When I create scripted extensions, I always break things up into files that make things manageable. A large project for me might contain 200 script files. Rather than try to stuff it all into a single script for delivery, I came up with a template that I use for just about all my InDesign scripting projects that makes this about as easy as it can be. This concept really only applies when a script will reside in a persistent (named) scripting engine and adds menus to the InDesign menu bar and/or context menu.

I have made the template available in the Free Stuff page of this site, so go ahead and download it.

When you unzip it, it creates a folder. Inside that folder is “startup scripts” that contains one jsx, “loader.jsx”. That file loads the entire extension. It recursively looks through all the folders and loads the entire project into the named scripting engine for you.

There’s a “resources” folder. It contains things, like images, that are not jsx files. The loader script does not load anything in the resources folder. As another freebie, I put some ESTK extensions in this folder. There’s a PDF that describes how to install and use them. One of those extensions does a batch conversion to jsxbin. It places all of the scripts into a “bin” folder except those in the “startup scripts” and “jsx” folder. The loader script that creates the names engine can not be a jsxbin. Files in the jsx folder are those script files which should not be converted to jsxbin (basically any class definition that might be serialized and deserialized using toSource()).

When you convert a project to binary for delivery, the loader script contains a flag, “loadBinary”. If you set that flag to “true”, it will load the binary files. You then remove the jsx’s to hide your source code, and yer’ done.

Just to be clear – use the tempate (it has examples of menu creation, context menu creation, and some handy libraries), complete and test the project, convert it to binary (one step), remove the jsx files (other than those in the jsx folder), set the loader’s loadBinary to “true”, and you are ready to ship projects that are arbitrarily huge.

Enjoy!

I’ve uploaded a Flex project that received APID (http://www.rorohiko.com) events in PatchPanel.

If you’re interested, take a look at the free stuff page.

I’ve added a Flex project to the free stuff page. This was in response to a posting on the Patchpanel forums (Adobe Labs). The poster wanted to react to InDesign events in ActionScript. This Flex project shows you how to do it (and yes, it’s in a persistent scripting engine that is launched by InDesign at startup.

Here’s the currently planned feature set:

1. I am adding back the “Files” button that allows you to manipulate the files to be processed. This was in CS2’s version, but was removed for CS3.
2. You will be able to add custom metadata to the panel that allows the inclusion of metadata in captions. Once you add it, it will remember it.
3. If you use a template, you can now create a “First Page” master page, along with an “A-Master”. The first page will use “First Page”, all subsequent pages will use the “A-Master” master spread.
4. You can include your own image rectangles on pages and master pages. This allows you to layout a completely custom page design (such as a photo album), and fill it automatically.
5. You will now set the size of the rectangles by aspect ratio and the number of columns you want. The number of rows will be the maximum available given the aspect ratio and the number of columns.

So please, if you want any other goodies, let me know!! For that matter, if there’s some InDesign or Bridge (I can do Photothop and AI too, but my specialties are Bridge and ID) script that you would like to see, let me know about that too!!

One more thing: If you purchase or have purchased the current version available, the new version will be sent to you free of charge.

Downloads:

• Sample Template
• InDesign File (output, zipped)
• PDF File (output)

If you open the template in InDesign, the first thing you’ll notice is the background stuff. All of that content on the page is contained on the Master Page. To edit the master page, open the “Pages” palette (Window->Pages), and double click on the “A-Master” page at the top. You can now customize the master page to fit your needs. Anything contained on the master page (or master spread if you are using facing pages) will appear on every page.

Next, let’s look at Object Styles. Select the Object Style palette (Window->Object Styles). There are twp object styles, one for captions named “captions”, and one for images named “images”. By creating and setting these styles, you have complete control over the appearance of the frames. In the case of the images object style, I feathered the content.

Finally there is the paragraph style for the captions. Select the Paragraph Styles palette (Window->Type & Tables->Paragraph Styles). The style in question is “labels”. Yes, the name should be “captions”, but it’s a throwback to the first release. I don’t want to break anyone’s templates. But I digress…

Whatever you set this paragraph style to will be what you see in the output.

That’s pretty much it on how to get a template going for you. There are a couple of notes on this version of the script:

1. The size of the image rectangles is determined by the page dimensions (specifically the area inside the page margins) and the number of rows and columns you specify. To get a decent aspect ratio for the images, you need to be careful in how many rows and columns you specify. 1 column by 42 rows will make for very wide, extremely short rectangles, with pretty darned poor results. Since most cameras are taking images in the 4×3, 3×2, 4×6 or 8×10 aspect ratios, you should make your columns and rows reflect the aspect ratio reasonably closely.

2. In this version of the script, all pages are based on a single master, with a single set of margins. You can not have the first page be one size, and subsequent page be another. The next release of the contact sheet script will allow the ability for multiple master pages.

On a “what’s in the future” note: I decided to create and release this script when I was fairly well inundated with questions as to why Adobe did not include a CS4 version. The frank answer is that I don’t know. Meanwhile, I decided to forgo any significant upgrades to capability in order to get a CS4 version out as quickly as possible. The only real changes in the first release are performance and being able to save custom page sizes.

In the next month or so, I will be making another release that takes into account multiple master pages (solve note 2 above). It will also have an option to set the image sizes by aspect ratio. In that case, the number of rows and columns are determined by usable page dimensions, the selected aspect ratio, and an image width setting. I am also adding back (by popular request) the original “Files” feature that allowed users to filter the bridge selection, include subfolders, etc.

The script is designed to work with an InDesign template. You can place all your branding on the template, set the margins appropriately, the script will only use the space inside your margins. Anything you want to do with the page look and feel of your template will be respected by the script.

The script uses 3 object styles and 1 paragraph style. If those styles are specified in the template, the script will use them. If not, it will create them. By using the styles, you have complete control over every aspect of the design of your contact sheet. The styles are:

• images: An object style for the frames containing the images
• captions: An object style for the frames containing the captions
• imageFrames: If you use the “Gray Boxes” option, this object style will affect the outer gray box
• labels: The paragraph style for the caption. Yes it should have been “caption”, but it was “labels” in CS2 and has stayed that way avoid invalidating older templates.

Beyond the styles, you can choose to save your Contact Sheet as a PDF, and select the PDF preset you would like to use.

Then there are captions. You can set the caption to contain multiple lines of just about any data that is encapsulated in the image. You have access to XMP metadata and basic file information (file name, extension, creation/modification dates).

Captions are defined with an html-like syntax that allows you to combine text and data.

File:

would print: File: myfile.jpg

Pixels (x,y): ,

if the image were 1024×512, it would print: Pixels (x,y): 1024, 512

Mod Date:

would print: Mod Date: 021231

And you can also do:

Mod Date: to get Mod Date: 12/31/03

Better yet, the caption feature has a dialog that builds these complex captions for you in a really easy way.

The bottom line is that if you’re looking to wow your customers with an amazing design on your contact sheets, there’s no better way to make them than the Contact Sheet for InDesign Bridge script.

I am the guy who wrote the original script for CS2, and updated it for CS3 (I was a contractor for with Adobe both times). I figured that someone like me should probably make a CS4 version of the Contact Sheet script. I’ve done so, and am releasing it today. The cost for the script is $25.

There have been a few improvements to the script, but first, how to install:

Unzip the zip file, place the resulting folder (Contact Sheet CS4) in the following folder:

(PC) c:\program files\common files\adobe\Bridge CS4 Extensions
(Mac) /library/application support/adobe/Bridge CS4 Extensions

On a Mac, that’s the root library, not your user library.

Restart Bridge. Bridge should report the existence of the script and ask you if you want to enable it (do so!). You should now have an InDesign menu at the bottom of Bridge’s Tools menu.

So what are the changes?

1. Faster. The tests I’ve run here are outperforming CS2 and 3 by around 20%.
2. Save-able page sizes. You can now create your own custom page sizes (and orientation, margins, facing pages) and re-use them.

I am also working on a completely new version that adds a bunch of features and starts over from square one on the code. I expect it will be ready for release by the end of February 2009. Folks who purchase this version will be able to upgrade to the next version at no charge.