Adobe Illustrator Scripting with Visual Basic and AppleScript [Paperback]

Ethan Wilde (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2002

If you're a designer, production pro, or Illustrator power user, chances are you repeat tedious tasks over and over in your daily work. Think about it: How many times have you performed the same step on hundreds of images? Save time--and wear-and-tear on your wrists--with Adobe Illustrator Scripting, the clearest, quickest route to reducing your workload and making life easier through the power of scripting.

Adobe Illustrator Scripting combines the in-depth coverage of a reference book with actual hands-on training that shows you how to create and run scripts in Illustrator, using both AppleScript (for Mac users) and Visual Basic (for the PC). You'll learn how to automate tasks such as linking graphics to a database, transforming images, and performing batch processes. There's no better time to try your hand at scripting, even if you have no prior experience--with Illustrator 10, the program is more scriptable than ever before. Adobe Illustrator Scripting will help you unlock the true potential of this workhorse application.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

UntitledIf you're a designer, production pro, or Illustrator power user, chances are you repeat tedious tasks over and over in your daily work. Think about it: How many times have you performed the same step on hundreds of images? Save time--and wear-and-tear on your wrists--with Adobe Illustrator Scripting, the clearest, quickest route to reducing your workload and making life easier through the power of scripting. Adobe Illustrator Scripting combines the in-depth coverage of a reference book with actual hands-on training that shows you how to create and run scripts in Illustrator, using both AppleScript (for Mac users) and Visual Basic (for the PC). You'll learn how to automate tasks such as linking graphics to a database, transforming images, and performing batch processes. There's no better time to try your hand at scripting, even if you have no prior experience--with Illustrator 10, the program is more scriptable than ever before. Adobe Illustrator Scripting will help you unlock the true potential of this workhorse application.

About the Author

Ethan Wilde bought his first computer, an Apple II, in 1979 after taking a programming class at San Francisco's Exploratorium science museum. The experience changed his life, and Apple computers have been close to Ethan ever since. Now a principal in Mediatrope, an award-winning multimedia company, Ethan has a whole family of Macs to script and care for, when he is not writing books and giving workshops on AppleScripting. He is the author of AppleScript for Applications: Visual QuickStart Guide.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Pearson Education; 1st edition (September 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321112512
• ISBN-13: 978-0321112514
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,691,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Illustrator Scripting Automation Techniques Galore!, October 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Adobe Illustrator Scripting with Visual Basic and AppleScript (Paperback)

This title is a real cookbook for automating Adobe Illustrator. It covers every minute aspect of scripting Illustrator, including its object model, quirks, and special objects. The book includes a bunch of complete working script examples for Mac and Windows (AppleScript and Visual Basic).

I've already used 6 of the scripts out of the book to save me hours in my Illustrator work. Don't hesitate to check this book out if you DO ANYTHING in Illustrator regularly.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Probably better for AppleScript, May 25, 2004

By 

John (Seattle, Washington United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adobe Illustrator Scripting with Visual Basic and AppleScript (Paperback)

I'm mostly a Mac user, but I have to work on the PC for a long-term project. I'm finding that the book's coverage of Visual Basic is poor. For example, some of the scripts have typos! which is really difficult when you are trying to learn programming. In fact, I've found a number of typos in the text and this doesn't inspire confidence. This seems to be the only book out there that covers VB scripting, but I've had to do a lot of work to complete my education.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Genius, February 1, 2003

By 

"fargo282" (Forestville, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adobe Illustrator Scripting with Visual Basic and AppleScript (Paperback)

Thanks Adobe for making Illustrator scriptable! And thanks Ethan Wilde and Adobe Press for putting together such a compelling text on automating Illustrator. If you do anything in Illustrator regularly, this book is going to change your life. PC or Mac - it doesn't matter because the author has done the most amazing thing: He explains both scripting langauges side-by-side in the introduction, scriping tutorials, and examples in the book. I'm just glad that I use AppleScript 'cause it sure looks easier that Visual Basic!