CS4 Illustrator Actions

When creating an action in Illustrator there is a bug in CS4.
I have had this action made in CS3 and it worked fine for a very common task that is always done to our work.
When I create it in CS4 The first step in the action is to "create a layer below" Quick key command is Option Command when you click on the layer button. There are a few other very simple steps to this action after this. After I save the action out and quit Illustrator and open it back up the first part of the action is gone. The Create a layer below part dissapears off the action and then it goes through the rest of it.
This is a vital step in this quick key and constantly falls out no matter what I do. Anyone else have any issues with actions?

It appears so! I t is important that we all file a bug report immediately so it can be fixed.
I am serious if you do not file the report they will think only one person has this problem.
this is what I submitted and if anyone wishes to copy and paste they may do so.
******BUG******
Concise problem statement:
Steps in actions to create layers are lost after quitting Illustrator and relaunching, all other steps in the action are retained.
Steps to reproduce bug:
1. Create an new action and start the recording
2. Create a new layer
3. Create some other steps
4. Stop the action
5. Quit Illustrator and save the document
6. Relaunch Illustrator
7. Inspect the action
Results: The create layer step is removed from the action.
(This is true of any create layer step in an action)
Expected results: The create layer action should still be retained along with the rest of the action.
This is a must fix bug, does not happen in prior releases.

Similar Messages

CS4 Illustrator Action error on CS6

I am having trouble using cs4 Actions on CS6. The Action includes Transform Panel to set/Move reference point to specific X and Y coordinate. When the action is ran on CS6, an error would display "The object 'Transform Panel' is not currently available." Is there a setting that I need to enable to allow my action to work properly?

Did you recreate the Action in CS6 or you trying to run the CS4 version of the Action in CS6? There was enough of a change from CS4/5 to CS6 (rewrite to 64 bit) that it is not likely that the CS4 version will work.

Using Flach CS4 and action script 2.0 how do I advance to a specific frame of the main timeline when a movie clip instance come to the end of its timeline?

Using Flach CS4 and action script 2.0 how do I advance to a specific frame of the main timeline when a movie clip instance come to the end of its timeline?

code on the last frame of your movieclip instance:
_root.gotoAndStop('whatever_frame'); // will work unless this swf is loaded into another swf. in that situation, you should use a relative path to the main timeline (eg, _parent or _parent._parent etc).

Hello I have Adobe CS4 Illustrator, I do large format prints on a Roland SC-540 printer. I my gradients I get bad results. If I have a yellow to white gradient I get blue bands through out the gradient. Is there a setting in the program to change or is it

Hello I have Adobe CS4 Illustrator, I do large format prints on a Roland SC-540 printer. I my gradients I get bad results. If I have a yellow to white gradient I get blue bands through out the gradient. Is there a setting in the program to change or is it my rip software?

What color management settings? Color mode? This sounds like you are simply not using the proper profile.
Mylenium

Placing a ArchiCAD DXF into CS4 Illustrator

Hi everyone,
I am trying to open a DXF file into CS4 Illustrator but it's just not happening. The DXF is being provided by Graphisoft ArchiCAD. I've also been sent DXF files from autoCAD to test on to see if these open which also I'm afraid to say don't open either. The message I got for these was 'The operation cannot complete because there isn't enough memory (RAM) available', I have checked and there is more than enough memory.
Any help will be very much appreciated.
Regards,
Fi

It worked fine for me…when I first double clicked on the file it opened Illustrator but not the file but when I doubled clicked again after AI was opened the file opened.
You can try File>Place or File Open if Double clicking on the fies icon does not work.
I will post this in the forum as well. You should not have any problems with this file which is AutoCAD 2000 or later.
I see now you are concerned about the lines not being connected perhaps this is not AutoCAD 2000 I think AutoCAD 2002 and after will open in Illustrator as object and not paths I just happen to select one that was connected but I see others are not you might need Concatenate for this if you had Concatenate by Rick Johnson already then you do not need to purchase it you can download the CS 4 version free.

CS5 Illustrator to CS4 Illustrator

I need to save a CS5 Illustrator file down to a CS4 Illustrator without loosing any data or flattening any work. Is there a way?

CS5 Illustrator file down to a CS4 Illustrator without loosing any data
That's an oximoron in terms. You will always loose data in the strict sense. Per se, however, that does not mean you will loose any data that makes up the visible parts, but naturally things like Perspective Grids or 9-slice scaling will be reset or expanded as will gradient meshes with transparency for instance, 'cos naturalyl those features do not exist in Cs4. otehr than that it's as simple as doing a File --> Save As... in CS5 and picking the correct version to save down to.
Mylenium

Getting this message when opening CS4 illustrator "could not complete the requested operation"

Afternoon all, Simply put someone in my art dept is suddenly getting this message "could not complete the requested operation"
when trying to open CS4 Illustrator. I am running Windows 7 Professional 64bit. CS4 is completely up to date. And Photoshop and other applications are working as they should. Have restarted, Tried moving the Users\Appdata\Roaming and Local\Adobe\ Folders to the desktop but it didnt help. Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks AaSib

Thanks for the suggestions. Tried them all this morning and none of them worked. I
have decided to deactivate, and uninstall/reinstall. Hope
fully that will work. Again thanks for the help.
Well I deactivated and uninstalled. Ran the cleaner, and Illustrator is still not working. Going to try a system restore within windows 7 to see if something could have messed with the program.
AaSib

How do I create custom Photoshop/Illustrator actions in Automator?

Hi all,
I'm doing a video project with some fairly tedious processes involved on my files. I'd like to use Automator but I think I'm missing some key points on how to use it. Google has not yielded anything fruitful on the matter so I decided to bring this to the experts on this board.
Here is the process I'd like to automate. Keep in mind I know how to do each step in its given application, but have not been able to figure out how to plug these into Automator sequence:
- Use Quicktime to covert a movie file into an image sequence
- Take that image sequence and use Illustrator to covert each image in the sequence to vector
- Convert each .ai file produced into a jpeg using Photoshop
I need these steps done for over 100 movie files. My main problem is that Photoshop and Illustrator don't appear in my application list within Automator. Can I add these? If not, I'm not sure I understand how to write an action for either application. I even downloaded some third-party Photoshop scripts and added them but the application icon still does not appear within Automator.
I also tried "record" while doing all the steps manually, but Automator didn't seem to pick up anything I did (unlike the old versions of Apple Script Editor). Please help! Thanks a mil...
Mike

Finicky is not the word for Watch Me Do... I feel like Apple's old record button in Script Editor worked better than this. Anyway, red_menace, thanks for the link - very helpful.
After lots of trial and error, I managed to get my Quicktime script to work. I did a Watch Me Do action, then from the list of those actions in the Watch Me Do step in Automator, I extracted individual actions by dragging them out below to the space for the next step, and a "Run Applescript" step appeared. I put something together with the idea that I could drag a desired movie file onto this Automator application and have it executed. This is what I have so far, in order of Automator steps:
1. Open Finder Items. Got this from a pre-installed action for Finder. I selected Quicktime 7 as the app to open. This assumes a movie file has been dragged onto the application file that Automator creates to open the file in Quicktime and kick off the script.
2. Run Applescript (extracted from the Watch Me Do recording). I adjusted the "delay" time to be long enough as I found having too short of a delay messed up the whole automation. This step is to tell Quicktime to bring up the Export dialogue (a simple Command-E button press). The script is as follows:
on run {input, parameters}
-- Press ⌘E
delay 3
set timeoutSeconds to 2.0
set uiScript to "keystroke \"e\" using command down"
my doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds)
return input
end run
on doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds)
set endDate to (current date) + timeoutSeconds
repeat
try
run script "tell application \"System Events\"
" & uiScript & "
end tell"
exit repeat
on error errorMessage
if ((current date) > endDate) then
error "Can not " & uiScript
end if
end try
end repeat
end doWithTimeout
3. Run Applescript (again, taken from the Watch Me Do recording). This one was a little trickier because for some reason Watch Me Do was recording my button press of the enter key as an empty set of commas (' '). I poked around online and found that the AppleScript equivalent for enter is "key code 36", so I replaced the blank space with that. I wonder if this is because I'm using a non-Apple keyboard... The script is as follows:
on run {input, parameters}
-- Type 'key code 36'
delay 2
set timeoutSeconds to 2.0
set uiScript to "keystroke \"
my doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds)
return input
end run
on doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds)
set endDate to (current date) + timeoutSeconds
repeat
try
run script "tell application \"System Events\"
" & uiScript & "
end tell"
exit repeat
on error errorMessage
if ((current date) > endDate) then
error "Can not " & uiScript
end if
end try
end repeat
end doWithTimeout
The above three steps work well for my movie file export from Quicktime, but what I'd REALLY like is to do is repeat these steps for every movie file in a given folder with one click. Any ideas on how I'd accomplish that?
I also tried to string in further actions for Illustrator but no luck - I kept getting errors in Illustrator. First, I got the error "The object "Play Action" is not currently available", and once I figured out how to get past that error (just extended the delay time), I got stuck on the error "Could not complete the Play command because the action is playing". In a nutshell, I'm trying to get Automator to open Illustrator and play an Illustrator Action. Again, open to any ideas. My Illustrator action is a simple one: Live Trace, then save file.
Thanks again for the help on this, folks.

My CS4 Illustrator keeps crashing when I try printing or changing typefaces, help?

My CS4 Illustrator keeps crashing when I try printing or changing typefaces, help?
I've already tried reinstalling and that worked few a few days but now continues to crash.

Matt,
Did you reinstall using the full three step way?
Uninstall (ticking the box to delete the preferences), run the Cleaner Tool, and reinstall.
http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html
You may also have a look at items 1) and 11) in Other options (follow the link with that name)

Can an Illustrator Action be batched out of bridge?

I'm looking for a way to automate an Illustrator action. I can do batch out of ILL. But was wondering if the Action can be run on a selection of images out of Bridge?
Thanks
Max

Try and look here:
Bridge Scripting

Scripting Illustrator actions, incorporating calls to Excel

Hello all, I need some help...
I am building a series of logos — based on word strings — using Illustrator CS4 with a combination of Actions, but also retrieving the word string from an Excel file.
Normally for one or two iterations of the process, I would not hassle with a script, but this is a mind-numbing repetitive task, and I have to make 6,000 logos!! Seems the ideal use for a script.
We have tried to work with ExtendScript Toolkit (ESTK) but we can't get our heads around how to make it do certain things, and I can't find anyone who really knows how to use ESTK correctly.
I have a MAC, so the script has to be written in Java Script or Apple Script.
Here's what I need to do:
Execute Action: Open a Master Illustrator doc. This doc is already configured with art board, pre-defined type box (Area Type Optioned), Charater Styles, Drop Shadow parameters set. <pause Action>
Run Script: Retrieve the word string from a cell in Excel worksheet (or CSV??). Some are single words, first letter capped. Some are two to four words Camel Cased. Example: "DinnerPartiestm". There are two additional charaters "tm" at the end of the word string that will be acted upon (remember these two characters for item 7 below)
Run Script: Place this WordString into the predefined type box in the Illustrator Master doc. That is, in Illustrator, "select" the type box so the cursor is at first position and place the word string — copy from Excel & paste into Illustrator? <pause Script>
Execute Action: Apply character style 1— font with point size, letter spacing, stroke and colour (It just happens to be red). Example: DinnerPartiestm <pause Action>
Run Script: Select all caps in word string. Example: DinnerPartiestm <pause Script>
Execute Action: Apply character style 2 — Caps Only (selected) — New point size, baseline offset. Example: DinnerPartiestm <pause Action>
Run Script: Select last two letters of word string. Example: DinnerPartiestm <pause Script>
Execute Action: Apply character style 3 — last two letters only (selected) — New point size, change colour, baseline offset. Example: DinnerPartiestm <pause Action>
Run Script: Select text box. <pause Script>
Execute Action: Apply Stylize > Drop Shadow — On contents of text box, preset DS parameters in either Appearence panel or Effect menu.
Execute Action: File > Save As .ai document. <at Save As dialog, pause action>
Run Script: Retrieve file name from Excel and place in Save As dialog (copy & paste?). In next column in Excel doc, same row, is a SEO-friendly file name. Example: word string is "DinnerParties"; file name (next column) is "logo-dinner-parties"
Run Script: Select folder to save the .ai doc into. Example: Folder is "Logos AI". <pause Script>
Execute Action: Complete Save As. Example: in Folder "Logos AI" now we have the file "logo-dinner-parties.ai"
Execute Action [assumes that the Saved As document — logo-dinner-parties.ai — is now the active one in Illustrator]: Save for Web & Devices. Preset to PNG24/Transparent. Correct file name will NOT be in Save field. <at Save dialog, pause action>
Run Script: Repeat retrieval process to get same file name from Excel.
Run Script: Select new folder to save the .png doc into. Example: Folder is "Logos PNG". <pause Script>
Execute Action: Complete Save for Web. Example: in Folder "Logos PNG" now we have the file "logo-dinner-parties.png"
Execute Action: Close
Repeat steps 1 though 19 until all word strings processed: Script has to know to go to next word string (next row) in Excel doc.
This is a tricky one, but there's got to be a way to automate the process... otherwise I'll go crazy doing this manually!!
IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE WHO CAN HELP?
Thanking you in advance for any assistance.
All the best.

IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE WHO CAN HELP?
Depends on what you mean by "help." Are you asking someone to do the whole thing for you (would require more detail), or do you intend to do it yourself, but are stuck on something? (You say you "tried to work with ESTK" and "can't find anyone who really knows how to use ESTK correctly"; but you don't say specifically what you're struggling with in ESTK.)
...doc is already configured with art board, pre-defined type box (Area Type Optioned), Charater Styles, Drop Shadow parameters set.
Much of what can be done with any approach depends largely upon what Appearances and/or Effects are involved, and where. You imply that you want all of the "logo" to be contained in a single textFrame object. But Drop Shadow Effect cannot be applied at the character level, so it can't be included in a Character Style.
So if you don't want all the text to have the same drop shadow, you will be involving multiple textFrame objects. That will lead to the complication of having to position the two textFrames relative to each other, depending on their dimensions after the varying text is inserted.
Retrieve the word string from a cell in Excel worksheet (or CSV??)
With scripting, it would be inefficient and unnecssary to go back-and-forth to the spreadsheet to extract values one at a time. Typically, you would create an array containing the full set of values, and then iterate through the elements of the array.
Some are single words, first letter capped. Some are two to four words Camel Cased. Example: "DinnerPartiestm".
So you're going to need a sub-routine of some kind (in Javascript, a function) to find capital letters.
There are two additional charaters "tm" at the end of the word string that will be acted upon...
If this is the same in each instance, and if you are going to script this, there is no need to include it in the data. Insert the "tm" programmatically.
That is, in Illustrator, "select" the type box so the cursor is at first position and place the word string — copy from Excel & paste into Illustrator?
Using script, you don't have to select the textFrame, copy, or paste in order to insert content. You would declare a variable, assign its value (from the above-mentioned array), add the variable's value as text to textFrame's content.
Apply character style 1— font with point size, letter spacing, stroke and colour (It just happens to be red). Example: DinnerPartiestm
Here you will run into a difficulty inherent in Illustrator's poor implementation of stroked text. You can apply a Stroke at the Character level and include that Appearance in a Character Style. But Illustrator always positions such strokes in front of the fill--something you almost never want, because it "chokes" the fills, wrecking the shape of the characters. The workaround is to Add New Stroke and position that below the Characters listing in the Appearance Palette. But script provides no access to added strokes or fills and Added Strokes cannot be applied at the character level.
Select all caps in word string. Example: DinnerPartiestm
Illustrator cannot select discontiguous text strings. Again, script does not have to select objects in order to change their properties.
Apply character style 2 — Caps Only (selected) — New point size, baseline offset. Example: DinnerPartiestm
Apply character style 3 — last two letters only (selected) — New point size, change colour, baseline offset. Example: DinnerPartiestm
The applyTo method of the CharacterStyle object. Or, just set the size and baselineShift properties of the characterAttributes property of the textRange directly.
Apply Stylize > Drop Shadow — On contents of text box
Drop Shadow Effect cannot be applied to the contents (character level) of a textFrame--only to the textFrame object itself.
My very limited understanding of ESTK is that it is a scripting tool for use in Illustrator.
It's a script text editor included with the Creative Suite. You can use it to build scripts for any of the CS products (or entirely other purposes, for that matter). Or, you can choose to not use it at all. A Javascript is just a text file. Tools like ESTK add conveniences, references, etc., geared toward scripting.
So, I'm only acting on the word string....
But I am also not a coder...
Which is why I would look into simpler already-built methods before jumping into a tedious solution scripted for Illustrator. For example: Many, if not most, AI users are familiar with InDesign. InDesign provides a proper dataMerge feature that can handle ordinary tab-delimited text. It's handling of strokes on text is correct, unlike Illustrator. If you set it up accordingly, it can create all the separate pages for you.
You would:
1. Draw the fixed graphic in Illustrator.
2. Place the Illustrator graphic on InD's master page.
3. Set and style the text objects. Insert DataMerge tags.
4. Import the data and run the Merge function.
InD builds individual pages for each row of the data. You're done. Export to PDF. InD and Acrobat also have their own scripting models. Either one can handle the specific naming convention, if really needed.
Again, it depends on what exactly is "special" about the text object(s) you are manipulating with variable content. For example, if you're using an AI-specific Warp effect, you'd be back to Illustrator.
Anyway, you want a paying gig?
I do some freelance work as time permits and interest strikes, but I'm not cheap, and that's not why I frequent these forums.
Scripting your solution entirely in AI may very well be possible, but whoever does it will need to see the specific objects, styles, etc., involved to avoid unnecessary guessing and time-consuming round-tripping. Why don't you post an image and/or an AI file?
JET

CS4: Can Action Call a Script?

For three versions now, Illustrator has had a bug which greatly limits the kinds of things that could be otherwise accomplished with its scripting features.
You can use Insert Menu Item to insert a step in an Action that calls a script from the File>Scripts menu. That Action works during the current work session. But when Illustrator is quit and relaunched, the step is absent from the Action.
Those of you who have touched CS4: Is that fixed?
JET

I have not noticed that there were any different behaviours in the versions since AI 10. All scripts are always electrocuted on all systems I tested. Only two times I saw it happen that an Illustrator relaunch did not kill a script inside an action. I looked for a pattern and observed that the file name of the script that suvived the process only consisted of numbers. As far as I remember, exactly eight numbers. Straightaway I closed Illustrator, restarted it and did the same experiment. The script survived again. But then, the third shot failed, and since then I've never seen a script surviving a relaunch again.
What does work for me reliably is to export an action set full of actions which contain script calls, quit Illustrator, restart it and import the action set. The scripts always survive that procedure and I use it as a workaround. Still pesky, of course, but considering that recreating rather complicated actions with a whole bunch of scripts does take way more time than importing an action set, it's the only way for me to resist that sneaking bug.
I remember that we discussed this workaround some years ago in the Illustrator Windows forum. I seem to remember that you couldn't get it to work reliably.
I'd still like to know if the workaround does work for someone else.

Illustrator Actions (Unlock All Layers) not persistent

Hi all
I hope this is the right section to post this.
But like the title says I have problems with Actions and the Unlock All Layers. As soon we shut down Illustrator and start it up again this part is gone. Reloading the saved Action will solve the problem, as long you don't restart Illustrator again.
This is what the action looks like when it is loaded:
This it like it is when Illustrator has restarted:
This has been tested on different operating systems and in CS4 and CS5.
Any idea how to solve this?

OK here it goes:
-Unlock All Layers
-Unlock All
-Deselect All
-Show All
-Clear
-Select Stray Points
-Clear
-Select All
-Copy
-New
-Paste
-Clear Guides
-Symbols > Selesct all Unused
-Symbols > Delete Symbol
-Graphic Style > Selesct all Unused
-Graphic Style > Delete Style
-Brush > Selesct all Unused
-Brush > Delete Brush
-Swatches > Selesct all Unused
-Swatches > Delete Swatch
-Clean up
-Delete empty Layers

Printing out of Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro and CS4 Illustrator

Hi, I'm working on a MacBook Pro, version 10.6.7 Mac OS X, I just hooked up the HP Photosmart Premiere C310 Series printer. It's hooked up via USB, and will print from all applications except Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro and Adobe Illustrator - CS4.
For Acrobat: When I try to print a PDF, I get the message "The document could not be printed." followed by "There were no pages selected to print."
For Illustrator: In the Print window, under Printer, I can either select Adobe Postscript File and save, or, select my printer where the preview is unavailable, it grays out all options and I can't select anything. OR, if I select my printer where the preview is unavailable, I get the error message "Can't print the illustration. The Color Management settings are inconsistent."
These are the only two applications I'm having trouble with, and since the printer is sold at Apple.com, I'm hoping someone else has come across these issues. Please help!
Thanks.

You may want to ask in the Acrobat or Illustrator forums. This one is for the free Reader application.

Can't print from CS4 (Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat)

Here is the issue...
When I try to print from any of the CS4 programs (illustrator, photoshop, or acrobat) most times I get the
spinning color wheel and eventually the application quits. Sometimes I do get to the print dialog box but that's as far as
I get. The color wheel will start spinnng again.
Both CS4 and CS2 are installed on my computer. It is a Mac mini.
However, when I log on under a different profile (administrator) it prints fine.
I had an issue with CS2 and had to create a new profile. Then I got CS4, still using the newly created profile.
Thoughts?

We followed your instructions, deleting the Settings folder and then
removing
the main printer (Konika Minolta Bizhb 450 (Fiery X3eTY)). We then
put the
printer's IP address back in.
After this, we test printed a file in Illustrator to a Dell (which we
did not
uninstall). It printed without issue.
After reinstalling a driver from Minolta's site (Fiery X3eTY 35C-KM
PS v2.0
eu), all of the presets (including the user login information) were
back. We
then attempted to print from Illustrator. The print dialog box
popped up
without any problems. When we selected "Printer," the color wheel began
spinning. After a few minutes, the Force Quit option said that
Illustrator
was not responding.
This is what we are running on specifically:
Mac mini
Mac OS X 10.4.11
Process 1.66 GHz Intel Core Duo
Memory 1.25 GB 667 Mz DDR2 SDRAM
The memory info reads as follows
Memory Slot         Size    Type            Speed       Status
Bank 0/DIMM0        1 GB    DDR2 SDRAM      667 MHz     OK
Bank 1/DIMM1        256 MB DDR2 SDRAM      667 MHZ     OK
Amber

CS4 Illustrator Actions

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for