Adobe 23102480 Scripting Guide - Page 32

Photoshop CS3

Adobe Photoshop CS3

Scripting Guide

Scripting Photoshop CS3

32

You use the properties and commands of the

Application

object to work with Photoshop CS3

functionality and objects such as the following:

●

Global Photoshop CS3 settings or preferences, such as unit values or color settings. See

‘Setting

Application Preferences’ on page 30

.

●

Documents—You can add or open documents and set the active document.

‘Opening a Document’ on

page 26

and

‘Setting the Active Object’ on page 23

.

●

Actions—You can execute actions created either via scripting or using the Actions palette in the

Photoshop CS3 application. See

‘Action Manager’ on page 72

.

You can use

Application

object properties to get information such as the following:

●

A list of fonts installed on the system.

●

AS:

Set theFonts to fonts

Note:

In AppleScript, fonts is a separate collection, and does not require a reference to the application

object to retrieve it.

●

VBS:

Set fontsInstalled = AppRef.Fonts

●

JS:

var fontsInstalled = app.fonts

●

The amount of unused memory available to Adobe Photoshop CS3, using the

free memory

(FreeMemory/freeMemory)

property of the

Application

object.

●

The location of the Preferences folder, using the

preferences folder

(PreferencesFolder/preferencesFolder)

property of the

Application

object.

For further information, look up the properties of the

Application

object in the reference manual or the

object browser of the language you are using.

Using the Document Object

The

Document

object can represent any open document in Photoshop CS3. You can think of a

Document

object as a file; you can also think of it as a canvas. You work with the

Document

object to do the following:

●

Access script objects contained in the

Document

object, such as

ArtLayer

or

Channel

objects. See

‘Photoshop CS3 Object Model’ on page 9

for more information.

●

Manipulate a specific

Document

object, using commands or methods. For example, you could crop,

rotate or flip the canvas, resize the image or canvas, and trim the image. See

‘Manipulating a Document

Object’ on page 32

for a demonstration.

●

Get the active layer. See

‘Setting the Active Layer’ on page 25

.

●

Save the current document. See

‘Saving a Document’ on page 29

.

●

Copy and paste within the active document or between different documents. See

‘Understanding

Clipboard Interaction’ on page 54

.

Manipulating a Document Object

The following examples demonstrate how to do the following:

●

Save the existing ruler unit preferences, and set ruler units to inches

●

Open an existing file as a document (using file Ducky.tif)

●

Change the size of the image to 4 inches wide and 4 inches high.

●

Change the size of the document window (or canvas) to 4 inches high and 4 inches wide.

●

Trim the top and bottom of the image.

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 32

Using the Document Object, Manipulating a Document Object

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