
reversed

W/O

boolean

Is the path reversed? default:

false
Valid Commands
• make

Notes
The rectangle can only be used with the make command. The class of the object created
will be a path item. Therefore, the properties for a rectangle are write-once (W/O) in the
sense that they can be used only to specify the creation of a new path item. This special
class allows you to quickly create complex path items. Properties associated with path
items, such as fill color and note, can also be specified at the time of creation.

Example 39.1
Example 39.1 demonstrates how to create a square rectangle with a note.
-- Make a square in document 1
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set pathRef to make new rectangle at beginning of document 1 ¬
with properties {bounds:{50.0,200.0,200.0, 50.0}, note:"square"}
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

RGB color info

199

RGB color info
An RGB color specification, used to specify a RGB color in conjunction with the color
property.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

red

real

The red color value as a value
in the range 0.0 - 255.0

green

real

The green color value as a
value in the range 0.0 - 255.0.

blue

real

The blue color value as a value
in the range 0.0 - 255.0.

Notes
If the color space of a document is CMYK and you specify the color value for a page
item in that document using RGB color info, Illustrator will translate the RGB color
specification into a CMYK color specification. The same thing happens if the document’s
color space is RGB and you specify colors using CMYK color info. Since this
translation can cause information loss you should specify colors using the color info class
that matches the document’s color space.

Example 40.1
Example 40.1 demonstrates how the default stroke color of the current document can be
set to a RGB color specification.
-- Set the default stroke color of document 1 to yellow
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set default stroke color of document 1 to {red:255, green:255, blue:0}
end tell

200

rounded rectangle

AppleScript Reference

rounded rectangle
A class used to create a rectangular path with rounded corners in an Illustrator document.
This class can only be used to create new path item objects.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

bounds

W/O

The bounds of the rectangle to
create. default: {100.0,

fixed rectangle

100.0, 150.0,
200.0}
horizontal radius

W/O

real

The horizontal radius of the
rectangle’s rounded corners.
default: 15.0

reversed

W/O

boolean

Is the rectangle path reversed?
default: false

vertical radius

W/O

real

The vertical radius of the
rectangle’s rounded corners.
default: 20.0

Valid Commands
• make

Notes
The rounded rectangle can only be used with the make command. The class of the
object created will be a path item. Therefore, the properties for a rounded rectangle are
write-once (W/O) in the sense that they can be used only to specify the creation of a
rounded rectangle path item. This special class allows you to quickly create complex path
items. If you do not specify any properties when making a new rounded rectangle, default
values will be used. Properties usually associated with path items, such as fill
color, can also be specified at the time of creation.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

rounded rectangle

Example 41.1
Example 41.1 demonstrates how to create a rounded rectangle that is square.
-- Make a rounded rectangle
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set pathRef to make new rounded rectangle in document 1 with
properties ¬
{bounds:{50.0,200.0,200.0, 50.0}, horizontal radius: 20.0, ¬
vertical radius: 25.0}
end tell

201

202

spot, spots

AppleScript Reference

spot, spots
A spot color definition, or list of definitions, contained in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the spot
object. Always returns
reference.

class

R/O

class

The spot object's class, which is

spot.
The color information for this
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/ spot.
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

color

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the document
that contains this spot.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the spot.
Always returns
reference.

index

R/O

integer

The position of this spot in the
document.

name

string

The spot’s unique name.

properties

record

All of the spot’s properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• make

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

spot, spots

203

Notes
Illustrator’s spot object represents a spot color as defined by Illustrator. All Illustrator
documents contain the spot color "[Registration]" which can be used to print to all plates
of a separation.
If no properties are specified when creating a new spot, default properties will be
provided. However, if specifying the color, you must use the same color space as the
document, either CMYK or RGB. Otherwise, an error will result. When created, the spot is
inserted into the swatch palette at the end.

Example 42.1
Example 42.1 demonstrates how a spot color can be created.
-- Make a new spot with name and color properties
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
-- set up the appropriate color record for the document color space
set docColorSpace to color space of document 1
if (docColorSpace is CMYK) then
set newSpotColor to {cyan:25.0, magenta:75.0, yellow:0.0, black:0.0}
else
set newSpotColor to {red:255.0, green:0.0, blue:25.0}
end if
-- now create the new spot
make new spot in document 1 with properties ¬
{name:"My Spot", color:newSpotColor}
end tell

204

spot color info

AppleScript Reference

spot color info
A spot color specification, used to specify a spot color in conjunction with the color
property.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

spot

object reference

A reference to the spot object
which defines the color.

tint

real

The tint of the color as a value
in the range 0.0 - 100.0.

Notes
The spot property must be set to a reference to an existing spot color definition.

Example 43.1
Example 43.1 demonstrates how the default stroke color of the current document can be
set to a new spot color specification.
-- Make a new spot color and apply a 50% tint to the default stroke color
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
-- create a document with RGB color space
make new document with properties {color space:RGB}
set newSpot to make new spot in document 1 with properties ¬
{name:"Big Blue", color:{red:0.0, green:0.0, blue:255.0}}
set default stroke color of document 1 to {spot:newSpot, tint:50.0}
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

star

205

star
A class used to create a star-shaped path in an Illustrator document. This class can only
be used to create new path item objects.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

center point

W/O

The center point of the star.
default: {200.0,

fixed point

300.0}
inner radius

W/O

real

The inner radius of the star.
default: 20.0

point count

W/O

integer

The number of points on the
star. default: 5

radius

W/O

real

The radius of the star’s points.
default: 50.0

reversed

W/O

boolean

Is the star path reversed?
default: false

Valid Commands
• make

Notes
The star can only be used with the make command. The class of the object created will
be a path item. Therefore, the properties for a star are write-once (W/O) in the sense that
they can be used only to specify the creation of a star path item. This special class allows
you to quickly create complex path items. If you do not specify any properties when
making a new star, default values will be used. Properties usually associated with path
items, such as fill color, can also be specified at the time of creation.time of
creation.

206

star

AppleScript Reference

Example 44.1
Example 44.1 demonstrates how to create a star.
-- Make a 6-pointed star
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
make new star in document 1 with properties ¬
{center point:{200.0, 500.0}, inner radius:50, radius:100, point
count:6}
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

SVG export options

SVG export options
Options which may be supplied when exporting a document as an SVG file. See the
export command in the command reference for additional details.

Properties
Property:
CSS properties

R/O Value type:
entities/style attributes/
style elements/
presentation attributes

What it is:
How should the CCS properties
of the document be included in
the exported file? default:

style attributes
compressed

boolean

Should the exported file be
compressed? (default:

false)
coordinate precision

integer

The decimal precision for
element coordinate values.
range: 1 - 7. default: 3

document encoding

ASCII/UTF8/UTF16

How should the text in the
document be encoded? default:

ASCII
embed all fonts

boolean

Should the fonts used in the
document be included in the
exported file? default: true

embed raster image

boolean

Should the raster images used
in the document be included in
the exported file? default:

true
font subsetting

none/glyphs used/
common english/glyphs
used plus english/
common roman/glyphs
used plus roman/all
glyphs

What font glyphs should be
included in the exported file?
default: all glyphs

include file info

boolean

Should the XAP library be
included? default: false

include variables and datasets

boolean

Should variables and datasets
be included? default: false

optimize for SVG Viewer

boolean

Should the Adobe namespace
be included? default: false

207

208

SVG export options

Property:

AppleScript Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

preserve image maps

boolean

Should image maps be
preserved when the document
is converted? (default: true)

preserve layers

boolean

Should layers be preserved
when the document is
converted? (default: true)

preserve slices

boolean

Should slices be preserved
when the document is
converted? (default: true)

Notes
This class is used to define a record containing properties that specify options when
exporting a document as a SVG file. SVG export options can only be supplied in
conjunction with the export command. It is not possible to get or create an SVG
export options object.
It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Example 45.1
This handler saves all files in a folder as SVG files with linked raster imaged embedded in
the exported files. Note that the class property is specified in the record to ensure that
Illustrator can determine the save option class.
-- fileList is a list of aliases to Illustrator files
-- destinationFolder is an alias to a folder where the PNG files are to be saved
on SaveFilesAsSVG(fileList, destinationFolder)
set destinationPath to destinationFolder as string
repeat with aFile in fileList
tell application "Finder" to set fileName to name of aFile
set newFilePath to destinationPath & fileName & ".svg"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
open aFile

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

SVG export options

209

export current document to file newFilePath as SVG ¬
with options {class:SVG export options ¬
, embed raster images:true}
close current document saving no
end tell
end repeat
end SaveFilesAsSVG
-- Call handler
set sourceFolder to choose folder with prompt "Source folder?"
tell application "Finder" to ¬
set fileList to every file of folder sourceFolder as alias list
set destinationFolder to choose folder with prompt "Destination folder?"
SaveFilesAsSVG(fileList, destinationFolder)

210

swatch, swatches

AppleScript Reference

swatch, swatches
A color swatch or list of swatches contained in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the swatch.
Always returns
reference.

class

R/O

class

The swatch object's class,
which is swatch.

The color information for this
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/ swatch.
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

color

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the document
that contains this swatch.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the swatch.
Always returns
reference.

index

R/O

integer

The position of this swatch in
the document.

name

string

The unique name of the swatch.

properties

record

All of the swatch’s properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• make

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

swatch, swatches

211

Notes
The swatches correspond to the swatch palette in Illustrator’s user interface. Additional
swatches can be created either manually by a user or by a script. The swatch can hold all
types of color data (i.e., pattern, gradient, CMYK, RGB, gray, spot).

Example 46.1
Example 46.1 demonstrates how to create a swatch with a specified name.
-- Make a new swatch
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
make new swatch in document 1 with properties ¬
{name:"My Swatch", color:{red:175.0, green:50.0, blue:0.0}}
end tell

212

symbol, symbols

AppleScript Reference

symbol, symbols
A symbol or list of symbols. A symbol is an art object that is stored in the
symbols palette, and can be reused one or more times in the document without
duplicating the art data. symbols are contained in documents.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the symbol
object's value. Always returns
reference.

class

R/O

class

The symbol's class, which is
symbol.

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the object that
contains this symbol.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the symbol.

index

R/O

integer

The index of this symbol.

name

R/O

string

The name of the symbol.
Defaults to "New Symbol nnn"
where n is an integer, starting at
1 and increasing with each
newly created symbol.

properties

R/O

record

All of the properties of this
symbol returned as a record.

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exist
• make

Example
--Create a symbol. Assumes the document has a group item.
set symbolRef1 to make new symbol in document 1 ¬
with properties {source art: group item 1 of document1}

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

symbol item, symbol items

213

symbol item, symbol items
A symbol item is an instance of a symbol in a document. symbol items are
linked to the symbol from which they are created and will change with any modification
of that symbol.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the symbol
item object's value. Always
returns reference.

normal/multiply/screen/
overlay/soft light/hard
light/color dodge/color
burn/darken/lighten/
difference/exclusion/hue/
saturation blend/color
blend/luminosity/numeric

The mode to use when
compositing this object. An
object is considered
composited when its opacity is
set to less than 100.0 (or
100%).

class

The symbol item object's class,
which can be any one of the
specific classes that are
children of the page item class,
including compound

blend mode

class

R/O

path item, group
item, mesh item,
path item, placed
item, plugin item,
raster item, and
text art item.
compound path item

compound path object

The compound path contained
in this symbol item.

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the layer that
contains this symbol item.

control bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the symbol
item object's value.

boolean

Is this symbol item editable?

fixed rectangle

The object’s bounds excluding
the stroke width.

editable
geometric bounds

R/O

214

symbol item, symbol items

Property:

AppleScript Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

graph item

graph item object

The graph item contained in this
symbol item.

group item

group item object

The group items contained in
this symbol item.

height

real

The height of the symbol item,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

hidden

boolean

Is this symbol item hidden?

integer

The position of this symbol item
in the current stacking order of
the containing layer, where
symbol item 1 is always
topmost.

isolated

boolean

Is this object isolated?

knockout

unknown/disabled/
enabled/inherited

Is this object used to create a
knockout?

object reference

The layer to which this symbol
item belongs.

locked

boolean

Is this symbol item locked?

mesh item

mesh item object

The mesh item contained in this
symbol item.

name

string

The name of this symbol item.

opacity

real

The opacity of this object,
where 100.0 is completely
opaque and 0.0 is completely
transparent.

page item

page item object

The page item from which this
symbol item inherits.

path item

path item object

The path item contained in this
symbol item.

placed item

placed item object

The placed item contained in
this symbol item.

plugin item

plugin item object

The plugin item contained in
this symbol item.

position

fixed point

The position of the top left
corner of the symbol item.

properties

record

All of the symbol item’s
properties returned in a single
record (properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

index

layer

R/O

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

symbol item, symbol items

R/O Value type:

What it is:

raster items

raster item object

The raster item contained in this
symbol item.

selected

boolean

Is this object selected?

slices

boolean

Preserve slices?

class

The symbol class from which
this instance is derived.

text art item

text art object

The text art contained in this
symbol item.

URL

string

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this symbol item.

visibility variable

anything

The visibility variable to which
this compound path is bound.

fixed rectangle

The object’s visible bounds,
including stroke width of any
objects in the illustration.

real

The width of the symbol item,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

symbol

visible bounds

width

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• move
• rotate
• scale
• transform
• translate

R/O

R/O

215

216

tab stop info

AppleScript Reference

tab stop info
Tab stop information for a paragraph.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

alignment

unknown/left/center/
right/decimal

The alignment of the tab stop.

decimal character

string

The character to use for
decimal tab stops.

position

real

The position of the tab stop.

Notes
All of the tab stops in a paragraph can be retrieved and specified using tab stops,
which returns a list of tab stop info records.

Example 47.1
Example 47.1 demonstrates how to get the tab stops for a paragraph.
-- Return the tab stops of the first paragraph
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set allTabs to tab stops of paragraph 1 of text art item 1 of document 1
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

tag, tags

217

tag, tags
A tag or list of tags associated with a specific page item.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the tag object.
Always returns
reference.

class

R/O

class

The tag object's class, which is

tag.
container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the page item
that contains this tag.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the tag.
Always returns
reference.

index

R/O

integer

The index of this tag in the page
item.

name

string

The tag’s name.

properties

record

All of the tag’s properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

value

string

The data stored in this tag.

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• make

Notes
Tags allows you to assign an unlimited number of key-value pairs to any page item in a
document.

218

tag, tags

AppleScript Reference

Example 48.1
Example 48.1 demonstrates how to get the tags for a page item.
-- Get the tags for the first page item in the document
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
make rectangle in document 1 with properties {name: "rectPath"}
set URL of path item "rectPath" of document 1 to "http://www.adobe.com/
"
get properties of tags of path item "rectPath" of document 1
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

text

text
Any text in the contents of a text art item.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

character

index, before/after, range, test

insertion point

index, before/after, range, test

line

index, before/after, range, test

paragraph

index, before/after, range, test

text

index, before/after, range

word

index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

auto kerning

boolean

Should the font’s built-in kerning
rules be used?

baseline

real

Bottom position of horizontallyoriented text or left position of
vertically-oriented text.

baseline shift

real

The baseline offset.

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the text object.
Always returns string.

character offset

R/O

integer

Offset from beginning (in
characters).

class

R/O

class

The text object's class, which is

text.
clipping

R/O

boolean

Is there a clipping path
associated with the text art item
containing this text?

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the text art item
that contains this text.

string

The contents of the character
as a string.

class

The default type for the text
object, which is string. The
string value returned is the
value contained in the text’s
contents property.

contents
default type

R/O

219

220

text

Property:

AppleScript Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

direction

normal/rotated/KumiMoji

The direction of characters in a
vertical text block.

evenodd

boolean

Should the even-odd rule be
used to determine fills?

fill color

The character’s fill color.
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

fill overprint

boolean

Should art beneath the filled
character be overprinted?

filled

boolean

Should the character’s path be
filled?

font

string

The name of the text face (font).

integer

The index of this text in the
complete string.

real

The leading.

index

R/O

leading
length

R/O

integer

Length (in characters).

note

R/O

string

A note associated with the text.

record

All of the character’s properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

real

The resolution of the path in
dots per inch.

scaling

fixed point

Horizontal and vertical scaling
specified as a point value.

size

real

The font size.

stroke cap

butted/rounded/
projecting

The type of cap on the
character’s stroke.

stroke color

The stroke color of the text.
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

stroke dash offset

real

properties

resolution

R/O

The default distance to start the
stroke dash pattern.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

text

R/O Value type:

What it is:

stroke dashes

list (of reals)

The lengths for dashes and
gaps in dashed lines, starting
with the first dash length,
followed by the first gap length,
and so on. Set to an empty list,
{}, for a solid line.

stroke join

mitered/rounded/beveled The type of joins in the text
stroke.

stroke miter limit

real

The angle at which a stroke join
switches from mitered to
beveled.

stroke overprint

boolean

Should art beneath the stroked
text be overprinted?

stroke width

real

The width of the stroke.

stroked

boolean

Should the text path be
stroked?

text orientation

R/O

horizontal/vertical

The orientation of the text. Use
the text path class to
modify this value.

text path

R/O

object reference

A reference to the text path
associated with the text art item
containing this text.

real

The uniform spacing amount
between characters.

tracking

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• make

Notes
Text can be accessed using the character, insertion point, word, line,
paragraph and text classes. All text is contained within text art items.

221

222

text

AppleScript Reference

Example 49.1
In this example, all characters set to 12 point type in the current document will be
changed to 18 point type.
-- Change all 12pt text to 18pt
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set textArtItemCount to count of text art items of document 1
-- Loop through all the text art items
repeat with itemCount from 1 to textArtItemCount
set textRef to text of text art item itemCount of document 1 as
reference
if (size of textRef = 12) then
set size of textRef to 18
end if
end repeat
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

text art item, text art items

223

text art item, text art items
A text art object or objects. From the user interface, this is text created with the Text tool.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

character

index, before/after, range, test

insertion point

index, before/after, range, test

line

index, before/after, range, test

paragraph

index, before/after, range, test

path item

name, index, before/after, range, test

tag

name, index, before/after, range, test

text

index, before/after, range

text path

name, index, before/after, range, test

word

index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the text art
item. Always returns
reference.

normal/multiply/screen/
overlay/soft light/hard
light/color dodge/color
burn/darken/lighten/
difference/exclusion/hue/
saturation blend/color
blend/luminosity/numeric

The mode to use when
compositing this object. An
object is considered
composited when its opacity is
set to less than 100.0.

class

The text art item’s class, which
is always text art

blend mode

class

R/O

item.
compound path item
container
content variable

R/O

compound path object

The compound path item
contained in this text art item.

object reference

A reference to the layer that
contains this text art item.

anything

The content variable to which
this text art item is bound.

224

text art item, text art items

Property:

AppleScript Reference

R/O Value type:

contents

What it is:

string

The textual contents of the text
art item, represented as a
string.

control bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the text art
item. Always returns
string.

boolean

Is this text art item editable?

fixed rectangle

The object’s bounds excluding
the stroke width.

graph item

graph item object

The graph item contained in this
text art item.

group item

group item object

The group items contained in
this text art item.

height

real

The height of the text art item,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

hidden

boolean
default: false

Is this text art item hidden?

integer

The position of this text art item
in its container, where text art
item 1 is always the topmost
text art item.

isolated

boolean

Is this object isolated?

kind

point text/area text/path
text

The type of text art.

knockout

unknown/disabled/
enabled/inherited

Is this object used to create a
knockout?

object reference

The layer to which this text art
item belongs.

locked

boolean

Is the text art item locked?

mesh item

mesh item object

The mesh item contained in this
text art item.

name

string

The name of the text art item.

opacity

real

The opacity, where 0.0 is
completely transparent and
100.0 is completely opaque.

editable
geometric bounds

index

layer

R/O

R/O

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

text art item, text art items

R/O Value type:

What it is:

page item

page item object

The page item from which this
text art item inherits.

path item

path item object

The path item contained in this
text art item.

placed item

placed item object

The placed item contained in
this text art item.

plugin item

plugin item object

The plugin item contained in
this text art item.

position

fixed point

The position of the top left
corner of the text art item.

properties

record

All of the text art item’s
properties returned in a single
record (properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

raster item

raster item object

The raster item contained in this
text art item.

selected

boolean

Is this text art item selected?

selection

object reference

The reference to the text range
in this text art item’s current
selection, if any.

slices

boolean

Preserve slices?

symbol item

symbol item object

The symbol item contained in
this text art item.

URL

string

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this text art item.

visibility variable

anything

The visibility variable to which
this text art item is bound.

fixed rectangle

The object’s visible bounds,
including stroke width of any
objects in the illustration.

width

real

The width of the text art item,
calculated from the geometric
bounds.

wrapped

boolean

Does the text wrap around other
objects? (valid only for area
text)

visible bounds

Valid Commands
• count

R/O

225

226

text art item, text art items

AppleScript Reference

• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• make
• move
• rotate
• scale
• transform
• translate

Notes
There are three types of text art in Illustrator, as specified by the text art item’s kind
property. See “Working with text art” on page 51 for more information on working with the
three kinds of text art items.
It is not necessary to set the type of the content variable before binding.
Illustrator automatically sets the type to be the same as the page item to which it is
bound.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

text art item, text art items

227

Example 50.1
This script scales only text art items that are area text, which means they are rectangular
regions of text.
-- Scale all area text art items to 50% wide
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set textArtItemCount to count of text art items in document 1
repeat with itemCount from 1 to textArtItemCount
set textKind to kind of text art item itemCount of document 1
if (textKind = area text) then
set curwidth to the width of text art item itemCount of document
1
set width of text art item itemCount of document 1 to curwidth /
2
end if
end repeat
end tell

228

text face, text faces

AppleScript Reference

text face, text faces
A text face (currently available font) or list of faces in the application.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the text face.
Always returns
reference.

class

R/O

class

The text face object's class,
which is text face.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the text
face. Always returns
string.

index

R/O

integer

The index of this text face in the
application.

name

R/O

string

The name of the text face.

properties

R/O

record

All of the text face’s properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

Valid Commands
• count
• exists

Notes
Text faces provide access to the name of every font available to the Illustrator application.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

text face, text faces

Example 51.1
Example 51.1 demonstrates how to make use of the names of the text faces.
-- Change the font of all text to a user-selected font
set fontNamesList to {}
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10" to ¬
set fontNamesList to name of every text face
set aFont to (choose from list fontNamesList) as string
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10" to ¬
set font of text of every text art item of document 1 to aFont

229

230

text path, text paths

AppleScript Reference

text path, text paths
A text path or list of paths. A text art item always has at least one text path.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the text path
object's value. Always returns
reference.

class

R/O

class

The text path object's class,
which is text path.

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the text art item
that contains this text path.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the text
path. Always returns
reference.

index

R/O

integer

The index of this text path in the
text art item.

matrix

matrix

The transformation matrix for
the text path.

name

string

The name of the text path.

object reference

The path item associated with
the text path (only valid for path
text and area text).

properties

record

All of the text path’s properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

text orientation

horizontal/vertical

The orientation of the text.

text path offset

real

The offset position where
characters are anchored on the
text path (only valid for path
text).

path item

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

text path, text paths

231

• exists
• make

Notes
Text paths provide access to a number of special properties for text art items. See
Chapter 3 for additional information on text paths.

Example 52.1
Example 52.1 forces all text on paths to be oriented vertically.
-- Set the orientation of all path text to be vertical
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set pathTextCount to count (text art items of document 1 whose kind is
path text)
if (pathTextCount > 0) then
set the text orientation of every text path of ¬
(text art items of document 1 whose kind is path text) to vertical
end if
end tell

232

variable, variables

AppleScript Reference

variable, variables
A class of variables that can be imported and exported. Variables are document-level,
created in the document object.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

page item

by name, by numeric index, before/after another
element, as a range of elements, satisfying a test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the text path
object's value. Always returns
reference.

class

R/O

class

The variable object's class,
which is variable.

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the art object
that contains this variable.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the variable.
Always returns
reference.

index

R/O

integer

The index of this variable in the
art object.

kind

graph/image/textual/
unknown/visibility

The kind of variable

name

string

The name of the variable.

properties

record

all of the variable’s properties
returned in a single record

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• exists
• make

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

view, views

view, views
A document view or list of views in an Illustrator document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the view
object. Always returns
reference.

bounds

R/O

fixed rectangle

The bounding rectangle of this
view relative to the current
document's bounds.

fixed point

The center point of this view
relative to the current
document's bounds.

center point

class

R/O

class

The view object's class, which
is view.

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the document
that contains this view.

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the view
object. Always returns
reference.

index

R/O

integer

The index of the view in the
document.

properties

record

All of the view's properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

screen mode

multiwindow/desktop/full
screen

The mode of display for this
view.

zoom

real

The zoom factor of this view,
where 100.0 is 100%.

Valid Commands
• count
• exists

233

234

view, views

AppleScript Reference

Notes
Illustrator’s view object represents a window view onto a document. New views cannot
be created, but some properties of existing views can be modified, including the center
point, screen mode and zoom.

Example 53.1
Example 53.1 demonstrates how a view can be centered to the currently selected page
item.
-- Center the view on the first selected object
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set selectedItems to the selection
if selectedItems is not {} then
set firstObject to item 1 of selectedItems
set newPosition to position of firstObject
set center point of view 1 of document 1 to newPosition
end if
end tell

Example 53.2
Example 53.2 shows how a view can be toggled to fill the entire screen.
-- Fill the entire screen with the first view
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if (count of documents) > 0 then
set screen mode of view 1 of document 1 to full screen
end if
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

word

word
A string of text in a text art item that is separated by whitespace.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

character

index, before/after, range, test

insertion point

index, before/after, range, test

line

index, before/after, range, test

paragraph

index, before/after, range, test

text

index, before/after, range

word

index, before/after, range, test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

auto kerning

boolean

Should the font’s built-in kerning
rules be used?

baseline

real

Bottom position of horizontallyoriented text or left position of
vertically-oriented text.

baseline shift

real

The baseline offset.

best type

R/O

class

The best type for the word
object's value. Always returns
string.

character offset

R/O

integer

Offset from beginning (in
characters).

class

R/O

class

The word object's class, which
is word.

clipping

R/O

boolean

Is there a clipping path
associated with the text art item
containing this word?

container

R/O

object reference

A reference to the text art item
that contains this word.

string

The contents of the word as a
string.

contents

235

236

word

AppleScript Reference

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

default type

R/O

class

The default type for the word
object, which is string. The
string value returned is the
value contained in the word’s
contents property.

direction

normal/rotated/KumiMoji

The direction of characters in a
vertical text block.

evenodd

boolean

Should the even-odd rule be
used to determine fills?

fill color

The word’s fill color.
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

fill overprint

boolean

Should art beneath the filled
word be overprinted?

filled

boolean

Should the word’s path be
filled?

font

string

The name of the text face (font).

integer

The index of this word in the
complete string.

real

The leading.

index

R/O

leading
length

R/O

integer

Length (in characters).

note

R/O

string

A note associated with the text.

record

All of the word’s properties
returned in a single record
(properties which are
individually read-only remain so
in this record).

real

The resolution of the path in
dots per inch.

scaling

fixed point

Horizontal and vertical scaling
specified as a point value.

size

real

The font size.

stroke cap

butted/rounded/
projecting

The type of cap on the word’s
stroke.

stroke color

The word’s stroke color.
CMYK color info/gray
color info/RGB color info/
spot color info/pattern
color info/gradient color
info

properties

resolution

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

word

R/O Value type:

What it is:

stroke dash offset

real

The default distance to start the
stroke dash pattern.

stroke dashes

list (of reals)

The lengths for dashes and
gaps in dashed lines, starting
with the first dash length,
followed by the first gap length,
and so on. Set to an empty list,
{}, for a solid line.

stroke join

mitered/rounded/beveled The type of joins in the word’s
stroke.

stroke miter limit

real

The angle at which a stroke join
switches from mitered to
beveled.

stroke overprint

boolean

Should art beneath the stroked
word be overprinted?

stroke width

real

The width of the stroke.

stroked

boolean

Should the word’s path be
stroked?

text orientation

R/O

horizontal/vertical

The orientation of the text. Use
the text path class to
modify this value.

text path

R/O

object reference

A reference to the text path in
which this word is contained.

real

The uniform spacing amount
between characters.

tracking

237

Valid Commands
• count
• delete
• duplicate
• exists
• make

Notes
Illustrator’s text can be accessed using the character, insertion point, word,
line, paragraph and text classes. All text is contained within text art items.

238

word

AppleScript Reference

Example 54.1
This example demonstrates how to use the matching abilities of the whose clause in
conjunction with word properties to modify words that match a specific string.
-- Change the color of every occurrence of a specific
-- word in all text art items
set searchString to text returned of ¬
(display dialog "Word to set color of?" default answer "the")
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set textArtItemCount to (count of text art items in document 1)
if (textArtItemCount > 0) then
repeat with itemCounter from 1 to textArtItemCount
if (((contents of text art item itemCounter of document 1) as
string) ¬
contains searchString) then
set fill color of (words of text art item itemCounter of document
1 ¬
whose contents = searchString) to {red:100, green:0, blue:0}
end if
end repeat
end if
end tell

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Command reference
This section covers the commands in the Illustrator AppleScript dictionary, as well as
some of the important standard AppleScript commands. When you look at a command in
an AppleScript dictionary, you can see only that the command returns an object, or that
the command takes an object reference as a parameter. The specific objects that can
respond to a particular command are not distinguished in an AppleScript dictionary. Not
all Illustrator objects can respond to all commands, so we’ve documented which objects
respond to which commands, and what type of object each command returns (if any).
The following shows how to read the table associated with each command.
Column heading:

What it means:

Parameters

Constants, keywords, and values needed by the
command are shown in bold face. Required
terms are shown in plain face. All items
surrounded by brackets [ ] are optional.

What it is

An explanation of the parameters.

Objects supported

Which objects understand the command and/or
which objects the command can operate upon.
The document object, for example,
understands the command close, but doesn’t
understand the command quit.

Returns

Many commands return values (text, numbers,
lists, and object references). This column shows
you what kind of reference you can expect the
command to return (if any).

activate
Makes Illustrator the active (frontmost) application. This standard AppleScript command
is included because of its requirement for clipboard manipulations.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

none

nothing

application

nothing

Notes
Use activate when you want to bring Illustrator in front of all other open applications.
Illustrator must be the frontmost application to perform commands that manipulate the

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clipboard (cut, copy, and paste). Having the application frontmost can also be useful
if you would like to watch your script execute. In general, you should probably avoid using
activate at the beginning of a script, as script execution slows when Illustrator is the
active application due to the time it takes to redraw objects on the screen. You can also
use activate at the end of any script to return the user to the Illustrator application.
Example 55.1
-- This script makes Illustrator the frontmost application
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
activate
end tell

apply
Applies a brush or art style to one or more page items.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference

The brush or art style
to apply to the
referenced object(s).

art style, brush

nothing

to object reference or
list (of object
references)

The object(s) you want
to apply a brush or art
style to.

compound path item,
group item, mesh item,
page item, path item,
placed item, plugin
item, raster item, text
art item

Notes
Use apply to affect one or more page items by applying an existing brush or art style.
Brushes and art styles can be created in the user interface, but not from a script.

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Command reference

Example 56.1
-- Draws a circle in the center of the document
-- and applies an art style to it
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
make new document with properties {color space:CMYK}
set docWidth to (width of document 1) / 2
set docHeight to (height of document 1) / 2
set pathItemRef to make new ellipse in document 1 with properties ¬
{bounds:{docWidth-50, docHeight+50, docWidth+50, docHeight-50}}
apply art style "Fantasmic" of document 1 to pathItemRef
end tell

close
Closes a document.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference

The document you
want to close.

document

nothing

[saving yes/no/ask]

Save the publication
before closing?

Example 57.1
-- Close the first document and prompt the user with a "Save as" dialog
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
activate
close document 1 saving ask
end tell

colorize
Colorize a raster item.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference

The raster item to
colorize.

raster item

nothing

raster color CMYK
color info/gradient color
info/gray color info/
pattern color info/RGB
color info/spot color
info

The color to use when
coloring the TIFF
image.

241

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concatenate matrix
Concatenates two transformation matrices to form a single resulting matrix.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

matrix

The first matrix.

matrix

matrix

with matrix

The second matrix.

Example 58.1
-- This script concatenates 2 matrices
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set someMatrix to get identity matrix
set anotherMatrix to get rotation matrix angle 30.0
set newMatrix to concatenate matrix someMatrix with anotherMatrix
end tell

concatenate rotation matrix
Concatenates a rotation angle together with a matrix and returns the resulting matrix.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

matrix

The first matrix.

matrix

matrix

angle real

The rotation angle in
degrees.

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243

Example 59.1
-- This script adds a 45 degree rotation to an existing matrix
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set someMatrix to get identity matrix
set newMatrix to concatenate rotation matrix someMatrix angle 45.0
end tell

concatenate scale matrix
Concatenates a horizontal and/or vertical scaling with a matrix to form a single resulting
matrix.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

matrix

The first matrix

matrix

matrix

[horizontal scale real]

The horizontal scaling
factor, where 100.0 is
100%.

[vertical scale real]

The vertical scaling
factor, where 100.0 is
100%.

Example 60.1
-- This script combines a 75% horizontal scaling with an existing matrix
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set someMatrix to get identity matrix
set newMatrix to concatenate scale matrix someMatrix ¬
horizontal scale 75 vertical scale 25.0
end tell

concatenate translation matrix
Concatenates a translation (specified by a horizontal and/or vertical offset) with a matrix
to form a single resulting matrix.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

matrix

The first matrix

matrix

matrix

[delta x real]

The horizontal
translation offset.

[delta y real]

The vertical translation
offset.

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Example 61.1
--This script combines a 25 point horizontal offset with an existing matrix
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set someMatrix to get identity matrix
set newMatrix to concatenate translation matrix someMatrix delta x 25.0
end tell

convert to paths
Converts text art items into a compound path item or a group item containing path items
and/or compound path items. Returns a reference to the newly created object.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

object reference or
list (of object
references)

The text art item(s) to
text art item
convert into path items.

Returns:
object references

Notes
This command will convert any text art item into a series of one or more path items and/or
compound path items. If more than one object is created, all objects will be grouped and
a reference to the new group item will be returned. Once converted, text art items cannot
be recovered from a script.
Example 62.1
--This script converts all text art
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
convert to paths (every text art item of document 1)
end tell

copy
Copies the selection.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

none

nothing

compound path item,
group item, mesh item,
path item, placed item,
plugin item, raster item,
text, text art item

nothing

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Notes
Commands that manipulate the clipboard (cut, copy, and paste) require that
Illustrator be the frontmost application during these operations. Use activate to bring
Illustrator to the front before executing the copy command. No error is returned if there is
no selection to copy. If the application is not frontmost, an error is returned.
Example 63.1
--This script copies the selected objects (if any)
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
activate
copy
end tell

count
Counts the objects (elements) of the specified class (or the objects matching a test).
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

[each/every] class

The class of the
objects you want to
count. The class
should be specified
using the singular form
if one of the optional
terms is used.
Otherwise, you can use
the singular or plural
form, i.e.
document or

art style, brush,
character, compound
path item, document,
gradient, gradient stop,
group item, insertion
point, layer, line, mesh
item, page item,
paragraph, path item,
path point, pattern,
placed item, plugin
item, raster item, spot,
tag, text, text art item,
text face, text path,
view, word

integer

documents.
[of/in object
reference]

The object whose
contained elements
you want to count.

application, character,
compound path item,
document, gradient,
group item, insertion
point, layer, line, mesh
item, page item,
paragraph, path item,
placed item, plugin
item, raster item, text,
text art items, word

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Notes
This command can be used to return the total number of objects of any single class
contained by a specific object. The count command can also be used in conjunction
with the whose clause to return the number of objects that match a test.
Example 64.1
-- This script shows the user how many paths
-- are filled out of the total number in document 1
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set pathCount to count every path item of document 1
set numberFilled to ¬
count (path items of document 1 whose filled is true)
end tell
display dialog numberFilled & " paths are filled out of " & ¬
pathCount & " paths in this document." as string

cut
Cuts the current selection.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

none

nothing

compound path item,
group item, mesh item,
path item, path, point,
placed item, plugin
item, raster item, text,
text art item

nothing

Notes
Commands that manipulate the clipboard (cut, copy, and paste) require that
Illustrator be the frontmost application. Use activate to bring Illustrator to the front
before executing the cut command. No error is returned if there is no selection to cut. If
the application is not frontmost, an error is returned.
Example 65.1
--This script cuts the selected objects (if any)
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
activate
cut
end tell

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Command reference

delete
Deletes the specified object or objects.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference or
list (of object
references)

Object(s) to delete.

compound path item,
gradient, gradient stop,
group item, layer, mesh
item, page item, path
item, path point,
pattern, placed item,
plugin item, raster item,
spot, swatch, tag, text,
text art item, text path

nothing

Example 66.1
-- This script deletes the second layer in the document
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if (count of layers of document 1) > 1 then ¬
delete layer 2 of document 1
end tell

display
Display the current dataset or not.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference or
list (of object
references)

dataset to display.

display

true/false

Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference or
list (of object
references)

javascript to execute.

none

nothing

do javascript
Execute a java script.

247

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do script
Plays an action from the Actions palette.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

string

The name of the action
to play (this is casesensitive)

none

nothing

from string

The name of the Action
Set containing the
action to play (this is
case-sensitive)

[dialogs boolean]

Are dialog boxes
associated with the
action to be presented
to the user?

Notes
If the action is selected in the Actions palette in Illustrator’s user interface, an error will be
returned by this command.

duplicate
Duplicates an object(s). Returns reference(s) to newly created object(s).
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference or
list (of object
references)

The object(s) to
duplicate.

all objects except
application, mesh item,
plugin items

object reference or list
(of object references)

[to location reference] The new location for
the object(s).
[with properties
record]

The new values for the
properties of the
duplicated object(s).

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249

Notes
It is permissible to duplicate page items from one document to another. This avoids
having to set the selection, perform a cut or copy, bring another document to the front,
and then paste. However, when duplicating objects from one document to another, it is
required that the location reference is fully specified.
Example 68.1
-- Duplicate the first page item in document 1 to document 2
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set pageItemRef to duplicate page item 1 of document 1 to beginning of
document 2
end tell

equal matrices
Compares two matrices for equality. If equal, the result is true.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

matrix

The first matrix for the
comparison.

matrix

boolean

with matrix

The second matrix for
the comparison.

Example 69.1
-- This script compares 2 matrices and beeps if they are equal
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set someMatrix to get identity matrix
set anotherMatrix to get identity matrix
if (equal matrices someMatrix with anotherMatrix) then beep
end tell

exists
Determines if an object exists, and returns true if it does.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference

The object to test for
existence

Any Illustrator object
except application

boolean

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Example 70.1
-- Check if a document exists and beep twice if one does
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
if exists document 1 then beep 2
end tell

export
Exports a document.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference

The document to
export.

document

nothing

to [file] file
specification

The file to export the
document into,
specified as a string
containing the full file
path or an alias. When
using a string, precede
the string with the term
file.

as JPEG/Photoshop/
SVG/PNG8/PNG24/
GIF

The file type to export
the document as.

[with options JPEG
export options/
Photoshop export
options/SVG export
options/PNG8 export
options/PNG24
export options/GIF
export options/Flash
export options]

The export options for
the specified file type.

Example 71.1
-- This script exports the current document as JPEG
on SaveFilesAsPhotoshop(fileList, destinationFolder)
set destinationPath to destinationFolder as string
repeat with aFile in fileList
tell application "Finder" to set fileName to name of aFile
set newFilePath to destinationPath & fileName & ".ps"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Command reference

export current document to newFilePath as JPEG with options ¬
{class:JPEG export options, quality:60}
end tell

export variables
Exports a variable library or libraries.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

variable library

The variable library to
export.

variables

nothing

to [file] file
specification

The file to export the
variable library into,
specified as a string
containing the full file
path or an alias. When
using a string, precede
the string with the term
file.

get
Gets data from an object. This standard AppleScript command is included because it
illustrates AppleScript’s ability to coerce values from one value type to another.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference/
property/

The object or property
you want to return a
reference to or data
from.

Any Illustrator object

data from an object
property, an object
reference or a list (of
object references)

[as class or list (of
classes)]

The type of data you
want to retrieve.

Notes
You don’t need to use get when you’re assigning values to a variable.

251

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Example 72.1
-- This script gets the contents both as a string and as a reference
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set textString to contents of text art item 1 of document 1
set textRef to contents of text art item 1 of document 1 as reference
end tell

get identity matrix
Gets an identity matrix.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

none

nothing

matrix

matrix

Notes
The identity matrix is a transformation matrix that causes no transformation. This
command is very useful for getting a base matrix to use with the matrix concatenation
commands.
Example 73.1
-- This script gets the identity matrix,
-- combines with rotation and scale and applies to object
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set transformMatrix to get identity matrix
set transformMatrix to concatenate rotation matrix ¬
transformMatrix angle 45.0
set transformMatrix to concatenate scale matrix ¬
transformMatrix horizontal scale 60
transform page item 1 of document 1 using transformMatrix
end tell

get rotation matrix
Returns a rotation matrix based on a specified rotation angle.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

[angle real]

The rotation angle in
degrees.

matrix

matrix

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Command reference

Notes
If no angle is supplied, the standard identity matrix is returned.
Example 74.1
-- Get a 30-degree rotation matrix
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set rotateMatrix to get rotation matrix angle 30.0
end tell

get scale matrix
Returns a scale matrix based on specified horizontal and vertical scaling factor.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

[horizontal scale real]

The horizontal scaling
factor, where 100.0 is
100%.

matrix

matrix

[vertical scale real]

The vertical scaling
factor, where 100.0 is
100%.

Notes
If no parameters are supplied, the standard identity matrix is returned.
Example 75.1
-- This script gets a scale matrix
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set scaleMatrix to get scale matrix horizontal scale 100.0 vertical
scale 50.0
end tell

253

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get translation matrix
Returns a translation matrix based on a single movement with horizontal and vertical
offsets.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

[delta x real]

The horizontal offset.

matrix

matrix

[delta y real]

The vertical offset.

Notes
If no parameters are supplied, the standard identity matrix is returned.
Example 76.1
-- This script gets a translation matrix
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set translateMatrix to get translation matrix delta x 10.0 delta y
100.0

end tell
import variables
Import a variable library from a file of saved variables.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

from [file] file
specification

The file to import the
variables from,
specified as a string
containing the full file
path or an alias. When
using a string, precede
the string with the term
file.

variables

[appending boolean]

should the variables be
appended? Defaults to
true.

Returns:

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255

invert matrix
Inverts an existing matrix.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

matrix

The matrix to invert

matrix

matrix

Notes
If a matrix is singular, it cannot be inverted. You can use the singular matrix command to
test if a matrix is singular.
Example 77.1
-- This script gets the inverse matrix of a 50% vertical scale matrix
-- When applied, the inverse matrix scales the object 200% vertically
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set transformMatrix to get scale matrix vertical scale 50.0
set transformMatrix to invert matrix transformMatrix
transform page item 1 of document 1 using transformMatrix
end tell

make
Creates a new object. Returns reference to newly created object.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

[new] type class

The class of object to
create. The term new
is optional.

all objects except
application, mesh item,
plugin item

object reference

at location reference

Location to insert new
object

[with properties
record]

Any property of the
object you wish to set
at creation.

[with data record]

Any data needed for
creation that isn’t a
property.

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Example 78.1
-- Make 2 layers, one at the top and one at the bottom
-- demonstrating the power of location references like beginning and end
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set topLayer to make new layer ¬
at beginning of document 1 with properties {name:"Top Layer"}
set bottomLayer to make new layer ¬
at end of document 1 with properties {name:"Bottom Layer"}
end tell

move
Moves one or more objects. Returns references to the moved object or objects at the new
location.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference or
list (of object
references)

Object(s) to move.

object reference or list
(of object references)

to location reference

Specifies new location
of the object.

compound path item,
group item, layer, mesh
item, page item, path
item, placed item,
plugin item, raster item,
text art item

Notes
Objects cannot be moved between documents.
Example 79.1
-- This script moves all objects in a document to the first layer
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set allPageItems to every page item of document 1
move allPageItems to beginning of layer 1 of document 1
end tell
Example 79.2
-- This script moves the bottommost layer to the top of the current document
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
tell document 1 to move last layer to before first layer
end tell

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257

open
Opens one or more documents.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

[file] file specification
or list (of file
specifications)

The file to export the
document into,
specified as a string
containing the full file
path or an alias, or a
list of aliases. When
using a string, precede
the string with the term
file.

any file Illustrator can
open

nothing

[forcing RGB/CMYK]

Opens the
document(s) using the
specified color space,
converting if
necessary. Does not
work on Illustrator 10
files, only pre-Illustrator
9.

Notes
If the forcing parameter is omitted and you attempt to open a pre-Illustrator 9
document that contains both RGB and CMYK colors, Illustrator will display a dialog to the
user. When the forcing parameter is supplied and Illustrator encounters documents
containing both color spaces, the document will be opened without a dialog and all colors
will be converted to the specified color space.
Example 80.1
-- This script opens a PDF document
-- selected by the user and forcing the use of the RGB color space
set fileToOpen to choose file with prompt ¬
"Select file to open as RGB" of type {"PDF "}
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
open fileToOpen forcing RGB
end tell

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paste
Pastes the clipboard contents into the current layer of the current document.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

none

nothing

compound path item,
group item, mesh item,
path item, path point,
placed item, plugin
item, raster item, text,
text art item

nothing

Notes
Commands that manipulate the clipboard (cut, copy, and paste) require that
Illustrator be the frontmost application. Use activate to bring Illustrator to the front
before executing the paste command. No error is returned if there is no selection to
paste. If the application is not frontmost, an error is returned.
Example 81.1
-- Paste the contents of the clipboard into the current document
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
activate
paste
end tell

print
Print one or more documents or files.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference or
list (of object
references)

Document, file or list of
documents and/or files
to print.

document, any file
Illustrator can open

nothing

[dialog boolean]

Should a print dialog
be presented to the
user. The default value
is true.

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Command reference

Example 82.1
-- Print the current document without displaying a dialog
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
print document 1 without dialog
end tell

quit
Forces Illustrator to quit
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

none

nothing

application

nothing

Notes
If there is Illustrator data on the clipboard, Illustrator will display a dialog asking if you
want to save the clipboard for other applications. To prevent this dialog from being
displayed, send the following command to the frontmost application:
set the clipboard to {}
Example 83.1
-- Quit Illustrator after clearing the clipboard
tell application "Adobe Illustrator® 10.0"
activate
tell application "Finder"
activate
set the clipboard to {}
end tell
quit
end tell

redraw
Redraws all documents.
Parameters:
none

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

application

nothing

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AppleScript Reference

Example 84.1
-- This script redraws all windows in Illustrator
tell application "Adobe Illustrator® 10" to redraw

rotate
Rotates one or more page items by a specified rotation angle.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference or
list (of object
references)

The object(s) you want
to perform the rotation
upon.

nothing

angle real

The rotation angle to
rotate object(s) in
degrees.

compound path item,
group item, mesh item,
page item, path item,
path point, placed item,
plugin item, raster item,
text art item

[transforming objects
boolean]

Should page item
positions and their
orientations be affected
by this rotation?

[transforming fill
patterns boolean]

Should fill patterns
assigned to paths be
affected by this
rotation?

[transforming fill
gradients boolean]

Should fill gradients
assigned to paths be
affected by this
rotation?

[transforming stroke
patterns boolean]

Should stroke patterns
assigned to paths be
affected by this
rotation?

[about document
origin/top left/left/
bottom left/top/
center/bottom/top
right/right/bottom
right]

The point on the
bounding box of the
page item(s) to which
the rotation is applied.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Command reference

Notes
The rotate command provides many variations when used in conjunction with the
about parameter. Experiment with different choices for the about parameter to see
what the results are for each setting.
Example 85.1
-- Rotate the first page time by 45 degrees
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
rotate page item 1 of document 1 angle 45.0 about center
end tell

save
Saves an Illustrator document. Returns a reference to the saved document.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference

The document to save.

document

object reference

[in [file] file
specification]

The file to save the
document into,
specified as a string
containing the full file
path or an alias. When
using a string, precede
the string with the term
file. If no file is
specified, the
document is saved in
its existing file.

[as Illustrator/eps/pdf] The file type to save
the document as.
[with options
Illustrator save
options/EPS save
options/PDF save
options]

The saving options for
the specified file type.

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Command reference

AppleScript Reference

Example 86.1

This example shows to batch process folders of Illustrator documents, saving each as a
PDF file with specific settings.
-- Processes all files in folders dropped on this script
-- (when saved as an applet) and save each Illustrator file as a PDF file
on run
tell me to open {choose folder}
end run
on open droppedItems
set destinationFolder to choose folder with prompt "Destination
folder?"
repeat with anItem in droppedItems
tell application "Finder"
-- Make sure each item processed by this script is a folder
if class of item anItem is not folder then
-- Not a folder, notify the user of the error
display dialog "Please drop only folders on this script"
else
-- It is a folder, so get the Illustrator files in it and process them
set fileList to ¬
(every file of anItem whose creator type is "ART5") as alias list
end if
end tell
-- See PDF save options section for isolated example of this handler
SaveFilesAsPDF(fileList, destinationFolder)
end repeat
end open

-- fileList is a list of aliases to Illustrator files
-- destinationFolder is an alias to a folder where the PDF files are to be saved
on SaveFilesAsPDF(fileList, destinationFolder)
set destinationPath to destinationFolder as string

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Command reference

repeat with aFile in fileList
tell application "Finder" to set fileName to name of aFile
set newFilePath to destinationPath & fileName & ".pdf"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
open aFile
save current document in file newFilePath as pdf ¬
with options {class:PDF save options ¬
, compatibility:Acrobat 4 ¬
, preserve editability:true}
close current document saving no
end tell
end repeat
end SaveFilesAsPDF

263

264

Command reference

AppleScript Reference

scale
Scales one or more page items by the specified horizontal and vertical amounts.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference or
list (of object
references)

The object(s) you want
to scale.

nothing

horizontal scale real

The horizontal scaling
factor, where 100.0 is
100%.

compound path item,
group item, mesh item,
page item, path item,
path point, placed item,
plugin item, raster item,
text art item

vertical scale real

The vertical scaling
factor, where 100.0 is
100%.

[transforming objects
boolean]

Should page item
positions and their
orientations be affected
by this scaling?

[transforming fill
patterns boolean]

Should fill patterns
assigned to paths be
affected by this
scaling?

[transforming fill
gradients boolean]

Should fill gradients
assigned to paths be
affected by this
scaling?

[transforming stroke
patterns boolean]

Should stroke patterns
assigned to paths be
affected by this
scaling?

[line scale real]

If specified, the amount
that line widths are to
be scaled.

[about document
origin/top left/left/
bottom left/top/
center/bottom/top
right/right/bottom
right]

The point in the
bounding box of the
page item(s) to which
the scaling is applied.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Command reference

265

Notes
The scale command provides many variations when used in conjunction with the
about parameter. Experiment with different choices for the about parameter to see
what the results are for each setting.
Example 87.1
-- Scale a page item by 50% horizontally
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
tell document 1
scale page item 1 horizontal scale 50.0 vertical scale 100.0 about
center
end tell
end tell

set
Changes a variable’s value or an object’s data or property. This is a standard AppleScript
command used to assign values to variables and object properties.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

property/variable

The object property or
script variable to
modify.

any property or
variable

nothing

to anything

Any valid value.

Example 88.1
-- Set the zoom property of the frontmost view window to 100%
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set zoom of view 1 of document 1 to 100.0
end tell

singular matrix
Tests an existing matrix to see if it can be inverted.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference

The matrix to test.

matrix

boolean

266

Command reference

Notes
A singular matrix cannot be inverted.
Example 89.1
-- This script gets an identity matrix and then
-- test to see if it can be inverted (if not singular)
-- If it can, then it inverts it
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set someMatrix to get identity matrix
if (not singular matrix someMatrix) then ¬
set someMatrix to invert matrix someMatrix
end tell

AppleScript Reference

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Command reference

267

transform
Transform one or more page items by a specified matrix.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference or
list (of object
references)

The object(s) you want
to transform.

nothing

using matrix

The matrix to use for
the transformation of
the object(s).

compound path item,
group item, mesh item,
page item, path item,
path point, placed item,
plugin item, raster item,
text art item

[transforming objects
boolean]

Should page item
positions and their
orientations be affected
by this transformation?

[transforming fill
patterns boolean]

Should fill patterns
assigned to paths be
affected by this
transformation?

[transforming fill
gradients boolean]

Should fill gradients
assigned to paths be
affected by this
transformation?

[transforming stroke
patterns boolean]

Should stroke patterns
assigned to paths be
affected by this
transformation?

[line scale real]

If specified, the amount
that line widths are to
be scaled.

[about document
origin/top left/left/
bottom left/top/
center/bottom/top
right/right/bottom
right]

The point in the
bounding box of the
page item(s) to which
the transformation is
applied.

Notes
This command can be used to generate any combination of transformations contained in
a matrix, making it possible to skew objects among other modifications. The transform
command provides many variations when used in conjunction with the about parameter.

268

Command reference

AppleScript Reference

Experiment with different choices for the about parameter to see what the results are for
each setting.
Example 90.1
-- This script skews an object 45 degrees to the right horizontally
-- by generating a rotation matrix and setting the appropriate matrix values
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
set baseMatrix to get rotation matrix angle 45.0
set mvalue_b of baseMatrix to 0
transform page item 1 of document 1 using baseMatrix
end tell

translate
Moves one or more page items from their existing position in a document to a new
position defined by relative coordinates.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference or
list (of object
references)

The object(s) you want
to translate.

nothing

[delta x real]

The horizontal
coordinate of the new
position.

compound path item,
group item, mesh item,
page item, path item,
path point, placed item,
plugin item, raster item,
text art item

[delta y real]

The vertical coordinate
of the new position.

[transforming objects
boolean]

Should object positions
and orientations be
affected by the
translate?

[transforming fill
patterns boolean]

Should fill patterns be
affected by the
translate?

[transforming fill
gradients boolean]

Should fill gradients be
affected by the
translate?

[transforming stroke
patterns boolean]

Should stroke patterns
be affected by the
translate?

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Command reference

Notes
Use translate to move objects relatively from their existing position. Set the
position property of an object to move the object to absolute coordinates.
Example 91.1
--This script moves the first page item to new relative coordinates
tell application "Adobe Illustrator 10"
tell document 1 to translate page item 1 delta x 200.0 delta y 200.0
end tell

update
Updates a dataset.
Parameters:

What it is:

Objects supported:

Returns:

object reference

Dataset to be updated

datasets

updated dataset

269

270

Command reference

AppleScript Reference

5
Visual Basic Reference

This reference section describes the objects and commands in Illustrator’s Visual Basic
type library. All of the classes in the type library are presented alphabetically. The chapter
concludes with an enumerations reference which lists all of the enumerations in the
Illustrator type library.
Each class listing includes the following:
• Properties of the class, including value type, read-only status, and an explanation.
• Methods for the class. Enumerations and value types needed by the method are
shown in bold face. Required terms are shown in plain face. All items surrounded by
brackets [ ] are optional.
• Notes to explain special issues.
• Script examples.

About the script examples
Most of the examples do not necessarily represent the most efficient way to construct a
Visual Basic statement. All example scripts are written in a manner that should be easy to
read and understand. Error checking code, for example, is brief in most of the
examples—the point is to show you how to address and work with the Illustrator objects.
Many of the examples may be combined to make scripts with greater functionality.
Each script contains a single subroutine that can be pasted into any event in a Visual
Basic form if you are using the Visual Basic development environment. A standard button
click event is used for all examples. If you are using a built-in Visual Basic editor in a VBA
application, you can paste the script into a macro routine. In either case, modify the Sub
statement in the example to work with your situation.

271

272

Illustrator’s object model

Visual Basic Reference

Illustrator’s object model
A good understanding of Illustrator’s object model will improve your scripting abilities. This
diagram shows the containment hierarchy of the object model, starting with the
application object. It is useful to note that all text classes as well as the Layer and
GroupItem classes can contain additional objects of the same class which can in turn
contain additional nested objects.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Illustrator’s object model 273

Application

TextFace

Document
Color-related
Classes
PageItem
Gradient
CompoundPathItem

Pattern

PathItem
Tag

Layer
GraphItem

Spot
MeshItem
Swatch

GroupItem

Tag
PathPoint

PathItem
Tag

Tag

ArtStyle

PlacedItem

Tag

Brush

PluginItem

Tag

DataSet

RasterItem

Tag

Symbol

SymbolItem

PathItem

Variable

TextArtItem

TextPath
Tag

View

Character

InsertionPoint

Line

Paragraph

Text Classes

Text

Word

274

Referencing and creating objects in Visual Basic

Visual Basic Reference

Referencing and creating objects in Visual Basic
As the object model diagram shows, all objects are arranged in a hierarchy. To obtain a
reference to a specific object you need to navigate the hierarchy. For example, to store a
reference to the first PathItem in the second layer of the active document in the variable
myPath you would write:
Set myPath = appRef.ActiveDocument.layers(2).PathItems(1)

Since all objects in the hierarchy are referenced through the Application object, you
must have a reference to the Illustrator application before you can start modifying any
other objects. There are several ways to obtain a reference to an Illustrator application
object. For example, the following line will create a new reference to the Application
if Illustrator is already running.
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application

As with New, GetObject will create a reference to a running instance of Illustrator. If
Illustrator is not running an error is returned.

Dim appRef As Illustrator.Application
Set appRef = GetObject(, "Illustrator.Application")
CreateObject will launch Illustrator as an invisible application if it is not already
running. Note that if Illustrator was launched as an invisible application you have to
manually activate the application to make it visible.
Dim appRef As Illustrator.Application
Set appRef = CreateObject("Illustrator.Application")

There are a number of objects in addition to Application that cannot be obtained by
using the hierarchy shown in the object model diagram. These objects must created
directly using the techniques shown above for the Application object. These objects
are:
• CMYKColor
• Color
• EPSSaveOptions
• GradientColor

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Referencing and creating objects in Visual Basic 275

• GrayColor
• IllustratorSaveOptions
• Matrix
• PDFSaveOptions
• PatternColor
• RGBColor
• SpotColor
• ExportOptionsGIF
• ExportOptionsJPEG
• ExportOptionsPhotoshop
• ExportOptionsPNG8
• ExportOptionsPNG24
• ExportOptionsSVG
• OpenOptionsPDF

The following example demonstrates how to create new objects such as EPSSaveOptions.
' Create a reference to the Illustrator Application
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
' Create an EPS-save option object
Dim myEPSSaveOptions As New Illustrator.EPSSaveOptions
' Set the options according to how you want the save to occur
myEPSSaveOptions.EmbedAllFonts = True
myEPSSaveOptions.Compatibility = aiIllustrator7
myEPSSaveOptions.Preview = aiColorTIFF
' Save the active document
appRef.ActiveDocument.SaveAs "C:\Temp\AI_TestDocument.eps",
myEPSSaveOptions

Syntax differences between Sub and Function methods
Visual Basic supports different types of methods. When scripting Illustrator, your scripts
will call both Sub and Function methods. The difference between the two methods is that

276

Referencing and creating objects in Visual Basic

Visual Basic Reference

a Function returns a value while a Sub, or method call, does not. For example, the Add
method is a function because it returns a reference to the newly added object.
When calling a Function, Visual Basic expects you to put parentheses around the
function’s arguments. With a Sub, however, Visual Basic disallows the use of parentheses
around the arguments unless you use an alternative syntax. The following lines
demonstrate the difference between the syntax for calling a Function, Add, and a Sub,
ApplyTo, in Visual Basic.
Set newDoc = appRef.Open("C:\myfile.eps")
appRef.ActiveDocument.ArtStyles(2).ApplyTo artItem

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Application 277

Application
The Adobe Illustrator application object, which contains all other Illustrator objects.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

ActiveDocument

What it is:

Document object

The active (frontmost)
document in Illustrator.

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ActionIsRunning

R/O

Boolean

Is an action still running?

BrowserAvailable

R/O

Boolean

Is a web browser available?

Documents

R/O

Documents collection
object

The documents in the
application.

FreeMemory

R/O

Long

The amount of unused memory
(in bytes) within the Adobe
Illustrator partition.

Name

R/O

String

The application's name (not
related to the filename of the
application file).

Path

R/O

String

The file path to the application.

Preference Object

Photoshop save settings.

String

The version of the Scripting
plugin.

Variant Array (of objects)

All of the currently selected
objects in the active (frontmost)
document. See note for more
information.

Textfaces collection
object

The text faces (fonts) available
to the application.

AiUserInteractionLevel

Whether or not to interact with
users by displaying dialogs
during the running of a script.

Preferences
ScriptingVersion

R/O

Selection

TextFaces

R/O

UserInteractionLevel

Version

R/O

String

The version of the Adobe
Illustrator application.

Visible

R/O

Boolean

Is the application visible?

278

Application

Visual Basic Reference

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

ConcatenateMatrix(Matrix As
Matrix, secondMatrix As
Matrix)

Matrix object

Concatenates two matrices
together.

ConcatenateRotationMatrix(Ma Matrix object
trix As Matrix, angle As Single)

Concatenates a rotation
translation to a transformation
matrix.

ConcatenateScaleMatrix(Matrix
As Matrix, [scaleX As Single],
[scaleY As Single])

Matrix object

Concatenates a scale
translation to a transformation
matrix.

ConcatenateTranslationMatrix(
Matrix As Matrix, [deltaX As
Single], [deltaY As Single])

Matrix object

Concatenates a translation to a
transformation matrix.

DoJavaFile(action As String,
from As String, [dialogs As
Boolean])

String

Execute a Java file.

DoJavaScript(action As String,
from As String, [dialogs As
Boolean])

String

Execute a Java script.

DoScript(action As String, from
As String, [dialogs As
Boolean])

Nothing

Plays an action from the
Actions palette.

GetIdentityMatrix

Matrix object

Returns an identity matrix.

GetRotationMatrix([angle As
Single])

Matrix object

Returns a transformation matrix
containing a single rotation.

GetScaleMatrix([scaleX As
Single], [scaleY As Single])

Matrix object

Returns a transformation matrix
containing a single scale.

GetTranslationMatrix([deltaX As
Single], [deltaY As Single])

Matrix object

Returns a transformation matrix
containing a single translation.

InvertMatrix(Matrix As Matrix)

Matrix object

Inverts a matrix.

IsEqualMatrix(Matrix As Matrix,
secondMatrix As Matrix)

Boolean

Checks whether two matrices
are equal.

IsSingularMatrix(Matrix As
Matrix)

Boolean

Checks whether a matrix is
singular and cannot be inverted.

Open(files As String,
[DocumentColorSpace As
AiDocumentColorSpace])

Document object

Opens the file or files specified
by the string or array of strings
containing file paths.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Application 279

Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Quit

Nothing

Quits Illustrator. Note that if the
clipboard contains data,
Illustrator may show a dialog
prompting the user to save the
data for other applications.
Avoid the possibility of this
dialog by manually emptying
the clipboard with the VB
method Clipboard.Clear.

Redraw

Nothing

Allow Illustrator to redraw all its
windows.

Notes
To open a document and obtain a reference to the document that was opened use this
code:
' Open a document and get the reference to it
Dim appRef as New Illustrator.Application
Dim docRef as Illustrator.Document
set docRef = appRef.Open
appRef.Open("C:\temp\aFile.ai")

In Illustrator, the application’s Selection can be accessed as well as modified. The
selection will contain Empty when there are no selected objects. To deselect all objects
in the current document, simply set the selection to Empty, as the following example
shows.
Private Sub DeselectAll_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
frontDocument.Selection = Empty
End Sub

A reference to a text range is returned when there is an active insertion point in the
contents of a TextArtItem. Similarly, a reference to a range of text is returned when
characters are selected in the contents of a TextArtItem.
If the Open method is called to open a pre-Illustrator 9 (or greater) document that
contains both RGB and CMYK colors and the DocumentColorSpace parameter is

280

Application

Visual Basic Reference

not supplied, Illustrator will display a dialog to the user. When the
DocumentColorSpace parameter is supplied and Illustrator encounters documents
containing both color spaces, the document will be opened without a dialog and all colors
will be converted to the specified color space.
You can run an action from the Action Palette from a script by using the DoScript
method. When you do this the control returns to your script before the action has
completed. You should use the ActionIsRunning property to test for when the action
has completed before executing any other VB command. If you are using VBScript, you
can use the Sleep method defined on the WScript object to insert a pause to test this
property. If you are using Visual Basic please refer to the "Windows DoAction" example
for an example of how to wait for an action to complete.
VBScript example:
Dim appRef
Set appRef = CreateObject("Illustrator.Application")
appRef.DoScript "Opacity 60 (selection)", "Default Actions"
WHILE(appRef.ActionIsRunning)
WScript.sleep 1000
WEND
msgbox "Done"

DoJavaScript and DoJavaScriptFile can be used to invoke script written in
JavaScript for Illustrator. Please refer to the JavaScript documentation for how to write

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Application 281

JavaScripts for Illustrator. Both methods returns the value of the last executed JavaScript
statement. The following script will display an alert using the JavaScript alert method.
appRef.DoJavaScript "alert( 'Number of open documents: ' +
documents.length);"

The following JavaScript returns the number of open documents to Visual Basic.
Dim myNumberOfDocuments
myNumberOfDocuments = appRef.DoJavaScript("documents.length;")
MsgBox myNumberOfDocuments

Example 1.1
In this script, we use the application property ActiveDocument to copy the current
document’s selection to the clipboard before pasting it into our new document. This script
demonstrates how to create a new document with a specific color space and dimensions.
' This script copies the active document’s selection to the clipboard
' and pastes onto a new document with explicit color space and dimensions specified
Private Sub MakeNewDocument_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim newDocument As Illustrator.Document
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then
If TypeName(appRef.ActiveDocument.Selection) = "Variant()" Then
appRef.ActiveDocument.Copy
Set newDocument = appRef.Documents.Add(aiDocumentCMYKColor, _
250#, 400#)
newDocument.Paste
End If
End If
End Sub

282

ArtStyle

Visual Basic Reference

ArtStyle
An art style. Each art style defines a set of appearance attributes that you can apply nondestructively to PageItems. Art styles are contained in documents.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Name

R/O

String

The ArtStyle name.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
ArtStyle.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

ApplyTo(artItem As PageItem)

Nothing

Applies the ArtStyle to a
specific art object.

Notes
Illustrator’s ArtStyle object represents an art style as defined in the Illustrator
application. Additional art styles may be created by the user within Illustrator. Art styles
cannot be created by a script.

Example 2.1
This example duplicates and groups the current selection, applying the second art style in
the document to the items in the group.
' This script duplicates and groups the current selection
' then applies an art style to the new group’s items
Private Sub ArtStyle_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim newGroup As Illustrator.GroupItem
Dim artItem As Illustrator.PageItem
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then
If TypeName(appRef.ActiveDocument.Selection) = "Variant()" Then
appRef.ActiveDocument.Copy
Set newGroup = appRef.ActiveDocument.GroupItems.Add
newGroup.Paste

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

ArtStyle 283

For Each artItem In newGroup.PageItems
appRef.ActiveDocument.ArtStyles(2).ApplyTo artItem
Next
End If
End If
End Sub

284

ArtStyles

Visual Basic Reference

ArtStyles
A collection of art styles in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of artstyles in the
document.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
ArtStyles object

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Index(item As ArtStyle)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

ArtStyle object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.
You can obtain an item either by
index or by name.

Remove/RemoveAll

Nothing

Removes the ArtStyle from the
Document.

Notes
Illustrator’s ArtStyle object represents an art style as defined in the Illustrator
application. Additional art styles may be created by the user within Illustrator. Art styles
cannot be created by a script.

Example 3.1
This script displays the total number of available art styles in the current document.
' This script counts all art styles in current document and returns the total
Private Sub CountArtStyles_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim numberOfStyles As Long
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then
numberOfStyles = appRef.ActiveDocument.ArtStyles.Count

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

ArtStyles 285

MsgBox ("There are " & numberOfStyles & " art styles in the
document.")
End If
End Sub

286

Brush

Visual Basic Reference

Brush
A brush in an Illustrator document. Brushes are contained in documents.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Name

R/O

String

The Brush name.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
Brush.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

ApplyTo(artItem As PageItem)

Nothing

Applies the Brush to a specific
art object.

Notes
Additional brushes may be created by the user within Illustrator. Illustrator’s brushes can
be accessed from scripting, but cannot be created.

Example 4.1
This example duplicates and groups the current selection, applying the second art style in
the document to the items in the group.
' This script duplicates and groups the current selection
' then applies a brush to the new group’s items
Private Sub BrushTest_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim newGroup As Illustrator.GroupItem
Dim artItem As Illustrator.PageItem
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then
If TypeName(appRef.ActiveDocument.Selection) = "Variant()" Then
appRef.ActiveDocument.Copy
Set newGroup = appRef.ActiveDocument.GroupItems.Add
newGroup.Paste
For Each artItem In newGroup.PageItems

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Brush 287

appRef.ActiveDocument.Brushes(2).ApplyTo artItem
Next
End If
End If
End Sub

288

Brushes

Visual Basic Reference

Brushes
A collection of brushes in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
Brushes object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Index(item As Brush)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

ArtStyle object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.
By name or index.

Notes
Illustrator’s Brush object represents a brush as defined in the Illustrator application.
Additional brushes may be created by the user within Illustrator. Brushes cannot be
created by a script.

Example 5.1
This script displays the total number of available brushes in the current document.
' This script counts all brushes in current document and returns the total
Private Sub Brushes_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim numberOfBrushes As Long
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then
numberOfBrushes = appRef.ActiveDocument.Brushes.Count
MsgBox ("There are " & numberOfBrushes & " brushes in the
document.")
End If

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

End Sub

Brushes 289

290

Character

Visual Basic Reference

Character
A single character of text in the contents of a TextArtItem.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

AutoKerning

Boolean

Should a font’s built-in kerning
information be used?

BaselineShift

Single

Baseline offset of text.

Boolean

Should the character be used
as a clipping path?

Contents

String

The text contained in the text
range.

Direction

AiCharacterDirection
enumeration

The orientation of the
characters in a vertical text
block.

Evenodd

Boolean

Should the even-odd rule be
used to determine insideness?

Clipping

R/O

FillColor

Color

Fill color of text

Filled

Boolean

Should the text be filled?

FillOverprint

Boolean

Should the art beneath the text
be overprinted?

Font

String

The text face of the text.

Kerning

Single

The spacing between two
characters in milli-ms.

Leading

Single

The vertical leading of the text.

Length

R/O

Long

The number of character in the
text.

Note

R/O

String

The note associated with this
text.

Offset

R/O

Long

Offset of selected text in text
range (in characters).

Orientation

R/O

AiTextOrientation
enumeration

The orientation of the text. Use
the TextPath class to alter this
property.

Paragraph

R/O

Paragraph object

The paragraph containing the
character.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Character 291

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
Character.

Resolution

R/O

Single

The resolution of the object (in
dots per inch).

Scaling

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The Character scaling supplied
as a point with the first
coordinate as horizontal scale
and the second coordinate as
vertical scale, where 100.0 is
100%.

Size

Single

Font size of text.

StrokeCap

AiStrokeCap
enumeration

The type of line capping.

StrokeColor

Color object

The stroke color for the path.

Stroked

Boolean

Should the path be stroked?

StrokeDashes

Variant Array

Dash lengths. Set to an empty
array for a solid line.

StrokeDashOffset

Single

The default distance into the
dash pattern at which the
pattern should be started.

StrokeJoin

AiStrokeJoin
enumeration

Type of joints for the path.

StrokeMiterLimit

Single

Are joins mitered (pointed) or
beveled (squared-off)?

StrokeOverprint

Boolean

Will art beneath a stroked
object be overprinted?

StrokeWidth

Single

Width of stroke.

TextLine

R/O

TextLine object

The line of text containing the
character.

TextPath

R/O

TextPath object

A reference to the text path
associated with the TextArtItem
containing this text.

Single

The spacing between multiple
characters.

Word object

The word containing this
character.

Tracking
Word

R/O

292

Character

Visual Basic Reference

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Copy

Nothing

Copies the character to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the character onto the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Paste

Nothing

Replaces character with the
contents of the clipboard.

Notes
The text contained within TextArtItems in Illustrator can be accessed using the
Character, Word, TextLine, Paragraph and TextRange classes. The
properties and valid commands for all of these classes are similar, but not identical. For
example, while Character has a Kerning property, the other text classes do not.

Example 6.1
This example demonstrates how to use character properties to create unique effects from
a script.
' This script distorts all characters in all TextArtItems
' by incrementally modifying the vertical scaling of each character
' to give the effect of stretching words out.
Private Sub CharacterSample_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim textArt As Illustrator.TextArtItem
Dim textArtRange As Illustrator.TextRange
Dim textCharacter As Illustrator.Character
Dim verticalScale As Double
Dim CharacterCount As Long
Dim index As Long
Dim pi As Double
pi = 3.1415
Dim horizScale As Double
Dim curTextRange As Illustrator.TextRange

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Character 293

If appRef.Documents.Count = 0 Then
MsgBox "No documents are open"
Exit Sub
End If
For Each textArt In appRef.ActiveDocument.TextArtItems
Set textArtRange = textArt.TextRange
index = 0
CharacterCount = textArtRange.Characters.Count
For Each textCharacter In textArtRange.Characters
verticalScale = Sin(pi * index / CharacterCount) * 200 + 200
index = index + 1
textCharacter.Scaling = Array(100, verticalScale)
Next
Next
End Sub

294

Characters

Visual Basic Reference

Characters
A collection of characters.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of characters in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
Characters object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

Character object

Add a character after the last
character in the current
collection.

AddBefore

Character object

Add a character to the
beginning of the current
collection.

Index(item As Character)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

Character object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.
Only by index.

Remove(item As Character)

Nothing

Deletes a character from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Example 7.1
This script displays the total number of characters contained in all of the TextArtItems in
the current document.
' This script counts all characters in current document and returns the total
Private Sub CountCharacters_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim numberOfCharacters As Long
Dim textArt As Illustrator.TextArtItem

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Characters 295

Dim textArtRange As Illustrator.TextRange
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then
numberOfCharacters = 0
For Each textArt In appRef.ActiveDocument.TextArtItems
Set textArtRange = textArt.TextRange
numberOfCharacters = numberOfCharacters + textArtRange.Length
Next
MsgBox ("There are " & numberOfCharacters & " characters in the
document.")
End If
End Sub

296

CMYKColor

Visual Basic Reference

CMYKColor
A CMYK color specification, used in conjunction with the CMYK property of the Color
object.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Black

Single

The black color value as a value
in the range 0.0 - 100.0.

Cyan

Single

The cyan color value as a value
in the range 0.0 - 100.0.

Magenta

Single

The magenta color value as a
value in the range 0.0 - 100.0.

Yellow

Single

The yellow color value as a
value in the range 0.0 - 100.0.

Notes
If the DocumentColorSpace of a document is aiDocumentRGBColor and you
specify the color value for a PageItem in that document using CMYKColor, Illustrator will
translate the CMYK color specification into a RGB color specification. The same thing
happens if the document’s DocumentColorSpace is aiDocumentCMYKColor and
you specify colors using RGBColor. Since this translation can cause information loss
you should specify colors using the class that matches the document’s
DocumentColorSpace.

Example 8.1
This script sets the fill color for the frontmost PathItem in the active document to a light
shade of purple.
' This script sets the fill color of the frontmost PathItem in
' the current document to a light purple CMYK color
Private Sub SetFill_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontPath As Illustrator.PathItem
Dim newCMYKColor As New Illustrator.CMYKColor
Dim newColor As New Illustrator.Color

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

CMYKColor 297

' Get a reference to the frontmost path in the document
Set frontPath = appRef.ActiveDocument.PathItems(1)
' Set color values for the CMYK objects. Then wrap the color in a standard color object
newCMYKColor.Black = 0
newCMYKColor.Cyan = 30.4
newCMYKColor.Magenta = 32
newCMYKColor.Yellow = 0
Set newColor.CMYK = newCMYKColor
frontPath.Filled = True
frontPath.fillColor = newColor
End Sub

298

Color

Visual Basic Reference

Color
A general color specification that includes a color space specification as well as a specific
color specification for the color space selected.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

CMYKColor object

A CMYK color specification.

AiColor enumeration

The color space for this color.
Any color specification included
in the color info specification
must correspond to the color
space, i.e. if model is
aiColorCMYK, the color
specification object included
must be a CMYKColor object.

Gradient

GradientColor object

A gradient color specification.

Gray

GrayColor object

A gray color specification.

Pattern

PatternColor object

A pattern color specification.

RGB

RGBColor object

A RGB color specification.

Spot

Spot object

A spot color specification.

CMYK
Color

R/O

Notes
All colors are specified in Illustrator using Color, except the Color property of layers
which is specified directly as a RGB Color specification using RGBColor. To set a color,
you do not need to specify the Color property. Illustrator will imply the color space
based on the other properties included.

Example 9.1
The following script examines the color of the frontmost PathItem in the current
document. Note that a document using the CMYK color space will never return an RGB
color. A document using the RGB color space will never return a CMYK color.
' This script examines the fill color of the frontmost PathItem in
' the current document
Private Sub ColorTest_Click()

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontPath As Illustrator.PathItem
Dim fillColor As New Illustrator.Color
' Get a reference to the frontmost path in the document
Set frontPath = appRef.ActiveDocument.PathItems(1)
If (frontPath.Filled) Then
Set fillColor = frontPath.fillColor
Select Case (fillColor.Color)
Case aiColorCMYK
MsgBox "FillColor of PathItem is a CMYK color"
Case aiColorGradient
MsgBox "FillColor of PathItem is a Gradient"
Case aiColorGray
MsgBox "FillColor of PathItem is a Gray shade"
Case aiColorNone
MsgBox "FillColor of PathItem is "
Case aiColorPattern
MsgBox "FillColor of PathItem is a Pattern"
Case aiColorRGB
MsgBox "FillColor of PathItem is a RGB color"
Case aiColorSpot
MsgBox "FillColor of PathItem is a Spot"
Case Else
MsgBox "Unknown FillColor of PathItem"
End Select
End If
End Sub

Color 299

300

CompoundPathItem

Visual Basic Reference

CompoundPathItem
A compound path. Compound paths are objects composed of multiple intersecting paths,
resulting in transparent interior spaces where the original paths overlapped.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtworkKnockout

AiKnockoutState
enumeration

Is this object used to create a
knockout? If so, what kind of
knockout?

BlendingMode

AiBlendModes
enumeration

The mode used when
compositing an object.

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

Boolean

Is this CompoundPathItem
editable?

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the object
excluding stroke width.

Height

Single

The height of the
CompoundPathItem, excluding
stroke width, calculated from
the Geometric bounds.

Hidden

Boolean

Is this CompoundPathItem
hidden?

IsIsolated

Boolean

Is this object isolated?

Layer object

The layer to which this
CompoundPathItem belongs.

Left

single

The left position of the
CompoundPathItem.

Locked

Boolean

Is this CompoundPathItem
locked?

Name

String

The name of this
CompoundPathItem.

Opacity

Single

The opacity of the object . The
value is between 0.0 and 100.0.

PageItem object

The PageItem object
corresponding to the
CompoundPathItem.

ControlBounds

R/O

Editable
GeometricBounds

Layer

PageItem

R/O

R/O

R/O

301

CompoundPathItem

Visual Basic Reference

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
CompoundPathItem.

PathItems

R/O

PathItems collection
object

The path art items in this
compound path.

Position

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The position of the top left
corner of the
CompoundPathItem excluding
stroke width.

Selected

Boolean

Is this CompoundPathItem
selected?

Slices

Boolean

Is this CompoundPathItem
sliced? Default: false

Tags collection object

The tags contained in this
object.

Top

Single

The top position of the
CompoundPathItem.

URL

String

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this
CompoundPathItem.

VisibilityVariable

Variable

The VisibilityVariable bound to
this CompoundPathItem.

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The visible bounds of the
CompoundPathItem including
stroke width.

Single

The width of the
CompoundPathItem, excluding
stroke width, calculated from
the GeometricBounds.

Long

The position of this art object
within the stacking order of the
group or layer (Parent) that
contains the art object.

Tags

VisibleBounds

R/O

R/O

Width

ZOrderPosition

R/O

302

CompoundPathItem

Visual Basic Reference

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Copy

Nothing

Copies the compound path to
the clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the compound path onto
the clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Duplicate

CompoundPathItem

Duplicate the
CompoundPathItem.

Resize(scaleX As Single,
scaleY As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [scaleAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Scales the compound path
where scaleX is the horizontal
scaling factor and scaleY is the
vertical scaling factor; 100.0 =
100%.

Rotate(Angle As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [rotateAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Rotates the art object relative to
the current rotation. The object
is rotated counter-clockwise if
the Angle value is positive,
clockwise if the value is
negative.

Transform(transformationMatrix
As Matrix, [changePositions As
Boolean], [changeFillPatterns
As Boolean],
[changeFillGradients As
Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [transformAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Transforms the compound path
by applying a transformation
matrix.

303

CompoundPathItem

Visual Basic Reference

Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Translate([deltaX As Single],
[deltaY As Single],
[transformObjects As Boolean],
[transformFillPatterns As
Boolean],
[transformFillGradients As
Boolean],
[transformStrokePatterns As
Boolean])

Nothing

Repositions the compound path
relative to the current position,
where deltaX is the horizontal
offset and deltaY is the vertical
offset.

ZOrder(zOrderCmd As
AiZOrderMethod)

Nothing

Arranges the compound path’s
position in the stacking order of
the group or layer (Parent) of
this object.

Notes
Paths contained within a compound path or group in a document will be returned as
individual paths when a script asks for the paths contained in the document. However,
paths contained in a compound path or group will not be returned when a script asks for
the paths in a layer which contains the compound path or group.
All paths inside of a compound path share property values. Therefore, if you set the value
of a property of any one of the paths in the compound path, all other path’s matching
property will be updated to the new value.
The PathItems property provides access to the paths that make up the compound
path.

Example 10.1
This example demonstrates how to select all of the paths in a document that are not part
of a compound path or a group by testing the type of the Parent property with a
TypeName function.
' This script selects all paths not part of a compound path.
Private Sub SelectNonCPI_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim pathArt As Illustrator.PathItem
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then
If appRef.ActiveDocument.PathItems.Count > 0 Then
For Each pathArt In appRef.ActiveDocument.PathItems

304

CompoundPathItem

Visual Basic Reference

If (Not TypeName(pathArt.Parent) = "CompoundPathItem")
Then _
pathArt.Selected = True
Next
End If
End If
End Sub

Example 10.2
This example demonstrates how to create a new compound path containing 3 PathItems.
The example then modifies the stroke of the paths in the compound path. Note that when
you modify the properties of a PathItem inside a compound path you affect all paths
contained in the compound path. The example also shows how to access swatches in a
document by name.
' This script creates a CompoundPath containing 3 PathItems. It then sets the width and the color
' of the stroke. Note that when you modify a path in a compound path you affect all paths in the
' compound path.
Private Sub NewCPI_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim activeLayer As Illustrator.Layer
Dim newCompoundPath As Illustrator.CompoundPathItem
Dim newPath As Illustrator.PathItem
Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
Set activeLayer = frontDocument.activeLayer
Set newCompoundPath = activeLayer.CompoundPathItems.Add
' Create the PathItems
Set newPath = newCompoundPath.PathItems.Add
newPath.SetEntirePath Array(Array(30, 50), Array(30, 100))
Set newPath = newCompoundPath.PathItems.Add
newPath.SetEntirePath Array(Array(40, 100), Array(100, 100))
Set newPath = newCompoundPath.PathItems.Add
newPath.SetEntirePath Array(Array(100, 110), Array(100, 300))
' Set the gradient of the compound path
newPath.Stroked = True
newPath.StrokeWidth = 3.5

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

CompoundPathItem 305

newPath.StrokeColor = frontDocument.Swatches("Orange").Color
End Sub

306

CompoundPathItems

Visual Basic Reference

CompoundPathItems
A collection of compound paths.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
CompoundPathItems object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

CompountPathItem object

Creates a new
CompoundPathItem.

Index(item As
CompoundPathItem)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

CompoundPathItem object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

MoveAfter

Nothing

Move the CompoundPath
behind another object.

MoveBefore

Nothing

Move the CompoundPath in
front of another object.

MoveToEnd(Document/Layer/
GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the CompoundPath to the
end of a container.

MoveToBeginning(Document/
Layer/GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the CompoundPath to the
front of a container.

Remove(item As
CompoundPathItem)

Nothing

Deletes a CompoundPathItem
from this collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Example 11.1
This example displays the total number of compound paths contained in the first layer of
the current document.
' This script counts all compound paths in layer 1 of current document

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Private
Dim
Dim
Dim

CompoundPathItems 307

Sub CountCPI_Click()
appRef As New Illustrator.Application
numPaths As Long
textArt As Illustrator.TextArtItem

If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then
numPaths =
appRef.ActiveDocument.Layers(1).CompoundPathItems.Count
MsgBox ("There are " & numPaths & " compound paths in the
document.")
End If
End Sub

308

DataSet

Visual Basic Reference

DataSet
A set of data used for dynamic publishing.
Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

String

The name of the DataSet.

Document object

The name of the object that is
this DataSet object’s parent.

Name
Parent

r/o

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Display

Nothing

Displays the DataSet.

Update

Nothing

Updates the DataSet.

Notes
A DataSet allows you to collect a number of variables and their dynamic data into one
object. You must have at least one variable bound to an art object in order to create a
DataSet. See the class definition for variable in this chapter and “Working with
variables and datasets” on page 53 for more information.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

DataSets 309

DataSets
A collection of DataSets.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of datasets in the
collection.

Parent

r/o

Document object

The name of the object that is
this DataSet object’s parent.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add(Variable)

DataSet object

Creates a new DataSet.

Index(item As Variable)

String

Name of a Variable in the
DataSet.

item(itemKey)

DataSet object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove

DataSet object

Removes a DataSet from the
collection.

RemoveAll

DataSet object

Removes all DataSets from the
collection.

310

Document

Visual Basic Reference

Document
An Illustrator document. Documents are contained in the Application object.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

ActiveDataSet

DataSet object

The active DataSet object in the
document.

ActiveLayer

Layer object

The active Layer in the
document.

ActiveView

R/O

View object

The document's current View.

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtStyles

R/O

ArtStyles collection
object

The ArtStyles contained in the
document.

Brushes

R/O

Brushes collection object The Brushes contained in the
document.

CompoundPathItems

R/O

CompoundPathItems
collection object

The CompoundPathItems
contained in the document.

CropBox

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The boundary of the
document's cropping box for
output.
A document does not have a
default CropBox. In order to
read this property you have to
set the CropBox first.

CropStyle

AiCropOptions
enumeration

The style of the document's
cropping box.

DataSets

DataSet object

A DataSets collection in the
document.

DefaultFillColor

Color object

The Color to fill new paths if
default filled is true.

DefaultFilled

Boolean

Should a new path be filled?

DefaultFillOverprint

Boolean

Will art beneath a filled object
be overprinted by default?

DefaultStrokeCap

AiStrokeCap
enumeration

Default type of line capping for
paths created.

DefaultStrokeColor

Color object

The stroke color for new paths if
default stroked is true.

DefaultStroked

Boolean

Should a new path be stroked?

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

Document 311

R/O Value type:

What it is:

DefaultStrokeDashes

Variant Array (of Singles) Default lengths for dashes and
gaps in dashed lines, starting
with the first dash length,
followed by the first gap length,
and so on. Set to an empty
variant array for solid line.

DefaultStrokeDashOffset

Single

The default distance into the
dash pattern at which the
pattern should be started for
new paths.

DefaultStrokeJoin

AiStrokeJoin
enumeration

Default type of joints in new
paths.

DefaultStrokeMiterLimit

Single

Specifies when a join is mitered
(pointed) or beveled (squaredoff) by default, when default
stroke join is set to mitered.

DefaultStrokeOverprint

Boolean

Will art beneath a stroked
object be overprinted by
default?

DefaultStrokeWidth

Single

Default width of stroke for new
paths.

DocumentColorSpace

R/O

AiDocumentColorSpace
enumeration

The color specification system
to use for this document’s color
space.

FullName

R/O

String

The file associated with the
document, which includes the
complete path to the file.

GeometricBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the illustration
excluding the stroke width of
any objects in the document.

Gradients

R/O

Gradients collection
object

The Gradients collection
contained in the document.

GraphItems object

The GraphItems collection
contained in the document.

GraphItems
GroupItems

R/O

GroupItems collection
object

The GroupItems collection
contained in the document.

Height

R/O

Single

The height of the document.,
calculated from the
GeometricBounds.

Layers

R/O

Layers collection object

The layers contained in the
document.

312

Document

Visual Basic Reference

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

MeshItems

R/O

MeshItems collection
object

The mesh art items contained
in the document.

Name

R/O

String

The document's name (not the
complete file path to the
document).

Single

The current output resolution for
the document in dots per inch
(dpi).

PageItems collection
object

The PageItems (contains all art
object classes) contained in the
document.

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The zero-point of the page in
the document without margins,
relative to the overall height and
width.

OutputResolution

PageItems

R/O

PageOrigin

Parent

R/O

Application object

The application that contains
this document.

Path

R/O

String

The file associated with the
document, which includes the
complete path to the file.

PathItems

R/O

PathItems collection
object

The PathItems contained in this
document.

Patterns

R/O

Patterns collection object The patterns contained in this
document.

PlacedItems

R/O

PlacedItems collection
object

The PlacedItems contained in
this document.

PluginItems

R/O

PluginItems collection
object

The PluginItems contained in
this document.

PrintTiles

R/O

Boolean

Does this document print as
tiled output?

RasterItems

R/O

RasterItems collection
object

The raster items contained in
this document.

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The zero-point of the rulers in
the document relative to the
bottom left of the document.

AiRulerUnits
enumeration

The default measurement units
for the rulers in the document.

Boolean

False if the document has never
been saved or if the document
has been changed since last
time it was saved.

RulerOrigin

RulerUnits
Saved

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

Document 313

R/O Value type:

Selection

What it is:

Variant Array (of objects)

The array of references to the
objects in this document's
current selection.

ShowPlacedImages

R/O

Boolean

Are placed images displayed in
the document?

SplitLongPaths

R/O

Boolean

Are long paths to be split when
printing?

Spots

R/O

Spots collection object

The SpotColors contained in
this document.

Swatches

R/O

Swatches collection
object

The Swatches contained in this
document.

Symbols

Symbols collection
object

The Symbols collection
contained in this document.

SymbolItems

SymbolItems collection
object

The SymbolItems collection
contained in this document.

Tags

R/O

Tags collection object

The tags contained in this
document.

TextArtItems

R/O

TextArtItems collection
object

The TextArtItems contained in
this document.

TileFullPages

R/O

Boolean

Should full pages be tiled when
printing this document?

UseDefaultScreen

R/O

Boolean

Should the printer's default
screen be used when printing
this document?

Variables

Variables collection
object

The Variables collection
contained in this document.

VariablesLocked

Boolean

Are the Variables in this
document locked?

Views

R/O

Views collection object

The views contained in this
document.

VisibleBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The visible bounds of the
document, including stroke
width of any objects in the
illustration.

Width

R/O

Single

The width of this document,
calculated from the
GeometricBounds

314

Document

Visual Basic Reference

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Activate

Nothing

Bring the first window
associated with the document
to the front.

Close([saving As
AiSaveOptions])

Nothing

Closes a document.

Copy

Nothing

Copies the current selection in
the document to the clipboard.
The associated document must
be the frontmost document.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the current selection in the
document to the clipboard. The
associated document must be
the frontmost document.

Export(exportFile As String,
exportFormat as
AiExportType, [options As
ExportOptionsGIF/
ExportOptionsJPEG/
ExportOptionsPhotoshop/
ExportOptionsPNG24/
ExportOptionsPNG8/
ExportOptionsSVG]

Nothing

Exports the document to the
specified file using one of the
export file formats.

ExportVariables filename As
String

Nothing

Exports Variables from this
document to a specified file.

ImportVariables filename As
String

Nothing

Import Variables from specified
file into this document.

Paste

Nothing

Pastes the contents of the
clipboard into the current layer
of the document. If the
document is the frontmost then
all pasted objects remain
selected after the paste.

PrintOut([showDialog As
Boolean])

Nothing

Prints the document.

Save

Nothing

Saves the document in it
current location.

SaveAs([saveIn As String],
[options As EPSSaveOptions/
IllustratorSaveOptions/
PDFSaveOptions])

Nothing

Saves the document in the
specified file as an Illustrator,
EPS, or PDF file.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Document 315

Notes
Illustrator’s default document settings—those properties starting with the word “Default”—
are global settings that affect the current document. Be sure to modify these default
properties only when a document is open. Note that if you set default properties to
desired values before creating new objects, you can streamline your scripts, eliminating
the need to specify properties such as FillColor and Stroked that have analogous
default properties.
A document’s DocumentColorSpace, Height, and Width can only be set when
the document is created. Once a document is created, these properties cannot be
changed.
The frontmost document can be referred to as either AppRef.ActiveDocument or
AppRef.Documents(1).
If you close the document, you should set your document reference to Nothing to
prevent your script accidentally trying to access closed documents. Example:

Example 12.1
The following example shows how to make sure a document is open before setting any of
the default properties.
' In this example it is assumed that aiDocument

316

Document

Visual Basic Reference

' holds a reference to an open Illustrator document
DocRef.Close aiSaveChanges
Set aiDocument = Nothing

Example 12.2
This example demonstrates how to create a new document with specific default
properties.
' This script creates a document if none exist
' and then sets fill and stroke defaults
Private Sub MakeNewDocument_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
If (appRef.Documents.Count = 0) Then
Set frontDocument = appRef.Documents.Add
Else
Set frontDocument = appRef.Documents(1)
End If
frontDocument.DefaultFilled = True
frontDocument.DefaultStroked = True
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Documents 317

Documents
A collection of documents.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Object

The parent of this object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add([DocumentColorSpace As
AiDocumentColorSpace],
[Width As Single], [Height As
Single])

Document object

Creates a new document using
optional parameters and returns
a reference to the new
document.

Index(item As Document)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

Document object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Example 13.1
This examples demonstrates how to create a new document with a specific color space.
' This script creates a document with RGB color space
Private MakeNewDocument_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
appRef.Documents.Add(aiDocumentRGBColor)
End Sub

318

EPSSaveOptions

Visual Basic Reference

EPSSaveOptions
Options which may be supplied when saving a document as an Illustrator EPS file. See
the SaveAs method for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

CMYKPostScript

Boolean

Use CMYK PostScript?

Compatibility

AiCompatibility
enumeration

Specifies the version of the
EPS file format to save.

EmbedAllFonts

Boolean

Include fonts used in the EPS
file?

EmbedLinkedFiles

Boolean

Are linked image files to be
included in the saved
document?

FlattenOuput

AiOutputFlattening
enumeration

How should transparency be
flattened for file formats older
than Illustrator 9 or greater?

IncludeDocumentThumbnails

Boolean

Include thumbnail image of the
EPS artwork?

JapaneseFileFormat

Boolean

Save file using Japanese
version of file format?

PostScript

AiPostScriptLevel
enumeration

Specifies the PostScript level to
use when saving the file.

Preview

AiEPSPreview
enumeration

Specifies the format for the EPS
preview image.

Notes
EPSSaveOptions can only be supplied in conjunction with the SaveAs method.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

EPSSaveOptions 319

It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Example 14.1
This example demonstrates how to save the current document as an Illustrator 8compatible EPS file using CMYK PostScript with all fonts embedded.
' This script saves the current document as an EPS with specific options
Private Sub SaveAsEPS_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim newSaveOptions As New Illustrator.EPSSaveOptions
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then
newSaveOptions.CMYKPostScript = True
newSaveOptions.Compatibility = aiIllustrator8
newSaveOptions.EmbedAllFonts = True
Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
frontDocument.SaveAs "C:\temp\sample.eps", newSaveOptions
End If
End Sub

320

ExportOptionsFlash

Visual Basic Reference

ExportOptionsFlash
Options you can supply when exporting a document as Flash (.SWF).

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtBoardClipping

Boolean

Should the exported image be
clipped to the art board? The
default value is false.

CurveQuality

Long (0 -10)

The amount of curve
information that should be
preserved.
Default: 7.

ExportStyle

AiFlashExportStyle

The style in which the exported
data should be created in Flash.
Default: Flash file.

FrameRate

Single (0.01 - 120)

The display rate in frames per
second.
Default: 12.

GenerateHTML

Boolean

Should the image be exported
as an HTML file?
Default: true

ImageFormat

AiFlashImageFormat
enumeration

How should the image in the
exported Flash file be
compressed?
Default: Lossless

JPEGMethod

AiFlashJPEGMethod
enumeration

The JPEG method to use.
Default: either
JPEGStandard or

JPEGOptimized
JPEGQuality

Long (0 -3)

Level of compression to use.
Default: 3

Looping

Boolean

Should the Flash file be set to
loop when run?
Default: false

ReadOnly

Boolean

Export as a read-only file?
Default: false

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:
Replacing

ExportOptionsFlash 321

R/O Value type:
AiSaveOptions

What it is:
If a file with the same name
already exists, should it be
replaced?
Default:

AiPromptToSaveChanges
Resolution

Single (72 - 2400)

Pixels per inch.
Default: 72

322

ExportOptionsGIF

Visual Basic Reference

ExportOptionsGIF
Options which may be supplied when exporting a document as a GIF file. See the
Export method for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

AntiAliasing

What it is:

Boolean

Should the exported image be
anti-aliased? The default value
is true.

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtBoardClipping

Boolean

Should the exported image be
clipped to the art board? The
default value is false.

ColorCount

Long

The number of colors in the
exported image’s color table.
Acceptable values range from 2
to 256. The default value is 128.

ColorDither

AiColorDitherMethod
enumeration

The method used to dither
colors in the exported image.
The default value is

Application

R/O

aiDiffusionDither.
ColorReduction

AiColorReductionMetho
d enumeration

The method used to reduce the
number of colors in the
exported image. The default
value is aiSelective.

DitherPercent

Long

How much should the colors of
the exported image be dithered,
where 100.0 is 100%.

HorizontalScale

Single

The horizontal scaling factor to
apply to the exported image,
where 100.0 is 100%. The
default value is 100.0.

InfoLossPercent

Long

The level of information loss
allowed during compression,
where 100.0 is 100%. Default:

0%
Interlaced

Boolean

Should the exported image be
interlaced? The default value is
false.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

ExportOptionsGIF 323

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Matte

Boolean

Should the art board be matted
with a color? The default value
is true.

MatteColor

RGBColor object

The color to use when matting
the art board. The default value
is white.

SaveAsHTML

Boolean

Should the exported image be
saved with an accompanying
HTML file? The default value is
false.

Transparency

Boolean

Should the exported image use
transparency? The default value
is true.

VerticalScale

Single

The vertical scaling factor to
apply to the exported image,
where 100.0 is 100%. The
default value is 100.0.

WebSnap

Long

How much should the color
table be changed to match the
web palette, where 100 is
maximum. The default value is
0.

Notes
ExportOptionsGIF can only be supplied in conjunction with the Export method.
It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Example 15.1
This example demonstrates how to export the current document as a GIF.
' This script saves the current document as a GIF file with specific options
Private Sub ExportGIF_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim gifExportOptions As New Illustrator.ExportOptionsGIF
Dim docRef As Illustrator.Document
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then
gifExportOptions.AntiAliasing = False

324

ExportOptionsGIF

Visual Basic Reference

gifExportOptions.ColorCount = 64
gifExportOptions.ColorDither = aiDiffusion
Set docRef = appRef.ActiveDocument
docRef.Export "C:\temp\sample.gif", aiGIF, gifExportOptions
End If
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

ExportOptionsPhotoshop 325

ExportOptionsPhotoshop
Options which may be supplied when exporting a document as a Photoshop file. See the
Export method for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

AntiAliasing

What it is:

Boolean

Should the exported image be
anti-aliased?
Default: true.

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

CompoundShapes

Boolean

Export compound shapes as
shape layers?
Default: true

EditableText

Boolean

Export text objects as editable
text layers?
Default: true

EmbedICCProfile

Boolean

Should a ICC profile be
embedded in the exported file?
Default: false

HiddenLayers

Boolean

Should hidden layers be
included in the exported file?
Default: false

ImageColorSpace

AiImageColorSpace
enumeration

The color space of the exported
file.

ImageMap

Boolean

For RGB documents, should
the image maps be preserved
in ImageReady 3.0 format?
Default: true

NestedLayers

Boolean

Should nested layers be
included in the exported file?
Default: true

Resolution

Single (72 - 2400)

The resolution of the exported
file (in dots per inch).
Default: 150

Slices

Boolean

Should slice data be preserved
in the exported document?
Default: true

Application

R/O

326

ExportOptionsPhotoshop

Property:

Visual Basic Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Warning

Boolean

Should a warning dialog be
displayed because of conflicts
in the export settings?
Default: true

WriteLayers

Boolean

Should the document layers be
preserved in the exported file?
The default value is true.

Notes
ExportOptionsPS5 can only be supplied in conjunction with the Export method.
It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Example 19.1
This example exports the current document as a Photoshop 5 file with layers.
' This script exports the current document as a Photoshop 6 with specific options
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim psExportOptions As New Illustrator.ExportOptionsPhotoshop
Dim docRef As Illustrator.Document
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then
psExportOptions.Resolution = 150
Set docRef = appRef.ActiveDocument
docRef.Export "C:\temp\sample.psd", aiPhotoshop, psExportOptions
End If

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

ExportOptionsJPEG 327

ExportOptionsJPEG
Options which may be supplied when exporting a document as a JPEG file. See the
Export method for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

AntiAliasing

What it is:

Boolean

Should the exported image be
anti-aliased? The default value
is true.

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtBoardClipping

Boolean

Should the exported image be
clipped to the art board? The
default value is false.

BlurAmount

Single

The amount of blur to apply to
the exported image. This value
ranges from 0.0 to 2.0. The
default value is 0.0.

HorizontalScale

Single

The horizontal scaling factor to
apply to the exported image,
where 100.0 is 100%. The
default value is 100.0.

Matte

Boolean

Should the art board be matted
with a color? The default value
is true.

MatteColor

RGBColor object

The color to use when matting
the art board. The default value
is white.

Optimization

Boolean

Should the exported image be
optimized for web viewing? The
default value is true.

QualitySetting

Long

The quality of the exported
image. This value ranges from 0
to 100. The default value is 30.

SaveAsHTML

Boolean

Should the exported image be
saved with an accompanying
HTML file? The default value is
false.

Application

R/O

328

ExportOptionsJPEG

Property:
VerticalScale

Visual Basic Reference

R/O Value type:
Single

What it is:
The vertical scaling factor to
apply to the exported image,
where 100.0 is 100%. The
default value is 100.0.

Notes
ExportOptionsJPEG can only be supplied in conjunction with the Export method.
It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Example 16.1
This example demonstrates how to export the current document as a JPEG with specific
options.
' This script exports the current document as a JPEG with specific options
Private Sub ExportAsJPEG_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim jpegExportOptions As New Illustrator.ExportOptionsJPEG
Dim docRef As Illustrator.Document
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then
jpegExportOptions.AntiAliasing = False
jpegExportOptions.QualitySetting = 70
Set docRef = appRef.ActiveDocument
docRef.Export "C:\temp\sample.jpg", aiJPEG, jpegExportOptions
End If
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

ExportOptionsPNG24 329

ExportOptionsPNG24
Options which may be supplied when exporting a document as a 24-bit PNG file. See the
Export method for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

AntiAliasing

What it is:

Boolean

Should the exported image be
anti-aliased? The default value
is true.

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtBoardClipping

Boolean

Should the exported image be
clipped to the art board? The
default value is false.

HorizontalScale

Single

The horizontal scaling factor to
apply to the exported image,
where 100.0 is 100%. The
default value is 100.0.

Matte

Boolean

Should the art board be matted
with a color? The default value
is true.

MatteColor

RGBColor object

The color to use when matting
the art board. The default value
is white.

SaveAsHTML

Boolean

Should the exported image be
saved with an accompanying
HTML file? The default value is
false.

Transparency

Boolean

Should the exported image use
transparency? The default value
is true.

VerticalScale

Single

The vertical scaling factor to
apply to the exported image,
where 100.0 is 100%. The
default value is 100.0.

Application

R/O

Notes
ExportOptionsPNG24 can only be supplied in conjunction with the Export method.

330

ExportOptionsPNG24

Visual Basic Reference

It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Example 17.1
This example exports the current document as a PNG24 file with specific options.
' This script exports the current document as a PNG24 with specific options
Private Sub ExportAsPNG24_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim png24ExportOptions As New Illustrator.ExportOptionsPNG24
Dim docRef As Illustrator.Document
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then
png24ExportOptions.AntiAliasing = False
png24ExportOptions.Transparency = False
Set docRef = appRef.ActiveDocument
docRef.Export "C:\temp\sample.png", aiPNG24, png24ExportOptions
End If
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

ExportOptionsPNG8 331

ExportOptionsPNG8
Options which may be supplied when exporting a document as an 8-bit PNG file. See the
Export method for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

AntiAliasing

What it is:

Boolean

Should the exported image be
anti-aliased? The default value
is true.

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtBoardClipping

Boolean

Should the exported image be
clipped to the art board? The
default value is false.

ColorCount

Long

The number of colors in the
exported image’s color table.
Acceptable values range from 2
to 256. The default value is 128.

ColorDither

AiColorDitherMethod
enumeration

The method used to dither
colors in the exported image.
The default value is

Application

R/O

aiDiffusionDither.
ColorReduction

AiColorReductionMetho
d enumeration

The method used to reduce the
number of colors in the
exported image. The default
value is aiSelective.

DitherPercent

Long

How much should the colors of
the exported image be dithered,
where 100.0 is 100%.

HorizontalScale

Single

The horizontal scaling factor to
apply to the exported image,
where 100.0 is 100%. The
default value is 100.0.

Interlaced

Boolean

Should the exported image be
interlaced? The default value is
false.

Matte

Boolean

Should the art board be matted
with a color? The default value
is true.

332

ExportOptionsPNG8

Property:

Visual Basic Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

MatteColor

RGBColor object

The color to use when matting
the art board. The default value
is white.

SaveAsHTML

Boolean

Should the exported image be
saved with an accompanying
HTML file? The default value is
false.

Transparency

Boolean

Should the exported image use
transparency? The default value
is true.

VerticalScale

Single

The vertical scaling factor to
apply to the exported image,
where 100.0 is 100%. The
default value is 100.0.

WebSnap

Long

How much should the color
table be changed to match the
web palette, where 100 is
maximum. The default value is
0.

Notes
ExportOptionsPNG8 can only be supplied in conjunction with the Export method.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

ExportOptionsPNG8 333

It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Example 18.1
This example exports the current document as a PNG8 file.
' This script exports the current document as a PNG8 with specific options
Private Sub ExportAsPNG8_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim png8ExportOptions As New Illustrator.ExportOptionsPNG8
Dim docRef As Illustrator.Document
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then
png8ExportOptions.AntiAliasing = False
png8ExportOptions.Interlaced = True
Set docRef = appRef.ActiveDocument
docRef.Export "C:\temp\sample.png", aiPNG8, png8ExportOptions
End If
End Sub

334

ExportOptionsSVG

Visual Basic Reference

ExportOptionsSVG
Options which may be supplied when exporting a document as a SVG file. See the
Export method for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

CompressedDocument

Boolean

Should the exported file be
compressed? The default value
is false.

CoordinatePrecision

Long (1 - 7)

The decimal precision for
element coordinate values.
Default: 3.

CSSProperties

AiSVGCSSPropertyLoca How should the CSS properties
tion enumeration
of the document be included in
the exported file?

DocumentEncoding

AiSVGDocumentEncodi
ng enumeration

How should the text in the
document be encoded?

EmbedAllFonts

Boolean

Embed all fonts used by the
document in the saved file?

EmbedRasterImages

Boolean

Embed raster images contained
in the document in the saved
file?

FontSubsetting

AiSVGFontSubsetting
enumeration

What font glyphs should be
included in the export file?

IncludeFileInfo

boolean

Should the XAP library be
included?
Default: false

IncludeVariablesAndDatasets

boolean

Should Variables and Datasets
be included?
Default: false

OptimizeForSVGViewer

Boolean

Should the Adobe namespace
be included?
Default: false

PreserveEditability

Boolean

Preserve Illustrator editing
capability when exporting the
document?
Default: false

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:
Slices

ExportOptionsSVG 335

R/O Value type:
Boolean

What it is:
Preserve slice data in exported
document?
Default: false

Notes
ExportOptionsSVG can only be supplied in conjunction with the Export method.
It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Example 20.1
This example exports the current document as a SVG file.
' This script exports the current document as a SVG with specific options
Private Sub ExportAsSVG_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim svgExportOptions As New Illustrator.ExportOptionsSVG
Dim docRef As Illustrator.Document
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then
svgExportOptions.EmbedRasterImages = True
svgExportOptions.EmbedAllFonts = True
Set docRef = appRef.ActiveDocument
docRef.Export "C:\temp\sample.svg", aiSVG, svgExportOptions
End If
End Sub

336

Gradient

Visual Basic Reference

Gradient
A gradient definition contained in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

GradientStops

R/O

GradientStops collection
object

The gradient stops contained in
this gradient.

String

The gradient’s name.

Document object

The document that contains this
gradient.

AiGradientType
enumeration

The kind of the gradient, either
radial or linear.

Name
Parent
Type

R/O

Notes
Illustrator’s Gradient object represents a gradient as defined in the Illustrator
application. Additional gradients may be created by the user within Illustrator or via a
script.

Example 21.1
This example shows how you can create a new gradient and apply it as a fill pattern to the
frontmost PathItem.
' This example shows how you can create a new gradient and apply it to the
' frontmost PathItem in the document
Private Sub Gradient_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim newGradient As Illustrator.Gradient
Dim locationSpecification As Illustrator.GradientStop
Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
' Create a color for both ends of the gradient
Dim startColorRGB As New Illustrator.RGBColor
Dim startColor As New Illustrator.Color
Dim endColorRGB As New Illustrator.RGBColor
Dim endColor As New Illustrator.Color

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Gradient 337

startColorRGB.Red = 0
startColorRGB.Green = 100
startColorRGB.Blue = 255
startColor.RGB = startColorRGB
endColorRGB.Red = 220
endColorRGB.Green = 0
endColorRGB.Blue = 100
endColor.RGB = endColorRGB
' Create a new gradient
' A new gradient always have 2 stops
Set newGradient = frontDocument.Gradients.Add
newGradient.Name = "Gradient created from script"
newGradient.Type = aiLinearGradient
' Modify the first gradient stop.
Set locationSpecification = newGradient.GradientStops(1)
locationSpecification.RampPoint = 30
locationSpecification.MidPoint = 60
locationSpecification.Color = startColor
' Modify the last gradient stop. The MidPoint for the last gradient stop is ignored.
Set locationSpecification = newGradient.GradientStops(2)
locationSpecification.RampPoint = 80
locationSpecification.Color = endColor
' Construct an Illustrator.Color object referring to the newly created gradient
Dim ColorOfGradient As New Illustrator.GradientColor
Dim pathFillColor As New Illustrator.Color
ColorOfGradient.Gradient = newGradient
pathFillColor.Gradient = ColorOfGradient
' Now get the frontmost PathItem and apply the new gradient as its fill
Dim topPath As Illustrator.PathItem
Set topPath = frontDocument.PathItems(1)
topPath.Filled = True
topPath.FillColor = pathFillColor
End Sub

338

Gradients

Visual Basic Reference

Gradients
A collection of gradients in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The parent document of this
object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

Gradient object

Creates a new object.

Index(item As Gradient)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

Gradient object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As Gradient)

Nothing

Deletes a gradient from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Notes
Illustrator’s Gradient object represents a gradient as defined in the Illustrator
application. Additional gradients may be created by the user within Illustrator or via a
script.

Example 22.1
This example illustrates how you can remove a gradient from a document.
' This example shows how to delete the first gradient in the active document
Private Sub DeleteGradient_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim gradientToDelete As Illustrator.Gradient

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
' Get a reference to the gradient that you want to delete
Set gradientToDelete = frontDocument.Gradients(1)
' Now delete the gradient using the collection
frontDocument.Gradients.Remove gradientToDelete
End Sub

Gradients 339

340

GradientColor

Visual Basic Reference

GradientColor
A gradient color specification, used in conjunction with the Gradient property of the
Color specification.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

Angle

What it is:

Single

The gradient vector angle (in
degrees).

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Gradient

Gradient object

Reference to the object defining
the gradient.

HiliteAngle

Single

The gradient hilite vector angle
(in degrees).

HiliteLength

Single

The gradient hilite vector length.

Length

Single

The gradient vector length.

Matrix

Matrix object

An additional transformation
matrix to manipulate the
gradient path.

Origin

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The gradient vector origin.

Application

R/O

Notes
A GradientColor can be created using a reference to an existing gradient in the
application. If no existing gradient object is referenced, a default gradient will be supplied.
An origin is used to specify the center point of the gradient in this specific gradient color.
Single values are used to specify the gradient vector angles and lengths. A matrix may be
specified to further transform the gradient color.

Example 23.1
The following script obtains the gradient called “Black, White Radial” from the current
document and changes the color of the first gradient stop. The Gradient “Black, White

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

GradientColor 341

Radial” is one of the default gradients that appear when you create a new Illustrator
document.
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim docRef As Illustrator.Document
Dim firstGradient As Illustrator.Gradient
Set docRef = appRef.Documents.Add(aiDocumentRGBColor)
' Get a reference to the gradient that you want to modify
Set firstGradient = docRef.Gradients("Black, White Radial")
' Create the new color
Dim startRGBColor As New Illustrator.RGBColor
Dim startColor As New Illustrator.Color
startRGBColor.Red = 255
startRGBColor.Green = 238
startRGBColor.Blue = 98
Set startColor.RGB = startRGBColor
firstGradient.GradientStops(1).Color = startColor

342

GradientStop

Visual Basic Reference

GradientStop
A gradient stop definition contained in a specific gradient.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Color

Color object

The color linked to this gradient
stop.

Midpoint

Single

The distance between two
GradientStops, in percentage,
ranging between 0.0 and 1.0

Parent

Document object

The document that contains this
gradient stop.

RampPoint

Single

The location of the color in the
blend in a range from 0.0 to
100.0, where 100.0 is 100%.

Notes
Illustrator’s GradientStop object represents a point on a specific gradient defined in
the Illustrator application. Each gradient stop specifies a color change in the containing
gradient. Example 24.1 shows how to use GradientStop.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

GradientStops 343

GradientStops
A collection of gradient stops in a specific gradient.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
gradient stops object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

GradientStop object

Creates a new object.

Index(item As GradientStop)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

GradientStops object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As
GradientStop)

Nothing

Deletes a gradient stop from
this collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Notes
Illustrator’s GradientStop object represents a point on a specific gradient defined in
the Illustrator application. Each gradient stop specifies a color change in the containing
gradient.

Example 24.1
This example illustrates how to add a new gradient stop to an existing gradient.
' This example shows how to add a gradient stop to a gradient
Private Sub AddGradientStop_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim gradientToChange As Illustrator.Gradient

344

GradientStops

Visual Basic Reference

Dim lastGradientStop As Illustrator.GradientStop
Dim newGradientStop As Illustrator.GradientStop
Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
' Get a reference to the gradient that you want to change
Set gradientToChange = frontDocument.Gradients(1)
' Get a reference to the gradient stop that is the last one before you add a new
' gradient stop
Dim originalCount As Long
originalCount = gradientToChange.GradientStops.Count
Set lastGradientStop = gradientToChange.GradientStops(originalCount)
' Add the new gradient stop
Set newGradientStop = gradientToChange.GradientStops.Add
' Set the values of the new gradient stop. We move the original last gradient stop a bit
' to the left and insert the new gradient stop at the old gradient stops position
newGradientStop.RampPoint = lastGradientStop.RampPoint
lastGradientStop.RampPoint = lastGradientStop.RampPoint - 10
' Create a new color to apply to the newly created gradient stop. We choose a Gray tint value
' of 70%
Dim colorOfGradientStop As New Illustrator.GrayColor
Dim newStopColor As New Illustrator.Color
colorOfGradientStop.Gray = 70
newStopColor.Gray = colorOfGradientStop
newGradientStop.Color = newStopColor
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

GraphItem 345

GraphItem
A graph artwork item.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtworkKnockout

AiKnockoutState
enumeration

Is this GraphItem used to create
a knockout? If so, what kind of
knockout?

BlendingMode

AiBlendModes
enumeration

The mode used when
compositing an object.

CompoundPathItem

CompoundPath object

The CompoundPath contained
in this GraphItem.

ContentVariable

Variable object

The Variable bound to this
GraphItem.
The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

ControlBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

Editable

R/O

Boolean

Is the GraphItem editable?

GeometricBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the GraphItem
excluding stroke width.

GroupItems

R/O

GroupItems collection
object

The GroupItems contained in
this GraphItem.

Height

Single

The height of the GraphItem,
calculated on the
GeometricBounds.

Hidden

Boolean

Is this GraphItem hidden?

Isolated

Boolean

Is this GraphItem isolated?

Layer object

The Layer to which this
GraphItem belongs.

Left

single

The left position of the
GraphItem.

Locked

Boolean

Is this GraphItem locked?

MeshItem

meshitem object

The MeshItem contained in this
GraphItem.

Name

String

The name of this GraphItem.

Opacity

Single (0.0 - 100.0)

The opacity of the GraphItem.

Layer

R/O

346

GraphItem

Property:

Visual Basic Reference

R/O Value type:

PageItem

What it is:

pageitem object

The PageItem object this
GraphItem inherits from.

Parent

R/O

Layer object or
GroupItem object

The parent of this GraphItem.

PlacedItems

R/O

PlacedItems collection
object

The PlacedItems contained in
this GraphItem.

PluginItems

R/O

PluginItems collection
object

The PluginItems contained in
this GraphItem.

Position

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The position of the top left
corner of the GraphItem.

RasterItem

RasterItem object

The RasterItem contained in
this GraphItem.

Selected

Boolean

Is this GraphItem selected?

Sliced

Boolean

Is this GraphItem sliced?
Default: false.

SymbolItems

symbolitems object

The SymbolItems contained in
GraphItem.

Tags

Tags object

The collection of Tags
contained in this GraphItem.

Top

Single

The top position of the
GraphItem.

URL

String

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this GraphItem.

VisibilityVariable

Variable

The Variable bound to this
GraphItem.

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The visible bounds of the
GraphItem including stroke
width.

Single

The width of the GraphItem,
based on the
GeometricBounds.

Long

The position of this GraphItem
within the stacking order of the
GroupItem or Layer (Parent)
that contains the GraphItem.

VisibleBounds

R/O

Width

ZOrderPosition

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

GraphItem 347

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Copy

Nothing

Copies the GraphItem to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the GraphItem to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Duplicate

GraphItem

Duplicate the GraphItem.

MoveAfter

Nothing

Move the GraphItem behind
another object.

MoveBefore

Nothing

Move the GraphItem in front of
another object.

MoveToEnd(Document/Layer/
GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the GraphItem to the end
of a container.

MoveToBeginning(Document/
Layer/GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the GraphItem to the front
of a container.

Resize(scaleX As Single,
scaleY As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [scaleAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Scales the GraphItem where
scaleX is the horizontal scaling
factor and scaleY is the vertical
scaling factor; 100.0 = 100%.

Rotate(Angle As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [rotateAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Rotates the GraphItem relative
to the current rotation. The
object is rotated counterclockwise if the Angle value is
positive, clockwise if the value is
negative.

348

GraphItem

Visual Basic Reference

Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Transform(transformationMatrix
As Matrix, [changePositions As
Boolean], [changeFillPatterns
As Boolean],
[changeFillGradients As
Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [transformAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Transforms the GraphItem by
applying a transformation
matrix.

Translate([deltaX As Single],
[deltaY As Single],
[transformObjects As Boolean],
[transformFillPatterns As
Boolean],
[transformFillGradients As
Boolean],
[transformStrokePatterns As
Boolean])

Nothing

Repositions the GraphItem
relative to the current position,
where deltaX is the horizontal
offset and deltaY is the vertical
offset.

ZSetOrder(zOrderCmd As
AiZOrderMethod)

Nothing

Arranges the GraphItem’s
position in the stacking order of
the group or layer (Parent) of
this object.

Notes
It is not necessary to set the type of the ContentVariable before binding. Illustrator
automatically sets the type to AiGraph.
It is not necessary to set the type of the VisibilityVariable before binding.
Illustrator automatically sets the type to AiVisibility.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

GraphItems 349

GraphItems
A collection of GraphItems.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
GraphItem.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Index(item As GraphItem)

Long

Returns the index position of
the GraphItem within the
collection.

item(itemKey)

GraphItem object

Returns an object reference to
the GraphItem identified by
itemKey.

Remove(item As GraphItem)

Nothing

Deletes a GraphItem from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all GraphItems in this
collection.

350

GrayColor

Visual Basic Reference

GrayColor
A gray color specification, used in conjunction with the Gray property of the Color
specification.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Single

The tint of the gray as a value in
the range 0.0 - 100.0, where 0.0
is black and 100.0 is white.

Gray

Example 25.1
This example illustrates how to change the color of the first word in the active document
to a shade of gray.
' the following script shows how to set the color of the first
' word in the active document to a shade of gray
Private Sub GrayColor_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim text As Illustrator.TextRange
Dim firstWord As Illustrator.Word
Dim grayColorOfWord As New Illustrator.grayColor
Dim textColor As New Illustrator.Color
' Get a reference to the first word in the active document
Set text = appRef.ActiveDocument.TextArtItems(1).TextRange
Set firstWord = text.Words(1)
' Create the new color
grayColorOfWord.Gray = 45
textColor.Gray = grayColorOfWord
firstWord.Filled = True
firstWord.FillColor = textColor
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

GroupItem 351

GroupItem
A grouped set of art objects.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtworkKnockout

AiKnockoutState
enumeration

Is this object used to create a
knockout? If so, what kind of
knockout?

BlendingMode

AiBlendModes
enumeration

The mode used when
compositing an object.

Clipped

Boolean

Is the GroupItem clipped to its
first PathItem?

CompoundPathItems

R/O

CompoundPathItems
collection object

The CompoundPathItems
contained in this GroupItem.

ControlBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

Editable

R/O

Boolean

Is this GroupItem editable?

GeometricBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the object
excluding stroke width.

GraphItems

R/O

GraphItems collection
object

The raster items contained in
this GroupItem.

GroupItems

R/O

GroupItems collection
object

The GroupItems contained in
this GroupItem.

Height

Single

The height of the GroupItem,
based on the
GeometricBounds.

Hidden

Boolean

Is this GroupItem hidden?

IsIsolated

Boolean

Is this object isolated?

Layer object

The layer to which this
GroupItem belongs.

single

The left position of the
GroupItem.

Layer

R/O

Left
Locked
MeshItems
Name

R/O

Boolean

Is this GroupItem locked?

MeshItems collection
object

The MeshItems contained in
this GroupItem.

String

The name of this GroupItem.

352

GroupItem

Property:

Visual Basic Reference

R/O Value type:

Opacity

What it is:

Single

The opacity of the object . The
value is between 0.0 and 100.0.

PageItem

R/O

PageItem object

The PageItem object
corresponding to the
GroupItem.

PageItems

R/O

PageItems collection
object

The PageItems contained in
this GroupItem.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
GroupItem.

PathItems

R/O

PathItems collection
object

The PathItems contained in this
GroupItem.

PlacedItems

R/O

PlacedItems collection
object

The PlacedItems contained in
this GroupItem.

PluginItems

R/O

PluginItems collection
object

The PluginItems contained in
this GroupItem.

Position

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The position of the top left
corner of the GroupItem.

RasterItem

RasterItem

The RasterItems contained in
this GroupItem.

Selected

Boolean

Is this GroupItem selected?

Sliced

boolean

Is this GroupItem sliced?
Default: false

SymbolItems

symbolitems object

The SymbolItems contained in
this GroupItem.

Tags

R/O

Tags collection object

The tags contained in this
GroupItem.

TextArtItems

R/O

TextArtItems collection
object

The TextArtItems contained in
this GroupItem.

Top

Single

The top position of the
GroupItem.

URL

String

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this GroupItem.

VisibilityVariable

Variable

The Variable bound to this
GroupItem.

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The visible bounds of the
GroupItem including stroke
width.

Single

The GroupItem of the
PageItem, based on the
GeometricBounds.

VisibleBounds

Width

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

GroupItem 353

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

ZOrderPosition

R/O

The position of this art object
within the stacking order of the
group or layer (Parent) that
contains the art object.

Long

354

GroupItem

Visual Basic Reference

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Copy

Nothing

Copies the GroupItem to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the GroupItem to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Duplicate

GroupItem

Duplicate the GroupItem.

MoveAfter

Nothing

Move the GroupItem behind
another object.

MoveBefore

Nothing

Move the GroupItem in front of
another object.

MoveToEnd(Document/Layer/
GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the GroupItem to the end
of a container.

MoveToBeginning(Document/
Layer/GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the GroupItem to the front
of a container.

Paste

Nothing

Inserts the contents of the
clipboard at the beginning of the
GroupItem. You may only paste
into a group that is contained in
the active document.

Resize(scaleX As Single,
scaleY As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [scaleAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Scales the art object where
scaleX is the horizontal scaling
factor and scaleY is the vertical
scaling factor; 100.0 = 100%.

Rotate(Angle As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [rotateAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Rotates the art object relative to
the current rotation. The object
is rotated counter-clockwise if
the Angle value is positive,
clockwise if the value is
negative.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

GroupItem 355

Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Transform(transformationMatrix
As Matrix, [changePositions As
Boolean], [changeFillPatterns
As Boolean],
[changeFillGradients As
Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [transformAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Transforms the art object by
applying a transformation
matrix.

Translate([deltaX As Single],
[deltaY As Single],
[transformObjects As Boolean],
[transformFillPatterns As
Boolean],
[transformFillGradients As
Boolean],
[transformStrokePatterns As
Boolean])

Nothing

Repositions the art object
relative to the current position,
where deltaX is the horizontal
offset and deltaY is the vertical
offset.

ZOrder(zOrderCmd As
AiZOrderMethod)

Nothing

Arranges the art object’s
position in the stacking order of
the group or layer (Parent) of
this object.

Notes
Group items can contain all of the same PageItems that a layer can contain, including
other nested groups.
Paths contained within a group or compound path in a document will be returned as
individual paths when a script asks for the paths contained in the document. However,
paths contained in a group or compound path will not be returned when a script asks for
the paths in a layer which contains the group or compound path.

Example 26.1
It is easy to modify all of the objects contained in a group. This example demonstrates
how to simplify your operations on multiple objects by creating group to contain them.
' The following script show how to create new art in a separate group
Private Sub GroupItem_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim triangleGroup As Illustrator.GroupItem

356

GroupItem

Visual Basic Reference

' Create a new group in the active document. This will be the group the holds
' the new triangle art
Set triangleGroup = appRef.ActiveDocument.GroupItems.Add
' Create a triangle and add text. All new art are created inside a group
Dim triangulates As Illustrator.PathItem
Dim captionText As Illustrator.TextArtItem
Set trianglePath = triangleGroup.PathItems.Add
trianglePath.SetEntirePath Array(Array(100, 100), Array(300, 100), _
Array(200, Math.Tan(1.0471975) * 100 + 100))
Set captionText = triangleGroup.TextArtItems.Add
captionText.Position = Array(100, 100)
captionText.Contents = "A triangle"
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

GroupItems 357

GroupItems
A collection of grouped art objects.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document Object

The document that contains this
GroupItems object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

GroupItem object

Creates a new object.

CreateFromFile(imageFile As
String)

GroupItem object

Places an external vector art file
as a GroupItem in the
document.

Index(item As GroupItem)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

GroupItem object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As GroupItem)

Nothing

Deletes a GroupItem from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Example 27.1
The following script shows how you can import a PDF document using the
CreateFromFile function. Before running this script you have to create a one page PDF
file and put it in the following location: “C:\testPDF.pdf”
' This example shows how to create a group form a file
' In order to run this example you need a PDF file at the path "C:\testPDF.pdf"
Private Sub GroupFromFile_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim importedGroup As Illustrator.GroupItem
Set importedGroup = appRef.ActiveDocument.GroupItems.CreateFromFile

358

GroupItems

_
("C:\testPDF.pdf")
End Sub

Visual Basic Reference

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

IllustratorSaveOptions 359

IllustratorSaveOptions
Options which may be supplied when saving a document as an Illustrator file. See the
Save method for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Compatibility

AiCompatibility
enumeration

Specifies the version of the
Illustrator file format to create.

Compressed

Boolean

Should the saved file be
compressed?
Default: true (version 10 or
late)r

EmbedAllFonts

Boolean

Are all fonts used in the
document to be embedded in
the saved document? Only valid
for Illustrator 10file format.

EmbedICCProfile

Boolean

Should a ICC profile be
embedded in the saved file?

EmbedLinkedFiles

Boolean

Are linked image files to be
included in the saved
document. Only valid for
SaveOptions that specify an
Illustrator compatibility of
version 7 or later.

FlattenOutput

AiOutputFlattening
enumeration

How should transparency be
flattened for file formats older
than Illustrator 9 or greater?

FontSubsetThreshold

Single

Include a subset of fonts when
less than this percentage of
characters is used in the
document. Valid for Illustrator 9
or greater file format.

JapaneseFileFormat

Boolean

Save using the Japanese
version of the file format?

PDFCompatible

Boolean

Save in PDF compatible
format?

Notes

360

IllustratorSaveOptions

Visual Basic Reference

IllustratorSaveOptions can only be supplied in conjunction with the SaveAs
method.
It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

JapaneseFileFormat is only a property in Illustrator versions 3, 4 and 5.
PDFCompatible is only a property of Illustrator 10 or greater.
Example 28.1
This example illustrates how to save the frontmost document as Illustrator 7 format.
Because the document is saved as a version earlier than 9, the example specifies to
convert opacity by breaking paths up in to sub-path to preserve the appearance of the
illustration. After the SaveAs command the frontmost document will refer to the
document located at “C:\temp\Ai7Sample.ai”
' This script saves the active document as Illustrator 7 format
' Opacity is flattened with the preserve appearance option
Private Sub SaveAsIllustrator_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim saveOptions As New Illustrator.IllustratorSaveOptions
saveOptions.Compatibility = aiIllustrator7
saveOptions.FlattenOutput = aiPreserveAppearance
appRef.Documents(1).SaveAs "C:\temp\Ai7Sample.ai", saveOptions
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Layer 361

Layer
A layer in an Illustrator document. Layers may contain nested layers, which are called
sublayers in the user interface.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtworkKnockout

AiKnockoutState
enumeration

Is this Layer used to create a
knockout? If so, what kind of
knockout?

BlendingMode

AiBlendModes
enumeration

The mode used when
compositing an object.

Color

RGBColor object

The Layer's selection mark
color.

CompoundPathItems
collection object

The CompoundPathItems
contained in this layer.

DimPlacedImages

Boolean

Are placed images to be
rendered as dimmed in this
layer?

GraphItems

GraphItems collection
object

The GraphItems collection
contained in this Layer.

GroupItems collection
object

The GroupItems contained in
this Layer.

HasSelectedArtwork

Boolean

Is any object in this Layer
selected? Setting this property
to false deselects all objects in
the Layer.

Isolated

Boolean

Is this Layer isolated?

Layers collection object

The Layers contained in this
Layer.

Boolean

Is this Layer editable? Setting
this property to true locks
the Layer.

MeshItems collection
object

The MeshItems contained in
this Layer.

CompoundPathItems

GroupItems

Layers

R/O

R/O

R/O

Locked

MeshItems

R/O

Name

String

The name of this Layer.

Opacity

Single

The opacity of the Layer. The
value is between 0.0 and 100.0.

362

Layer

Visual Basic Reference

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

PageItems

R/O

PageItems collection
object

The PageItems contained in
this layer.

Parent

R/O

Document object or
Layer Object

The document or Layer that
contains this Layer.

PathItems

R/O

PathItems collection
object

The PathItems contained in this
Layer.

PlacedItems

R/O

PlacedItems collection
object

The PlacedItems contained in
this Layer.

PluginItems

R/O

PluginItems collection
object

The PluginItems contained in
this Layer.

Preview

Boolean

Is this Layer displayed using
preview mode?

Printable

Boolean

Is this Layer printed when
printing the document?

RasterItems collection
object

The RasterItems contained in
this Layer.

Sliced

Boolean

Is this Layer sliced?

SymbolItems

SymbolItems collection
object

The SymbolItems contained in
this Layer.

TextArtItems collection
object

The TextArtItems contained in
this Layer.

Boolean

Is this Layer visible?

Long

The position of this Layer within
the stacking order of Layers in
the document.

RasterItems

TextArtItems

R/O

R/O

Visible
ZOrderPosition

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Layer 363

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

MoveAfter

Nothing

Move the Layer behind another
object.

MoveBefore

Nothing

Move the Layer in front of
another object.

MoveToEnd(Document/Layer/
GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the Layer to the end of a
container.

MoveToBeginning(Document/
Layer/GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the Layer to the front of a
container.

Paste

Nothing

Pastes the contents of the
clipboard into the Layer. If the
associated document is the
frontmost then all pasted
objects remain selected after
the paste.

ZOrder(zOrderCmd As
AiZOrderMethod)

Nothing

Arranges the Layer’s position in
the stacking order of Layers in
this document.

Notes
Illustrator’s Layer object contains all of the PageItems in the specific layer as elements.
Your script can access PageItems as elements of either the Layer object or as elements
of the Document object. When accessing PageItems as elements of a layer, only objects
in that layer can be accessed. To access PageItems throughout the entire document, be
sure to refer to them as contained by the document.
The MoveAfter and MoveBefore methods do not change the position of the object
on the art board. They change the order in which Illustrator draws the objects, and the
containment hierarchy.

364

Layer

Visual Basic Reference

The MoveToBeginning and MoveToEnd methods place the object in the specified
container, behind all other such objects.

Example 29.1
' this example shows how to move the bottom layer to the top
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim bottomLayer As Illustrator.Layer
Dim countOfLayers As Long
' Get a reference to the layers, and obtain the total number
Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument countOfLayers =
frontDocument.Layers.Count
If (frontDocument.Layers.Count < countOfLayers) Then
MsgBox "The frontmost application only has 1 layer"
Exit Sub
End If
' Move the bottom layer to the front
Set bottomLayer = frontDocument.Layers(countOfLayers)
bottomLayer.MoveToBeginning frontDocument

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Layers 365

Layers
A collection of layers.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
Layer.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

Layer object

Creates a new object.

Index(item As Layer)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

Layer object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As Layer)

Nothing

Deletes a layer from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Notes
Illustrator’s Layer object contains all of the PageItems in the specific layer. Your script
can access objects through the Layer object or through the Document object.

Example 30.1
This example illustrates how to delete all layers whose name starts with the word
“Temporary” in all open documents.
' Example of how to delete all layers
' whose name begins with "Temporary" in all open documents
Private Sub DeleteLayers_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim targetDocument As Illustrator.Document

366

Layers

Dim
Dim
Dim
Dim

Visual Basic Reference

targetLayer As Illustrator.Layer
countOfLayers As Long
layerIndex As Long
layerName As String

' loop through all open documents
For Each targetDocument In appRef.Documents
countOfLayers = targetDocument.Layers.Count
' For each document loop through it's layers
' Loop through layers from the back because this way we don't change
' the index of unvisited layers when we remove a layer
For layerIndex = countOfLayers To 1 Step -1
Set targetLayer = targetDocument.Layers(layerIndex)
layerName = targetLayer.Name
If (Left(layerName, 9) = "Temporary") Then
targetDocument.Layers.Remove targetLayer
End If
Next layerIndex
Next
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Matrix 367

Matrix
A transformation matrix specification, used to transform the geometry of objects.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

MValueA

Single

Matrix property a.

MValueB

Single

Matrix property b.

MValueC

Single

Matrix property c.

MValueD

Single

Matrix property d.

MValueTX

Single

Matrix property tx.

MValueTY

Single

Matrix property ty.

Notes
This class is used to define a record which contains the component values of an
Illustrator transformation matrix. It is used for specifying and retrieving matrix information
from an Illustrator document or from PageItems in a document.
Matrices are used in conjunction with the Transform method and as a property of a
number of objects. A matrix specifies how to transform the geometry of an object. You can
generate an original matrix using the application methods getTranslationMatrix,
getScaleMatrix, or getRotationMatrix.
A Matrix is a record containing the matrix values, not a reference to a matrix object.
The matrix commands listed above operate on the values of a matrix record. If a
command modifies a matrix, a modified matrix record is returned as the result of the
command. The original matrix record pass to the command is not modified.

Example 31.1
If you need to apply multiple transformations to objects it is more efficient to use the
matrix suite than to apply the transformations one at a time. The following script
demonstrates how to combine multiple matrices together.
' This example shows how to apply 2 transformations to all art in a document
' using the matrix command

368

Matrix

Visual Basic Reference

' This is more efficient than to perform these transformations
' one at a time
Private Sub ApplyMatrix_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim moveMatrix As Illustrator.Matrix
Dim totalMatrix As Illustrator.Matrix
' move art half an inch to the right and 1.5 inch up on the page
Set moveMatrix = appRef.GetTranslationMatrix(72# * 0.5, 72# * 1.5)
' Add a rotation to the translation. We rotate 10 degrees counter clockwise
Set totalMatrix = appRef.ConcatenateRotationMatrix(moveMatrix, 10)
' apply the transformation to all art in the document
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim artItem As Illustrator.PageItem
Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
For Each artItem In frontDocument.PageItems
artItem.Transform totalMatrix
Next
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

MeshItem 369

MeshItem
A gradient mesh art object.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtworkKnockout

AiKnockoutState
enumeration

Is this object used to create a
knockout? If so, what kind of
knockout?

BlendingMode

AiBlendModes
enumeration

The mode used when
compositing an object.

ControlBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

GeometricBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the object
excluding stroke width.

Editable

R/O

Boolean

Is this MeshItem editable?

Height

Single

The height of the MeshItem,
based on the
GeometricBounds.

Hidden

Boolean

Is this MeshItem hidden?

IsIsolated

Boolean

Is this object isolated?

Layer object

The layer to which this
MeshItem belongs.

Single

The left position of the
MeshItem.

Layer

R/O

Left
Locked

Boolean

Is this MeshItem locked?

Name

String

The name of this MeshItem.

Opacity

Single

The opacity of the object . The
value is between 0.0 and 100.0.

PageItem

R/O

PageItem object

The PageItem object
corresponding to the MeshItem.

Parent

R/O

Document objects

The document that contains this
MeshItem.

Position

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The position of the top left
corner of the MeshItem.

RasterItem

RasterItem object

The RasterItem contained in
this MeshItem.

370

MeshItem

Property:

Visual Basic Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Selected

Boolean

Is this MeshItem selected?

Sliced

boolean

Is this MeshItem sliced?

SymbolItems

symbolitems object

The SymbolItems contained in
this MeshItem.

Tags collection object

The tags contained in this
MeshItem.

Top

Single

The top position of this
MeshItem.

URL

String

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this MeshItem.

VisibilityVariable

Variable

The Variable bound to this
MeshItem.

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The visible bounds of the
MeshItem including stroke
width.

Single

The width of the MeshItem,
based on the
GeometricBounds.

Long

The position of this art object
within the stacking order of the
group or layer (Parent) that
contains the art object.

Tags

VisibleBounds

R/O

R/O

Width

ZOrderPosition

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

MeshItem 371

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Copy

Nothing

Copies the art object to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the art object onto the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Duplicate

MeshItem

Duplicate the MeshItem.

MoveAfter

Nothing

Move the PageItem behind
another object.

MoveBefore

Nothing

Move the PageItem in front of
another object.

MoveToEnd(Document/Layer/
GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the PageItem to the end
of a container.

MoveToBeginning(Document/
Layer/GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the PageItem to the front
of a container.

Resize(scaleX As Single,
scaleY As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [scaleAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Scales the art object where
scaleX is the horizontal scaling
factor and scaleY is the vertical
scaling factor; 100.0 = 100%.

Rotate(Angle As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [rotateAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Rotates the art object relative to
the current rotation. The object
is rotated counter-clockwise if
the Angle value is positive,
clockwise if the value is
negative.

372

MeshItem

Visual Basic Reference

Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Transform(transformationMatrix
As Matrix, [changePositions As
Boolean], [changeFillPatterns
As Boolean],
[changeFillGradients As
Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [transformAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Transforms the art object by
applying a transformation
matrix.

Translate([deltaX As Single],
[deltaY As Single],
[transformObjects As Boolean],
[transformFillPatterns As
Boolean],
[transformFillGradients As
Boolean],
[transformStrokePatterns As
Boolean])

Nothing

Repositions the art object
relative to the current position,
where deltaX is the horizontal
offset and deltaY is the vertical
offset.

ZOrder(zOrderCmd As
AiZOrderMethod)

Nothing

Arranges the art object’s
position in the stacking order of
the group or layer (Parent) of
this object.

Notes
Mesh items cannot be created from a script, but can be copied and pasted.

Example 32.1
This script illustrates how to lock all MeshItems in the active document.
' Example of how to lock all MeshItems in the frontmost document
Private Sub LockMeshes_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim meshItem As Illustrator.meshItem
For Each meshItem In appRef.ActiveDocument.MeshItems
meshItem.Locked = True
Next
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

MeshItems 373

MeshItems
A collection of gradient mesh art objects.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document Object

The document that contains this
MeshItems object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Index(item As MeshItem)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

MeshItem object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As MeshItem)

Nothing

Deletes a MeshItem from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Notes
MeshItems cannot be created from a script, but can be copied and pasted.

Example 33.1
The following script illustrates how to copy MeshItems from one document to another. To
run this script you need to have two open documents. One document should contain at
least one MeshItem, the other document can be empty. Make the empty document the
frontmost before running the script.
' example of how to copy all MeshItems from one document to an other document
Private Sub CopyMeshItems_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim sourceDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim targetDocument As Illustrator.Document

374

MeshItems

Dim
Dim
Dim
Dim

Visual Basic Reference

meshItem As Illustrator.meshItem
newMeshItem As Illustrator.meshItem
targetSelection As Variant
locationOffset As Single

Set targetDocument = appRef.Documents(1)
Set sourceDocument = appRef.Documents(2)
locationOffset = 0
For Each meshItem In sourceDocument.MeshItems
sourceDocument.Activate
meshItem.Copy
targetDocument.Activate
targetDocument.Paste
’ Get a reference to the item that was just copied into the document
targetSelection = appRef.Selection
If (IsEmpty(targetSelection)) Then
MsgBox "Copy/Paste failed"
Exit Sub
End If
Set newMeshItem = targetSelection(0)
newMeshItem.Position = Array(100, 40 + locationOffset)
locationOffset = locationOffset + 50
Next
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PageItem 375

PageItem
Any art object in a document. Every art object and group in a document is a PageItem.
You may refer to PageItems as contained by a document, layer(s), or group(s).

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtworkKnockout

AiKnockoutState
enumeration

Is this PageItem used to create
a knockout? If so, what kind of
knockout? You cannot set this
value to aiKnockoutUnknown.

BlendingMode

AiBlendModes
enumeration

The mode used when
compositing an object.

CompoundPathItem
object

If the PageItem is a
CompoundPathItem, a
reference to object as a
CompoundPathItem.

Variable

The Variable bound to this
PageItem.

CompoundPathItem

R/O

ContentVariable
ControlBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

Editable

R/O

Boolean

Is this PageItem editable?

GeometricBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the PageItem
excluding stroke width.

GraphItem object

The GraphItem contained in this
PageItem.

GroupItem object

If the PageItem is a GroupItem,
a reference to object as a
GroupItem.

Height

Single

The height of the PageItem,
calculated from the
GeometricBounds.

Hidden

Boolean

Is this PageItem hidden?

Boolean

Is this object isolated?

Layer object

The layer to which this
PageItem belongs.

single

The left position of the
PageItem.

GraphItem
GroupItem

R/O

IsIsolated
Layer
Left

R/O

376

PageItem

Property:

Visual Basic Reference

R/O Value type:

Locked

What it is:

Boolean

Is this PathItem locked?

MeshItem object

If the PageItem is a MeshItem,
a reference to object as a
MeshItem.

Name

String

The name of this PageItem.

Opacity

Single

The opacity of the object . The
value is between 0.0 and 100.0.

MeshItem

R/O

PageItemType

R/O

AiPageItemType
enumeration

The type (class) of art object
that is represented by this
PageItem.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
PageItem.

PathItem

R/O

PathItem object

If the PageItem is a PathItem, a
reference to object as a
PathItem.

PlacedItem

R/O

PlacedItem object

If the PageItem is a PlacedItem,
a reference to object as a
PlacedItem.

PluginItem

R/O

PluginItem object

If the PageItem is a PluginItem,
a reference to object as a
PluginItem.

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The position of the top left
corner of the PathItem.

RasterItem object

If the PageItem is a RasterItem,
a reference to object as a raster
item.

Selected

Boolean

Is this object selected?

Sliced

boolean

Is this PageItem sliced?

SymbolItems

symbolitems object

The SymbolItems contained in
this PageItem.

Position
RasterItem

R/O

Tags

R/O

Tags collection object

The tags contained in this
PathItem.

TextArtItem

R/O

TextArtItem object

If the PageItem is a TextArtItem,
a reference to object as a
TextArtItem.

Top

Single

The top position of the
PageItem.

URL

String

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this PathItem.

VisibilityVariable

variable

The Variable bound to this
PageItem.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PageItem 377

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

VisibleBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The visible bounds of the
PathItem including stroke width.

Single

The width of the PathItem,
calculated from the
GeometricBounds.

Long

The position of this art object
within the stacking order of the
group or layer (Parent) that
contains the art object.

Width

ZOrderPosition

R/O

378

PageItem

Visual Basic Reference

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Copy

Nothing

Copies the art object to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the art object onto the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Duplicate

PageItem

Duplicate the PageItem.

MoveAfter

Nothing

Move the PageItem behind
another object.

MoveBefore

Nothing

Move the PageItem in front of
another object.

MoveToEnd(Document/Layer/
GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the PageItem to the end
of a container.

MoveToBeginning(Document/
Layer/GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the PageItem to the front
of a container.

Resize(scaleX As Single,
scaleY As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [scaleAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Scales the art object where
scaleX is the horizontal scaling
factor and scaleY is the vertical
scaling factor; 100.0 = 100%.

Rotate(Angle As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [rotateAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Rotates the art object relative to
the current rotation. The object
is rotated counter-clockwise if
the Angle value is positive,
clockwise if the value is
negative.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PageItem 379

Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Transform(transformationMatrix
As Matrix, [changePositions As
Boolean], [changeFillPatterns
As Boolean],
[changeFillGradients As
Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [transformAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Transforms the art object by
applying a transformation
matrix.

Translate([deltaX As Single],
[deltaY As Single],
[transformObjects As Boolean],
[transformFillPatterns As
Boolean],
[transformFillGradients As
Boolean],
[transformStrokePatterns As
Boolean])

Nothing

Repositions the art object
relative to the current position,
where deltaX is the horizontal
offset and deltaY is the vertical
offset.

ZOrder(zOrderCmd As
AiZOrderMethod)

Nothing

Arranges the art object’s
position in the stacking order of
the group or layer (Parent) of
this object.

Notes
The PageItem class give you complete access to every art object contained in an
Illustrator document. PageItem is the superclass of all artwork objects in a document.
The classes CompoundPathItem, GroupItem, MeshItem, PathItem,
PlacedItem, PluginItem, RasterItem, and TextArtItem, each inherit a set
of properties from the PageItem class.
You cannot create a PageItem directly. You must use create one of the specific
PageItem subclasses, such as PathItem.
The MoveAfter and MoveBefore methods do not change the position of the object
on the art board. They change the order in which Illustrator draws the objects, and the
containment hierarchy.

380

PageItem

Visual Basic Reference

The MoveToBeginning and MoveToEnd methods place the object in the specified
container, behind all other such objects.

Example 34.1
This example illustrates how to hide all PlacedItems and all raster items using the
PageItem object.
' The following script hides all RasterItems and PlacedItems in the front document
Private Sub HideImages_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim artItem As Illustrator.PageItem
For Each artItem In appRef.ActiveDocument.PageItems
If ((artItem.PageItemType = aiPlacedItem) Or _
(artItem.PageItemType = aiRasterItem)) Then
artItem.Hidden = True
End If
Next
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PageItems 381

PageItems
A collection of PageItems.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
PageItems object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Index(item As PageItem)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

PathItem object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As PageItem)

Nothing

Deletes a PageItem from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Notes
The PageItem class give you complete access to every art object contained in an
Illustrator document.

Example 35.1
This example illustrates how to obtain all references to external files in the current
document. The result is presented in a new Illustrator document. Before running this,
open a document that contains one or more linked images.
' The following script shows how to get all file-references
' using the PageItem object
Private Sub GetFileReferences_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim sourceDocument As Illustrator.Document

382

PageItems

Dim
Dim
Dim
Dim
Dim

Visual Basic Reference

artItem As Illustrator.PageItem
rasterArt As Illustrator.RasterItem
placedArt As Illustrator.PlacedItem
fileReferences(10) As String
Index As Long

Index = 0
Set sourceDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
For Each artItem In sourceDocument.PageItems
Select Case artItem.PageItemType
Case Is = aiPlacedItem
Set placedArt = artItem.PlacedItem
fileReferences(Index) = placedArt.File
Index = Index + 1
Case Is = aiRasterItem
Set rasterArt = artItem.RasterItem
fileReferences(Index) = rasterArt.File
Index = Index + 1
End Select
If (Index = 9) Then
MsgBox "More than 10 file-references in the active document"
Exit For
End If
Next
' Write the file references to a new document
Dim reportDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim fileNameText As Illustrator.TextArtItem
Set reportDocument = appRef.Documents.Add
Set fileNameText = reportDocument.TextArtItems.Add
fileNameText.Position = Array(50, 520)
fileNameText.Contents = "File references in "
& sourceDocument.Name & ":"
Dim counter As Long
For counter = 0 To (Index - 1)
Set fileNameText = reportDocument.TextArtItems.Add
fileNameText.Position = Array(65, 500 - 20 * counter)
fileNameText.Contents = fileReferences(counter)
Next
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Paragraph 383

Paragraph
A single paragraph of text in the contents of a text art object.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

AutoKerning

Boolean

Should a font’s built-in kerning
information be used?

BaselineShift

Single

Baseline offset of text.

Characters

R/O

Characters collection
object

The characters contained in this
text range.

Clipping

R/O

Boolean

Is there a clipping path
associated with the TextArtItem
containing this paragraph?

Contents (default value)

String

The text contained in the text
range.

DefaultTabSize

Single

The default distance for tab
stops.

DesiredLetterSpacing

Single

The desired letter spacing.
100.0 is normal letter spacing.

DesiredWordSpacing

Single

The desired word spacing.
100.0 is normal word spacing.

Direction

AiCharacterDirection
enumeration

The orientation of the
characters in a vertical text
block.

Evenodd

Boolean

Should the even-odd rule be
used to determine insideness?

FillColor

Color

Fill color of text

Filled

Boolean

Should the text be filled?

FillOverprint

Boolean

Should the art beneath the text
be overprinted?

FirstLineIndent

Single

The indent of the first line.

Font

String

The text face of the text.

HangingPunctuation

Boolean

Should punctuation appear
outside the margins of the
paragraph?

Hyphenation

Boolean

Is hyphenation enabled for the
paragraph?

384

Paragraph

Property:

Visual Basic Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Justification

AiJustification
enumeration

The paragraph alignment or
justification.

Leading

Single

The vertical leading of the text.

LeftIndent

Single

The left indent of the
paragraph’s margin.

Long

The number of character in the
text.

LimitConsecutiveHyphenations

Boolean

Is there a limit on the number of
consecutive hyphenated lines in
this paragraph?

MaximumConsecutiveHyphenat
ions

Long

The maximum number of
consecutive hyphenated lines.

MaximumLetterSpacing

Single

The maximum letter. 100.0 is
normal letter spacing.

MaximumWordSpacing

Single

The maximum letter spacing.
100.0 is normal word spacing

MinimumAfterHyphen

Long

The minimum number of
characters after a hyphen.

MinimumBeforeHyphen

Long

The minimum number of
characters before a hyphen.

MinimumLetterSpacing

Single

The minimum letter
spacing.100.0 is normal letter
spacing

MinimumWordSpacing

Single

The minimum letter
spacing.100.0 is normal word
spacing

Length

R/O

Note

R/O

String

The note associated with this
text.

Offset

R/O

Long

Offset of selected text in text
range (in characters).

Orientation

R/O

AiTextOrientation
enumeration

The orientation of the text. Use
the TextPath class to alter this
property.

Parent

R/O

Document Object

The document that contains this
Paragraph.

Boolean

Should Repeated Character
Processing be used?

Single

The resolution of the object (in
dots per inch).

Single

The right indent of the
paragraph’s margin.

RepeatedCharacterProcessing
Resolution
RightIndent

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

Paragraph 385

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Scaling

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The character scaling supplied
as a point with the first
coordinate as horizontal scale
and the second coordinate as
vertical scale, where 100.0 is
100%.

Size

Single

Font size of text.

SpaceBefore

Single

The spacing before this
paragraph.

StrokeCap

AiStrokeCap
enumeration

The type of line capping.

StrokeColor

Color object

The stroke color for the path.

Stroked

Boolean

Should the path be stroked?

StrokeDashes

Variant Array

Dash lengths. Set to an empty
array for a solid line.

StrokeDashOffset

Single

The default distance into the
dash pattern at which the
pattern should be started.

StrokeJoin

AiStrokeJoin
enumeration

Type of joints for the path.

StrokeMiterLimit

Single

Are joins mitered (pointed) or
beveled (squared-off)?

StrokeOverprint

Boolean

Will art beneath a stroked
object be overprinted?

StrokeWidth

Single

Width of stroke.

TextLines

R/O

TextLines collection
object

The lines of text contained in
this paragraph.

TextPath

R/O

TextPath object

A reference to the text path
associated with the TextArtItem
containing this text.

Single

The spacing between multiple
characters.

Words collection object

The words contained in this
paragraph.

Tracking
Words

R/O

386

Paragraph

Visual Basic Reference

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Copy

Nothing

Copies the text range to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the text range onto the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Paste

Nothing

Replaces text range with the
contents of the clipboard.

TextRange([rangeStart As
Long], [rangeEnd As Long])

TextRange object

Returns a text range object
referencing a substring of the
current text range, where
rangeStart is the beginning
character position and
rangeEnd is the ending
position. The first character
position is one. If omitted,
rangeStart defaults to 1. If
omitted, rangeEnd defaults to
the last character of the range.

Notes
Illustrator’s text can be accessed using the Character, Word, TextLine,
Paragraph and TextRange classes. All text is contained within TextArtItems.
The Paragraph class has additional properties that other related classes do not share,
including properties for margins, hyphenation, and word/letter spacing.

Example 36.1
This script illustrates how to turn on hyphenation on for all paragraphs in the frontmost
document.
' Example of how to set hyphenation to true for all paragraphs in
' the frontmost document
Private Sub Paragraph_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim textArt As Illustrator.TextArtItem

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Paragraph 387

Dim textArtTextRange As Illustrator.TextRange
Dim currentParagraph As Illustrator.Paragraph
Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
For Each textArt In frontDocument.TextArtItems
Set textArtTextRange = textArt.TextRange
For Each currentParagraph In textArtTextRange.Paragraphs
currentParagraph.Hyphenation = True
Next
Next
End Sub

388

Paragraphs

Visual Basic Reference

Paragraphs
A collection of paragraphs.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
Paragraphs object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

AddBefore

Paragraph object

Add the Paragraph at the
beginning of a TextArt object.

Add

Paragraph object

Add a Paragraph to the
contents of a TextArt object.

Index(item As Paragraph)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

Paragraph object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As Paragraph)

Nothing

Deletes a Paragraph from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Example 37.1
This script displays the total number of paragraphs contained in all of the TextArtItems in
the current document.
' This script counts all paragraphs in current document and returns the total.
Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim curTextArt As Illustrator.TextArtItem
Dim curTextRange As Illustrator.TextRange
Dim numberOfParas As Long
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Paragraphs 389

numberOfParas = 0
For Each curTextArt In appRef.ActiveDocument.TextArtItems
Set curTextRange = curTextArt.TextRange()
numberOfParas = numberOfParas + curTextRange.Paragraphs.Count
Next
If (numberOfParas > 1) Then
MsgBox ("There are " & numberOfParas & " paragraphs in the
document.")
Else
MsgBox ("There is only one paragraph in the document.")
End If
End If
End Sub

390

PathItem

Visual Basic Reference

PathItem
A path. A path is comprised of path points that define its geometry.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Area

R/O

Single

The area of this path in square
points. An area may be
negative or even 0. The paths
winding order is determined by
the sign of area. If the area is
negative, the path is wound
counter-clockwise. Selfintersecting paths may contain
sub-areas that cancel each
other out. Therefore, it is
possible for a path’s area to
appear as zero even though it
has apparent area.

ArtworkKnockout

AiKnockoutState
enumeration

Is this object used to create a
knockout? If so, what kind of
knockout?

BlendingMode

AiBlendModes
enumeration

The mode used when
compositing an object.

Clipping

Boolean

Is this path to be used as a
clipping path?

Closed

Boolean

Is this path closed?

CompoundPath

CompoundPath object

The CompoundPath contained
in this PathItem.

ControlBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

Edtiable

r/o

boolean

Is this PathItem editable?

Evenodd

Boolean

Use the even-odd rule to
determine insideness?

FillColor

Color object

The fill color of the path.

Filled

Boolean

Should the path be filled?

FillOverprint

Boolean

Will art beneath a filled object
be overprinted?

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PathItem 391

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

GeometricBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the object
excluding stroke width.

GraphItem object

The GraphItem contained in this
PathItem.

GroupItem object

If the PathItem is a GroupItem,
a reference to object as a
GroupItem.

Guides

Boolean

Is this path a guide object?

Height

Single

The height of the PathItem
excluding stroke width, based
on the GeometricBounds.

Hidden

Boolean

Is this PathItem hidden?

IsIsolated

Boolean

Is this object isolated?

Layer object

The layer to which this PathItem
belongs.

Left

single

The left position of the
PathItem.

Locked

Boolean

Is this PathItem locked?

MeshItem

meshitem object

The MeshItem contained in this
PathItem.

Name

String

The name of this PathItem.

Note

String

The note text assigned to the
path.

Opacity

Single

The opacity of the object . The
value is between 0.0 and 100.0.

GraphItem
GroupItem

Layer

R/O

R/O

PageItem

R/O

PageItem object

The PageItem object
corresponding to the PathItem.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
PathItem.

PathPoints

R/O

PathPoints collection
object

The path points contained in
this PathItem.

PlacedItem

PlacedItem object

The PlacedItem object
contained in this PathItem.

PluginItem

PluginItem object

The PluginItem contained in
this PathItem

Polarity

AiPolarityValues

The polarity of the path.

Position

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The position of the top left
corner of the PathItem
excluding stroke width.

392

PathItem

Property:

Visual Basic Reference

R/O Value type:

RasterItem

What it is:

RasterItem object

The RasterItem contained in
this object.

Single

The resolution of the path (in
dots per inch).

Boolean

Is this object selected?

PathPoints collection
object

All of the selected path points in
the path.

Sliced

Boolean

Is this PathItem sliced?

StrokeCap

AiStrokeCap
enumeration

The type of line capping.

StrokeColor

Color object

The stroke color for the path.

Stroked

Boolean

Should the path be stroked?

StrokeDashes

Variant Array

Dash lengths. Set to an empty
array for a solid line.

StrokeDashOffset

Single

The default distance into the
dash pattern at which the
pattern should be started.

StrokeJoin

AiStrokeJoin
enumeration

Type of joints for the path.

StrokeMiterLimit

Single

Are joins mitered (pointed) or
beveled (squared-off)?

StrokeOverprint

Boolean

Will art beneath a stroked
object be overprinted?

StrokeWidth

Single

Width of stroke.

SymbolItems

symbolitems collection
object

The SymbolItems collection
contained in this PathItem.

Tags collection object

The tags contained in this
PathItem.

Top

Single

The top position of this
PathItem.

URL

String

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this PathItem.

VisibilityVariable

Variable

The Variable bound to this
PathItem.

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The visible bounds of the
PathItem including stroke width.

Single

The width of the PathItem
excluding stroke width, based
on the GeometricBounds.

Resolution

R/O

Selected
SelectedPathPoints

Tags

VisibleBounds
Width

R/O

R/O

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PathItem 393

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

ZOrderPosition

R/O

The position of this art object
within the stacking order of the
group or layer (Parent) that
contains the art object.

Long

394

PathItem

Visual Basic Reference

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Copy

Nothing

Copies the art object to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the art object onto the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Duplicate

PathItem

Duplicate the PathItem.

MoveAfter

Nothing

Move the PathItem behind
another object.

MoveBefore

Nothing

Move the PathItem in front of
another object.

MoveToEnd(Document/Layer/
GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the PathItem to the end of
a container.

MoveToBeginning(Document/
Layer/GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the PathItem to the front
of a container.

Resize(scaleX As Single,
scaleY As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [scaleAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Scales the art object where
scaleX is the horizontal scaling
factor and scaleY is the vertical
scaling factor; 100.0 = 100%.

Rotate(Angle As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [rotateAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Rotates the art object relative to
the current rotation. The object
is rotated counter-clockwise if
the Angle value is positive,
clockwise if the value is
negative.

SetEntirePath(pathSpecification Nothing
As Variant Array of Variant
Array of 2 Singles)

Defines path points for this path
using the supplied array of fixed
points (each comprised of a
Variant Array of 2 singles). Each
fixed point represents the
Anchor for a path point.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PathItem 395

Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Transform(transformationMatrix
As Matrix, [changePositions As
Boolean], [changeFillPatterns
As Boolean],
[changeFillGradients As
Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [transformAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Transforms the art object by
applying a transformation
matrix.

Translate([deltaX As Single],
[deltaY As Single],
[transformObjects As Boolean],
[transformFillPatterns As
Boolean],
[transformFillGradients As
Boolean],
[transformStrokePatterns As
Boolean])

Nothing

Repositions the art object
relative to the current position,
where deltaX is the horizontal
offset and deltaY is the vertical
offset.

ZOrder(zOrderCmd As
AiZOrderMethod)

Nothing

Arranges the art object’s
position in the stacking order of
the group or layer (Parent) of
this object.

Notes
The PathItem class give you complete access to paths in Illustrator.
The SetEntirePath method provides an extremely efficient way to create paths
comprised of straight lines.

Example 38.1
This script sets the stroke color and the fill color of the first path in the frontmost
document.
' Example of how to set the stroke and fill of a PathItem
Private Sub SetPathOptions_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim firstPath As Illustrator.PathItem
Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument

396

PathItem

Visual Basic Reference

Set firstPath = frontDocument.PathItems(1)
firstPath.Filled = True
firstPath.FillColor = frontDocument.Swatches(10).Color
firstPath.Stroked = True
firstPath.StrokeWidth = 5
firstPath.StrokeColor = frontDocument.Swatches(15).Color
End Sub

Example 38.2
This script illustrates the use of the SetEntirePath method to create a new path
consisting of straight lines.
' Example of how to create a new path consisting of 10 straight lines
Private Sub MakeNewPath_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim newPath As Illustrator.PathItem
Dim lineList(10) As Variant
Dim index As Long
For index = 0 To 10
lineList(index) = Array(index * 10 + 50, (index - 5) ^ 2 * 5 + 50)
Next
Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
Set newPath = frontDocument.PathItems.Add
newPath.SetEntirePath lineList
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PathItems 397

PathItems
A collection of paths.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
PathItems object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

PathItem object

Creates a new object.

Ellipse([top As Single], [left As
Single], [Width As Single],
[Height As Single], [reversed
As Boolean], [inscribed As
Boolean])

PathItem object

Creates a new PathItem in the
shape of an ellipse using the
supplied parameters.

Index(item As PathItem)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

PathItem object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Polygon([centerX As Single],
[centerY As Single], [radius As
Single], [sides As Long],
[reversed As Boolean])

PathItem object

Creates a new PathItem in the
shape of an polygon using the
supplied parameters.

Rectangle([top As Single], [left
As Single], [Width As Single],
[Height As Single], [reversed
As Boolean])

PathItem object

Creates a new PathItem in the
shape of an polygon using the
supplied parameters.

Remove(item As PathItem)

Nothing

Deletes a PathItem from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

398

PathItems

Visual Basic Reference

Method:

Returns:

What it does:

RoundedRectangle([top As
Single], [left As Single], [Width
As Single], [Height As Single],
[horizontalRadius As Single],
[verticalRadius As Single],
[reversed As Boolean])

PathItem object

Creates a new PathItem in the
shape of a rectangle with
rounded corners using the
supplied parameters.

Star([centerX As Single],
[centerY As Single], [radius As
Single], [innerRadius As
Single], [points As Long],
[reversed As Boolean])

PathItem object

Creates a new PathItem in the
shape of a star using the
supplied parameters.

Notes
The methods Ellipse, Polygon, Rectangle, RoundedRectangle, and Star
allow you to create complex PathItems using straightforward parameters. If you do not
provide any parameters when calling these methods, default values will be used.

Example 39.1
This script illustrates how to create a new rectangle in the first layer of the frontmost
document.
' Example of how to create a rectangle in layer 1 of document 1
Private Sub CreateRectangle_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim pathsInDocument As Illustrator.PathItems
Dim newRectangle As Illustrator.PathItem
Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
Set pathsInDocument = frontDocument.PathItems
' create a new rectangle with
' top = 400, left side = 50, width = 150 and height = 100
Set newRectangle = pathsInDocument.Rectangle(400, 50, 150, 100)
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PathPoint 399

PathPoint
A point on a specific path. Each path point is made up of an anchor point (Anchor) and
a pair of handles (LeftDirection and RightDirection).

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

Anchor
Application

R/O

LeftDirection
Parent

R/O

What it is:

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The position of this point’s
anchor point.

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The position of this path point’s
in control point.

Document object

The document that contains this
PathPoint object.

PointType

AiPointType enumeration The type of path point, either a
curve or a corner.

RightDirection

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The position of this path point’s
out control point.

Selected

AiPathPointSelection
enumeration

Are points of this path point
selected? If so, which one(s)?.

Notes
A PathPoint represents a point on a path, with its pair of control points, or handles.
Any point can considered a corner point. Setting the PointType property of a path
point to a corner forces the left and right direction points to be on a straight line when the
user attempts to modify them in the user interface.

Example 40.1
This script illustrates how to change the shape of a PathItem by modifying the left
direction and the right direction of the PathPoint.
' example of how to modify the LeftDirection and
' RightDirection of PathPoints to create a curve
Private Sub ChangePoints_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim firstPath As Illustrator.PathItem
Dim currentPoint As Illustrator.PathPoint

400

PathPoint

Visual Basic Reference

Dim nextPoint As Illustrator.PathPoint
Dim countOfPoints As Long
Dim index As Long
Dim deltax, deltay, length As Double
Set firstPath = appRef.ActiveDocument.PathItems(1)
countOfPoints = firstPath.PathPoints.Count
'Loop through all PathPoints except for the last one and set the
' left/right direction according to where the next point is
For index = 1 To (countOfPoints - 1)
Set currentPoint = firstPath.PathPoints(index)
Set nextPoint = firstPath.PathPoints(index + 1)
deltax = nextPoint.Anchor(0) - currentPoint.Anchor(0)
deltay = currentPoint.Anchor(1) - nextPoint.Anchor(1)
length = Math.Sqr(deltax ^ 2 + deltay ^ 2)
currentPoint.LeftDirection = Array(currentPoint.Anchor(0) - _
(50 * deltax / length), currentPoint.Anchor(1) - (50 * deltay
/ length))
currentPoint.RightDirection = Array(currentPoint.Anchor(0) + _
(50 * deltax / length), currentPoint.Anchor(1) + (50 * deltay
/ length))
Next
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PathPoints 401

PathPoints
A collection of path points in a specific path.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
PathPoints object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

PathPoint object

Creates a new object.

Index(item As PathPoint)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

PathPoint object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As PathPoint)

Nothing

Deletes a path point from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Example 41.1
This script illustrates how to add a new path point to an existing path.
' Example of how to add a new PathPoint to an existing path
Private Sub AddPathPoint_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim firstPath As Illustrator.PathItem
Dim newPoint As Illustrator.PathPoint
Set firstPath = appRef.ActiveDocument.PathItems(1)
Set newPoint = firstPath.PathPoints.Add
newPoint.Anchor = Array(75, 300)
newPoint.LeftDirection = Array(10, 280)
newPoint.RightDirection = Array(165, 330)

402

PathPoints

newPoint.PointType = aiCorner
End Sub

Visual Basic Reference

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Pattern 403

Pattern
A pattern definition contained in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Name

R/O

String

The pattern name.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
pattern.

Notes
Illustrator’s Pattern object represents a pattern as defined in the Illustrator application.

Example 42.1
This script illustrates how to set the default fill color of document 1 to pattern 1.
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Set frontDocument = appRef.Documents(1)
frontDocument.DefaultFilled = True
Dim PatternName As String
PatternName = frontDocument.Patterns(1).Name
frontDocument.DefaultFillColor =
frontDocument.Swatches(PatternName).Color

404

Patterns

Visual Basic Reference

Patterns
A collection of patterns in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document

The document that contains this
Patterns object.ß

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

Pattern object

Creates a new object.

Index(item As Pattern)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

Pattern object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As Pattern)

Nothing

Deletes a pattern from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Example 43.1
This script illustrates how to remove a pattern. Note after removing Illustrator objects you
should set the variable that referenced the object you just removed to Nothing.
' Example of how to remove the second pattern in document 1
Private Sub RemovePattern_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim patternToRemove As Illustrator.Pattern
' Remove the second pattern. Then set the patternToRemove reference to
' nothing because it no longer references an existing Illustrator pattern
Set frontDocument = appRef.Documents(1)
Set patternToRemove = frontDocument.Patterns(2)
frontDocument.Patterns.Remove patternToRemove

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Set patternToRemove = Nothing
End Sub

Patterns 405

406

PatternColor

Visual Basic Reference

PatternColor
A pattern color specification, used in conjunction with the Pattern property of the
Color specification.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Matrix

Matrix object

An additional transformation
matrix to manipulate the
prototype pattern,

Pattern

Pattern object

A reference to the pattern
object that defines the pattern
to use in this color definition.

Reflect

Boolean

Is the prototype reflected before
filling?

ReflectAngle

Single

The axis (in degrees) around
which to reflect.

Rotation

Single

The angle (in degrees) to rotate
the prototype pattern before
filling.

ScaleFactor

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The fraction to scale the
prototype pattern before filling,
represented as point containing
horizontal and vertical scaling
percentages.

ShearAngle

Single

The angle (in degrees) to slant
the shear by.

ShearAxis

Single

The axis (in degrees) to shear
with respect to.

ShiftAngle

Single

The angle (in degrees) to
translate the unscaled
prototype pattern before filling

ShiftDistance

Single

The distance to translate the
unscaled prototype pattern
before filling.

Notes
Pattern colors are created using a reference to an existing pattern in the document. A
matrix may be specified to further transform the pattern color.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PatternColor 407

Example 44.1
This script illustrates how to modify the first pattern in a document.
Dim
Dim
Dim
Dim
Dim
For

appRef As New Illustrator.Application
colorOfPattern As New Illustrator.PatternColor
swatchRef As Illustrator.Swatch
swatchColor As Illustrator.Color
firsthPath As Illustrator.PathItem
Each swatchRef In appRef.ActiveDocument.Swatches
' Get the generic color object of the swatch
Set swatchColor = swatchRef.Color
' Only operate on patterns
If (swatchColor.Color = aiColorPattern) Then
' Obtain the PatternColor from generic color object
colorOfPattern = swatchColor.Pattern
' Change the pattern properties
colorOfPattern.Rotation = 10
' Set the PatternColor of the original Color object
swatchColor.Pattern = colorOfPattern
' Apply the color to the frontmost path
Set firstPath = appRef.ActiveDocument.PathItems(1)
firstPath.Filled = True
firstPath.FillColor = swatchColor
' Change the definition of the pattern in the palette
swatchRef.Color = swatchColor
End If
Next

408

PDFOpenOptions

Visual Basic Reference

PDFOpenOptions
You can supply an option when opening a PDF file. See the open command in the
command reference for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Long

What page should be used
when opening a multipage
document (default: 1)

PageToOpen

Notes
This class is used to define a record containing properties used to specify options when
opening a document as a PDF file. OpenOptionsPDF can only be supplied in
conjunction with the Open method. It is not possible to get or create a
OpenOptionsPDF object.
It is not necessary to specify values for this properly; Illustrator will assign it a default
value.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PDFSaveOptions 409

PDFSaveOptions
Options which may be supplied when saving a document as an Acrobat PDF file. See the
Save method for additional details.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ColorCompression

AiCompressionQuality
enumeration

The type of color bitmap
compression used.

ColorDownsampling

Single

The color downsampling
resolution in dots per inch (dpi).
If the value is 0, no
downsampling is performed.

Compatibility

AiPDFCompatibility
enumeration

Specifies the version of the
Acrobat file format to create.

CompressArt

Boolean

Is line art and text to be
compressed?

EmbedAllFonts

Boolean

Are all fonts to be embedded?

EmbedICCProfile

Boolean

Should a ICC profile be
embedded in the saved file?

FontSubsetThreshold

Single

Include a subset of fonts when
less than this percentage of
characters is used in the
document. Valid for Illustrator
10 file format.

GenerateThumbnails

Boolean

Should thumbnail images be
generated with the saved file?

GrayscaleCompression

AiCompressionQuality
enumeration

Quality of grayscale bitmap
compression.

GrayscaleDownsampling

Single

Downsampling resolution in
dots per inch (dpi). If the value
is 0, no downsampling is
performed.

MonochromeCompression

AiMonochromeCompres
sion enumeration

Specifies type of monochrome
bitmap compression used.

MonochromeDownsampling

Single

Downsampling resolution in
dots per inch (dpi). If the value
is 0, no downsampling is
performed.

410

PDFSaveOptions

Property:
PreserveEditability

Visual Basic Reference

R/O Value type:
Boolean

What it is:
Should Illustrator editing
capabilities be preserved when
saving the document?

Notes
PDF save options can only be supplied in conjunction with the SaveAs method.
It is not necessary to specify values for all properties. Default values will be provided for
any properties not specified.

Example 45.1
This script illustrates how to save the frontmost document as PDF.
' This script shows how to save the current document as PDF
Private Sub SaveAsPDF_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim saveOptions As New Illustrator.PDFSaveOptions
saveOptions.ColorCompression = aiJPEGHigh
saveOptions.Compatibility = aiAcrobat4
appRef.Documents(1).SaveAs "C:\temp\AipdfSample.pdf", saveOptions
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PhotoshopFileOptions 411

PhotoshopFileOptions
You can supply options when opening a Photoshop file.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

PreserveImageMaps

Boolean

Should image maps be
preserved when the document
is converted? (default: true)

PreserveLayers

Boolean

Should layers be preserved
when the document is
converted? (default: true)

PreserveSlices

Boolean

Should slices be preserved
when the document is
converted? (default: true)

412

PlacedItem

Visual Basic Reference

PlacedItem
An artwork item (optionally stored in an external file) placed in a document. A PlacedItem
must correspond to a file containing vector-graphic data, such as a PICT, EPS or PDF file.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtworkKnockout

AiKnockoutState
enumeration

Is this object used to create a
knockout? If so, what kind of
knockout?

BlendingMode

AiBlendModes
enumeration

The mode used when
compositing an object.

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

Dimensions of PlacedItem
regardless of transformations.

Variable

The Variable bound to this
PlacedItem.

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

Editable

Boolean

Is this PlacedItem editable?

File

String

The file containing the placed
object.

GraphItem

GraphItem object

The GraphItem contained in this
PlacedItem.

BoundingBox

R/O

ContentVariable
ControlBounds

R/O

GroupItem

R/O

GroupItem object

If the PlacedItem is a
GroupItem, a reference to
object as a GroupItem.

GeometricBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the object
excluding stroke width.

Height

Single

The height of the PlacedItem,
based on GeometricBounds.

Hidden

Boolean

Is this PlacedItem hidden?

Boolean

Is this object isolated?

Layer object

The layer to which this
PlacedItem belongs.

Left

single

The left position of the
PlacedItem.

Locked

Boolean

Is this PlacedItem locked?

IsIsolated
Layer

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

PlacedItem 413

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Matrix

Matrix object

The transformation matrix
applied to the PlacedItem.

MeshItem

meshitem object

The MeshItem contained in this
PlacedItem.

Name

String

The name of this PlacedItem.

Opacity

Single

The opacity of the object . The
value is between 0.0 and 100.0.

PageItem

R/O

PageItem object

The PageItem object containing
the PlacedItem.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
PlacedItem.

Position

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The position of the top left
corner of the PlacedItem.

RasterItem

RasterItem object

The RasterItem contained in
this PlacedItem.

Selected

Boolean

Is this PlacedItem selected?

Sliced

boolean

Is this PlacedItem sliced?

SymbolItems

symbolitems object

The SymbolItems collection
contained in this PlacedItem.

Tags collection object

The tags contained in this
PlacedItem.

Top

Single

The top position of the
PlacedItem.

URL

String

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this PlacedItem.

VisibilityVariable

Variable

The Variable bound to this
PlacedItem.

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The visible bounds of the
PlacedItem including stroke
width.

Single

The width of the PlacedItem,
based on GeometricBounds.

Long

The position of this art object
within the stacking order of the
group or layer (Parent) that
contains the art object.

Tags

VisibleBounds

R/O

R/O

Width
ZOrderPosition

R/O

414

PlacedItem

Visual Basic Reference

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Copy

Nothing

Copies the art object to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the art object onto the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Duplicate

PlacedItem

Duplicate the PlacedItem.

MoveAfter

Nothing

Move the PlacedItem behind
another object.

MoveBefore

Nothing

Move the PlacedItem in front of
another object.

MoveToEnd(Document/Layer/
GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the PlacedItem to the end
of a container.

MoveToBeginning(Document/
Layer/GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the PlacedItem to the
front of a container.

Resize(scaleX As Single,
scaleY As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [scaleAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Scales the art object where
scaleX is the horizontal scaling
factor and scaleY is the vertical
scaling factor; 100.0 = 100%.

Rotate(Angle As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [rotateAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Rotates the art object relative to
the current rotation. The object
is rotated counter-clockwise if
the Angle value is positive,
clockwise if the value is
negative.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PlacedItem 415

Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Transform(transformationMatrix
As Matrix, [changePositions As
Boolean], [changeFillPatterns
As Boolean],
[changeFillGradients As
Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [transformAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Transforms the art object by
applying a transformation
matrix.

Translate([deltaX As Single],
[deltaY As Single],
[transformObjects As Boolean],
[transformFillPatterns As
Boolean],
[transformFillGradients As
Boolean],
[transformStrokePatterns As
Boolean])

Nothing

Repositions the art object
relative to the current position,
where deltaX is the horizontal
offset and deltaY is the vertical
offset.

ZOrder(zOrderCmd As
AiZOrderMethod)

Nothing

Arranges the art object’s
position in the stacking order of
the group or layer (Parent) of
this object.

Notes
When you create a PlacedItem, Illustrator may display a dialog. To avoid this dialog
check the box to turn the warning off the first time the dialog is displayed.
PlacedItems work only with embedded vector files: EPS, PDF, SVG and embedded AI.
Users can place vector art files, such as EPS and PDF files, with the File >
Place... command in Illustrator.
It is not necessary to set the type of the ContentVariable before binding. Illustrator
automatically sets the type to be the same as the PageItem to which it is bound.

Example 46.1
This script illustrates how to change the selection of PlacedItems.
' This example selects all PlacedItems

416

PlacedItem

Visual Basic Reference

' that were not selected before this script was run
' and deselects all PlacedItems that were selected when the script was run
Private Sub PlacedItemSelection_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim placedArt As Illustrator.PlacedItem
For Each placedArt In appRef.ActiveDocument.PlacedItems
placedArt.Selected = Not (placedArt.Selected)
Next
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PlacedItems 417

PlacedItems
A collection of placed art items.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
PlacedItems object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

PlacedItem object

Creates a new object.

Index(item As PlacedItem)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

PlacedItem object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As PlacedItem)

Nothing

Deletes a PlacedItem from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

See example 46.1 for sample script using PlacedItem.

418

PluginItem

Visual Basic Reference

PluginItem
An art object created by an Illustrator plug-in.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtworkKnockout

AiKnockoutState
enumeration

Is this object used to create a
knockout? If so, what kind of
knockout?

BlendingMode

AiBlendModes
enumeration

The mode used when
compositing an object.

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

ControlBounds

R/O

Editable

Boolean

Is this PluginItem editable?

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the object
excluding stroke width.

GraphItem object

The GraphItem contained in this
PluginItem.

GroupItem object

If the PluginItem is a
GroupItem, a reference to
object as a GroupItem.

Height

Single

The height of the PluginItem,
based on GeometricBounds.

Hidden

Boolean

Is this PluginItem hidden?

IsIsolated

Boolean

Is this object isolated?

Layer object

The layer to which this
PluginItem belongs.

Left

single

The left position of the
PluginItem.

Locked

Boolean

Is this PluginItem locked?

MeshItem

meshitem object

The MeshItem contained in this
PluginItem.

Name

String

The name of this PluginItem.

Opacity

Single

The opacity of the object . The
value is between 0.0 and 100.0.

PageItem object

The PageItem object
corresponding to the
PluginItem.

GeometricBounds

R/O

GraphItem
GroupItem

Layer

PageItem

R/O

R/O

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PluginItem 419

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
PluginItem.

PlacedItem

placeditem object

The PlacedItem contained in
this PluginItem.

Position

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The position of the top left
corner of the PluginItem.

RasterItem

RasterItem object

The RasterItem contained in
this PlacedItem.

Selected

Boolean

Is this PluginItem selected?

Sliced

boolean

Is this PluginItem sliced?

SymbolItems

symbolitems collection
object

The SymbolItems collection
contained in this PluginItem.

Tags collection object

The tags contained in this
PluginItem.

Top

Single

The top position of the
PluginItem.

URL

String

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this PluginItem.

VisibilityVariable

Variable

The Variable bound to this
PluginItem.

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The visible bounds of the
PluginItem including stroke
width.

Single

The width of the PluginItem,
based on GeometricBounds.

Long

The position of this art object
within the stacking order of the
group or layer (Parent) that
contains the art object.

Tags

VisibleBounds

R/O

R/O

Width
ZOrderPosition

R/O

420

PluginItem

Visual Basic Reference

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Copy

Nothing

Copies the art object to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the art object onto the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Duplicate

PlacedItem

Duplicate the PluginItem.

MoveAfter

Nothing

Move the PluginItem behind
another object.

MoveBefore

Nothing

Move the PluginItem in front of
another object.

MoveToEnd(Document/Layer/
GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the PluginItem to the end
of a container.

MoveToBeginning(Document/
Layer/GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the PluginItem to the front
of a container.

Rotate(Angle As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [rotateAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Rotates the art object relative to
the current rotation. The object
is rotated counter-clockwise if
the Angle value is positive,
clockwise if the value is
negative.

Transform(transformationMatrix
As Matrix, [changePositions As
Boolean], [changeFillPatterns
As Boolean],
[changeFillGradients As
Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [transformAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Transforms the art object by
applying a transformation
matrix.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

PluginItem 421

Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Translate([deltaX As Single],
[deltaY As Single],
[transformObjects As Boolean],
[transformFillPatterns As
Boolean],
[transformFillGradients As
Boolean],
[transformStrokePatterns As
Boolean])

Nothing

Repositions the art object
relative to the current position,
where deltaX is the horizontal
offset and deltaY is the vertical
offset.

ZOrder(zOrderCmd As
AiZOrderMethod)

Nothing

Arranges the art object’s
position in the stacking order of
the group or layer (Parent) of
this object.

Notes
Plug-in items cannot be created from a script, but can be copied and pasted.

Example 47.1
This example demonstrates how to create a new PluginItem by copying an existing
PluginItem.
' Example of how to create Plug-in art by copying existing plugin art items
Private Sub CopyPlugInArt_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim pluginArt As Illustrator.PluginItem
Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
If (frontDocument.PluginItems.Count > 0) Then
Set pluginArt = frontDocument.PluginItems(1)
pluginArt.Copy
frontDocument.Paste
Else
MsgBox "There is no plug-in art in the front document"
End If
End Sub

422

PluginItems

Visual Basic Reference

PluginItems
A collection of PluginItems in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
PluginItems object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Index(item As PluginItem)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

PluginItem object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As PluginItem)

Nothing

Deletes a PluginItem from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Notes
Plugin items cannot be created from a script.
See example 47.1 for a script that uses PluginItem.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

RasterItem 423

RasterItem
A bitmap art object in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtworkKnockout

AiKnockoutState
enumeration

Is this RasterItem used to
create a knockout? If so, what
kind of knockout?

BlendingMode

AiBlendModes
enumeration

The mode used when
compositing an object.

BoundingBox

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

Dimensions of RasterItem
regardless of transformations.

ContentVariable

Variable

The Variable that is bound to
this RasterItem.

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the RasterItem
including stroke width and
controls.

Editable

Boolean

Is this RasterItem editable?

Embedded

Boolean

Is the Raster art embedded
within the illustration?

File

String

The file containing the
RasterItem, if it is stored
externally.

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the object
excluding stroke width.

GraphItem object

The GraphItem contained in this
RasterItem.

GroupItem object

If the RasterItem is a
GroupItem, a reference to
object as a GroupItem.

Height

Single

The height of the PluginItem,
based on GeometricBounds.

Hidden

Boolean

Is this RasterItem hidden?

ImageColorSpace

AiColorSpace
enumeration

The color space of the Raster
image.

IsIsolated

Boolean

Is this RasterItem isolated?

Layer object

The layer to which this
RasterItem belongs.

ControlBounds

GeometricBounds

R/O

R/O

GraphItem
GroupItem

Layer

R/O

R/O

424

RasterItem

Property:

Visual Basic Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Left

single

The left position of the
RasterItem.

Locked

Boolean

Is this RasterItem locked?

MeshItem

meshitem object

The MeshItem contained in this
RasterItem.

Matrix

Matrix object

The transformation matrix of the
RasterItem.

Name

String

The name of this RasterItem.

Opacity

Single

The opacity of the RasterItem,
between 0.0 -100.0

PageItem

R/O

PageItem object

The PageItem object containing
to the RasterItem.

Parent

R/O

Document object.

The document that contains this
RasterItem.

PathItem

pathitem object

The PathItem containing this
RasterItem.

PlacedItem

placeditem object

The PlacedItem contained in
this RasterItem.

PluginItem

pluginitem object

The PluginItem contained in
this RasterItem.

Position

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The position of the top left
corner of the RasterItem.

Selected

Boolean

Is this RasterItem selected?

Sliced

boolean

Is this RasterItem sliced?

Status

AiRasterLinkState
enumeration

The status of the linked image,
if the image is stored externally.

SymbolItems

SymbolItems object

The SymbolItems object
collection in this RasterItem.

Tags collection object

The tags contained in this raster
art item.

Top

Single

The top position of the
RasterItem.

URL

String

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this RasterItem.

VisibilityVariable

Variable

The Variable that is bound to
this RasterItem.

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The visible bounds of the
RasterItem including stroke
width.

Tags

VisibleBounds

R/O

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

R/O Value type:

Width
ZOrderPosition

RasterItem 425

R/O

What it is:

Single

The width of the RasterItem,
based on GeometricBounds.

Long

The position of this art object
within the stacking order of the
group or layer (Parent) that
contains the art object.

426

RasterItem

Visual Basic Reference

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Colorize color object

Nothing

Specifies color to color TIFF
image.

Copy

Nothing

Copies the art object to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the art object onto the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Duplicate

RasterItem

Duplicate the RasterItem.

MoveAfter

Nothing

Move the PluginItem behind
another object.

MoveBefore

Nothing

Move the PluginItem in front of
another object.

MoveToEnd(Document/Layer/
GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the PluginItem to the end
of a container.

MoveToBeginning(Document/
Layer/GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the PluginItem to the front
of a container.

Resize(scaleX As Single,
scaleY As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [scaleAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Scales the art object where
scaleX is the horizontal scaling
factor and scaleY is the vertical
scaling factor; 100.0 = 100%.

Rotate(Angle As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [rotateAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Rotates the art object relative to
the current rotation. The object
is rotated counter-clockwise if
the Angle value is positive,
clockwise if the value is
negative.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

RasterItem 427

Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Transform(transformationMatrix
As Matrix, [changePositions As
Boolean], [changeFillPatterns
As Boolean],
[changeFillGradients As
Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [transformAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Transforms the art object by
applying a transformation
matrix.

Translate([deltaX As Single],
[deltaY As Single],
[transformObjects As Boolean],
[transformFillPatterns As
Boolean],
[transformFillGradients As
Boolean],
[transformStrokePatterns As
Boolean])

Nothing

Repositions the art object
relative to the current position,
where deltaX is the horizontal
offset and deltaY is the vertical
offset.

ZOrder(zOrderCmd As
AiZOrderMethod)

Nothing

Arranges the art object’s
position in the stacking order of
the group or layer (Parent) of
this object.

Notes
You can create RasterItems a script if you use an external file. You can also create
new RasterItems by copying and pasting an existing RasterItem.
Note that it is not necessary to set the type of the ContentVariable before binding.
Illustrator automatically sets the type to be the same as the PageItem to which it is
bound.

Example 48.1
This example illustrates how to create a new RasterItem in the frontmost document.
The script assumes that you have a file called “c:\temp\sample.jpg”.
' Example of how to create a new RasterItem in the frontmost document
Private Sub RasterItem_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim newRasterArt As Illustrator.RasterItem

428

RasterItem

Visual Basic Reference

Set newRasterArt = appRef.ActiveDocument.RasterItems.Add
newRasterArt.File = "C:\temp\sample.jpg"
newRasterArt.Position = Array(100, 400)
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

RasterItems 429

RasterItems
A collection of raster art items.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
RasterItems object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

RasterItem object

Creates a new object.

Index(item As RasterItem)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

RasterItem object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As RasterItem)

Nothing

Deletes a raster item from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Example 49.1
This script illustrates how to obtain the color space of a raster item.
' This script examines the color space of the first raster item in the document
Private Sub CheckRasterItems_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim rasterArt As Illustrator.RasterItem
Set rasterArt = appRef.ActiveDocument.RasterItems(1)
Select Case (rasterArt.ImageColorSpace)
Case Is = aiImageCMYK
MsgBox "The first raster item is a CMYK raster item"
Case Is = aiImageRGB
MsgBox "The first raster item is an RGB raster item"
Case Is = aiImageGrayScale
MsgBox "The first raster item is a Grayscale raster item"

430

RasterItems

End Select
End Sub

Visual Basic Reference

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

RGBColor 431

RGBColor
A RGB color specification, used in conjunction with the RGB property of the Color
specification.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Blue

Single

The blue color value as a value
in the range 0.0 - 255.0.

Green

Single

The green color value as a
value in the range 0.0 - 255.0.

Red

Single

The red color value as a value
in the range 0.0 - 255.0.

Notes
If the DocumentColorSpace of a document is aiDocumentCMYKColor and you
specify the color value for a PageItem in that document using RGBColor, Illustrator will
translate the RGB color specification into a CMYK color specification. The same thing
happens if the document’s DocumentColorSpace is aiDocumentRGBColor and
you specify colors using CMYKColor. Since this translation can cause information loss
you should specify colors using the class that matches the document’s
DocumentColorSpace.

Example 50.1
This script sets the default fill color of the frontmost document to yellow using an RGB
object. If the color space of the frontmost document is CMYK, then Illustrator will regard
the RGB fill color as a CMYK color although it is specified using RGB.
' This script sets the default fill color to yellow. If the color space is CMYK
' then Illustrator automatically translates the RGB color to its CMYK equivalence
Private Sub SetDefaultFillColor_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim newRGBColor As New Illustrator.RGBColor
Dim newFillColor As New Illustrator.Color
' Define the new color
newRGBColor.Red = 255#

432

RGBColor

Visual Basic Reference

newRGBColor.Green = 255#
newRGBColor.Blue = 0
' Wrap the RGB color in a generic color object and set that as the default fill color
newFillColor.RGB = newRGBColor
appRef.ActiveDocument.DefaultFillColor = newFillColor
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Spot 433

Spot
A spot color definition contained in the Illustrator document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Color

Color object

The color information for this
spot color.

ColorType

AiColorMode

Color model of the spot.

Name

R/O

String

The spot color’s name.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
spot color.

Notes
Illustrator’s Spot object represents a spot color as defined by Illustrator. All Illustrator
documents contain the spot color "[Registration]" which can be used to print to all plates
of a separation.
If no properties are specified when creating a new spot, default properties will be
provided. However, if specifying the color, you must use the same color space as the
document, either CMYK or RGB. Otherwise, an error will result. When created, the spot is
inserted into the swatch palette at the end.

Example 51.1
This script illustrates how to create a new spot in the frontmost document.
' Example of creating a new spot in the frontmost document
Private Sub NewSpotColor_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim newRGBColor As New Illustrator.RGBColor
Dim newColor As New Illustrator.Color
Dim newSpot As Illustrator.Spot
' Define the new color value
newRGBColor.Red = 255#
newRGBColor.Green = 0

434

Spot

newRGBColor.Blue = 0
' Create the new spot
Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
Set newSpot = frontDocument.Spots.Add
' Define the new SpotColor as 80% of the specified RGB color
newSpot.Name = "Red spot color"
newColor.RGB = newRGBColor
newSpot.Color = newColor
End Sub

Visual Basic Reference

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Spots 435

Spots
A collection of spot colors in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
Spots object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

Spot object

Creates a new object.

Index(item As Spot)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

Spot object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As Spot)

Nothing

Deletes a spot from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Example 52.1
This script illustrates how to remove all spots defined in the frontmost document.
' Example of how to remove all spots from the frontmost document
Private Sub RemoveSpot_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim documentSpots As Illustrator.Spots
Set documentSpots = appRef.ActiveDocument.Spots
documentSpots.RemoveAll
End Sub

436

SpotColor

Visual Basic Reference

SpotColor
A spot color specification, used in conjunction with the Spot property of the Color
specification.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Spot

Spot object

A reference to the spot color
object which defines the color.

Tint

Single

The tint of the color as a value
in the range 0.0 - 100.0.

Notes
Spot colors are specified using a Single value that ranges from 0.0 to 100.0 for the tint of
the color. The color property must be set to a reference to an existing spot color.

Example 53.1
This script shows how to create a new spot, and apply a tint of that spot to the fill of a
PathItem.Your frontmost document must already have a PathItem before you can run this
script.
' Example of how to define and apply a spot color
Private Sub ApplyNewSpotColor_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim newRGBColor As New Illustrator.RGBColor
Dim newColor As New Illustrator.Color
Dim newSpot As Illustrator.Spot
Dim frontPath As Illustrator.PathItem
' Define the new color value
newRGBColor.Red = 255#
newRGBColor.Green = 0
newRGBColor.Blue = 0
' Create the new spot
Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
Set newSpot = frontDocument.Spots.Add

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

SpotColor 437

' Define the new SpotColor as 80% of the specified RGB color
newSpot.Name = "Red spot color"
newColor.RGB = newRGBColor
newSpot.Color = newColor
' Now apply a 50% of the spot color we just created to the frontmost PathItem.
' We do this by creating a spotcolor object and setting the specifications on that object.
' We then wrap the spot color object in a generic color object and use it to set the fill color for
' the first PathItem in the frontmost document
Dim newSpotColor As New Illustrator.SpotColor
Dim newPathColor As New Illustrator.Color
newSpotColor.Spot = newSpot
newSpotColor.Tint = 50#
newPathColor.Spot = newSpotColor
Set frontPath = frontDocument.PathItems(1)
frontPath.Filled = True
frontPath.FillColor = newPathColor
End Sub

438

Swatch

Visual Basic Reference

Swatch
A color swatch definition contained in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Color

Color object

The color information for this
swatch.

Name

String

The swatch’s name.

Document object

The document that contains this
swatch.

Parent

R/O

Notes
The swatches correspond to the swatch palette in Illustrator’s user interface. Additional
swatches can be created either manually by a user or by a script. The swatch can hold all
types of color data (i.e., pattern, gradient, CMYK, RGB, gray, spot).

Example 54.1
This script illustrates how to change the name of the fifth swatch.
' Example of how to change the name of the fifth swatch
Private Sub SetSwatchName_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim firstSwatch As Illustrator.Swatch
Set firstSwatch = appRef.ActiveDocument.Swatches(5)
firstSwatch.Name = "New SwatchName"
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Swatches 439

Swatches
A collection of swatches in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
Swatches object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

Swatch object

Creates a new object.

Index(item As Swatch)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

Swatch object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As Swatch)

Nothing

Deletes a Swatch from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Example 55.1
This script illustrates how to first obtain a Swatch by index and then how to delete that
Swatch.
' Example of how to remove the second Swatch in the frontmost document
Private Sub DeleteSwatch_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim swatchToDelete As Illustrator.Swatch
Dim documentSwatches As Illustrator.Swatches
Set documentSwatches = appRef.ActiveDocument.Swatches
Set swatchToDelete = documentSwatches(2)
documentSwatches.Remove swatchToDelete
End Sub

440

Symbol

Visual Basic Reference

Symbol
A Symbol is an ArtObject that is stored in the Symbols Palette, and can be reused
one or more times in the document without duplicating the art data. Symbols are
contained in documents.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Name

R/W

String

The name of the Symbol.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
Symbol.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Duplicate

Symbol

Duplicates the Symbol.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Symbols 441

Symbols
A collection of symbols in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
Symbols object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

Swatch object

Creates a new object.

Index(item As Symbol)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

Swatch object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As Symbol)

Nothing

Deletes a Symbol from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

442

SymbolItem

Visual Basic Reference

SymbolItem
A SymbolItem is an instance of a Symbol in a Document. SymbolItems are linked
to the Symbol from which they were created and will change with any modification of
those Symbols.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtworkKnockout

AiKnockoutState
enumeration

Is this SymbolItem used to
create a knockout? If so, what
kind of knockout?

BlendingMode

AiBlendModes
enumeration

The mode used when
compositing an object.

ControlBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the SymbolItem
including stroke width and
controls.

Editable

R/O

Boolean

Can the SymbolItem be
modified?

GeometricBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the SymbolItem
excluding stroke width.

GraphItem object

The GraphItem contained in this
SymbolItem.

GroupItem object

If the SymbolItem is a
GroupItem, a reference to
object as a GroupItem.

Height

Single

The height of the SymbolItem,
based on GeometricBounds.

Hidden

Boolean

Is this SymbolItem hidden?

Isolated

Boolean

Is this SymbolItem isolated?

Layer object

The layer to which this
SymbolItem belongs.

Left

single

The left position of the
SymbolItem.

Locked

Boolean

Is this SymbolItem locked?

Name

String

The name of this SymbolItem.

MeshItem

MeshItem object

The MeshItem contained in this
SymbolItem.

Opacity

Single (0.0 - 100.0)

The opacity of the SymbolItem.

GraphItem
GroupItem

Layer

R/O

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Property:

SymbolItem 443

R/O Value type:

PageItem

What it is:

PageItem object

The PageItem that contains this
SymbolItem.

Document object

The document that contains this
SymbolItem.

PathItem

pathitem object

The PathItem containing this
SymbolItem.

PlacedItem

placeditem object

The SymbolItem contained in
this RasterItem.

PluginItem

pluginitem object

The SymbolItem contained in
this RasterItem.

Position

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The position of the top left
corner of the SymbolItem.

RasterItem

RasterItem object

The RasterItem contained in
this SymbolItem.

Selected

Boolean

Is this SymbolItem selected?

Sliced

Boolean

Is this SymbolItem sliced?
Default: false.

Symbol

Symbol object

The Symbol contained in this
SymbolItem.

Tags collection object

The tags contained in this
SymbolItem.

Top

Single

The top position of the
SymbolItem.

URL

String

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this SymbolItem.

VisibilityVariable

Variable

The Variable bound to this
SymbolItem.

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The visible bounds of the
SymbolItem including stroke
width.

Single

The width of the SymbolItem,
based on GeometricBounds.

Long

The position of this SymbolItem
within the stacking order of the
group or layer (Parent) that
contains the SymbolItem.

Parent

Tags

VisibleBounds

R/O

R/O

R/O

Width
ZOrderPosition

R/O

444

SymbolItem

Visual Basic Reference

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Copy

Nothing

Copies the SymbolItem to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the SymbolItem to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Duplicate

SymbolItem

Duplicate the SymbolItem.

MoveAfter

Nothing

Move the SymbolItem behind
another object.

MoveBefore

Nothing

Move the SymbolItem in front of
another object.

MoveToEnd(Document/Layer/
GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the SymbolItem to the
end of a container.

MoveToBeginning(Document/
Layer/GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the SymbolItem to the
front of a container.

Rotate(Angle As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [rotateAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Rotates the SymbolItem relative
to the current rotation. The
object is rotated counterclockwise if the Angle value is
positive, clockwise if the value is
negative.

Resize(scaleX As Single,
scaleY As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [scaleAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Scales the SymbolItem where
scaleX is the horizontal scaling
factor and scaleY is the vertical
scaling factor; 100.0 = 100%.

Editable

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

SymbolItem 445

Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Transform(transformationMatrix
As Matrix, [changePositions As
Boolean], [changeFillPatterns
As Boolean],
[changeFillGradients As
Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [transformAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Transforms the SymbolItem by
applying a transformation
matrix.

Translate([deltaX As Single],
[deltaY As Single],
[transformObjects As Boolean],
[transformFillPatterns As
Boolean],
[transformFillGradients As
Boolean],
[transformStrokePatterns As
Boolean])

Nothing

Repositions the SymbolItem
relative to the current position,
where deltaX is the horizontal
offset and deltaY is the vertical
offset.

ZSetOrder(zOrderCmd As
AiZOrderMethod)

Nothing

Arranges the SymbolItem’s
position in the stacking order of
the group or layer (Parent) of
this object.

Notes
The MoveAfter and MoveBefore methods do not change the position of the object
on the art board. They change the order in which Illustrator draws the objects, and the
containment hierarchy.
The MoveToBeginning and MoveToEnd methods place the object in the specified
container, behind all other such objects.

446

SymbolItems

Visual Basic Reference

SymbolItems
A collection of swatches in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
SymbolItems object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

Swatch object

Creates a new object.

Index(item As SymbolItem)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

SymbolItem object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As SymbolItem)

Nothing

Deletes a SymbolItem from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Tag 447

Tag
A tag associated with a specific PageItem.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

String

The Tag’s name.

Document object

The document that contains this
Tag.

String

The data stored in this Tag.

Name
Parent

R/O

Value

Notes
Tags allows you to assign an unlimited number of key-value pairs to any PageItem in a
document.

Example 56.1
This example illustrates how to list the tags associated with the first selected item. The
name and value of the tags are listed in a new document.
' The following example shows the tags of the selected art item
' the tags are shown in a separate document
Private Sub ShowAllTags_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim reportDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim selection As Variant
Dim selectedArt As Illustrator.PageItem
Dim tagList As Illustrator.Tags
Dim tagItem As Illustrator.Tag
Dim top_offset As Single
selection = appRef.selection
If (Not IsEmpty(selection)) Then
' Get the selected item. We only need to access a property defined on the pageitem class,
' so we don't have to look at the type of the selected item. Instead we use the "PageItem"
' property, as every art item has one.
Set selectedArt = selection(0).PageItem
Set tagList = selectedArt.Tags

448

Tag

Visual Basic Reference

If (tagList.Count = 0) Then
MsgBox "The selected art has no tags"
Exit Sub
End If
' Create a document and add a line of text per tag
Set reportDocument = appRef.Documents.Add
top_offset = 400
For Each tagItem In tagList
Dim tagText As Illustrator.TextArtItem
Set tagText = reportDocument.TextArtItems.Add
tagText = "Tag: (" & tagItem.Name & " , " & tagItem.Value &
")"
tagText.Position = Array(100, top_offset)
top_offset = top_offset - 20
Next
End If
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Tags 449

Tags
A collection of tags.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
Tags object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

Tag object

Creates a new object.

Index(item As Tag)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

Tag object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As Tag)

Nothing

Deletes a tag from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Example 57.1
This example illustrates how to mark all images in a document with a specific tag. If your
script creates temporary PageItems, you can then later look at the "MyInfo" tag. If it exist
for a particular PageItem and it's value is "OriginalItem" you know not to delete it.
Dim
Dim
Dim
Dim
Set
For

appRef As New Illustrator.Application
frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
imageArt As Illustrator.PageItem
tagRef As Illustrator.Tag
frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
Each imageArt In frontDocument.PageItems
If ((imageArt.PageItemType = aiPlacedItem) Or _
(imageArt.PageItemType = aiRasterItem)) Then
' Create a new Tag with the name myInfo and the value originalItem
Set tagRef = imageArt.Tags.Add

450

Tags

tagRef.Name = "MyInfo"
tagRef.Value = "OriginalItem"
End If
Next

Visual Basic Reference

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

TextArtItem 451

TextArtItem
A text art object or objects. From the user interface, this is text created with the Text tool.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

ArtworkKnockout

AiKnockoutState
enumeration

Is this object used to create a
knockout? If so, what kind of
knockout?

BlendingMode

AiBlendModes
enumeration

The mode used when
compositing an object.

Contents

String (default property)

The textual contents of the
TextArtItem.

ContentVariable

Variable

The Variable to which this
TextArtItem is bound.

ControlBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the object
including stroke width and
controls.

GeometricBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounds of the object
excluding stroke width.

GraphItem object

The GraphItem contained in this
TextArtItem.

GroupItem object

If the TextArtItem is a
GroupItem, a reference to
object as a GroupItem.

Editable

Boolean

Is this TextArtItem editable?

Height

Single

The height of the TextArtItem,
based on GeometricBounds.
You should only try to set the
height of a textartitem that
contains text.

Hidden

Boolean

Is this TextArtItem hidden?

IsIsolated

Boolean

Is this object isolated?

Kind

AiTextType enumeration

The type of text art displayed by
this object.

Layer object

The Layer to which this
TextArtItem belongs.

single

The left position of the
TextArtItem.

GraphItem
GroupItem

Layer
Left

R/O

R/O

452

TextArtItem

Property:

Visual Basic Reference

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Locked

Boolean

Is this TextArtItem locked?

MeshItem

meshitem object

The MeshItem contained in this
TextArtItem.

Name

String

The name of this TextArtItem.

Opacity

Single

The opacity of the object . The
value is between 0.0 and 100.0.

PageItem

R/O

PageItem object

The PageItem object containing
the TextArtItem.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
TextArtItem.

PathItem

pathitem object

The PathItem containing this
TextArtItem.

PlacedItem

placeditem object

The PlacedItem contained in
this TextArtItem.

PluginItem

pluginitem object

The PluginItem contained in
this TextArtItem.

Position

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The position of the top left
corner of the TextArtItem.

RasterItem

RasterItem object

The RasterItem contained in
this TextArtItem.

Selected

Boolean

Is this TextArtItem selected?

Selection

TextRange collection
object

The selected text in the
contents of this TextArtItem.

Sliced

Boolean

Is this TextArtItem sliced?

SymbolItems

SymbolItems collection
object

The SymbolItems contained in
this TextArtItem.

Tags

R/O

Tags collection object

The tags contained in this
TextArtItem.

TextPath_PathItems

R/O

PathItems collection
object

The PathItems associated with
in-path and on-path text.

TextPaths

R/O

TextPaths collection
object

The text paths contained in this
TextArtItem,

Top

Single

The top position of the
TextArtItem.

URL

String

The value of the Adobe URL tag
assigned to this TextArtItem.

VisibilityVariable

Variable

The Variable to which this
TextArtItem is bound.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

TextArtItem 453

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

VisibleBounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The visible bounds of the
TextArtItem including stroke
width.

Width

Single

The width of the TextArtItem,
based on the
GeometricBounds. You should
only try to set the width of a
TextArtItem that contains text.

Wrapped

Boolean

Does the text wrap around other
objects (valid only for area
text)?

Long

The position of this art object
within the stacking order of the
group or layer (Parent) that
contains the art object.

ZOrderPosition

R/O

454

TextArtItem

Visual Basic Reference

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Copy

Nothing

Copies the art object to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

CreateOutline

GroupItem object

Converts a TextArtItem into a
GroupItem consisting of paths
and compound paths.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the art object onto the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Duplicate

TextArtItem

Duplicate the TextArtItem.

MoveAfter

Nothing

Move the TextArtItem behind
another object.

MoveBefore

Nothing

Move the TextArtItem in front of
another object.

MoveToEnd(Document/Layer/
GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the TextArtItem to the end
of a container.

MoveToBeginning(Document/
Layer/GroupItem)

Nothing

Move the TextArtItem to the
front of a container.

Resize(scaleX As Single,
scaleY As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [scaleAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Scales the art object where
scaleX is the horizontal scaling
factor and scaleY is the vertical
scaling factor; 100.0 = 100%.

Rotate(Angle As Single,
[changePositions As Boolean],
[changeFillPatterns As
Boolean], [changeFillGradients
As Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [rotateAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Rotates the art object relative to
the current rotation. The object
is rotated counter-clockwise if
the Angle value is positive,
clockwise if the value is
negative.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

TextArtItem 455

Method:

Returns:

What it does:

TextRange([rangeStart As
Long], [rangeEnd As Long])

TextRange object

Returns a text range object
referencing a substring of the
current text range, where
rangeStart is the beginning
character position and
rangeEnd is the ending
position. The first character
position is one. If omitted,
rangeStart defaults to 1. If
omitted, rangeEnd defaults to
the last character of the range.

Transform(transformationMatrix
As Matrix, [changePositions As
Boolean], [changeFillPatterns
As Boolean],
[changeFillGradients As
Boolean],
[changeStrokePattern As
Boolean], [changeLineWidths
As Single], [transformAbout As
AiTransformation])

Nothing

Transforms the art object by
applying a transformation
matrix.

Translate([deltaX As Single],
[deltaY As Single],
[transformObjects As Boolean],
[transformFillPatterns As
Boolean],
[transformFillGradients As
Boolean],
[transformStrokePatterns As
Boolean])

Nothing

Repositions the art object
relative to the current position,
where deltaX is the horizontal
offset and deltaY is the vertical
offset.

ZOrder(zOrderCmd As
AiZOrderMethod)

Nothing

Arranges the art object’s
position in the stacking order of
the group or layer (Parent) of
this object.

Notes
There are three types of text art in Illustrator, as specified by the TextArtItem’s Kind
property. See “Working with text art” on page 51 for more information on working with the
three kinds of TextArtItems.

456

TextArtItem

Visual Basic Reference

Note that it is not necessary to set the type of the ContentVariable before binding.
Illustrator automatically sets the type to be aiTextual.

Example 58.1
This example illustrates how to create a series of rotated TextArtItems from a selected
TextArtItem. Before running this script you should create and select a TextArtItem in
Illustrator.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

TextArtItem 457

The example also illustrates how you can use the parent property of an objects to make
sure that new objects are put into the same layer or group as the original item belongs to.
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim selection As Variant
Dim frontDocument As Illustrator.Document
Dim sourceTextArt As Illustrator.TextArtItem
Dim newTextArt As Illustrator.TextArtItem
Dim textArtGroup As Illustrator.TextArtItems
' First check the selection of the application. It has to be a TextArtItem in order for this script to run.
selection = appRef.selection
If (IsEmpty(selection)) Then
MsgBox "Select a text item before running this script"
Exit Sub
End If
If (TypeName(selection) = "String") Then
MsgBox "Remove the insertion point from the text and select
the text item before running this script "
Exit Sub
End If
If (TypeName(selection) = "String" Or
TypeName(selection(0)) <> "TextArtItem") Then
MsgBox "Select a text item before running this script"
Exit Sub
End If
Set frontDocument = appRef.ActiveDocument
Set sourceTextArt = selection(0)
' Get the parent of the text art so new TextArtItems can be inserted in the same group or layer as
' the selected text art is in
Set textArtGroup = sourceTextArt.Parent.TextArtItems
' Create 5 new versions of the text art each rotated a bit
Dim i As Long
For i = 1 To 5
Set newTextArt = textArtGroup.Add
newTextArt.Position = sourceTextArt.Position
newTextArt.Contents = sourceTextArt.Contents
newTextArt.Rotate 180 * i / 6
Next

458

TextArtItems

Visual Basic Reference

TextArtItems
A collection of TextArtItems.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
TextArtItems object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

TextArtItem object

Creates a new object.

Index(item As TextArtItem)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

TextArtItem object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As TextArtItem)

Nothing

Deletes a TextArtItem from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

See example 58.1 for a script that uses TextArtItem.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

TextFace 459

TextFace
A text face (currently available font) in the application.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Name

R/O

String (default property)

The text face’s name.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
TextFace.

Notes
Text faces provide access to the name of all fonts currently available to the Illustrator
application.

Example 59.1
The following script illustrates how to apply the first text face to all text art in the frontmost
document.
' Example of how to set the font of all the text in the document to the first
' text face
Private Sub SetTextFace_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim fontToApply As Illustrator.TextFace
Dim textArt As Illustrator.TextArtItem
Dim textArtRange As Illustrator.TextRange
' Get the first text face in the document
Set fontToApply = appRef.TextFaces(1)
' Iterate through all text art and apply the font
For Each textArt In appRef.ActiveDocument.TextArtItems
Set textArtRange = textArt.TextRange
textArtRange.Font = fontToApply.Name
Next
End Sub

460

TextFaces

Visual Basic Reference

TextFaces
A collection of text faces (currently available font) in the application.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
TextFaces object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Index(item As TextFace)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

TextFace object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Example 60.1
This example illustrates how to check if the Symbol text face is installed on the current
machine.
' Example of how to check to see if
' a specific text face is installed on the current machine
Private Sub CheckForTimes_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim fontToTest As Illustrator.TextFace
Dim foundTextFace As Boolean
Dim fontName As String
fontName = "Symbol"
foundTextFace = False
For Each fontToTest In appRef.TextFaces
If (fontToTest.Name = fontName) Then
foundTextFace = True
Exit For
End If
Next

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

TextFaces 461

If (foundTextFace) Then
MsgBox fontName & " is installed on this machine"
Else
MsgBox fontName & " is not installed on this machine"
End If
End Sub

462

TextLine

Visual Basic Reference

TextLine
A line of text in a specific text art object.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

AutoKerning

Boolean

Should a font’s built-in kerning
information be used?

Baseline

Single

The bottom position of
horizontally-oriented text or the
left position of verticallyoriented text.

BaselineShift

Single

Baseline offset of text.

Characters

R/O

Characters collection
object

The characters contained in this
text line.

Clipping

R/O

Boolean

Is there a clipping path
associated with the TextArtItem
containing this text line?

Contents

String (default property)

The text contained in the text
range.

Direction

AiCharDirection
enumeration

The orientation of the
characters in a vertical text
block.

Evenodd

Boolean

Should the even-odd rule be
used to determine insideness?

FillColor

Color

Fill color of text

Filled

Boolean

Should the text be filled?

FillOverprint

Boolean

Should the art beneath the text
be overprinted?

Font

String

The text face of the text.

Leading

Single

The vertical leading of the text.

Length

Long

The number of character in the
text.

Note

R/O

String

The note associated with this
text.

Offset

R/O

AiText

Offset of selected text in text
range (in characters).

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

TextLine 463

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Orientation

R/O

AiOrientation
enumeration

The orientation of the text. Use
the TextPath class to alter this
property.

Paragraph

R/O

Paragraph object

The paragraph containing this
line of text.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
TextLine.

Resolution

R/O

Single

The resolution of the object (in
dots per inch).

Scaling

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The character scaling supplied
as a point with the first
coordinate as horizontal scale
and the second coordinate as
vertical scale, where 100.0 is
100%.

Size

Single

Font size of text.

StrokeCap

AiStrokeCap
enumeration

The type of line capping.

StrokeColor

Color object

The stroke color for the path.

Stroked

Boolean

Should the path be stroked?

StrokeDashes

Variant Array

Dash lengths. Set to an empty
array for a solid line.

StrokeDashOffset

Single

The default distance into the
dash pattern at which the
pattern should be started.

StrokeJoin

AiStrokeJoin
enumeration

Type of joints for the path.

StrokeMiterLimit

Single

Are joins mitered (pointed) or
beveled (squared-off)?

StrokeOverprint

Boolean

Will art beneath a stroked
object be overprinted?

StrokeWidth

Single

Width of stroke.

TextPath object

A reference to the text path
associated with the TextArtItem
containing this text.

Single

The spacing between multiple
characters.

TextPath

Tracking

R/O

464

TextLine

Visual Basic Reference

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Copy

Nothing

Copies the text range to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the text range onto the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Paste

Nothing

Replaces text range with the
contents of the clipboard.

TextRange([rangeStart As
Long], [rangeEnd As Long])

TextRange object

Returns a text range object
referencing a substring of the
current text range, where
rangeStart is the beginning
character position and
rangeEnd is the ending
position. The first character
position is one. If omitted,
rangeStart defaults to 1. If
omitted, rangeEnd defaults to
the last character of the range.

Notes
TextLine gives you complete access to the text contained in a line of text art objects in
Illustrator.
Lines of text cannot be created. When the Contents property of a TextArtItem is
modified, Illustrator will create text lines as it reflows the text within the TextArtItem.

Example 61.1
This example illustrates how to color lines of more than 80 characters red.
' Example of how to color lines of more than 80 characters red
Private Sub ColorLongTextLines_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim textArt As Illustrator.TextArtItem
Dim textArtRange As Illustrator.TextRange
Dim lineToExamine As Illustrator.TextLine
Dim redRGB As New Illustrator.RGBColor

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Dim redColor As New Illustrator.Color
' Make a reference to a red door
redRGB.Red = 255
redRGB.Green = 0
redRGB.Blue = 0
redColor.RGB = redRGB
' Apply the red color to lines longer than 80 characters
For Each textArt In appRef.ActiveDocument.TextArtItems
Set textArtRange = textArt.TextRange
For Each lineToExamine In textArtRange.TextLines
If (Len(lineToExamine.Contents) > 80) Then
lineToExamine.Filled = True
lineToExamine.FillColor = redColor
End If
Next
Next
End Sub

TextLine 465

466

TextLines

Visual Basic Reference

TextLines
A collection of lines of text.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
TextLines object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Index(item As TextLine)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

TextLine object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As TextLine)

Nothing

Deletes a text line from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Notes
Lines of text cannot be created. When the contents of a TextArtItem is modified, Illustrator
will create text lines as it reflows the text within the TextArtItem.

Example 62.1
This script displays the total number of lines of text contained in all of the TextArtItems in
the current document.
' This script counts all text lines in current document and returns the total
Private Sub CountLines_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim numLines As Long
Dim textArt As Illustrator.TextArtItem
Dim textArtRange As Illustrator.TextRange

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

TextLines 467

If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then
numLines = 0
For Each textArt In appRef.ActiveDocument.TextArtItems
Set textArtRange = textArt.TextRange()
numLines = numLines + textArtRange.TextLines.Count
Next
MsgBox ("There are " & numLines & " lines of text in the
document.")
End If
End Sub

468

TextPath

Visual Basic Reference

TextPath
A text path. A TextArtItem always has at least one text path.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Matrix

Matrix object

The transformation matrix for
the text path.

Name

String

The text path’s name.

Orientation

AiOrientation
enumeration

The orientation of the text.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
TextPath.

TextPathObject

R/O

PathItem object

Path associated with the text
path (only valid for path text and
area text).

Single

The offset position where
characters are anchored on the
text path (only valid for path
text).

TextPathOffset

Notes
Text paths provide access to a number of special properties for TextArtItems. See
Chapter 3 for additional information on text paths.

Example 63.1
This example illustrates how to set all text paths in the frontmost document to vertical.
' Example of how to change the orientation of all textpaths to vertical
Private Sub TextPathOrientation_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim textArt As Illustrator.TextArtItem
Dim textArtPath As Illustrator.TextPath
For Each textArt In appRef.ActiveDocument.TextArtItems
For Each textArtPath In textArt.TextPaths
textArtPath.Orientation = aiVertical
Next

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Next
End Sub

TextPath 469

470

TextPaths

Visual Basic Reference

TextPaths
A collection of text paths in a specific TextArtItem.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
TextPaths object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

TextPath object

Creates a new object.

Index(item As TextPath)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

TextPath object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As TextPath)

Nothing

Deletes a text path from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

See Example 63.1 for a sample script that uses TextPath.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

TextPath_PathItems 471

TextPath_PathItems
A collection of PathItems associated with area text and path text.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
TextPath_PathItems object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Index(item As PathItem)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

PathItem object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

Example 64.1
This example illustrates how to create new on-path text. On-path text uses the first path
specified in the TextPath_PathItems to shape the text.
' example of how to use the TextPath_PathItems collection
' to create an on-path text item
Private Sub OnPathText_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim newTextArt As Illustrator.TextArtItem
Dim newTextPath As Illustrator.PathItem
Set newTextArt = appRef.ActiveDocument.TextArtItems.Add
newTextArt.Position = Array(200, 200)
newTextArt.Contents = "My new on-path text art"
newTextArt.Kind = aiPathText
Set newTextPath = newTextArt.TextPath_PathItems(1)
newTextPath.SetEntirePath Array(Array(200, 200), Array(250, 250),
Array(300, 200))
End Sub

472

TextRange

Visual Basic Reference

TextRange
A range of text in a specific text art object.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

AutoKerning

Boolean

Should a font’s built-in kerning
information be used?

BaselineShift

Single

Baseline offset of text.

Characters

R/O

Characters collection
object

The characters contained in this
text range.

Clipping

R/O

Boolean

Is there a clipping path
associated with the TextArtItem
containing this text range?

Contents

String (default property)

The text contained in the text
range.

Direction

AiCharDirection
enumeration

The orientation of the
characters in a vertical text
block.

Evenodd

Boolean

Should the even-odd rule be
used to determine insideness?

FillColor

Color

Fill color of text

Filled

Boolean

Should the text be filled?

FillOverprint

Boolean

Should the art beneath the text
be overprinted?

Font

String

The text face of the text.

Leading

Single

The vertical leading of the text.

Length

Long

The number of character in the
text.

Note

R/O

String

The note associated with this
text.

Offset

R/O

Long

Offset of selected text in text
range (in characters).

Orientation

R/O

AiOrientation
enumeration

The orientation of the text. Use
the TextPath class to alter this
property.

Paragraphs

R/O

Paragraphs collection
object

The paragraphs contained in
this text range.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

TextRange 473

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
TextRange.

Resolution

R/O

Single

The resolution of the object (in
dots per inch).

Scaling

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The character scaling supplied
as a point with the first
coordinate as horizontal scale
and the second coordinate as
vertical scale, where 100.0 is
100%.

Size

Single

Font size of text.

StrokeCap

AiStrokeCap
enumeration

The type of line capping.

StrokeColor

Color object

The stroke color for the path.

Stroked

Boolean

Should the path be stroked?

StrokeDashes

Variant Array

Dash lengths. Set to an empty
array for a solid line.

StrokeDashOffset

Single

The default distance into the
dash pattern at which the
pattern should be started.

StrokeJoin

AiStrokeJoin
enumeration

Type of joints for the path.

StrokeMiterLimit

Single

Are joins mitered (pointed) or
beveled (squared-off)?

StrokeOverprint

Boolean

Will art beneath a stroked
object be overprinted?

StrokeWidth

Single

Width of stroke.

TextLines

R/O

TextLines collection
object

The lines of text contained in
this text range.

TextPath

R/O

TextPath object

A reference to the text path
associated with the TextArtItem
containing this text.

Single

The spacing between multiple
characters.

Words collection object

The words contained in this text
range.

Tracking
Words

R/O

474

TextRange

Visual Basic Reference

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Copy

Nothing

Copies the text range to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the text range onto the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

DeleteRange

Nothing

Deletes the text range.

Paste

Nothing

Replaces text range with the
contents of the clipboard.

TextRange([rangeStart As
Long], [rangeEnd As Long])

TextRange object

Returns a text range object
referencing a substring of the
current text range, where
rangeStart is the beginning
character position and
rangeEnd is the ending
position. The first character
position is one. If omitted,
rangeStart defaults to 1. If
omitted, rangeEnd defaults to
the last character of the range.

Notes
TextRange gives you complete access to the text contained in text art objects in
Illustrator.

Example 65.1
This example illustrates how to resize the first part of every word in the frontmost
document. The example illustrates how to obtain a sub-range from a text object.
' Example of how to use ranges and sub ranges to change the size of the first two
' characters of each word
Private Sub ChangeSize_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim textArt As Illustrator.TextArtItem
Dim textArtRange As Illustrator.TextRange
Dim textWord As Illustrator.Word
Dim wordLen As Long

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

TextRange 475

Dim charsToChange As Long
Dim firstChars As Illustrator.TextRange
For Each textArt In appRef.ActiveDocument.TextArtItems
Set textArtRange = textArt.TextRange
For Each textWord In textArtRange.Words
' For each word we check to see if it is longer than 2 characters. If it is we'll resize
' the first 2 characters. If it is not, we'll resize the whole word.
wordLen = Len(textWord.Contents)
If (wordLen < 2) Then
charsToChange = wordLen
Else
charsToChange = 2
End If
If (charsToChange > 0) Then
' Here we are obtaining a sub range. By omitting the first argument, we say:
' From the beginning to character number charsToChange. Note the first
' character in a TextRange has an index of 0. We therefore have to subtract 1.
Set firstChars = textWord.TextRange(, charsToChange - 1)
firstChars.Size = firstChars.Size * 1.5
End If
Next
Next
End Sub

476

Variable

Visual Basic Reference

Variable
A class of document-level variables that can be imported and exported.

Elements
Element:

Refer to by:

Document

By name, by numeric index, before/after another
element, as a range of elements, satisfying a test

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Graph/Image/Textual/
UnknonwnKind/Visibility

The kind of variable

String

The name of the variable.

Document object

The document that contains this
Variable.

Kind
Name
Parent

Valid Commands
• Add
• Remove/RemoveAll

R/O

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Variables 477

Variables
A collection of Variables in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
Variables object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Index(item As Variable)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

Variable object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

478

View

Visual Basic Reference

View
A document view in an Illustrator document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Bounds

R/O

Variant Array (of 4
Singles)

The bounding rectangle of this
View relative to the current
document's bounds.

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The center point of this View
relative to the current
document's bounds.

Document object

The document that contains this
View.

ScreenMode

AiScreenMode
enumeration

The mode of display for this
View.

Zoom

Single

The zoom factor of this View,
where 100.0 is 100%.

CenterPoint

Parent

R/O

Notes
Illustrator’s View object represents a window view onto a document. New views cannot
be created, but some properties of existing views can be modified, including the center
point, screen mode and zoom.

Example 66.1
This example illustrates how to set the first view of the frontmost document to full screen
mode.
' Example of how to set the first view of the frontmost document to full screen
Private Sub SetViewToFullScreen_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
appRef.Documents(1).Views(1).ScreenMode = aiFullScreen
End Sub

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Views 479

Views
A collection of views in a document.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
Views object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Index(item As View)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

View object

Returns an object reference to
the object identified by itemKey.

See Example 66.1 for a sample script that uses View.

480

Word

Visual Basic Reference

Word
A string of text in a TextArtItem that is separated by whitespace.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

AutoKerning

Boolean

Should a font’s built-in kerning
information be used?

BaselineShift

Single

Baseline offset of text.

Characters

R/O

Characters collection
object

The characters contained in this
word.

Clipping

R/O

Boolean

Is there a clipping path
associated with the TextArtItem
containing this word?

Contents

String (default property)

The text contained in the text
range.

Direction

AiCharacterDirection
enumeration

The orientation of the
characters in a vertical text
block.

Evenodd

Boolean

Should the even-odd rule be
used to determine insideness?

FillColor

Color

Fill color of text

Filled

Boolean

Should the text be filled?

FillOverprint

Boolean

Should the art beneath the text
be overprinted?

Font

String

The text face of the text.

Leading

Single

The vertical leading of the text.

Length

R/O

Long

The number of character in the
text.

Note

R/O

String

The note associated with this
text.

Offset

R/O

Long

Offset of selected text in text
range (in characters).

Orientation

R/O

AiTextOrientation
enumeration

The orientation of the text. Use
the TextPath class to alter this
property.

Paragraph

R/O

Paragraph object

The paragraph containing the
character.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Word 481

Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
Word.

Resolution

R/O

Single

The resolution of the object (in
dots per inch).

Scaling

Variant Array (of 2
Singles)

The character scaling supplied
as a point with the first
coordinate as horizontal scale
and the second coordinate as
vertical scale, where 100.0 is
100%.

Size

Single

Font size of text.

StrokeCap

AiStrokeCap
enumeration

The type of line capping.

StrokeColor

Color object

The stroke color for the path.

Stroked

Boolean

Should the path be stroked?

StrokeDashes

Variant Array

Dash lengths. Set to an empty
array for a solid line.

StrokeDashOffset

Single

The default distance into the
dash pattern at which the
pattern should be started.

StrokeJoin

AiStrokeJoin
enumeration

Type of joints for the path.

StrokeMiterLimit

Single

Are joins mitered (pointed) or
beveled (squared-off)?

StrokeOverprint

Boolean

Will art beneath a stroked
object be overprinted?

StrokeWidth

Single

Width of stroke.

TextPath object

A reference to the text path
associated with the TextArtItem
containing this text.

Single

The spacing between multiple
characters.

TextPath

Tracking

R/O

482

Word

Visual Basic Reference

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Copy

Nothing

Copies the text range to the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Cut

Nothing

Cuts the text range onto the
clipboard. The associated
document must be the
frontmost document.

Paste

Nothing

Replaces text range with the
contents of the clipboard.

TextRange([rangeStart As
Long], [rangeEnd As Long])

TextRange object

Returns a text range object
referencing a substring of the
current text range, where
rangeStart is the beginning
character position and
rangeEnd is the ending
position. The first character
position is one. If omitted,
rangeStart defaults to 1. If
omitted, rangeEnd defaults to
the last character of the range.

Notes
Word gives you complete access to the individual words contained in text art objects in
Illustrator.

Example 67.1
This example illustrates how to color every instance of the word “the.”
' Example of how to color certain words
Private Sub FindWord_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim textArt As Illustrator.TextArtItem
Dim textArtRange As Illustrator.TextRange
Dim textWord As Illustrator.Word
Dim searchWord As String
' Create the color to apply to the words
Dim wordColor As New Illustrator.RGBColor
Dim newColor As New Illustrator.Color

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Word 483

wordColor.Red = 255
wordColor.Green = 0
wordColor.Blue = 255
newColor.RGB = wordColor
' Set the value of the word to look for
searchWord = "the"
' Iterate through all words in the document and color the words that match searchWord
For Each textArt In appRef.ActiveDocument.TextArtItems
Set textArtRange = textArt.TextRange
For Each textWord In textArtRange.Words
If (textWord = searchWord) Then
textWord.Filled = True
textWord.FillColor = newColor
End If
Next
Next
End Sub

484

Words

Visual Basic Reference

Words
A collection of words.

Properties
Property:

R/O Value type:

What it is:

Application

R/O

Application object

The Illustrator Application
object.

Count

R/O

Long

The number of objects in the
collection.

Parent

R/O

Document object

The document that contains this
Words object.

Methods
Method:

Returns:

What it does:

Add

Word object

Add a Word to the contents of a
TextArt object.

AddBefore

Word object

Add a Word to the beginning of
a TextArt object

Index(item As Word)

Long

Returns the index position of
the object within the collection.

item(itemKey)

Word object

Returns a reference to the
object identified by itemKey.

Remove(item As Word)

Nothing

Deletes a Word from this
collection.

RemoveAll

Nothing

Deletes all objects in this
collection.

Example 68.1
This script displays the total number of words contained in all of the TextArtItems in the
current document.
' This script counts all words in current document and returns the total
Private Sub CountWords_Click()
Dim appRef As New Illustrator.Application
Dim numWords As Long
Dim textArt As Illustrator.TextArtItem
Dim textArtRange As Illustrator.TextRange
If appRef.Documents.Count > 0 Then

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Words 485

numWords = 0
For Each textArt In appRef.ActiveDocument.TextArtItems
Set textArtRange = textArt.TextRange()
numWords = numWords + textArtRange.TextLines.Count
Next
MsgBox ("There are " & numWords & " words in the document.")
End If
End Sub

486

Enumerations reference

Visual Basic Reference

Enumerations reference
Enumeration type:
AiBlendModes

Values:

What it means:

aiColorBlend

The blend mode used when
compositing an object.

aiColorBurn
aiColorDodge
aiDarken
aiDifference
aiExclusion
aiHardLight
aiHue
aiLighten
aiLuminosity
aiMultiply
aiNormalBlend
aiNumeric
aiOverlay
aiSaturation
aiScreen
aiSoftLight
AiCharacterDirection

aiKumiMoji
aiNormal
aiRotated

AiColor

aiColorCMYK =1
aiColorGradient =6

The orientation of the
characters in a vertical text
block.
The color specification for an
individual color.

aiColorGray = 2
aiColorNone = 0
aiColorPattern = 5
aiColorRGB =3
aiColorSpot =4
AiColorDitherMethod

aiBlueNoise
aiDiffusion
aiNoReduction
aiPatternDither
aiWhiteNoise

The method used to dither
colors in exported GIF and
PNG8 images.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Enumeration type:
AiColorReductionMethod

Enumerations reference 487

Values:

What it means:

aiAdaptive

The method used to reduce
the number of colors in
exported GIF and PNG8
images.

aiPerceptual
aiSelective
aiWeb
AiCompatibility

aiIllustrator3
aiIllustrator4
aiIllustrator5

The version of the Illustrator
file format to create when
saving an EPS or Illustrator
file.

aiIllustrator6
aiIllustrator7
aiIllustrator8
aiIllustrator9
AiCompressionQuality

aiAutomatic
aiJPEGHigh
aiJPEGLow

The quality of bitmap
compression used when
saving a PDF file.

aiJPEGMaximum
aiJPEGMedium
aiJPEGMinimum
aiNoCompression
aiZIP4Bit
aiZIP8Bit
AiCropOptions

aiCropJapanese
aiCropStandard

AiDocumentColorSpace

aiDocumentCMYKColor
aiDocumentRGBColor

AiDocumentType

aiEPS
aiIllustrator

The style of a document's
cropping box.
The color space of a
document.
The file format used to save a
file.

aiPDF
AiEPSPreview

aiBWMacintosh
aiBWTIFF
aiColorMacintosh
aiColorTIFF
aiNoPreview
aiTransparentColorTIFF

The preview image format
used when saving an EPS
file.

488

Enumerations reference

Enumeration type:
AiExportType

Visual Basic Reference

Values:

What it means:

aiGIF

The file format used to export
a file.

aiJPEG
aiPhotoshop
aiPNG24
aiPNG8
aiSVG
AiGradientType

aiLinearGradient
aiRadialGradient

AiImageColorSpace

aiImageCMYK
aiImageGrayScale
aiImageRGB

AiJustification

aiAllLines
aiCenter

The type of the gradient,
radial or linear.
The color space of a raster
item or an exported
Photoshop 5 file.
The alignment or justification
for a paragraph of text.

aiFullLines
aiLeft
aiRight
aiUnknown
AiKnockoutState

aiDisabled
aiEnabled

The type of knockout to use
on a PageItem.

aiInherited
aiKnockoutUnknown
AiMonochromeCompressio aiCCIT3
n
aiCCIT4
aiMonoZIP

The type of monochrome
bitmap compression to use
when saving a PDF.

aiNoMonoCompression
aiRunLength
AiOutputFlattening

aiPreserveAppearance
aiPreservePaths

How should transparency be
flattened when saving EPS
and Illustrator file formats
with compatibility set to
versions of Illustrator less
than 9?

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Enumeration type:
AiPageItemType

Enumerations reference 489

Values:

What it means:

aiCompoundPathItem = 1

The type (class) of art object
that is represented by a
particular PageItem.

aiGraphItem = 2
aiGroupItem =3
aiMeshItem = 4
aiPathItem = 5
aiPlacedItem = 6
aiPluginItem =7
aiRasterItem =8
aiSymbolItem = 9
aiTextArtItem = 10
AiPathPointSelection

aiAnchorPoint
aiLeftDirection

Which points, if any, of a path
point are selected?

aiLeftRightPoint
aiNoSelection
aiRightDirection
AiPDFCompatibility

aiAcrobat4
aiAcrobat5

AiPointType

aiCorner
aiSmooth

AiPostScriptLevel

aiLevel1
aiLevel2
aiLevel3

AiRasterLinkState

aiDataFromFile
aiDataModified
aiNoData

AiRulerUnits

aiUnitsCM
aiUnitsInches
aiUnitsMM
aiUnitsPicas
aiUnitsPoints
aiUnitsQ
aiUnitsUnknown

The version of the Acrobat
file format to create when
saving a PDF file.
The type of path point, either
a curve or a corner.
Specifies the PostScript level
to use when saving an EPS
file.
The status of a raster item’s
linked image, if the image is
stored externally.
The default measurement
units for the rulers in a
document.

490

Enumerations reference

Enumeration type:
AiSaveOptions

Visual Basic Reference

Values:

What it means:

aiDoNotSaveChanges

Save options provided when
closing a document.

aiPromptToSaveChanges
aiSaveChanges
AiScreenMode

aiDesktop
aiFullScreen

The mode of display for a
view.

aiMultiWindow
AiStrokeCap

aiButtEndCap
aiProjectingEndCap

The type of line capping for a
path stroke.

aiRoundEndCap
AiStrokeJoin

aiBevelEndJoin
aiMiterEndJoin

The type of joints for a path
stroke.

aiRoundEndJoin
AiSVGCSSPropertyLocatio aiEntities
n
aiStyleAttributes
aiStyleElements
AiSVGDocumentEncoding

aiASCII
aiUTF16
aiUTF8

AiSVGFontSubsetting

aiAllGlyphs
aiCommonEnglish
aiCommonRoman

How should the CSS
properties of the document
be included in an exported
SVG file?
How should the text in the
document be encoded when
exporting an SVG file?
What font glyphs should be
included in an exported SVG
file?

aiGlyphsUsed
aiGlyphsUsedPlusEnglish
aiGlyphsUsedPlusRoman
aiNoFonts
AiTabStopAlignment

aiCenterTab

The alignment of a tab stop.

aiDecimalTab
aiLeftTab
aiRightTab
aiUnknownTab
AiTextOrientation

aiHorizontal
aiVertical

AiTextType

aiAreaText
aiPathText
aiPointText

The orientation of text in a
TextArtItem.
The type of text art displayed
by this object.

Adobe Illustrator 10 Scripting Guide

Enumeration type:
AiTransformation

Enumerations reference 491

Values:

What it means:

aiTransformBottom

The point to use as the
anchor point about which an
object is rotated, resized or
transformed.

aiTransformBottomLeft
aiTransformBottomRight
aiTransformCenter
aiTransformDocumentOrigin
aiTransformLeft
aiTransformRight
aiTransformTop
aiTransformTopLeft
aiTransformTopRight
AiVariableKind

aiGraph

The enumerated type of the
kind of variable

aiImage
aiTextual
aiUnknown
aiVisibility
AiZOrderMethod

aiBringForward
aiBringToFront
aiSendBackward
aiSendToBack

The method used to arrange
an art object’s position in the
stacking order of its parent
group or layer, as specified
with the ZOrder method.

492

Enumerations reference

Visual Basic Reference

Bibliography

AppleScript
“AppleScript for the Internet: Visual QuickStart Guide,” 1st ed., Ethan Wilde, Peachpit
Press, 1998. ISBN 0-201-35359-8.
“AppleScript Language Guide: English Dialect,” 1st ed., Apple Computer, Inc., AddisonWesley Publishing Co., 1993. ISBN 0-201-40735-3.
“Danny Goodman’s AppleScript Handbook,” 2nd ed., Danny Goodman, iUniverse, 1998.
ISBN 0-966-55141-9.

Visual Basic
“Learn to Program with Visual Basic 6,” 1st ed., John Smiley, Active Path, 1998. ISBN 1902-74500-0.
“Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Professional,” 1st ed., Michael Halvorson, Microsoft Press,
1998. ISBN 1-572-31809-0.
“VB & VBA in a Nutshell,” 1st ed., Paul Lomax, O’Reilly, 1998. ISBN 1-56592-358-8.

Internet resources
Adobe Systems, Inc.
Adobe Solutions Network website
partners.adobe.com/asn

493

494

Internet resources

AppleScript
Apple Computer, Inc. AppleScript website
www.apple.com/applescript

Visual Basic
Microsoft Developers Network (MSDN) scripting website
msdn.microsoft.com/scripting



---

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