Illustrator Script Collection

Copy to Scripts Folder

Alternative: Run Directly

Go to File > Scripts > Other Script... (Ctrl/Cmd+F12), navigate to the .jsx file and click Open. The script runs immediately.

Tip: Keyboard Shortcuts

For frequently used scripts, assign keyboard shortcuts via Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts > Menu Commands > File > Scripts.

What is ExtendScript?

ExtendScript is Adobe’s scripting language for Creative Cloud applications — a dialect of ECMAScript 3 (an older JavaScript) with Adobe-specific extensions for talking to Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, and the rest of the suite. A script is a plain-text .jsx file. You don’t need to compile anything, install a build chain, or set up a project — just save the file and run it via File > Scripts > Other Script…

If you already write JavaScript, the syntax will feel familiar. The main quirks are that let and const aren’t available (use var), arrow functions don’t exist, and console.log is replaced by $.writeln (writing to the ExtendScript Toolkit / VSCode debug console).

When scripting beats clicking

The simple test: if you’re about to do the same operation more than ten times, or you need to do it on a folder of files, ExtendScript will save you time. The Actions panel records and replays simple sequences but can’t handle conditionals, file system access, or anything that needs logic. ExtendScript can. Above ExtendScript sits CEP panels (for persistent UI) and the C++ SDK (for performance-critical work) — the full landscape is mapped in our guide to Illustrator extension technologies.

Your first script: rename every layer

Here’s a complete script that renames every layer in the active document with a sequential prefix. Save it as rename-layers.jsx and run it from File > Scripts > Other Script…

// rename-layers.jsx — rename layers with a numeric prefix
(function () {
  if (app.documents.length === 0) {
    alert('Open a document first.');
    return;
  }
  var doc = app.activeDocument;
  for (var i = 0; i < doc.layers.length; i++) {
    var layer = doc.layers[i];
    layer.name = (i + 1).toString() + ' - ' + layer.name;
  }
  alert('Renamed ' + doc.layers.length + ' layers.');
}());

Three things worth pointing out: the IIFE wrapper ((function () { ... }())) keeps your variables out of Illustrator’s global scope; the app.documents.length === 0 check is the standard guard for "nothing to do"; and app.activeDocument is the entry point to almost every Illustrator scripting operation.

ScriptUI dialogs for user input

Most production scripts need to ask the user something — a prefix, a folder, an export preset. ScriptUI is the framework for those dialogs. The 100 scripts in the catalog below all use ScriptUI; the install-step in their headers is a good reference for the patterns.

Debugging

The two reliable approaches are: (1) drop $.writeln('value: ' + x); calls into your script and run it from the ExtendScript Toolkit (legacy, but still works) or the VSCode "Adobe ExtendScript Debugger" extension, which gives you breakpoints and a step-through debugger; or (2) use alert() for quick checkpoints when you don’t want to set up a debugger session. Most production debugging settles into VSCode + the ExtendScript debugger.

When to graduate from a script

The signs that ExtendScript has hit its limit: you need a UI panel that stays visible while users work; you need to call a web API or do anything async; performance is a problem (ExtendScript is interpreted, single-threaded, and slower than native code); or you need to install on dozens of machines. At that point, look at CEP HTML panels for persistent UI, or the C++ SDK for speed and deep API access.

• Scripts use ExtendScript (.jsx), Adobe's JavaScript implementation for Creative Suite/Cloud applications.
• All scripts are wrapped in IIFEs (function() { ... })() to avoid polluting the global scope.
• Color conversions use standard mathematical formulas (ITU-R BT.709 for luminance).
• Path calculations use cubic Bezier interpolation for accurate curve measurements.
• File I/O operations use File and Folder objects from ExtendScript's cross-platform API.