Using TextRange we access text stored in text frames. And through characterAttributes we access character properties by index: textRange.characters[idx].characterAttributes. Problem Found bug replacing text color if TextFrame contained many colors. The case is specific. Let’s create a text object without changing its dimensions. …

In Adobe Illustrator, gradients in the Swatches panel are stored as a global color. Changing a gradient in Swatches affects all objects with it in the active document. A similar, but non-obvious to the user, logic applies to gradients that are created directly. …

In Adobe Illustrator, only an isolated object or group of objects can be edited in Isolation Mode. All other objects in the document are inaccessible. In scripting also in isolation mode, the scope is limited to isolated objects. But how do we know if we are in this mode? There…

Use the paragraphAttributes properties to control the values in the Paragraph panel: alignment, space between paragraphs, indentation from left and right edges. Problem There are script bugs in Illustrator: firstLineIndent, leftIndent, rightIndent, spaceBefore, spaceAfter are not zeroed; the justification property is not switched to left-alignment. var str = activeDocument.textFrames[0].paragraphs[0]; str.paragraphAttributes.firstLineIndent =…

Gradients are created by color interpolation between adjacent color stops. When we manually click on any point of the gradient slider, a stop with a location from 0 to 100 is added to it. Based on the location, Illustrator calculates the color and opacity of the new stop. The gradient…

Artboards in an Adobe Illustrator document are on the canvas. The canvas has an absolute size of 16383×16383 px. If you try to move the artboard outside the canvas bounds, you get the error “Artboard can not be created outside the canvas bounds”. In the API, artboards have only one…

From the locked and hidden boolean properties the object statuses are read and written. The property values may not show the actual status of the object in the Adobe Illustrator document. It depends on: parent layer statuses, parent group, combinations of groups with depth, layers with sublayers. Let’s try to…

Ways to select a group with different object statuses: Select the whole group — use the Selection Tool or click the circle next to the name in the Layers panel; Select all visible unlocked objects — use Group Selection Tool or click in the empty area to the right of…

The app.activeDocument.pageItems collection gives access to all elements of the active document of different classes: paths, groups, meshes, symbols, etc. Also PageItems stores elements of a layer or group. The main difference is that the PageItems of a document include all elements: groups and their contents, compound paths and paths…