Adobe 23102480 Scripting Guide - Page 12

Photoshop CS3

Adobe Photoshop CS3

Scripting Guide

Photoshop CS3 Scripting Basics

12

History State Class

The

History State

class is a palette object that keeps track of changes made to a document. Each time

you apply a change to an image, the new state of that image is added to the palette. These states are

accessible from document object and can be used to reset the document to a previous state. A history

state can also be used to fill a selection. For more information on history objects, see

‘Using History State

Objects’ on page 46

.

Note:

In AppleScript, if you create a document and then immediately try to get history state, Photoshop

returns an error. You must first activate Photoshop—make it the front-most application—before

you can access history states.

Document Info Class

The

Document Info

class stores metadata about a document. Metadata is any data that helps to describe

the content or characteristics of a file. For more information on document info, see

‘Using the Document

Info Object’ on page 46

.

Path Item, Sub Path Item, and Path Point Classes

The

Path Item

class represents information about a drawing object, such as the outline of a shape, or a

curved line. The

Sub Path Item

class is contained in the

Path Item

class, and provides the actual

geometry of the shape. The

Path Point

class contains information about each point in a sub path. See

‘Using the PathItem Object’ on page 48

.

Preferences Class

The

Preferences

class allows you to access and set the user preference settings. See

‘Working with

Document Preferences’ on page 60

.

Notifier Class

The

Notifier

object ties an event to a script. For example, if you would like Photoshop CS3 to

automatically create a new document when you open the application, you could tie a script that creates a

Document

object to an

Open Application

event. For more information on notifiers, see

‘Using Notifier

Objects’ on page 47

.

Count Item Class

The

Count Item

object provides scripting support for the Count Tool.

Color Sampler Class

The

Color Sampler

object provides scripting support for the Color Sampler Tool.

Measurement Scale Class

The

Measurement Scale

object provides scripting support for the new Measurement Scale feature that

allows you to set a scale for your document.

The Containment Hierarchy and the Photoshop CS3 User Interface

The following table provides describes how each object relates to the Photoshop CS3 user interface.

Section	Page
Contents	3
Introduction	5
About this manual	5
Conventions in this guide	5
Photoshop CS3 Scripting Basics	7
Scripting Overview	7
Why use scripts instead of actions?	7
Scripting Support in Photoshop CS3	8
JavaScript Support	8
Executing other scripts	9
Startup Scripts	9
Executing JavaScripts from AS or VBS	9
Photoshop CS3 Object Model	9
Containment Hierarchy	10
Application and Document Classes	10
Layer Classes	11
Layer Comp Class	11
Channel Class	11
Selection Class	11
History State Class	12
Document Info Class	12
Path Item, Sub Path Item, and Path Point Classes	12
Preferences Class	12
Notifier Class	12
Count Item Class	12
Color Sampler Class	12
Measurement Scale Class	12
The Containment Hierarchy and the Photoshop CS3 User Interface	12
Additional Objects	14
Constants	14
Creating a Sample Hello World Script	15
Creating and Running an AppleScript	15
Creating and Running a VBScript	16
Creating and Running a JavaScript	17
Scripting Photoshop CS3	19
Viewing Photoshop CS3 Objects, Commands, and Methods	19
Viewing Photoshop CS3’s AppleScript Dictionary	19
Viewing Photoshop CS3’s Type Library (VBS)	20
Targeting and Referencing the Application Object	20
Creating New Objects in a Script	21
Setting the Active Object	23
Setting the Active Document	24
Setting the Active Layer	25
Setting the Active Channels	25
Opening a Document	26
Opening a File with Default File Format	26
Specifying File Formats to Open	27
Saving a Document	29
Setting Application Preferences	30
Allowing or Preventing Dialogs	31
Working with the Photoshop CS3 Object Model	31
Using the Application Object	31
Using the Document Object	32
Manipulating a Document Object	32
Working with Layer Objects	34
Creating an ArtLayer Object	34
Creating a Layer Set Object	35
Referencing ArtLayer Objects	36
Working with Layer Set Objects	37
Linking Layer Objects	38
AS	38
VBS	38
JS	38
Applying Styles to Layers	38
Using the Text Item Object	39
Determining a Layer’s Kind	40
Adding and Manipulating Text in a Text Item Object	40
Working with Selection Objects	41
Creating and Defining a Selection	41
Stroking the Selection Border	42
Inverting Selections	43
Expanding, Contracting, and Feathering Selections	43
Filling a Selection	43
Loading and Storing Selections	44
Working with Channel Objects	45
Changing Channel Types	45
Using the Document Info Object	46
Using History State Objects	46
Using Notifier Objects	47
Using the PathItem Object	48
Working with Color Objects	50
Solid Color Classes	51
Using Hex Values for RGB Color	51
Getting and Converting Colors	51
Comparing Colors	52
Getting a Web Safe Color	52
Working with Filters	53
AS	53
VBS	53
JS	53
Other Filters	53
Understanding Clipboard Interaction	54
Using the Copy and Paste commands	54
Using the Copy Merged Command/Method	55
Working with Units	55
Unit Values	56
Special Unit Value Types	56
AppleScript Unit Considerations	56
Using Unit Values in Calculations	57
Unit Value Usage	57
Setting Ruler and Type Units in a Script	59
Sample Workflow Automation JavaScripts	59
Advanced Scripting	60
Working with Document Preferences	60
Applying Color to a Text Item	63
Applying a Wave Filter	66
Defining the Area of a Selection Object	66
Applying a MotionBlur Filter	69
Action Manager	72
The ScriptListener Plug-In	72
Installing ScriptListener	72
Action Manager Scripting Objects	73
Recording a Script using ScriptListener	73
Using the Action Manager from JavaScript	74
Using the Action Manager from a VBS Script	75
Running JavaScript-based Action Manager code from VBScript	78
Running JavaScript-based Action Manager code from AppleScript	78
Using ScriptListener to find event IDs and class IDs	79

Adobe 23102480 Scripting Guide - Page 12

History State Class, Document Info Class, Path Item, Sub Path Item, and Path Point Classes

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