Scripting lines in Photoshop?

talk design
1

Hello all

I’m trying to write a script that adds a border to an image. First, it adds extra room on the canvas (2cm, works fine), then I need it to add a box around the image 1cm in. I need to add stroked paths to my image to form the borders, so I had a look at the Adobe scripting guide and popped in their example code just to see how it works. After adding ;'s (why don’t they do this?) and correcting a few spelling errors, I came up with this:


app.bringToFront();
var docheight;
var docwidth;

var strtRulerUnits = app.preferences.rulerUnits;
if (strtRulerUnits != Units.CM) {
    app.preferences.rulerUnits = Units.CM;
}

if (app.documents.length == 0) {
    var docRef = app.documents.add(16, 12, 72, null, NewDocumentMode.RGB, DocumentFill.WHITE);
}
else {
    var docRef = app.activeDocument;
}

//add 2cm around each edge
var docwidth = docRef.width.value + 4;
var docheight = docRef.height.value + 4;
docRef.resizeCanvas (docwidth, docheight, AnchorPosition.MIDDLECENTER);

// Save the current preferences
var startRulerUnits = app.preferences.rulerUnits;
var startTypeUnits = app.preferences.typeUnits;
var startDisplayDialogs = app.displayDialogs;
app.displayDialogs = DialogModes.NO;

//line #1--it’s a straight line so the coordinates for anchor, left, and //right
//for each point have the same coordinates
var lineArray = new Array();
lineArray[0] = new PathPointInfo;
lineArray[0].kind = PointKind.CORNERPOINT;
lineArray[0].anchor = Array(1, 1);
lineArray[0].leftDirection = lineArray[0].anchor;
lineArray[0].rightDirection = lineArray[0].anchor;
lineArray[1] = new PathPointInfo;
lineArray[1].kind = PointKind.CORNERPOINT;
lineArray[1].anchor = Array(5, 5);
lineArray[1].leftDirection = lineArray[1].anchor;
lineArray[1].rightDirection = lineArray[1].anchor;
var lineSubPathArray = new Array();
lineSubPathArray[0] = new SubPathInfo();
lineSubPathArray[0].operation = ShapeOperation.SHAPEXOR;
lineSubPathArray[0].closed = false;
lineSubPathArray[0].entireSubPath = lineArray;

//line#2
var lineArray2 = new Array();
lineArray2[0].kind = PointKind.CORNERPOINT;
lineArray2[0].anchor = Array(5, 5);
lineArray2[0].leftDirection = lineArray2[0].anchor;
lineArray2[0].rightDirection = lineArray2[0].anchor;
lineArray2[1] = new PathPointInfo;
lineArray2[1].kind = PointKind.CORNERPOINT;
lineArray2[1].anchor = Array(10, 10);
lineArray2[1].leftDirection = lineArray2[1].anchor;
lineArray2[1].rightDirection = lineArray2[1].anchor;
lineSubPathArray[1] = new SubPathInfo();
lineSubPathArray[1].operation = ShapeOperation.SHAPEXOR;
lineSubPathArray[1].closed = false;
lineSubPathArray[1].entireSubPath = lineArray2;

//ice cream curve
//it’s a curved line, so there are 3 points, not 2
//coordinates for the middle point (lineArray3[1]) are different.
//The left direction is positioned “above” the anchor on the screen.
//The right direction is positioned “below” the anchor
//You can change the coordinates for these points to see
//how the curve works...
var lineArray3 = new Array();
lineArray3[0].kind = PointKind.CORNERPOINT;
lineArray3[0].anchor = Array(200, 100);
lineArray3[0].leftDirection = lineArray3[0].anchor;
lineArray3[0].rightDirection = lineArray3[0].anchor;
lineArray3[1] = new PathPointInfo;
lineArray3[1].kind = PointKind.CORNERPOINT;
lineArray3[1].anchor = Array(150, 50);
lineArray3[1].leftDirection = Array(100, 50);
lineArray3[1].rightDirection = Array(200, 50);
lineArray3[2] = new PathPointInfo;
lineArray3[2].kind = PointKind.CORNERPOINT;
lineArray3[2].anchor = Array(100, 100);
lineArray3[2].leftDirection = lineArray3[2].anchor;
lineArray3[2].rightDirection = lineArray3[2].anchor;
lineSubPathArray[1] = new SubPathInfo();
lineSubPathArray[1].operation = ShapeOperation.SHAPEXOR;
lineSubPathArray[1].closed = false;
lineSubPathArray[1].entireSubPath = lineArray3;

//create the path item
var myPathItem = docRef.pathItems.add(“A Line”, lineSubPathArray);
// stroke it so we can see something

myPathItem.strokePath(ToolType.BRUSH);
// Reset the application preferences

displayDialogs = startDisplayDialogs

app.preferences.rulerUnits = strtRulerUnits;

The problem with this is, I get a syntax error in the line


var myPathItem = docRef.pathItems.add(“A Line”, lineSubPathArray);

but the syntax is exactly how Adobe say it should be. Any ideas what’s wrong with it?

Also, I assume that to create a rectangle shape, you would only need one lineArray but you’d use 4 ‘slots’ to give the points?

Thanks in advance
HT