Feel free to download and use the scripts listed here. You do so at your own risk: I accept no liability for anything that you may think was caused by any of these scripts. Always take the necessary precautions, the most important being to try out a script on copies of your working files, never on originals. When using scripts that work or may work on files in folders (such as the batch converter), consider zipping the files first or copying the contents of the folder somewhere else.
The scripts are in JavaScript and can be used both in Windows and on Macs. Several are in rough-and-ready form in that they use no interface, and variable information (style names, folder names, etc.) need to be changed in the code. That's how I use most scripts. If you want an interface for any of the interfaceless scripts here, I'll add it for a fee.
The scripts are free to use, but acknowledgement will be appreciated. If a script saves you lots of time, feel free to make any donation here -- it'll be appreciated. Any of these scripts can be customised; contact me for any special requirements (details at bottom of this page).
To download a script, (a) right-click Show script at the foot of the script's description page and save the script to the script folder (locations are given below) or (b) click Show script to display the script, press Ctrl/Cmnd+A to select it, copy it into a plain text editor, and save the script using any name, but with jsx as extension. Note: scripts in jsxbin format should be downloaded, not copied and pasted. When you do download a script, it gets the original name and extension by default. You can change the name, but you must not change the extension. Thus, when you download sort.jsxbin, you can rename it to sort-multiling.jsxbin, but not to sort.js.
In Indesign, you run a script from the Script palette (Window > Automation > Scripts). Scripts can be assigned to shortcut keys for easy access. You can also use the script launcher listed on the contents page (my preferred way of running scripts).
Many CS2 scripts will run happily in CS3. When a CS2 script does not work in CS3, create a folder Version 4.0 Scripts and run the script from there. Only rarely will a CS2 script fail in CS3 whatever you do. This is the case with scripts that rely on the order in which you select objects (the align-object script is an example). This one requires different versions for CS2 and CS3.
Where you store your Javascripts depends on your operating system and platform.
| CS 2: | All platforms: adobe\adobe indesign cs2\presets\scripts |
| CS 3: |
Mac Users/[username]/Library/Preferences/Adobe InDesign/Version 5.0/Scripts Windows XP Windows Vista |
Scripts are plain text files and can be edited in any plain-text editor (Notepad, BBEdit, etc.). A convenient way to edit a script after you've installed it is this: in the script palette, right-click the script's name (or click the fly-out) and pick "Edit script". This will fire up ESTK -- InDesign's JavaScript editor -- and load the script into it. Don't be intimidated by all kinds of windows you see or the different colours you see in the text: it's just plain text. Make any changes you want or are instructed to make, then save the script (File > Save) and exit the ESTK. (Note: scripts with the extension .jsxbin cannot be modified.)
You can reach me via the address here.