Learn about how to automate common tasks using the Scripts panel and the Script Label panel in InDesign.
Scripting is a great tool for performing a variety of tasks. A script can be as simple as an automated common task or as complex as an entire new feature. You can create your own scripts, and you can run scripts that other people have created. For more information on scripting, see Scripting Guide, scripting requirements, and other developer resources.
The Scripting Guide contains an introduction to scripting and tutorials. You can also find a number of useful scripts that you can run, such as a script that draws guides around the selected object. Some of these scripts appear by default in the Scripts panel.
Scripting in InDesign is now powered with the Unified Extensibility Platform (UXP) so that you can use modern JavaScript (ES5 and most of the ES6 features) to automate tasks. Find out more information about UXP Scripting.
InDesign includes two panels for scripting: the Scripts panel and the Script Label panel.
The Scripts panel is where you run scripts without leaving InDesign. The Scripts panel displays the scripts that are located in the Scripts folders in the InDesign application folder and in your Preferences folders.
Select Windows > Utilities > Scripts to open the Scripts Panel. If you create or receive a script, you can place it in the Scripts Panel folder, so it shows up in the Scripts panel.
macOS |
Users/[username]/Library/Preferences/Adobe InDesign/[version]/[language]/Scripts/Scripts Panel |
Windows XP |
Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Adobe\InDesign\[version]\[language]\Scripts\Scripts Panel |
Windows Vista and Windows 7 |
Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\InDesign\[version]\[language]\Scripts\Scripts Panel |
A quick way to locate the Scripts Panel folder is to right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) a script in the Scripts panel and choose Reveal In Explorer (Windows) or Reveal In Finder (macOS).
The Script Label panel lets you specify a label for a page item, such as text frame or shape. Specifying labels for page items is especially useful for writing scripts in which you need to identify an object. Select Windows > Utilities > Script label to open the Script Label Panel.
For detailed information on adding, running, and editing scripts, see the Scripting Guide.
You can double-click a script in the Scripts panel or run scripts using Quick Apply.
AddGuides |
Adds guides around the selected object or objects. |
AddPoints |
Adds points to the paths of the selected object or objects. |
Add QR Code |
QR code can either be placed on the placegun or directly as a page item. |
AdjustPageItems |
Moves the content of even/odd pages by specified amounts; attempts to get objects back into the correct position after a master page margin change and/or page insertion. |
AlignToPage |
Aligns objects to specified positions on a page. |
AnimationEncyclopedia |
Automatically creates buttons with different animation properties. |
BreakFrame |
Removes a selected text frame and its contents from a story. |
CornerEffects |
Redraws the path of the selected item or items using a variety of corner effects. Corner effects can be applied to selected points on the path. |
CreateCharacterStyles |
Defines a complete character style based on the selected text. |
CropMarks |
Adds crop and/or registration marks around the selected object or objects. |
ExportAllStories |
Exports all stories in a document to a series of text files. |
FindChangeByList |
Performs a series of common text find/change operations by reading a tab-delimited text file. |
ImageCatalog |
Places all graphics in a specified folder in a “contact sheet” layout. |
MakeGrid |
Creates a grid by subdividing or duplicating the selected object or objects. |
Neon |
Applies a “blend” effect to the selected object or objects. |
PathEffects |
Changes the position of path points on the selected object or objects to add a creative effect. |
PlaceMultipagePDF |
Places all pages of a PDF. |
SelectObjects |
Selects objects on the active spread by their object type. |
SortParagraphs |
Sorts the paragraphs in the selection alphabetically. |
SplitStory |
Splits the text frames in the selected story into separate, unlinked text frames. |
TabUtilities |
Applies tab stops and indents to the selected text. |
See Automation for more information on installing and using these sample scripts.
InDesign also provides more scripts that are created by the InDesign community.
Adobe maintains a repository of open source community scripts on GitHub. For more information about the InDesign Community Script repository, see the ReadMe file. This ReadMe file includes details about contributing a script and links to the scripters.
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