What the example scripts do

Here’s a brief description of each of the example scripts on the InDesign CD:

• AddGuides draws guides around the selected object or objects.

• AddPoints adds additional editable points to the paths of the selected objects.

• CreateCharacterStyle: When you create a character style by example in InDesign, only the properties of the selected text that differ from the default formatting of the text surrounding it are added to the character style. This script creates a complete character style based on the formatting of the selected text.

• CropMarks (below) draws crop marks and/or registration marks around the selected object or objects. The AppleScript version of this script has a minor error—you need to set your measurement units to points before you run it, or you’ll be looking at very large printers marks. (Or, you can download the updated version Adobe has posted; see the URL at the end of this article).

  

• ExportAllStories exports all of the stories in a document to a specified folder as text, RTF, or InDesign tagged text.

  

• Neon creates a “glow” effect around the selected paths. Something like a blend in Illustrator.

• PathEffects changes the shape of the paths of the selected objects. Includes the ever-popular Illustrator effects “Bloat,” “Twirl,” and “Punk,” and the ability to convert objects to rectangles or ovals (as you can in QuarkXPress).

• RandomFill fills the selected frame or frames with random objects.

• SortParagraphs sorts the paragraphs in the selection alphabetically.

• TabUtilities sets a tab or an indent at the current cursor position, or sets a right tab exactly at the right edge of the text column.

• TextCleanup performs a series of find/change operations—you can define the changes using a simple text file.

• TextCounter counts the characters, words, or lines of text in the selection, in the text frame containing the selection, or in the story containing the selection. It’s about the same as the word count feature of the Info palette, but has a few additional capabilities.