In the first part of this paper, we explored the basics of MathML and how it's incorporated into InDesign's Math Expressions panel. For script developers working with ExtendScript and/or UXP, the underlying SVG structure requires further investigation. This will lead us to intriguing issues and potential challenges…
Finally Fixing the “Show Hidden Characters” Menu Action [UPDATE]
February 15, 2025 | Snippets | en | fr
InDesign does not always show the hidden characters when you ask it to Show Hidden Characters! Why? Because the active document window may then be in some preview Screen Mode that prohibits the appearance of invisible characters. It's a bit silly, but that's how it is. Well, that's how it was until today. A simple startup script will solve this little paradox…
The Great Folder Fiasco: A Tale of InDesign 20.1 and macOS
January 31, 2025 | Snippets | en
As a developer or InDesign scripter, you know how important it is to stay up-to-date on the latest changes and issues affecting your work. Here we'll tackle an obscure, low-level issue affecting InDesign 20.1 on macOS…
SmartSort 1.21 for InDesign CC/CS6/CS5/CS4
December 04, 2024 | SmartSort | en | fr
SmartSort is a free InDesign script that sorts paragraphs or cells. It produces a lexicographic order consistent with the language considered. Version 1.21 fixes an issue related to case discrimination in various ‘tailored’ languages. It also deals with the letter ⟨ё⟩ in Russian.
InDesign Script: Show Me the Rivers
November 06, 2024 | Extras | en | fr
My colleague Mikhail Ivanyushin has just developed a nice utility that detects and highlights text ‘rivers’, these stacks of oblique or vertical spaces which form randomly within a typographic composition and “make it ugly.” Chasing such road accidents is a fetish sport. So if you don't have time to damage your eyes, here's a more comfortable solution…
HurryCover³ | Top 8 Best Tips & Tricks
October 26, 2024 | HurryCover | en | fr
As the user manual is still being finalized, there may be some little-known or underrated HurryCover 3 features that you may have missed. Want to save time when designing advanced book covers in InDesign? Here are the best shortcuts and hidden tricks…
InDesign 20 Goes to MathML — Part 1
October 18, 2024 | Snippets | en
The latest version of InDesign provides an internal solution for formatting math formulas. The underlying technology is a UXP WebView panel (Math Expressions) interacting with MathJax, a popular JavaScript package capable of processing maths in various formats. In this case, MathML as input and SVG as output…
Let's Play with JS Array Objects (in ExtendScript)
September 14, 2024 | Tips | en | fr
IdExtenso provides a new ArrayAs2D module that unleashes the hidden strengths of ExtendScript operators. With this toy, you can now write code that adds, multiplies, evaluates 2D points or vectors. For example, if you develop an InDesign script based on Bézier curves or working on polygonal paths, all calculations of points, distances, normalized vectors, etc. become wonderfully compact…
IndexMatic³ | Hidden Treasures of the ~format Directive
August 24, 2024 | IndexMatic³ | en | fr
IndexMatic users have long been faced with the following problem: when the client provides a list of index entries and adds extra information (birthdates, etc), how can the query list be adjusted accordingly? Introduced with iX³, the ~format directive offers an efficient solution…
Make `&` (almost) Behave as a Reference Operator
August 09, 2024 | Tips | en
Suppose you have an ExtendScript class (I mean, “prototype”) whose methods essentially return new object instances. As an obvious example, consider the concat or slice methods of Array.prototype. They always produce a new array rather than reworking the existing one. There are situations where you want to update the calling object —and make this explicit in the code— while still leveraging the methods already available…
HurryCover³ | Make Book Covers & Jackets in InDesign
July 05, 2024 | HurryCover | en | fr
It’s official! Building a book cover in InDesign will no longer be a geometric nightmare. The new edition of HurryCover is intended to be a definitive answer to the puzzle of complex templates: with or without flaps, with or without wrap, whether you need a hinge margin or a physical spine gap, the template generated by HurryCover³ remains 100% resizable, even if you have already set up the graphic elements of your artwork…
Indiscripts Temporary Archives [UPDATE]
July 02, 2024 | Extras | en | fr
Some scripts we designed in the past for InDesign CS/CS2/CS3—and even CS4—are no longer available or maintained. But, from time to time we still receive queries for these old files—such as IndexBrutal, IndexMatic, Claquos, Equalizer, HurryCover, BookBarcodeCS3… Here is a special repository dedicated to frustrated users.
Built-In String Features in IdExtenso
March 29, 2024 | Tips | en
If you are one of the happy users of the IdExtenso scripting framework for InDesign, you may have noticed — or overlooked! — that this enhanced version of ExtendScript provides many additional services, including in the primitive areas of the language. For example, any string immediately has functionalities like trim(), codePointAt(), toUTF8(), which aren't available in the root syntax. Let's take a closer look at this toolbox…
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