Executing Scripts¶

The Illustrator interface includes a Scripts menu (File > Scripts) that provides quick and easy access to your scripts.

Scripts can be listed directly as menu items that run when you select them. See Installing scripts in the Scripts menu.

You can navigate from the menu to any script in your file system and then run the script. See Executing scripts from the Other Scripts menu item.

You also can have JavaScript scripts with a .jsx extension start automatically when you launch the application. For information, see Startup scripts (.jsx scripts only).

Installing scripts in the Scripts menu¶

To include a script in the Scripts menu (File > Scripts), save the script in the Scripts folder, located in the /lllustrator CC/Presets folder in your lllustrator CC installation directory.

The script’s filename, minus the file extension, appears in the Scripts menu.

Scripts that you add to the Scripts folder while Illustrator is running do not appear in the Scripts menu until the next time you launch Illustrator.

Any number of scripts can be installed in the Scripts menu. If you have many scripts, use subfolders in the Scripts folder to help organize the scripts in the Scripts menu.

Each subfolder is displayed as a separate submenu containing the scripts in that subfolder.

Executing scripts from the Other Scripts menu item¶

The Other Scripts item at the end of the Scripts menu (File > Scripts > Other Scripts) allows you to execute scripts that are not installed in the Scripts folder.

Selecting Other Scripts displays a Browse dialog, which you use to navigate to a script file. When you select the file, the script is executed.

Only files that are of one of the supported file types are displayed in the browse dialog. For details, see Scripting language support in Adobe Illustrator CC.

Startup scripts (.jsx scripts only)¶

JavaScript scripts with a .jsx file extension can be installed in one of two folders, so the scripts run automatically when you launch Illustrator and each time you run a script.

The folders are:

An application-specific startup scripts folder, which contains scripts for IllustratorCC
A general startup scripts folder, which contains scripts that run automatically when you start any Creative Cloud application

Application-specific startup scripts folder¶

You must place application-specific startup scripts in a folder named Startup Scripts, which you create in the Illustrator installation directory.

For example, when IllustratorCC is installed to its default location, you would create the Startup Scripts folder at the following location:

Windows	`C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe lllustratorCC\Startup Scripts\`
Mac OS	`/Applications/Adobe lllustrator CC/Startup Scripts/`

JavaScript scripts with a .jsx extension placed in the Startup Scripts folder run automatically when:

The application is launched.
Any JavaScript file is selected from the Scripts menu (File > Scripts).

General startup scripts folder¶

The general startup scripts folder contains scripts that run automatically when you start any Creative Cloud application.

You create the folder in the following location:

Windows	`/Program Files/Common Files/Adobe/Startup Scripts CC/Illustrator`
Mac OS	`/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Startup Scripts CC/Illustrator`

If a script in the general startup folder is meant to be executed only by Illustrator, the script must include the ExtendScript #target directive ( #target illustrator ) or code like the following

if (BridgeTalk.appName == "illustrator") {
  // continue executing script
}