Adobe 65014293 Scripting Guide - Page 59

C

HAPTER

3: Scripting Photoshop

Working with Units

59

Setting ruler and type units in a script

The unit type settings of the two Photoshop rulers control how numbers are interpreted when dealing

with properties and parameters that support unit values. Be sure to set the ruler units as needed at the

beginning of your scripts and save and restore the original ruler settings when your script has completed.

AS

In AppleScript

ruler units

and

type units

are properties of the

settings-object

, accessed through

the Application object's

settings

property as shown below.

set ruler units of settings to inch units

set type units of settings to pixel units

set point size of settings to postscript size

VBS

In VBScript

RulerUnits

and

TypeUnits


Preferences

object, accessed through the

Application

object's

Preferences


appRef.Preferences.RulerUnits = 2 'for PsUnits --> 1 (psInches)

appRef.Preferences.TypeUnits = 1 'for PsTypeUnits --> 1 (psPixels)

appRef.Preferences.PointSize = 2

'2 indicates psPointType --> 2 (PsPostScriptPoints)

JS

In JavaScript

rulerUnits

and

typeUnits


Preferences

object, accessed through

the

Application

object's

preferences


app.preferences.rulerUnits = Units.INCHES

app.preferences.typeUnits = TypeUnits.PIXELS

app.preferences.pointSize = PointType.POSTSCRIPT

N

OTE

:

Remember to reset the unit settings back to the original values at the end of a script. See

“Working

with document preferences” on page 61

for an example of how to do this.

AppleScript

VBScript

JavaScript

crop

(bounds, height, width)

Document.Crop

(Bounds, Height, Width)

document.crop

(bounds, height, width)

resize canvas

(height, width)

Document.ResizeCanvas

(Height, Width)

document.resizeCanvas

(height, width)

resize image

(height, width)

Document.ResizeImage

(Height, Width)

document.resizeImage

(height, width)

contract

(by)

Selection.Contract

(By)

selection.contract

(by)

expand

(by)

Selection.Expand

(By)

selection.expand

(by)

feather

(by)

Selection.Feather

(By)

selection.feather

(by)

select border

(width)

Selection.SelectBorder

(Width)

selection.selectBorder

(width)

translate

(delta x, delta y)

Selection.Translate

(DeltaX, DeltaY)

selection.translate

(deltaX, deltaY)

translate boundary

(delta x, delta y)

Selection.TranslateBoundary

(DeltaX, DeltaY)

selection.translateBoundary

(deltaX, deltaY)

Section	Page
Adobe® Creative Suite® 4 Photoshop® Scripting Guide	2
Introduction	6
About this Manual	6
Conventions in this Guide	6
Photoshop Scripting Basics	8
Scripting Overview	8
Why use scripts instead of actions?	8
Scripting Support in Photoshop	9
JavaScript support	9
Executing other scripts	10
Startup scripts	10
Executing JavaScripts from AS or VBS	10
Photoshop Object Model	11
Containment hierarchy	11
Application and document classes	12
Layer classes	12
Layer Comp class	13
Channel class	13
Selection class	13
History State class	13
Document Info class	13
Path Item, Sub Path Item, and Path Point classes	14
Preferences class	14
Notifier class	14
Count Item class	14
Color Sampler class	14
Measurement Scale class	14
The containment hierarchy and the Photoshop user interface	14
Additional objects	16
Constants	16
Creating a sample Hello World script	17
Creating and running an AppleScript	18
Creating and running a VBScript	19
Creating and running a JavaScript	19
Scripting Photoshop	21
Viewing Photoshop Objects, Commands, and Methods	21
Viewing Photoshop’s AppleScript dictionary	21
Viewing Photoshop’s type library (VBS)	22
Targeting and Referencing the Application Object	22
Creating New Objects in a Script	23
Setting the Active Object	25
Setting the active document	26
Setting the active layer	27
Setting the active channels	28
Opening a Document	28
Opening a file with default file format	28
Specifying file formats to open	29
Saving a Document	31
Setting Application Preferences	32
Allowing or Preventing Dialogs	33
Working with the Photoshop Object Model	33
Using the Application object	34
Using the Document object	34
Manipulating a document object	35
Working with layer objects	36
Creating an ArtLayer object	37
Creating a Layer Set object	38
Referencing ArtLayer objects	38
Working with Layer Set objects	39
Linking layer objects	40
Applying styles to layers	40
Using the Text Item object	41
Determining a layer’s kind	41
Adding and manipulating text in a Text Item object	42
Working with Selection objects	42
Creating and defining a selection	43
Stroking the selection border	44
Inverting selections	44
Expanding, contracting, and feathering selections	44
Filling a selection	45
Loading and storing selections	45
Working with Channel objects	46
Changing channel types	46
Using the Document Info object	47
Using history state objects	47
Using Notifier objects	48
Using the PathItem object	49
Working with color objects	51
Solid color classes	52
Using hex values for RGB color	52
Getting and converting colors	52
Comparing colors	53
Getting a Web-safe color	53
Working with Filters	53
Other filters	54
Understanding Clipboard Interaction	54
Using the copy and paste commands	54
Using the copy merged command/method	55
Working with Units	56
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	60
Advanced Scripting	60
Working with document preferences	61
Applying color to a text item	64
Applying a wave filter	66
Defining the area of a selection object	67
Applying a MotionBlur filter	71
Action Manager	73
The ScriptListener Plug-In	73
Installing ScriptListener	73
Action Manager Scripting Objects	74
Recording a Script using ScriptListener	74
Using the Action Manager from JavaScript	75
Using the Action Manager from a VBS Script	76
Running JavaScript-based Action Manager code from VBScript	79
Running JavaScript-based Action Manager code from AppleScript	80
Using ScriptListener to find event IDs and class IDs	81

Adobe 65014293 Scripting Guide - Page 59

Setting ruler and type units in a script, In VBScript

Page 59 highlights