Collecting for Output with AppleScript in Adobe Illustrator CS4 & CS5
There is a secret little AppleScript that comes with Illustrator CS4 & CS5 that collects linked files. What it doesn't do is collect fonts or put the files in folders or show you any progress bar or completion message. But it is FREE! And it does work. If you use this script you won't need to buy a third party app or plug-in.
To make this script available in your copy of Illustrator, first close Illustrator, then open the following folder on your hard drive (You will need administrative access to your hard drive):
Applications > Adobe Illustrator (CS4 or CS5.1) > Scripting > Sample Scripts > AppleScript > Collect for Output. Copy the 'Collect for Output.scpt' file. Place the copy in: Applications > Adobe Illustrator (CS4 or CS5.1) > Presets > en_US > Scripts. (You can do a standard copy & paste or do an 'Option-Drag & Drop' with two windows open.)
Restart Illustrator. To put the script to work, open an Illustrator file with links. Go to File > Scripts > CollectForOutput. Click 'OK'.
This brings up a dialog box for selecting a location to save. Select your location. You may want to create a new folder by clicking on the 'New Folder' button. Unfortunately, this script doesn't generate its own folder.
Since this script does not provide a progress bar or a completion message, you may want to go the collect location you selected so you can watch the files magically appear as they're collected. You should know the collection is complete after a few moments have passed without more of the linked files appearing. Test the collection to see if was successful by opening the collected Illustrator file and checking the links.
I should add that all of this isn't necessary with Adobe Illustrator CS6. The job packaging feature comes already built in under File > Package. It even collects fonts and puts all of the files into a nice orderly folder structure.
ReplyDeleteThis feature is only available for CC members. For us, regular CS6 users, there is on such priviledge, so we need to look for workarounds.
DeleteMany thanks to the author of the article, you saved my day!
Thank you so much for this! I believe Adobe may only have included the packaging feature for Creative Cloud subscribers, so this little trick will be useful for the many who have bought the software outright. You've really helped me save a lot of time :)
ReplyDelete