Printing only certain colors to Postscript [JS, CS3]

Question

Is there a way, via a script, to only output certain ink colors when printing to a Postscript file? When doing it manually you can choose which colors to output, but I haven't been able to find any way to do that through a script. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Well I believe I have this working now. Here's the code:
// This script works by doing a few things. First, it will delete any ink that isn't actually on the document and in use.
// Then it will prompt the user to choose what inks they want to output. Once the script has those ink choices,
// it will decide, via four if statements, what colors to output. There are four if statements to handle all the combinations
// of cyan and black outputs. The other colors checked (red, blue, etc.) will be printed from within all the ifs.
// Once it knows what colors to output it creates a preset based on those criteria, and then uses that preset to
// output the file. After the file is printed to Postscript it deletes the preset and saves and closes the file.
// If the preset doesn't get deleted for some reason, it will simply be overwritten the next time the script runs.
// I figured it would be cleaner if it would delete it each time.
if (app.documents.length == 0)
alert("No document is open.")
exit();
var myDocument = app.activeDocument;
v =myDocument.unusedSwatches.length-1;
while (v >= 0)
  try {
   myDocument.unusedSwatches[v].remove();
  } catch (_) { }
  v--;
inklist = myDocument.inks.everyItem().name;
checklist = [];
//creates dialog box
var inkDialog = app.dialogs.add({name:"F4 2up LH", canCancel:true});
with (inkDialog.dialogColumns.add())
        with(dialogRows.add())
            var choiceText = staticTexts.add({staticLabel:"Choose ink(s) to output:"});   
        with(dialogRows.add())
            with(dialogColumns.add())
                for (i=0; i<inklist.length; i++)
                with(dialogRows.add())
                //.push adds items to an array
                checklist.push(checkboxControls.add({staticLabel:inklist[i], checkedState:false}));
//Display the dialog box
var myDialog = inkDialog.show();
if(myDialog == true)
    for (m=0; m<checklist.length; m++)
        if(checklist[m].checkedState == true)
            myDocument.inks[m].printInk = true;
        else
            myDocument.inks[m].printInk = false;
else
    inkDialog.destroy();
    exit();
//check to see if cyan is checked and black is not
if((checklist[0].checkedState == true) && (checklist[3].checkedState == false))
    var myPreset = app.printerPresets.item("tempPreset");
try
    myPreset.name;
catch(myError)
    myPreset = app.printerPresets.add({name:"tempPreset"});
with(app.activeDocument.printPreferences)
    pageRange = PageRange.allPages;
    myPreset.useDocumentBleedToPrint = useDocumentBleedToPrint;
    myPreset.printer = Printer.POSTSCRIPT_FILE;
    myPreset.ppd = "PlateStream";
    myPreset.colorOutput = ColorOutputModes.SEPARATIONS;   
    myPreset.paperSize = PaperSizes.custom;   
    myPreset.pagePosition = PagePositions.UPPER_LEFT;
    //myPreset.screening = ("110 lpi / 1200 dpi");
    myPreset.cyanFrequency = 110;   
    myPreset.cyanAngle = 15;
    myPreset.printCyan = true;
    myPreset.magentaFrequency = 70;
    myPreset.magentaAngle = 15;   
    myPreset.printMagenta = false;
    myPreset.yellowFrequency = 70;   
    myPreset.yellowAngle = 0;
    myPreset.printYellow = false;
    myPreset.blackFrequency = 70;   
    myPreset.blackAngle = 45;
    myPreset.printBlack = false;
    mydpp = myDocument.printPreferences;
    mydpp.activePrinterPreset = "tempPreset";
    f = new File("//172.25.77.225/spool/"+ myDocument.name +".ps");
    mydpp.printFile = f;
    myDocument.print(false, undefined);
    myPreset.remove();
    myDocument.save();
    myDocument.close();
//check to see if cyan is unchecked, but black is checked
if((checklist[0].checkedState == false) && (checklist[3].checkedState == true))
    var myPreset = app.printerPresets.item("tempPreset");
try
    myPreset.name;
catch(myError)
    myPreset = app.printerPresets.add({name:"tempPreset"});
with(app.activeDocument.printPreferences)
    pageRange = PageRange.allPages;
    myPreset.useDocumentBleedToPrint = useDocumentBleedToPrint;
    myPreset.printer = Printer.POSTSCRIPT_FILE;
    myPreset.ppd = "PlateStream";
    myPreset.colorOutput = ColorOutputModes.SEPARATIONS;
    myPreset.paperSize = PaperSizes.custom;
    myPreset.pagePosition = PagePositions.UPPER_LEFT;
    //myPreset.screening = ("110 lpi / 1200 dpi");
    myPreset.cyanFrequency = 110;
    myPreset.cyanAngle = 15;
    myPreset.printCyan = false;
    myPreset.magentaFrequency = 70;
    myPreset.magentaAngle = 15;
    myPreset.printMagenta = false;
    myPreset.yellowFrequency = 70;   
    myPreset.yellowAngle = 0;
    myPreset.printYellow = false;
    myPreset.blackFrequency = 70;   
    myPreset.blackAngle = 45;
    myPreset.printBlack = true;
    mydpp = myDocument.printPreferences;
    mydpp.activePrinterPreset = "tempPreset";
    f = new File("//172.25.77.225/spool/"+ myDocument.name +".ps");
    mydpp.printFile = f;
    myDocument.print(false, undefined);
    myPreset.remove();
    myDocument.save();
    myDocument.close();
//check to see if black AND cyan are checked
if((checklist[3].checkedState == true) && (checklist[0].checkedState == true))
    var myPreset = app.printerPresets.item("tempPreset");
try
    myPreset.name;
catch(myError)
    myPreset = app.printerPresets.add({name:"tempPreset"});
with(app.activeDocument.printPreferences)
    pageRange = PageRange.allPages;
    myPreset.useDocumentBleedToPrint = useDocumentBleedToPrint;
    myPreset.printer = Printer.POSTSCRIPT_FILE;
    myPreset.ppd = "PlateStream";
    myPreset.colorOutput = ColorOutputModes.SEPARATIONS;
    myPreset.paperSize = PaperSizes.custom;   
    myPreset.pagePosition = PagePositions.UPPER_LEFT;
    //myPreset.screening = ("110 lpi / 1200 dpi");
    myPreset.cyanFrequency = 110;
    myPreset.cyanAngle = 15;
    myPreset.printCyan = true;
    myPreset.magentaFrequency = 70;
    myPreset.magentaAngle = 15;   
    myPreset.printMagenta = false;
    myPreset.yellowFrequency = 70;   
    myPreset.yellowAngle = 0;
    myPreset.printYellow = false;
    myPreset.blackFrequency = 70;   
    myPreset.blackAngle = 45;
    myPreset.printBlack = true;
    mydpp = myDocument.printPreferences;
    mydpp.activePrinterPreset = "tempPreset";
    f = new File("//172.25.77.225/spool/"+ myDocument.name +".ps");
    mydpp.printFile = f;
    myDocument.print(false, undefined);
    myPreset.remove();
    myDocument.save();
    myDocument.close();
//otherwise, neither cyan nor black are checked
else
    if((checklist[3].checkedState == false) && (checklist[0].checkedState == false))
        var myPreset = app.printerPresets.item("tempPreset");
try
    myPreset.name;
catch(myError)
    myPreset = app.printerPresets.add({name:"tempPreset"});
with(app.activeDocument.printPreferences)
    pageRange = PageRange.allPages;
    myPreset.useDocumentBleedToPrint = useDocumentBleedToPrint;
    myPreset.printer = Printer.POSTSCRIPT_FILE;
    myPreset.ppd = "PlateStream";
    myPreset.colorOutput = ColorOutputModes.SEPARATIONS;
    myPreset.paperSize = PaperSizes.custom;   
    myPreset.pagePosition = PagePositions.UPPER_LEFT;
    //myPreset.screening = ("110 lpi / 1200 dpi");
    myPreset.cyanFrequency = 110;
    myPreset.cyanAngle = 15;   
    myPreset.printCyan = false;
    myPreset.magentaFrequency = 70;
    myPreset.magentaAngle = 15;
    myPreset.printMagenta = false;
    myPreset.yellowFrequency = 70;   
    myPreset.yellowAngle = 0;
    myPreset.printYellow = false;
    myPreset.blackFrequency = 70;   
    myPreset.blackAngle = 45;
    myPreset.printBlack = false;
    mydpp = myDocument.printPreferences;
    mydpp.activePrinterPreset = "tempPreset";
    f = new File("//172.25.77.225/spool/"+ myDocument.name +".ps");
    mydpp.printFile = f;
    myDocument.print(false, undefined);
    myPreset.remove();
    myDocument.save();
    myDocument.close();
inkDialog.destroy();
So far it's been working quite nicely. Thanks for all the help everyone. If there is anything that looks like it should be changed please let me know. It's been a while since I did anything like this.
Nate