Wed, October 13, 2010
Orlando InDesign User Group Home Meeting Summary Archive
Meeting Summary
Wow! I love it when I get the tools I need before I know I need them. Thank you! I can't wait to use my InDesign scripts.
Angela Plagmann
Tue, Jul 22nd, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Orlando Sentinel Conference Center
Event Details
If you missed our meeting, you missed an outstanding presentation. Haziel Oliveria, Adobe Certified expert, trainer with the Orlando office of Aquent Graphics Institute, and speaker at our November 07 meeting, returned to show us the Power of Scripting in InDesign CS3. We are especially thankful that Haziel was able to step in with 24-hours notice to cover for Kacey Crouch who had a last-minute family emergency. Thank You! Haziel. We hope to re-schedule Kacey for a future meeting.
Finding scripts Haziel acquainted us with script power by giving us a tour through the scripts that ship with CS3. You’ll find the Scripts panel under Automation on the Windows menu. Responding an audience query, Haziel noted that scripts also shipped with CS2 but did not automatically install in CS2; load up your install CD and copy them into your installation to use in CS2.
Prebuilt Scripts Haziel demonstrated the power of scripts to do simple, repetitive actions, many not native to CS3, such as adding guidelines, separating columns of a story’s text into blocks, placing a multi-page PDF into a document, creating grids, resizing photos throughout a whole document, and packaging finalized documents for press. There were all kinds of oohs and aahs throughout the presentation. Needless to say, we all want to learn more.
Quick customizations One script Haziel demonstrated added points around the perimeter of an object (a rectangle); he ran this twice, then, he grabbed every other point on a side and pulled the points toward the inside of the object. Suddenly, the rectangle was a very pointy, prickly thing. Another script added a neon border to a photo; someone asked if that worked with a curve, so, Haziel gave the photo a twist and re-ran the script. It worked. Lots of applause!
A caution This last script gave Haziel an opportunity to point out that creating the border generates many layers. When you do this around a picture, the file bloats up badly because each layer gets a copy of the photo. Better, he said, to build the frame (border) and then add the photo one time to the top layer.
You can do scripts Haziel emphasized through out the evening that each of us can use scripting to reduce drudgery, and improve uniformity and consistency in our documents. And, that we can create these scripts. Scripting can be done using either Apple Script (Mac only) or Javascript (Mac or PC); the standard scripts come in both versions so we have plenty of examples to use in learning scripting. Haziel pointed out that this is very much a learn-by-doing topic; there are very few printed resources on using Apple script with CS3. (Ed: note you can get help from the Ask an Expert section the IDUG website, so, things aren’t as bleak as they may seem.)
Rolling your own To show the power of scripting, Haziel demoed two scripts that he and colleagues created at Staples for building the Printer Toner catalog. The first one found and formatted the printer family and model names at the head of each table in the entire catalog; the second found and superscripted all of the ©, ™, daggers, asterisks, and notes.
Harnessing the power Haziel demonstrated attaching a script as a folder action, creating a watched folder that processes each file as its dropped into the folder. He showed us how to attach a folder action to desktop icon, creating a mini-application. And, he showed us where (which folder) to load our scripts into so they will appear in the script menu.
We want more! Naturally, Haziel ran out of time before he ran out of scripts, despite maintaining a fast pace all evening. We all wanted to hear more. We hope Haziel will come back another time, we are sure he has much more to share!
Get your custom scripts Haziel kindly shared several of the amazing scripts that he customized. You can download those scripts at the link below. He also brought along 4 books for our raffle, written by himself and colleagues at AGI, to guide us through learning Photoshop CS3 and Flash CS3. Thanks, Haziel!
We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting!
Thank you
We were thrilled to have two food for thought sponsors this meeting. Our returning printer sponsor is Abbott Printing, and our newest sponsor is PROforma promotional products who also donated a fabulous leather laptop bag. We are grateful for both of our sponsors' support and hope that our members will wholeheartedly support them!
We also want to extend a big thank you to The Orlando Sentinel and John Cobble for providing and preparing the meeting room, Ron McKenzie for securing so many fantastic raffle items, Fabian Quintero for taking photographs, Faith Amon for recruiting Sponsors and organizing us, Randy Rowles for technical set-up support, Edward Feldman --our fearless Chapter Rep, and of course Aquent for providing Haziel as our presenter.
Thank you to each of our raffle sponsors:
Do you need a technical book? Adobe, O'Reilly, and PeachPit offer a 30% discount to IDUG members; use your Member Benefits and Save Bucks; see the Member Benefits section at: http://wwww.indesignusergroup.com/members.
Upcoming Industry Events
Creative Suite 4 Launch Webcast!
In an unprecedented move, Adobe disclosed the announce date for Adobe Creative Suite 4. In support of this announcement, on September 23rd, Adobe will be delivering an Online Launch Webcast. You can register to hear one of these special launch webcasts at http://www.adobe.com/go/somethingbrilliant.
Create Chaos 2008
This event takes place Oct 13-17, 2008, at the Orlando World Resort in Lake Buena Vista.
These are some of activities occurring during the course of the week:
Visit http://www.createchaos.com for schedules, registration, and other info.
For a comprehensive listing of speakers at Create Chaos 2008, visit http://www.createchaos.com/08/public/speakers.
Adobe MAX: Explore the future of design and development!
November 16-19, 2008
San Francisco, California, USA
MAX is Adobe's annual event for forward-thinking designers, developers, and decision-makers. Join thousands of other Adobe users and experts for three unforgettable days of education, inspiration, and community.
Event highlights:
• Unique opportunities to connect with thousands of peers
• Over 200 sessions organized into three tracks
• 50 intensive skills labs on Adobe products and solutions
Focus on designers
New this year is a dedicated Design track. If you plan to design websites, create rich interactive content, or use print and web together more effectively, join us to expand your skills and be inspired.
To register now or get more information, go to http://www.adobe.com/max.
Comments from attendees
“Well presented. Important topics. Lots of questions answered thoroughly.”
“Presenter was wonderful! Easy to follow and very knowledgeable. I would like to attend another event.”
“These presentations really help me delve into the application. Even though they are fast-paced, the presenters are great. I really think this is great.”
“I am new to InDesign and I was thrilled to get this valuable information. Thanks so much!”
“Great presentation – I always enjoy learning new techniques that will improve my workflow. I wasn’t aware of all the Applescripts included with InDesign. Big ‘Thanks’ to all the sponsors.”
“The AGI instructor was great. The scripts (Apple) in InDesign are amazing. He was thorough and his enthusiasm was contagious. It kept our attention and focus on learning a new tool. Haziel is very knowledgeable.”
Next Meeting
Beginning in November 2008, our meetings will be held bimonthly on the third Wednesday in odd-numbered months.
Upcoming meeting dates are:
We look forward to seeing you then.
Edward Feldman, Chapter Rep
Orlando InDesign User Group
efeldman@mac.com
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