Adobe 23102480 Scripting Guide - Page 9

Photoshop CS3

Adobe Photoshop CS3

Scripting Guide

Photoshop CS3 Scripting Basics

9

To install a JavaScript in the Scripts menu, place it in the Scripts folder (

Photoshop CS3 /Presets /Scripts

).

The names of the scripts in the Scripts folder, without the file name extension, are displayed in the Scripts

menu. Any number of scripts may be installed in the Scripts menu.

Scripts added to the Scripts folder while Photoshop CS3 is running do not appear in the Scripts menu until

the next time you launch the application.

All scripts found in the Scripts folder and sub-folders are displayed at the top level of the

File > Scripts

menu. The addition of sub-folders does not add a hierarchical organization to the Scripts menu.

Executing other scripts

The

Browse

item at the end of the

Scripts

menu (

File > Scripts > Browse

) allows you to execute scripts

that are not installed in the Scripts folder. You can also use Browse to select scripts installed in the Scripts

folder after the application was last launched.

Selecting

Browse

displays a file browser dialog which allows you to select a script file for execution. Only

.js

or

.jsx

files are displayed in the browse dialog. When you select a script file, it is executed the same

way as an installed script.

Startup Scripts

On startup, Photoshop CS3 executes all

.jsx

files that it finds in the startup folders.

●

On Windows, the startup folder for user-defined scripts is:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Startup Scripts CS3\Adobe Photoshop

●

On Mac OS, the startup folder for user-defined scripts is:

~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Startup Scripts CS3/Adobe Photoshop

If your script is in this main startup folder, it is also executed by all other Adobe Creative Suite 3

applications at startup. If such a script is meant to be executed only by Photoshop CS3, it must include

code such as the following:

if( BridgeTalk.appName == "photoshop" ) {

//continue executing script

}

For additional details, see the

JavaScript Tools Guide

.

Executing JavaScripts from AS or VBS

You can take advantage of JavaScript’s platform-independence by running scripts from AppleScript or

VBScript. You can execute either a single JavaScript statement or a complete JavaScript file. For more

information, please refer to

Introduction to Scripting

.

Photoshop CS3 Object Model

A document object model (DOM) is an application programming interface (API), which allows you to

programmatically access various components of a

document

(as defined for that application) through a

scripting language. For additional information about Adobe object models and the scripting languages

that support them, see

Introduction to Scripting

.

The Photoshop CS3 DOM consists of a hierarchical representation of the Photoshop application, the

documents used in it, and the components of the documents. The DOM allows you to programmatically

access and manipulate the document and its components. For example, through the DOM, you can create

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 9

Executing other scripts, Startup Scripts, Executing JavaScripts from AS or VBS - part number

Page 9 highlights