README

adobe-node

Control Adobe applications - such as Photoshop, Animate, Illustrator, InDesign - from node. Run JavaScript to remotely - from the command line - create, modify or export document content. This module can be used to automate the workflow by creating an action chain that can be executed without user intervention.

More information about writing scripts for Adobe applications:

Installation

npm i adobe-node

API

Methods

Method	Arguments	Description
`init`	-	Initializes the `AdobeApp` instance/ starts Adobe Event Listener.
`on`	event: string, callback: (message: BroadcastMessage) => void	Adds an event handler function to listen to an event so that when that event occurs, the callback will be triggered.
`runScript`	script: string, options?: Options	Runs custom JavaScript
`selectDocument`	document: string	Brings selected document to the front of the screen.
`saveDocument`	...documents: string[]	Saves changes.
`saveAsDocument`	document: string, saveAs: string, options: object	Saves the document in a specific format and location. Optionally you can specify the save options appropriate to the format. For more information on these options, see the script documentation for the selected Adobe product.
`openDocument`	...documents: string[]	Opens documents.
`closeDocument`	...documents: string[]	Closes documents.
`saveAndCloseDocument`	...documents: string[]	Saves changes and closes the documents.
`newDocument`	options?: NewDocumentOptions	Creates document.
`open`	-	Opens the Adobe application.
`close`	-	Closes the Adobe application.
`dispose`	-	Closes Adobe Event Listener and rest of the `AdobeApp` components.

Config

Method	Type	Description
`app`	AdobeAppConfig	Adobe application config
`host`	string	Domain name of the server.
`port`	number	Port number on which the server is listening.
`appTimeout`	number	Time after which the application process will close. Useful when the application freezes. By default - `0` - this option is off.
`jsPath`	string	Location of the javaScript files. Default path is `"./js"`

AdobeAppConfig

Method	Type	Description
`name`	AdobeAppName	Adobe application name. eg. `AdobeAppName.Photoshop`
`path`	string	Path to the Adobe's app executable file.
`adobeScriptsPath`	string	Location of the `Scripts` directory of the selected Adobe app.

Others

BroadcastMessage

Property	Type	Description
`command`	string	Command name
`stdout`	string	Standard output
`stderr`	string	Standard error

NewDocumentOptions

Property	Type	Description
`title`	string	Name of the document
`width`	number	Document width
`height`	number	Document height
`...`	any	+ other custom, optional properties

Events

Event	Description
JS script file name	the event for a specific function called by the `runScript()` method
`AdobeAppEvent.OpenApp`	-
`AdobeAppEvent.CloseApp`	-
`AdobeAppEvent.NewDocument`	-
`AdobeAppEvent.OpenDocument`	-
`AdobeAppEvent.CloseDocument`	-
`AdobeAppEvent.SelectDocument`	-
`AdobeAppEvent.SaveDocument`	-
`AdobeAppEvent.SaveAsDocument`	-
`AdobeAppEvent.SaveAndCloseDocument`	-

Examples

Basic example

import { newAdobeApp, AdobeAppName, AdobeAppEvent, AdobeApp, BroadcastMessage } from "adobe-node";

const sleep = (duration: number) => new Promise(resolve => { setTimeout(resolve, duration) });

const main = async () => {
    const app: AdobeApp = newAdobeApp({
        app: {
            name: AdobeAppName.Photoshop,
            path: '/Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC 2019/Adobe Photoshop CC 2019.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Photoshop CC 2019',
            adobeScriptsPath: '/Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC 2019/Presets/Scripts'
        },
        host: 'localhost',
        port: 5000
    });

    app.on(AdobeAppEvent.OpenApp, () => {
        console.log(`The Adobe App is open`);
    })
    .on(AdobeAppEvent.NewDocument, () => {
        console.log(`The document has been created`);
    })
    .on(AdobeAppEvent.OpenDocument, (data: any) => {
        console.log(`The document has been opened`);
    })
    .on(AdobeAppEvent.CloseDocument, () => {
        console.log(`The document has been closed`);
    })
    .on(AdobeAppEvent.CloseApp, () => {
        console.log(`The Adobe App has been closed`);
    })
    .on("test_script", (message: BroadcastMessage) => {
        console.log(`Testing custom script - ${message}`);
    });

    app.init();
    
    await app.open();
    await app.openDocument('/test1.psd');
    await sleep(2000);
    await app.closeDocument('/test1.psd');
    await sleep(2000);
    await app.close();
    app.dispose();
}

main();

Running custom scripts

In Adobe applications you can run scripts in JSFL (Adobe Animate) and JSX (Photoshop, Illustrator etc.)
One of the features of this module is the ability to run a custom scripts written in javaScript.
There are a few things to explain, first of all this is the script template triggered in the selected Adobe application.

Template of Adobe Script

var ___{{__command__}} = (function() {
    var __stderr;
    var __stdout;
    
    try {
      {{__vars__}}  
      __stdout = {{__fn__}}
    } catch (e) {
      __stderr = e;
    } finally {
      {{__broadcast__}}
    }
  })();

Texts between {{}} are replaced with values prepared for a specific event/command. The javaScript code is pasted in the {{__fn__}} placeholder.

As you can see {{__fn__}}/ JS code is assigned to the __stdout variable, this means that your javaScript code must be included in the IIFE function and it must also return a value - even if the logic doesn't require it - which will be passed in to the event.

// IIFE example
(function(){
    ... some magic
    return true; // whatever
}());

Running script without any arguments

...
await app.runScript('/some_custom_script.js');
...

Running script with arguments

...
await app.runScript('/some_custom_script.js', {
  title: "New Document",
  width: 1024,
  height: 768
});
...

The arguments/ options used in the runScript() method are pasted in the {{__vars__}} placeholder.
These vars are also available in the IIFE.

Generated Adobe Script

Here is an example of a generated script file that runs in Adobe app.

var ___new_document = (function() {
    var __stderr;
    var __stdout;
    
    try {
      var title = "New Document";
      var width = 1024;
      var height = 768;

      __stdout = (function(){
          var doc = app.documents.add(width, height, 72, title, NewDocumentMode.RGB, DocumentFill.TRANSPARENT, 1);
          return true;
      }());

    } catch (e) {
      __stderr = e;
    } finally {
      app.system("adobe-broadcast --host='localhost' --port=5000 --msg='{\"command\":\"new_document\",\"stdout\":\"" + __stdout + "\", \"stderr\":\"" + __stderr + "\" }'");
    }
  })();

The generated adobe scripts files - jsx/jsfl - are saved in the location specified in the adobeScriptsPath configuration.

To Do

implement more and improve built-in scripts

Changelog

2.0.0

Added

API selectDocument()
API saveAsDocument()
API saveAndCloseDocument()
Build-in scripts (currently only for Photoshop and Animate)
- adobe-node/scripts/photoshop|animate|illustrator|indesign|after_effects|acrobat/open_document.js
- adobe-node/scripts/photoshop|animate|illustrator|indesign|after_effects|acrobat/new_document.js
- adobe-node/scripts/photoshop|animate|illustrator|indesign|after_effects|acrobat/save_document.js
- adobe-node/scripts/photoshop|animate|illustrator|indesign|after_effects|acrobat/save_as_document.js
- adobe-node/scripts/photoshop|animate|illustrator|indesign|after_effects|acrobat/close_document.js
- adobe-node/scripts/photoshop|animate|illustrator|indesign|after_effects|acrobat/save_and_close_document.js
- adobe-node/scripts/photoshop|animate|illustrator|indesign|after_effects|acrobat/select_document.js

Changed

API saveDocument() - removed optional argument saveAs, saving multiple documents in one call.

Tips

If the Adobe application does not start, try to:

Change the access/permissions settings to the directory set in the adobeScriptsPath param eg.

sudo chown <username> "/Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC 2019/Presets/Scripts/"

It is also possible that you will need to change user config to enable custom scripts. For example, for Photoshop, add WarnRunningScripts 0 to the PSUserConfig.txt file in the Photoshop settings folder and restart Photoshop.

If any of the built-in functions does not work as you expected, you can write these functions yourself and run them via the runScript() method.

Contribute

Feel free to contribute. If you have any ideas, requests just leave a message.

Info

I'm not using Adobe applications, so it may happen that one of the built-in scripts does not work properly or is not optimal. I wrote it based on available resources. If you find an error or you think the script should be written in a different way. Let me know or even better implement your solution and I will add it.

License

Licensed under the MIT license.

Usage no npm install needed!

README

adobe-node

Installation

API

Methods

Config

Config

AdobeAppConfig

Others

BroadcastMessage

NewDocumentOptions

Events

Examples

Basic example

Running custom scripts

Template of Adobe Script

Running script without any arguments

Running script with arguments

Generated Adobe Script

To Do

Changelog

2.0.0

Added

Changed

Tips

Contribute

Info

License