Adobe 65048599 Scripting Guide - Page 46

C

HAPTER

3: Scripting Photoshop

Working with the Photoshop Object Model

46

examples use the

store

(Store/store())

command of the

Selection

object to store the current

selection in a channel named

My

Channel

and extend the selection with any selection that is currently in

that channel.

AS

set myChannel to make new channel of current document with properties ¬

{name:"My Channel", kind::selected area channel}

store selection of current document into channel ¬

"My Channel" of current document combination type extended

VBS

Set chanRef = docRef.Channels.Add

chanRef.Name = "My Channel"

chanRef.Kind = 3 'psSelectedAreaAlphaChannel

docRef.Selection.Store docRef.Channels("My Channel"), 2

'PsSelectionType is 2 (psExtendSelection)

JS

var chanRef = docRef.channels.add()

chanRef.name = "My Channel"

chanRef.kind = ChannelType.SELECTEDAREA

docRef.selection.store(docRef.channels["My Channel"], SelectionType.EXTEND)

To restore a selection that has been saved to a

Channel

object, use the

load (Load/load)

method.

AS

set myChannel to make new channel of current document with properties ¬

{name:"My Channel"}

load selection of current document from channel "My Channel" of ¬

current document combination type extended

VBS

selRef.Load docRef.Channels("My Channel"), 2

'PsSelectionType is 2 (psExtendSelection)

JS

selRef.load (docRef.channels["My Channel"], SelectionType.EXTEND)

See section

“Understanding Clipboard Interaction” on page 54

for examples on how to copy, cut and paste

selections.

Working with Channel objects

The

Channel

object gives you access to much of the available functionality on Photoshop channels. You

can create, delete, and duplicate channels or retrieve a channel's histogram and change its kind. See

“Creating New Objects in a Script” on page 23

for information on creating a

Channel

object in your script.

You can set or get (that is, find out about) a

Channel

object’s type using the

kind

property. See

“Loading

and storing selections” on page 45

for script samples that demonstrate how to create a selected area

channel.

Changing channel types

You can change the

kind

of any channel except component channels. The following examples

demonstrate how to change a masked area channel to a selected area channel:

N

OTE

:

Component channels are related to the document mode. Refer to Photoshop Help for information

on channels, channel types, and document modes.

Section	Page
Adobe® Creative Suite® 5 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 65048599 Scripting Guide - Page 46

Working with Channel objects, Changing channel types

Page 46 highlights