Export Pages as PDFs?

InDesign
1

How can I export files through my plugin? When I check the App.ActiveDocument module, I see PdfExportPreferences, but no export function. I’d like to export as pdf in code(want to avoid dialog appering).

2

So while there are both PDFExportPreferences and Adobe PDF Presets, the export is a method of the document (and maybe other elements)

I believe it is either
.exportFile(ExportFormat.PDF_TYPE…
.asynchronousExportFile(ExportFormat.PDF_TYPE…

But that requires you to have the ExportFormat enumeration

I’ve not tried either in UXP yet, however.

3

Perfect okay, hey where does the ExportFormat.PDF_TYPE come from, it’s undefined when I try to call it in UDT.

4

the ExportFormat is an enumeration. When you see InDesign values starting with a capital letter, it’s likely an Enumeration - especially when the part after the . is in ALL_CAPS. And they have to be added to your UXP code. Perhaps there is an easier way, but I’m using something like this:

var { ExportFormat } = require {'indesign'};

there’s a boatload of them! My current list is:

var {
		AnchorPoint,
		ContentType,
		ExportFormat,
		FitOptions,
		LinkStatus,
		MeasurementUnits,
		PNGExportRangeEnum,
		PNGQualityEnum,
		RulerOrigin,
		VariableTypes,
	} = require(appName_s);

where appName_s is ‘indesign’

jsw

5

Crystal Clear, okay I’ll try it out

6

If anyone was looking for a plug-and-play solution to export a PDF of your currently open document, here you go:

let ID = require("indesign");
const exportPath = "/Users/username/Desktop/test.pdf"; // Change this to where you want the file to be exported

// if you just want the PDF exported with the most recent export preset, use this
app.activeDocument.exportFile(ID.ExportFormat.PDF_TYPE, exportPath);

// if you want the file exported with a specific pdf export preset, use this:
const presetName = "[High Quality Print]"; // Change this to whichever PDF Export preset you want to use
const pdfExportPreset = app.pdfExportPresets.itemByName(presetName);
app.activeDocument.exportFile(ID.ExportFormat.PDF_TYPE, exportPath, false, pdfExportPreset);

As an addendum, you can get a list of all the PDF preset names in your application with:

app.pdfExportPresets.everyItem().name

This code should all work from the debug console assuming you have a document open.

7

Dynamite, thanks a million