Zanelli Releases MultiPageImporter for Importing both PDF and INDD Files
Well, it’s time yet again for another episode of “cool (and free!) scripts that can save you bundles of time and energy.” At the beginning of the year, I wrote a post about Scott Zanelli’s PDFplacer script, which places each page of a PDF on to a different page of your InDesign document. That’s pretty cool, but within an hour, someone replied asking for more: The ability to import InDesign documents in the same way… then other folks asked for more features, too.
Scott, recently graduated and with too much time on his hands, complied. The new version of the script works with both PDF and INDD files. It’s also renamed MultiPageImporter. You can download it from GitHub.
Older Versions of MultiPageImporter
Original version from March, 2009, for CS4
Newer version (2.5), from March, 2010
Newest version (for CS5) from December 2010
There are detailed instructions in the folder (after it is unzipped).
Here’s a screen capture of the import dialog box:
But here’s my question: Why do you want to import all the pages of one InDesign document into another? How are you using this script to make your life easier? Just curious.
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Last week there was a post on the U2U forum from someone who had created a six panel brochure as individual pages and then tried to move them into spreads.
Every page had items bleeding off the edge. Of course, once they were in spreads those items bled into the other pages.
The best suggestion I could come up with was to create a new file with the spreads and then place the entire InDesign document page by page into it.
Another use would be for calendars where you could do the entire vertical spread as single pages and then place into a new file for imposition.
I had 30 book covers to create, then they needed to go into our publications catalogue. It was only 30 indesign pages to import to each page, it didn’t take long, but this script would have it done in no time.
i install it,but when runnning the script it always pops up a nag screen saying ‘The “Verdana” font is required but not installed. The script cannot run unless it is installed. Quitting…’
i do have a verdana font installed,so i am open for any suggestion?!
oh,im using mac osx 10.4.11, and indesign cs2 version 4.0.5
To answer David’s question…
I produce two newspapers, and their respective printers call for PDFs produced to fit the image area of their output templates — which is to say, cropped to the edges of the inner margins.
Not wanting to design pages that way, I have kept the document with the proper margins.
With one paper, I use the AdobePDF driver to set up a custom page size that outputs the PDFs to their trim requirements, since InDesign’s PDF Export offers no controls for adjusting the size of the page.
With the other paper, a tabloid with many more pages than the first, I’ve recently experimented with creating another document, sized to the trim, importing the original InDesign document, and then using InDesign’s export features.
This script looks like a promising way to automate some of the drudgery there, and I deeply appreciate and admire Scott’s efforts.
i think the anwser was not intended for me,but thanx anyway:)
-i’ve opened script and as i find,it’s only for CS3,so it’ my bad for not noticing/not working.
————————————————–
to all on this site – keep on the good work.
I work at a company that designs grammar school textbooks. Every page of the student edition gets reduced and placed in the teacher’s edition. In some books that can be over a thousand pages. I’m eager to try this script.
Dumb question, but is there anyway to do this with images? We often import 60-80 images into a templated layout and want each image on its own page, centered on the page. Loading all the images into the cursor was a great workflow enhancement with CS3, but we still have to click on the page for each image, navigate the next page, click again — 80 times. I like the idea of this script, but is there a similar workflow for simple PSD or JPG images?
Brooks
@Brooks: Interesting idea, but your need is a little different. The script takes a single multi-page file and splits it up… You want to take a bunch of independent files and place them. One idea, though: Use Acrobat Pro to merge all the images together into a single PDF (using File > Combine Files) and then use this script to make the InDesign file out of that PDF file.
Brooks,
The ImageCatalog script which comes with inDesign can do what you want. Another option is the Bridge Contact Sheet script.
To answer David Blatner’s question:
I work at a Chicago company that publishes newspapers in different neighborhoods, and a few of our sections are shared. Once the shared sections are laid out, they need to be placed onto the correct pages for each paper. We’re currently using Layout Zone and snippets, but these methods can’t deal with text that jumps to another spread. You lose your automated next page/previous page jump lines, and the text frames are no longer linked. As a work around, I’ve been grouping the jump page elements and dragging it onto the workspace of the opening page, and then I’m able to select all elements of the layout when exporting, retaining my jumps. If this script solves these issues, it’ll be awesome cause it’ll eliminate workflow steps and avoid the additional files produced when exporting shared versions.
One little options that is missing in that marvelous script and also in the native place command in Indesign, is the ability to place in “Reverse Order” and “Rotate 180 degree”. This could help a lot when trying to build document that shall be printed “tumbled” or “head-to-tail”. Meaning half a book is printed one way, and the other half the other way when the book is flipped upside down.
I installed this on my PC at work, and it sometimes gives me the annoying error message of “error:this would cause one or more objects to leave the pasteboard,” and doesn’t work. I’m importing the same test file into different files, and it sometimes works, and sometimes doesn’t. Oddly enough, it doesn’t work when I try to place the test file onto a document made from the same template as the the test file, but it does work when I place it onto a file made from a completely different template. Any ideas?
I hate that pasteboard error. I’ve gotten that error in other situations for no explicable reason, and so have my collegeauges. We all hate it because we’ve never been able to understand why it happens.
We publish 100 page books that are produced as seperate spreads at a time so that we can have various files out to various dept stages. In the end, I end up opening 50 IN design docs one at a time and saving out two single PDFs that need to be renamed page 1 and 2 for example. IS there an automated way to drop my Indesign docs on a droplet that will automatically open and write the two pDFs automatically?
I have been asked to recreate two books that are now out of print. One is 2000 pages and the other is 1000 pages.
I’ve been asked to scan the pages and drop them page by page into a new document.
What is the best way for me to achieve this?
Thanks for this, it saves us bundles of time :D
Does anyone know a way to batch import images into Indesign, each one in a different page ?
The same ideal as zanelli’s script, but for a folder of images (JPEG, TIFF, PSD etc) instead of PDF/INDD files.
Great! Thanks a lot!!
Thanks for this, it saves us bundles of time
I do this frequently for booklet printing on books that bind to the top for mockups and short run output.
This script has saved us loads of time as we produce technical manuals. In an effort to save paper and printing costs we started printing our manuals 4 up on 11×17 sheets of paper, then cropping and binding. This has made our life a lot easier as before we had to place each page by hand. Thanks!!
Can this script place multipage PDFs in a “Cut and Stack” fashion? If not, is there one out there that will?
I sometimes have to use a small printer that doesn’t have this feature, and making a new ID doc, and modifying spreadsheets for Data-Merge can get time consuming … any thoughts?
TO: Koby Goldberg
You can import a batch of images using data merge.
You can even format the image frame with styles that will stay put.
There is a great video tutorial on this by the InDesigner
I’m looking for a script that does the multipage pdf import but that will import them in a text zone.
Does anyone has seen one like this ?
Will this work with CS5?
@Alan Bell,
it will but you need to modify the scripts parameters for Crop Types. at least I had to to get it to work with Media Crop Types
I am using cs5 and i need to place a 299 pg pdf file. i used the default javascript ‘placemmultipagepdf” to place the entire pdf file in the document, however the pdf doesnt place with my document setup with specific bleed requirements. nor can i select all the objects at once and adjust it.
i download this multipage importer script. i put the jsx file in my scripts folder. but when i would go click and try to place the pdf in a new document with this script , it gives me an error/
Error number: 55
Error string: object does not support the property or method ‘cropcontent’
engine: main
file: /applications/adobe indesign cs5/scripts/scripts panel/samples/javascript/multipageimporter2.5.jsx
Line: 124
Source: var croptypes = [pdfcrop.cropcontent, pdf crop.cropart, pdfcrop.croppdf, pdfcrop.croptrim,pdfcrop.cropbleed, pdfcrop.cropmdia];
what am i doing wrong? or what other options do i have?
Thanks in advance
Mya,
I had the same error today in CS5. It is a version issue. See @Alan Bell above. I don’t know about you, but looking at script code scares me. I’ll wait for a CS5 version to surface!
I thought maybe I was on to something with this passage from the download manual (page 8), but no matter what I did to the pdf, I still got the error when placing the pdf using the script in ID:
Crop to
The ?Crop to? pop-up menu allows the choice of how the imported pages are cropped when they are placed.
When importing PDFs, select one of these five choices: Art, Crop, Trim, Bleed or Media. Not every PDF file will have all five crop type entries. If the script gives a PDF Placement Error, it means that the PDF file being placed does not have the crop type chosen in the ?Crop to? pop-up menu. This can be corrected by either choosing a different crop type or opening the PDF in Acrobat and performing a Save As…
@Mya and Joan
I just figured this out from a german forum (I love google translate :D ) so I thougth I should share it with you. Call it a christmas present ;-)
If you open the script from march 2010 (v.2.5) in notepad or Extendscript Toolkit (I don’t know if you get it in any other than Master CS5) just search for “PDFCrop.cropContent” (without the “s) and your first hit should be line 124 which start with:
“var cropTypes = [PDFCrop.cropContent, …”.
Just delete “PDFCrop.cropContent” and then on the line under you delete “Bounding Box,” so the line looks like this:
var cropStrings = [“Art”, “Crop”, …
Then you just use Save As and call the file something like “MultipageImporter2.5 CS5″ and add it like a normal script. Restart InDesign and you are up and running :D
I hope this post is understandable, just found out there are some english words I’m missing. Like what is the name of the symbol: ” ?
@OMPOPO aahh! youre amazing! thank you and merry christmas to you as well! haha
ps. @Joan, the way Ompopo explained in simple detail how to edit the script is NOT hard, i promise you could do it. i say this because i did it and i have NEVER edited a script before. try it, it wont hurt. =)
THANKS AGAIN!
what an awesome forum!!
Mya + OMPOPO
Bravely entering a whole new world! Worked like a charm. Thanks for the fix and best of the season to you both!
Thanks for the help! I updated the script to include ompopo’s CS5 fixes, tested it (seems to be working fine), and added a link to that version at the top of the post.
So CS5 users, you don’t have to edit anything in the script, just download the CS5-friendly version.
I downloaded the newest version for CS5 but could not find the instructions after unzipped. Should there be any?
Thanks a lot for this script, I have been using indesign for about 5 years and i miss the feature of laying out an entire pdf document automatically which is why i previously kept a copy of indesign cs, because i deal with magazine and booklet formatting. But, I can remove mr.cs now ;-). Now all i need is a script to allow me to output a new document within indesign cs5 with all marks like was possible with inbooklet in cs2. Again, another reason why I keep a copy of cs2.
Thanks a Mil
Thanks so much for the script, it works great!
I am trying to produce a 2up document (spread 1 = page 1×2, spread 2 = page 2 x 2, etc.) Is there a way that I can use this script (or another 1) to acomplish this?
Thanks to anyone that was trying to answer my previous question. I have actually answered it on my own.
*Create the master doc to final specs (i.e., 5.5 x 8.5).
*Open a new doc (in my case letter landscape [can be used for 2-6 up])
*Run the script with relative to spine unchecked and the position that you want your copy placed in, marked in the grid. (Do this as many times as needed.)
you can create a 2up doc in minutes rather than an hour or 2 depending on your master doc size. Saves me a TON of time and frustration.
Chance less following scripts like Import multiple indesign pages..
Thank you so so much
Hello. thanks for the script. i have a PDF File with 500 pages. The script works perfect until page 150, then Indesign cs5 Crash, every time. i dont know why.
Ugh! I finally got the script to work but I can’t seem to edit my text in INDD. I checked the security settings on my PDF and it had none.
Anyone have this experience and/or know what I can do to edit my new INDD doc. I was so excited to see it work and now I’m back in :(
Thanks.
ps In my layers panel the entire book show on one layer and still has the pdf extension…my layer is not locked and I cannot figure this one out. Anyone? thanks.
Penny, were you thinking this script would enable ID to edit your PDF? It doesn’t — InDesign is not a PDF editor.
You need a commercial tool such as PDF2ID to actually convert your PDF to ID.
Thank you for your response. My next question is, what would be the need to convert the PDF to INDD if you can’t edit it. Why would you want to convert ?
Thanks so much, Penny
Penny, the above script doesn’t convert anything at all. It merely places PDFs into an InDesign document as images, just like you can do with TIFFs, JPEGS, and other image file formats. It has nothing to do at all with editability. Or “converting”, for that matter.
This particular script is very useful in our office workflow, because at times we get “print-ready” PDFs from inexperienced users and we have to do stuff such as putting several files together, add page numbering, make all page sizes the same and add front/back matter. All of it can be done with Acrobat Pro (with added help from Enfocus Pitstop), but … it’s so much easier within InDesign.
And if the author spots a typo on one of his pages, we simply ask a new PDF.
Thank you so much for your comprehensive response. I understand now.
Is there anyway to edit a PDF to add style, etc.
I am converting a BLOG to a PDF to make a book. The blog outputs as a PDF. I have seen software that does this but at this point, its cost prohibitive for me.
Any ideas or suggestion?
Thanks again for you prompt and helpful responses,
Penny
Penny, as Jongware pointed out, you would need PDF2ID to convert the PDF to editable objects (to actually edit inside them). Other methods: you could open the document in Adobe Illustrator, edit them inside Adobe Acrobat, or use one of the many PDF editing tools on the market (do a google search for “edit PDF”).
@Koby Goldberg
You can use and adjust the following script to place multiple images on different pages.
https://toolbox.brunoherfst.com/?p=1382
thank you very much for the script.
Though its a little hard to believe for all that cash, InDesign doesn’t support this natively.
Sometimes I wonder about how half baked a lot of Adobe products are, not to mention needing to crack open the manual for things that are completely intuitive in other programs just by looking at the screen.
Love the script. Using it to imposition pages from a PDF so that the file can be printed and then bound into books.
I am having a an issue where is crashes after 330ish (332 to 336) pages have been inserted. This happens on multiple window PC’s (All windows7) and all of them have Indesign CS5.
If I break the file into 300 page pieces they work fine.
The error message is useless: “Indesign has stopped working”
Thanks for the script and thanks for the help.
Dave
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. Just saved me from having to place 490 pages and either stepping and repeat all or placing them again. So, saved me from having to place a total of 980 pages. Great script!
Howdy,
I downloaded the CS5 friendly version that was referenced in the comments above and I can only import the first page of my PDF document. Whatever I try I only seem to be able to import the first page. First, I tried launching the script and loading the PDF. Then, I launched inDesign and made 10 blank pages to import the PDF. In each instance only the first page imported.
The Multipage Importer dialog box won’t allow me to change the number of pages to import. (i.e. Import page 1 of 1.) I get the error message “The end Page Number must be less than 1”
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks
Unfortunately, I have been out of the printing industry for over three years now and thus do not have access to the latest ID version and Mac OS (I am now a Microsoft Dynamics AX developer). Because of this, I am sorry to say that further updates to fix the current problems will not come to fruition (at least from me). As this script is released under the GNU license, others may or have already, made updates to keep it working in current and future versions of ID.
I apologize for any heartache this may cause now or in the future.
SZ
I’m importing hundreds of Korean Docs that came in as PDF’s and needed to be aligned a certain way. Can’t tell you how much time this script saved. Thank you.
Is there a way to get this to work with importing illustrator files (with bleeds)?
The default import scripts work fine if there is no bleed, however, there are no options for alignment, which forces the bleed to align to the artboard.
Hi,
Just tested it and it worked great in ID CS5!!!
Is there a way to have it insert the pdfs on the even pages only? Or maybe there’s a way to make InDesign add an empty page between each imported pdf?
All the very best ,
Daniel
@Daniel:
Check out this adobe forum thread to add an empty page for every second page:
https://forums.adobe.com/message/2310029
I have a 60 page book (indb) file that I now want to print to booklet. I have followed all the advice above. Works wonderfully BUT I cannot place spreads. The mpi looks at each page as a single page. When I try to place single pages (vs spreads) Acrobat ads a bleed to the inside (spine) causing overlap, even though I set it up with no “inside” bleed. There is a lot of crossover this magazine. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.
Does anyone know how to make this script work in CS6? I only get an error at the moment… :-(
Thanks for share, you saved my life body
Hi There Scott
Any chance of a CS6 iteration :-) ?
A few runtime errors in CS6 and no other installs on this Mac.
Cheers
Alastair
@Alastair: Can you describe the errors you’re getting? I’m running this in CS6 and it seems to work fine! (Make sure you’re using the latest version above.)
Yes I am using the “newest” script. I can’t find a way to get it into InDesigns Scripts Palette which is a drag so I’m just running it from ExtendScript Toolkit.app.
First error is line 31:
if(appVersion >= 5)
I’m getting a falsely evaluation and the dialogue that says “Features used in this script will only work in InDesign CS3 or later.”
I don’t even know what that line is doing there if this is for ID5?!
Next Line to error after I clear error is line 124:
var cropTypes = [PDFCrop.cropContent, PDFCrop.cropArt, PDFCrop.cropPDF, PDFCrop.cropTrim, PDFCrop.cropBleed, PDFCrop.cropMedia];
error: PDF crop is undefined.
It’s an output from an Powerpoint file and I didn’t create the PDF, nor can replicated even though I have the PPT file I can’t Print it as PDF on the correct page size. I hate PPT with a small passion.
I’ll try another file wouldn’t surprise me in slightest if MS PPT made a bad PDF file.
Oh I miss read that first error it’s the line 39 following that if statement which is just telling me I’m on a recent (>= 3) version of ID (thanks? for telling me).
exit(-1);
error: exit is not a function.
commented out the line.
next error is more serious
PDFcrop is undefined. Am I lacking the ID application context that defines (declares) this variable? Is this because I’m running the script from ExtendScript Toolkit not from inside ID?
Guess I need to know how to get a script into the palette if that’s the case.
I copied the script into ID scripts folder at same level as the “Indic Preferences.js” script and restated ID (just in case) but it didn’t show up. Know palette menu item to add a script. What to do??
I just found the default install sample script (Applescript) of same name and it ran fine. I’m wondering why I got errors from running it in ExtendScript Toolkit?
@Alastair: if the script doesn’t show up in the Scripts panel you must be placing it in a wrong location. Try step 4 of How to Install a Script in InDesign ...
(The version stuff you were wondering about is because Adobe restarted numbering with InDesign CS, which followed InDesign 2.0. Internally, your version 6.0 is numbered 8.0, as you can see in the small print in your About InDesign dialog.)
Thanks Jongware. That name is familiar from somewhere, Apple forums maybe?
I knew there was another ~/Library/ directory I need to look in not App. Support but Preferences ? of course.
Thanks for pointer on version numbers, forgot that.
Script runs from Scripts Panel and errors on same line.
“PDFcrop is undefined.”
Line 124: var cropTypes = [PDFCrop.cropArt, PDFCrop.cropPDF, PDFCrop.cropTrim, PDFCrop.cropBleed, PDFCrop.cropMedia];
Actual it says
Error Number: 55
Error String: Object does not support the property or method ‘cropContent’.
@Alastair: You can see how to install scripts into the scripts panel here: https://creativepro.com/how-to-install-scripts-in-indesign.php
The best method is to right-click on the folder in the Scripts panel and choose Open.
But the fact that you found the same script in the Sample folder confuses me. InDesign’s samples folder ships with one called PlaceMultipagePDF, but that’s not as powerful as MultipageImporter. But if it works for you, then great!
Thanks for the script! It works much better than the one CS5.5 comes with.
The Newest Version Listed as “Newest version (for CS5) from December 2010” worked well on the Mac Version of InDesign CS6. FYI
This script is very close to what i was looking for, but
the indesign files that imported aren’t editable. Am i doing something wrong or is that how the files get placed?
@Samantha: Importing InDesign or PDF files into another InDesign file treats them as graphics, so they are not editable. You can use PDF2ID from recosoft.com to convert PDF files into editable objects; or the free layoutzone from automatication.com to convert placed InDesign files into editable InDesign files.
This script is great,
I use it a ton because I am always combining PDF files into Indesign.
There is 1 comment I have which I think would be a great improvement if it is fixed:
The script by default always places the file starting from the first page.
It would be much more convenient if the script would place it on the ‘current’ page by default (the same way the place tool of the program works), and then if one wishes to change it, he can.
Thanks!
There was one more feature that would be great to include:
When importing a file in the middle of a document, the script can give an option whether to add pages for the import, or to import over the existing pages.
This will greatly enhance the script,
avoiding the need to count the amount of pages you are adding, and actually adding them into your file.
Thanks again for the great script!
Davey
@Davey
I too have used this script for ages, it is a fantastic script and am surprised that the default for placing PDFs isn’t as good as this script.
Nevertheless, there is no need to add pages to your file prior to running the script – as the placer puts the PDFs in, it automatically generates new pages if they aren’t there already.
Also, the script hasn’t been compiled (can still be edited in textedit etc) and there are instruction lines throughout the script so it is still possible to customize this script.
Thanks Colin.
It looks like I wasn’t clear with my idea.
I do know that it adds its own pages? but that is only if there aren’t any afterwards.
But lets say I am on page 22 of a 100 page document and I want to add a 3 page doc. after page 22. This script will place the new doc on top of page 22,23,24.
What I was suggesting was that in such a circumstance, the script should ask if you would like to insert pages or place atop the current ones (which itself is very useful many times)
Thanks again,
David
P.S. regarding the page#, I did change the script already. I would put it up here to share it, but I don’t know how!
Will not allow me to place only a certain number of pages. It says “PDF pages could not be counted all pages will be placed,” or something like that. But then about 325 pages into a 646 page document it crashes… but since I cant start on a certain page of the PDF I have to start over again. Looks like Im back to doing it all manually *click click click click click.* Any suggestions?
Brilliant! This works in InDesign CS6 too. I just had to copy the unzipped .jsx file into my User scripts folder.
I used it to import a PDF into InDesign so I could add some header/footer information to a third party PDF.
I unzipped the folder but only see the the .jsx file…where are the instructions?
Hello,
Found this script very useful.
My workflow is :
* I have jpeg files (mostly 100+).
* They are the size of 2 page (1 spread per file)
* I need to place them on either even or odd page (aligned Top-Left).
Currently I?m doing this work manually.
Need help to automate this.
Thanks and regards.
Thank you SO much for this! It reminds me of some of the functionality I once had with a PDF page-imposition application called Quite Imposing. I loved that program, but it’s a costly one to procure. Your script did the trick for me! I needed to import a multi-page PDF into InDesign that would then share the same master page among all of them. This spared me quite a bit of time. Thank you for your wonderful contribution!
David thank you, thank you….
What a life saver for me – This Script was soooo needed useful. I wish I could have helped in some way to develop this utility because I have wanted this functionality for several years. Let me tell you why.
I have somehow gotten into scanning old handwritten journals. The latest one was a 50 year old journal written in blue ink – I had to contrast-levels adjust every scanned page and make edits to smudges, etc. Needless to say the 400 pages took me over two months to scan and I was so wanting to be done with it! The last thing I wanted to do was place every page individually into an Indesign document, Yet I had to add space for binding margins and a comfortable trim edge.
The Multi-Page Importer was the time saver I needed. The problem I ran into while using it was that when clinking the option to center each PDF on the page it only centered top-to-bottom aligning to the very left edge of the page. This was of course remedy by using the offset X and Y. Maybe this issue has been addressed and I have not red about it in the lengthy blog. Anyway the job was made some easy with this script.
Thanks so much for sharing your intelligence with the rest of the common world.
THANKS A LOT!
Worked perfectly and easy!
I needed to place 150 pages due to some font problem. I’d be inhuman to do it 1 by 1.
this script worked great for ne (InDesign CS4), but had some quality issues with the imported PDF.
the 198page PDF is hi-res output, but when imported into InDesign it is very low quality and all text and images are very pixellated.
Anyone else have this issue?
Fighters are saved by the bell but I have been saved by this script!!
Quick reply to your question as to why you would want to import and indd doc into another; I’m working on a detailed installation manual for an engine product that is being edited as I assemble it by two different teams. (Yes, probably not the best scenario….I know). I also realize I should probably be using Frame Maker, several reasons I’m not, but probably should.
So I have a few different versions of different steps of the manual: ex: steps 1-6 are one document (although, now there’s several versions), steps 6-20 another document (with multiple versions) etc. So when I want to make a PDF of the whole manual steps 1?25 or whatever, I use this script to compile all the versions into one master document. And when I make edits to one of the other versions, I just open the master, update my links, and I have the latest version of the complete manual.
Yes, I understand there’s probably a better way of doing it, but for how I’m set up now, this script saved me some headache. Virtual high-five!
hey scott, thanks for that script, its very useful.. one question:
is there a way to place multiple pages on ONE indesign document page?! i try to place a 330-pages-pdf into indesign, the format of the pdf pages is 85x55mm each, the indesign document format is 320x450mm… i want to place 21 pdf pages on 1 indesign page.. is that possible?!
thanks in advance, greetings from vienna, austria!
tobi
@Tobi: Here’s a technique for you: https://creativepro.com/place-multiple-pages-of-a-pdf-in-a-grid-in-indesign.php
hey david, that was fast! i didnt know that feature, and im working with indesign for years now!! thank you so much for your help, have a nice day david!
tobi
Thank you so much for this! I’m running it in CS6 and it works like a charm! This will definitely save me a lot of time for my current project!
My only suggestion after using it a little bit is on the page numbering. I have a lot of my documents in sections with different numbering so I end up having to count the pages to figure out where I want them. I would love to be able to enter in page “XI” and have it start in that section.
Just a thought, but honestly this is the biggest time saver already so I hate to be picky. Thanks for all your hard work!
My customer supplied me with a 2,879 page .pdf – each page containing unique content – and asked me to add a static data field (in this case, the current date) and then print. This script saved me tons and tons of work!! Thank you,
Shelly
This looks like a great script. I am using version 2.5 since I have Adobe CS4 on my Windows machine.
I have a question about MultiPageImporter which I hope you can answer. My desired workflow:
– create editable .PDF artwork in Adobe Illustrator featuring oversized graphics which go beyond the document ‘Page’ and into the margins
– import this artwork into Adobe InDesign for printing. Including all margin artwork, which will be trimmed off during the printing/book-making process. Leaving nice ‘bleed’ artwork, with graphics right to the edge of the paper.
So far MultiPageImporter seems to just grab the artwork from the ‘page’ area of my PDF files. It doesn’t import the excess artwork which was in the ‘margin’ area surrounding the PDF page.
My question is: is there an automated way (using MultiPageImporter or another tool) that I can import the full oversized artwork from Illustrator to InDesign?
Thanks a trillion!
Works like a charm on my cs6.
Thank you for providing details on this import sequence. The script has been invaluable to us with a lost project! We were able to save roughly 40 hours of work on a lost project through this process. Seriously, thank you!
Works well in CC too.
This works like a treat on CS6 on Mac.
It’s just saved me a load of time!!
I’m importing multi-page pdf sections of a magazine into one large InDesign file so I can Export it all as one. I know I could have just done that with Acrobat but there’s far greater control over compression and cropping via InDesign.
Would be great if multiple files could be selected.
Hi Ajay, I’m runnning cs6 and have the .jsx file and am wondering how to install this??
The instructions are not included in the updated version unfortunately, but they are inside the previous version.
“Installation
If you are working on a restricted system (i.e. Your user account doesn’t have admin privileges), there is the possibility that the preference file will not be
able to be updated. To prevent getting permission errors after the script is finished importing pages or to eliminate the possibility that changes made to check
boxes, offsets or percentages do not carry over the next time the script is launched, it is now recommended to install the script in your user folder/directory.
The easiest way to install the scripts is to launch InDesign, open the scripts panel, right-click (PC and Mac) or control-click (Mac) on the “User” folder in
the script pallet and choose ‘Reveal in Explorer’ (PC) or ‘Reveal in Finder’ (Mac). Copy or move the script into the directory/folder that is opened.”
THANK YOU! This was the biggest time saver EVER. Works great in CS6.
Worked like a charm. Saved me tons of time!!
I had to compile many multi-page pdfs into a new pdf with a newly created, interactive table of contents. Each page had to include an icon to link back to the new TOC and I had to design several new pages and section divider pages in InDesign to incorporate into one giant pdf. Importing the pdfs into In Design allowed me to use the master pages to handle new page-numbering and the linking icons quickly and then export as one big pdf.
With the time I saved on the importing, I had more time to design. THANK YOU!
Thank you. I had to import an 86 page document which would have taken a lot of time. This worked just fine for me in CS 6 for Mac.
This script is absolutely amazing. Thank you so much!
Hello! I love this script, and have used it a lot. However, this evening, the script just stopped working. I ran it several times successfully, and then upon opening a new document, when I try to run the script, it just hangs. I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled several times, but it won’t work again. I double click the script, it brings me to the dialog box for the place, but when I choose the file, it just hangs, and I have to ESC to get out of it. Any thoughts?
Many thanks Zanelli! This one really helped me out. Especially importing indesign documents. When changing the source Indesign doc it updates the individual imported pages in the destinydocument as well!
Love the script.
I am trying to import a 2000 page document and get an error about fonts on every page. I’ve tryed flattening the fonts in the pdf,everything I can think of to embed them, but still get the message. For a few pages it is no big deal, but for 2000 pages, it will take forever to keep ignoring the error as the pages import. Any ideas?
Hi
Can i use this for Illustrator?
In that case, how?
Save your Illustrator file as a PDF. This script should then work.
How do I use this? I can’t find on InDesign how to install external scripts.
I would need to convert a document from B5 to A4, and according https://forums.adobe.com/thread/960226 this could be doable by creating a new InDesign file in A4 and then importing the old document in it with your script.
I need to know how to install this script, too. If you find out anything can you please post here? I’ll do the same. Thanks!
Rachel
Found something – seems to have worked for me… good luck!
https://creativepro.com/how-to-install-scripts-in-indesign.php
Awesome script, thank you! The only thing is that the text in of the Epubs I created, from a 230 page PDF, seems to have the look that it was scanned and copied using an old copy machine. Is anyone else seeing that? Is there a setting that can be tweaked (in the pdf, in the script, etc) that can fix that?
I’m using it because of Adobe’s inability to address the bug caused in “Print Booklet”.
If you are like me, enjoy making off-page sizes to enhance your book, DO NOT USE THE PAGE TOOL TO CHANGE PAGE SIZES. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO USE THE PRINT BOOKLET FEATURE LATER ON, TO COMPILE YOUR PRINT SPREADS.
You will get the error specifying that you cannot print the booklet because of multiple page sizes. Even if you fix all your page sizes to be exactly the same, it will still produce the error, because this is a software bug. And Bob’s your uncle.
Exactly what I’m dealing with right now with CS6. So what is the solution? I feel like my brain is about to explode.
I don’t see that error. At what point do you see it? You should be able to reset all your pages to the same size, but make sure they match the File > Page Setup size, and make sure you change the size of all master pages, too. If the problem persists, start a new Forum thread about this (probably much better than trying to figure it out in comments here).
Kudos, well done! Great time saver for my Conversion from DIN A4 to A5, worked smoothly…
Thanks so much!
How can I import PDFs only on odd or even pages in InDesign with MultiPageImporter2.5?
The problem is i have two pdf files, each has 2000 pages. I want to import one pdf on odd pages and the other on even pages. Is that possible?
Hi Kepano,
I was in the same situation last year and did a quick hack of the script to make this possible.
Basically, I added the option to skip every 2nd page when placing. So you just have to watch out which page you start on and enable this option.
Good question is how to make this available to you…
@all: is there some kind of general repository where we could centrally collect updated versions? Mine is based on the 2.5JJB version…
Cheers,
Mike
Can you also import spreads ?
so so so thanks!
you saved my life!
Is there a plug in that does the same from Photoshop Layers or Layer comps?
I have a scanned book that is divided into odd and even pages as separate files.. Is there a way to import them on a single idd file? so that I can have the final book arranged???
Hi Sara,
last year, I made a small addition to the script that would allow for this.
You basically have to import every second page (new option in my version) and start at the correct page number in the original doc.
Then you import the other second pages in a second run.
It’s a quick hack but it worked when we needed it back then.
I have uploaded it on my google drive account – would prefer sharing it on this site though:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0ByBLPJL93nQCVXg1cUVFeUswRmM&usp=sharing
Cheers,
Mike
Hi Mike,
Thank you very much Mike. I tried and it works perfectly.
Hi sorry bit of a blond here, I have downloaded the pdf multi page file script and it is open like a program with all the script in it, but how do I put it into my indesign, !! where is scripts on it?
Hello,
Is there a way to specify which pages the file gets placed on? Such as pages 1, 3, 5, etc.
I’m trying to number a 2 part NCR Form with indesign. Not for any important reason, I just have time and would like to figure it out.
Scott’s script and Mike’s script won’t download on my computer. I have Indesign CC and none of these scripts work for this. If Indesign CC has an added function for placing multi-page pdf files in an InDesign document I can’t find it. If someone knows how to do this for InDesign CC I would appreciate a post which details how to do this.
Thank you.
I can’t really comment on CC compatibilty as I’m still on CS6.
One thing I remember reading is that Adobe made substantial changes to the user interface part of scripting in CC. So maybe that’s breaking things now.
That said, I’ll need a working version of this in CC for sure. I would even make some effort to update it once I make the switch.
Thanks for the reply, Mike. Later this morning I called Adobe Tech support and the person showed me where the “place multipage pdf” script was located in InDesign cc.
It is” >window
>utility
>scripts
>samples
>java script
> place multipage pdf
However, when I try to place the multipage pdf in my document with the margins which I set, it is place outside the document. I called Adobe tech support again about this and nobody knew how to fix this. I was able to do this in Pagemaker 15 years ago! There certainly must be a way now in 2014. Could you, Mike, or anybody help me with this problem?
Thanks in advance!
If I remember correctly, the original script did nothing except pacing the file at some default position. I assume was the original reason for creating this version in the first place.
Sadly, there isn’t much I can do at the moment as it’s pretty much impossible to update the script for CC without having access to it.
Cheers,
Mike
Hi,
I am using cs6 on pc. I have downloaded the multiple page importer but when I select the number of pages to place, I get a message that ‘the end page number must be 1 or less’. Does anyone know how I can fix this?
Thanks in Advance.
Is there any way to number the pages or have it use your master page setup to number the pages as you import them? I hope I’m explaining it right. lol
Brilliant!!! Thanks a millions!! :D
importing scans into an indesign document.
THANK YOU!!!
Hi I have downloaded the script, opened it it looks like a program so I saved it to my desk top and then copied it to the scripts file, samples and also the javascript place. But how to I ignite it to make it work? or I have I done it wrong.. beginner but desperate here thanks Debs
Hugo: See this comment earlier… https://creativepro.com/zanelli-releases-multipageimporter-for-importing-both-pdf-and-indd-files.php/comment-page-3#comment-599811
thank you, thank you!!!!
Hi All,
In de latest version of indesign CC there is already an integrated (java)script named PlaceMultiPagePDF.
I tried that one, and it didn’t work. It placed pages everywhere but where I wanted them.
Can somebody please let me know if they could get this to work, and how they got this to work?
Thank you.
The script doesn’t work anymore. I get a javascript error.
The error number is 55
There’s something wrong in rule 124.
Is there someone who has a solution?
Love this script.
Helped me to import a 62Mb pdf in InDesign and compress it while exporting it into a 5 Mb pdf.
Thanks David/ Zanelli!
I’ve been trying to figure out how to get the pages where I want them. I have two columns. Did you have to make many adjustments in order to get the pages where you want them using the mulitpage importer script?
Thank you, Bill Helmer
Is there a version available for CC?
The CS5 version is working fine for me under CC (Mac OS 10.10, CC2014.2).
Install here:
/Applications/Adobe InDesign CC 2014/scripts/Scripts Panel/
Seems like the script has some compatibility issues in CC – I haven’t tested it myself but I’d be willing to have a look. (It’s a matter of time though)
I really hope that it doesn’t suffer from Adobe’s decision to totally re-do the user interface parts of their scripting. There were quite a few comments from experienced developers hinting that it’s pretty unusable.
Will let you know how it goes.
This is working great in Adobe CC 2014. Okay, there is one more option that I desperately need. Can someone brilliant edit the script so that there is an option to duplicate each page of the document 2, 4, 6, or 12 times per sheet with specified alignment and spacing. This would make this script perfect! That way if you’re setting a file up for print, (such as business cards, or post cards, etc.) you can gang-up page 1 two times on the first page and page 2 two times on the second page, etc. Does that make sense? Saves money and sets things up for smaller printers that don’t have that knowledge, skill level, software etc. Just makes nice n-up files ready for print.
Please do not say that InDesign is not an imposition software or designers need to go to the print shop to learn. We are not all in San Francisco or New York where life is just wonderful and everyone knows their place.
the script doesn’t work for me in CC2014. I don’t even get an error message, just a beep and then nothing. Did you do anything special to get yours to work?
I didn’t need to do anything special to get it to work – just installed the script and used it like in previous versions.
Did you check with a relatively simple pdf that is known-good?
The only problems I ever had with the script were caused by broken input files or when placing the pdf would position it outside of the InDesign scratch area.
Cheers,
Mike
I’m a prepress manager and constantly find myself in need of work arounds for client’s troublesome files. I had a 92 page PDF of which fonts were giving me fits. I find that sometimes placing it in InDesign and exporting a new PDF with my preferred settings works miracles. I just came upon this post because I wanted to do just that with this 92 page PDF. Worked great and couldn’t be geeking out any more, that I found this! Thank you, thank you!
The scripts have been working great, except if i update something in the imported PDF, Indesign does not update the imported pages correctly. Is there a way for the ‘modified image’ PDF to update to the original imported page numbers?
Disregard. User Error.
In answer to your question David, I use this for impositions for digital print: the offset/scaling option is a lifesaver.
– A4 document printed double sided for wire binding: 2 up on A3, and I’ve halved my click rate
– 6up etc raffle tickets, particularly with numbering
– any imposition for a book that’s smaller than media size; for example an A4>A5 book printed 2up on A3/SRA3 – the longer it gets, the worse manual imposition is.
If I supply my printer with files they can literally drop on their RIP, I save on fees, and they like me a bit more.
Still working in CC2014, what a great bit of code to make our job easier.
Does this script work for Indy CS6?
I have read all the previous responses and I am still having trouble getting my 100+ PDF file into my document in the space that I want. I currently have several headers and footers on my document to explain the PDF file, but when I use the CC Scripts place multi-page PDF, it places the document over my headers and footers, so I have to go in an resize each page… Very time consuming. I used the script that was discussed previously and it places in center, but it still covers my headers and footers. Is there a way I can place a frame and have all the PDF pages automatically fit to the size I want on each new page. Please let me know this would save me a ton of time. Any and all suggestions greatly appreciated.
Beth: I would try putting the headers and footers on a layer higher than the pdf graphic frames.
How about placing them onto a different layer and arranging the layer to be front most.
Michael
Set up a new ‘Master’ page with the headers and footers in place. Use the multipage pdf importer script to flow your pdf into a new indesign document. Then select all pages and apply the master to all. The header and footer items on your master page should now appear above the pdf layers.
In addition to David’s suggestion I always find it very helpful to manually place one page and scale/transform it until it fits. You can then use it’s scale/position values to set up the multi-page import.
You may have to fiddle around with the registration point of the inserted object and the ruler units to get the same coordinates that the multi-page-importer dialog uses.
I have a problem with Indy CC … on running this script the PDFs are greyed out in the Select PDF dialogue.
Has there been an update to this script to enable it to work with Indesign CC?
Weird, works fine for me – we never had to modify this version (2.5JJB) to get it working in CC2014 or CC2015 (Windows).
Weirder still…the script works for other PDF files!?
And the file it fails with is a pdf for sure?
The only issues I ever had with it was with corrupted PDFs – but those cause errors at a later stage (inside the dialog and when being placed).
yep definitely a PDF, not corrupts as it imports manually OK – guess what, I’m not gonna lose sleep over it…I’ll let the operator do that :D
this is great, just wondering if this can be modified to make sure that imported content stays within the page margins. my issue is im important a 500+ page pdf, where most of the pages are scanned in at size 8.5×11 but need to be scaled to fit in the margins, but SOME of the pages are smaller and can just be centered, not scaled. im trying to prevent myself from needing to go in and scale almost all the pages by hand. if I use the scale option, it will scale all pages even the small ones, making them too small.
Just used this script in InDesignCC 2015 and it worked like a charm. Thanks!
I have a 2048 x 1536 InDesign document meant to be published as a single edition interactive app with DPS. Now that DPS is no longer an option, I need to convert my document to 1024 X 768 in order to use another software company (Twixl) to publish the app. Should I use the script in this thread to rescale my document, or is there a better way? Will my document’s interactive overlays be preserved? Thanks.
Don: This importer script is probably not what you want. You want something that will resize your document and leave you with editable objects on the page, right? You might take a look at QuickResize at id-extras.com/products/quickresize
David: Thank you for the suggestion. I’ll give it a try.
Hi David,
Been using this great script A LOT in the past few months and it’s been a life saver! But now, (since last INDD update last week?) it seems to have stopped working… Unless I am missing something? After several attempts + removing and reinstalling, I keep getting the same error:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/egpka3accbpxc3r/Screenshot%202015-12-10%2007.15.20.png?dl=0
and then…
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4h8f86bbgl5q2sq/Screenshot%202015-12-10%2007.15.44.png?dl=0
TIA for any help… I’m STUCK!! :-(
OK…! I think I have found the culprit! Somehow, the original INDD file to be placed had section numbering… but never could find it! So, I selected all pages in the Pages panel and applied “Automatic page numbering”… Seems it resolved the bug…
Anyhow… happy it is solved!
Might be useful to someone eventually…
Maryse
Hello, I am working on modifying the existing MultiPageImporter in CS5. I’m trying to make it so that when I import a multi-page PDF and have the “Place Pages on a New Layer” check box selected, each page will become its new layer. So Page 1 would be layer 1 and pg 2 would be layer 2 and so on. I was wondering if anyone has been able to do this or could offer some assistance in the matter. Thank You.
Hey Dwayne
I can’t really go into details right now but instead of changing the existing functionality of the “New Layer” option I’d suggest adding another one to control this.
Otherwise the function will probably make less sense for most users – this seems like a very special use case (imagine placing a 600+ page pdf on new layers…)
It should be relatively straightforward to add some new checkbox and based on it add a new layer in the main “place loop” instead of before running the loop.
Hi Mike,
This was a request by my users. They do a lot of work with layers and would prefer that all 600 pages be a different layer. But it makes sense to add the functionality to the main loop. Ill try that approach first and I’ll let you know how it goes. Thank you!
One thing that comes to mind: if you add a new setting and want to save it to the prefs file for later (default behavior) bear in mind that the new prefs file will be incompatible with the old one (the script expects a specific order).
I ran into that when I added an option to skip every second page.
Ok, I got each page to be on a new layer by nesting it in the main loop. But they actually want one page with multiple layers. Is there a way to debug the code so that I can see where the page is being added for the import process? I can’t debug directly form Extend Script, because it requires an open document.
Beats me why anyone would want to place x pdf pages onto one page inside InDesign but I guess they know what they want. ;)
I suspect you can’t debug in ESTK because the #target=InDesign; is missing in the original script and because the script has some hard-codec preference path.
You could always try $.writeln messages – those end up in ESTK even when you run the script from within ID.
What you are looking for should be in the addPages function – essentially you “just” have to disable adding pages altogether. theDoc.pages.add(LocationOptions.AT_END);
I work for a large scale printing company. My understanding is that the main layer (1) is say all of the color and every layer after that (2-N) is different black lettering. This allows them to quickly overlay the images just by turning off all but 2 layers. This also allows them to you use the page exporter utility to then extract individual pdf groups 1&2, 1&3, 1&4 and so on to 1&N.
You were correct, that was exactly what I needed to remove to put all layers on one page. I had to do a little tweaking outside of that because the next line of code was looking for the next page. So i just set that piece of the code to always look for page one and it worked. Thank you so much for helping me with this problem!
I am placing a lot of scanned pages using MultiPageImporter2.5.jsx. Working great in CS6. The original for scanning is a cutout from older books and the text blocks are not always in the same place and do often have a minor rotation – different between pages. Does anyone know of a way to correct the placement and rotation automatically? With a script or something that can “read” the orientation and the placing of the scanned text?
This sounds more like a job for other tools – prepare the scanned pages before placing them. Even Acrobat has integrated tools for this (don’t know how good they actually are). Otherwise, Photoshop would be an option – not fully automatic workflow though.
The latest update to InDesign CC 2015 (released Feb 2016) seems to have broken this script for me. No errors, it just locks up when I select any file to import (the scripts option window doesn’t ever open after the file is selected). Just me, or can anyone else confirm?
RJ, you had me scared (a little) – it’s working fine here (ID version 11.1.0.100 x64)
Should have mentioned, I’m on 11.2.0.100 (Windows 7 Pro 64). It could be something on my system – but I wanted to see if anyone else had the problem with the latest update. I’ve done the usual troubleshooting steps and tried a few different files. Next I guess I’ll uninstall and reinstall.
Just noticed a typo on my side: I’m on 11.2.0.100 as well.
Do you have a pdf that’s known to have worked before?
Sounds like there are issues when trying to open the PDF.
Uninstall/Reinstall fixed it. I had tried known good PDFs and they weren’t working either – but thanks for the quick responses. All good now.
I’m wondering if there is a modification to the script available that I could use on single pdf’s instead of multi-page pdf’s?
I receive 96 pdf’s that I have to manually place in indesign, page by page, then export out as a printer specific pdf with page numbers. The current script worked beautifully if I took all hundred pgs and created 1 pdf. But I really would like to avoid that step and just grab all the individual pdf’s and run the script, saving a ton of time. Is there anything that would do that? Thanks so much
Chrystina: This might help: https://creativepro.com/import-folder-full-pictures-page.php
This guy is a legend!!!
Thanks very much. This works on CS6 as well
Both the default sample script and Zanelli’s script work fine for importing multi-page PDF’s into InDesign CC2015. But how can I automatically resize the imported pages?
Currently, they import and the full size of my letter size page. But I would like to resize the PDF to 7 1/2 x 9, centered in the page, so that my documents header and footer can be seen clearly.
I would also like to proportionally fit the PDF, with the top 1/2 in margin and bottom 1 in footer (of the imported PDF) cropped out. I think I can do this with an Object Style, which seems to be created when importing the PDF.
John-Paul,
This script, by Marc Autret (Indiscript) will do exactly that for you:
https://www.indiscripts.com/post/2015/04/introducing-equalizer-3-beta-for-indesign-cs4-cs5-cs6-cc_
Works great and has saved me tons of time!
Maryse
Thanks for the recommendation Maryse. I am probably not using the script correctly though as unfortunately it does not appear to be what I am looking for.
Hi Guys
I’m getting Error 55 in Indy CC 2104, but same script runs in all earlier versions of Indy…any ideas?
I’m certain I’m using the latest version – I’ve used this fantastic script ever since CS3 and am dismayed that it seems broken with CC14 (iMac running Yosemite)
Heeeeelp!
It normally works fine in both CC 2014 and 2015 (PC) so I strongly assume this must be another issue. Is there any detailed error message? Error 55 is rather cryptic.
Thanks for the prompt response Mike
I get a dialogue that relates to line 124 in the script …Object does not support the property or method ‘cropContent’
This applies to any flavour or size of PDF – all of which worked fine in previous versions of IIndy.
Error 55 to line 124 reads, Object does not support the property or method ‘cropContent’ … this applies to Pdfx1a PDF4x …they all work fine in the previous version of CC
Any ideas appreciated
Really sounds like an issue with the placed pdf files.
For PDF-x1a this might be due to the 1a (=archive) part – those are normally not meant to be changed. Maybe InDesign respects that setting in 2015.
As for PDF x4 I’m not even sure as to the level this is supported in Indesign.
Did you cross-check with a simple PDF you generated yourself?
All our PDFs are generated direct from Indy in-house and before CC2014 all worked fine.
Just tried a straight HQ PDF and Press Quality with and without crops/reg marks/bleeds I don’t get further than the error dialogue.
Looking at the script at Line 124 this appears to be a parsing module – checking for TrimBox, BleedBox etc within the PDF to be imported…we always export our PDFs with bleeds all round and crops etc so I’m guessing that Adobe has rewritten some parameter that is addressed by the script resulting in an Error 55?
Doesn’t explain why some CC2014 users in this thread are fine whilst others are not.
Might be a good idea to post this in the InDeisgn Scripts/ Scripting forum, see of one of them can figure it out. Either here on our site or on Adobe’s.
Sorted! I have 3 versions of this script and automatically used the latest version which doesn’t seem to work on 2014CC…so I tried the CS5 version and bingo!
So for those who are having the same issue try the version named … MultiPageImporter2.5-CS5.jsx
Hello there,
I’m under Indesign CS6. I’ve a made an indesign document called Master_file.ind composed of 50 pages. Each page contains 5 empty image blocs.
I want to load a bunch of .indd files in these 5 blocs in each page until all is done.
Do you know if there’s a script for that ?
Help welcome !
E’
Thanks! This will save me hours of time. I need to place 125 8.5×11 PDF pages into InDesign at 5.5×8.5 and have them scaled at the same time. I have tested it with a seven page sample at it worked perfectly.
Thanks for creating this script.
Works brilliantly in CS6. Thanks to you and Scott! People should note, though—I had to rename a PDF file so that the file extension was all lowercase (.pdf, not .PDF) or else the script wouldn’t recognize it as a legitimate file to import.
Thanks!
Worked great until today, now it will not let me set an end page higher than 100, and I also can not specify a start page above 100. I’ve reinstalled the script and it’s still doing the same thing. Any ideas? This is a huge hit to my imposition workflow.
Meant to mention I’m using CC. It has been working on CC great until this morning.
Nevermind, my .pdfs were corrupted in a way that messed up the page count, though oddly enough viewed normally.
Sounds like a classic. ;)
I usually recommend to test with a known-good file if things behave odd. In my experience the issue is usually with the pdf and not with the script – it has been running remarkably stable for years.
Shaking my head… Indeed. My bad in not trying another file! This script is indeed a miracle that has treated me well for years :)
Hi folks,
Is it also possible to import cross-references and hyperlinks (linking to another page of the document) into another INDD document, so that they are still ‘clickable’? I tried importing both an interactive PDF file as an INDD file, but in both cases it seems to be imported as an image and the interactive hyperlinks no longer seem to work.
Thanks,
Peter
The script basically automates what you would do manually using file->place.
As such, it places the ID/PDF as a graphic – you lose any additional features inside.
Depending on your project you could copy pages from one ID document to the other though.
(Just in case you don’t know – it’s possible to do so: https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/pages-spreads-1.html#move_duplicate_and_delete_pages_and_spreads
This won’t allow you to scale and/or offset the copied pages though.
Cheers,
Mike
Thanks Mike,
Thing is, I used this script as a trick to create a document that is Left-To-Right from one side, (English, pp 1-49) en RTL from the other side (Arabic, pp 87-1). The book then opens at page 1 as a left-bound book on the “English” side, and also at page 1 as a right-bound book on the “Arabic” side, with the endings towards each other somewhere in the middle of the book. I could not get this figured out with copying ID pages so far, would you know of a way?
Cheers,
Peter
thank you very much friends , this program is very easy for me to finish my work easily and quickly , thanks
I don’t know why, when I download one of the extensions I get a jsx file, which only opens with AE; if I try to install with the extension manager directly in ID, the file is unreadable. What can i do to install it for ID?
Laura: This post tells how to install scripts in InDesign: https://creativepro.com/how-to-install-scripts-in-indesign.php
Love this script. Use it a lot for placing PDFs.
For a new project, I need to know — is there a way to place pages only on the right-hand pages, rather than on running pages?
Thanks!
If you want to you can try a version I hacked together when I needed this:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByBLPJL93nQCSlNpSjYwMFpSTlU
If you enable the “Skip every 2nd page” option I added and have it start placing on a right-hand page it will only place on right-hand pages.
It will not skip pages in the source pdf though.
Thank you for this script, its awesome!
Brilliant. Thank you so much. This just saved me about 10 hours of work!
You’re a genius. I was starting to panic because I have an 58 pages document to hand in a few days and I’ve just been told it’s supposed to be in A5, not A4.
You saved my life, man. Thank you ever so much.
Is anyone else experiencing the same issue i am? Ever since I downloaded this script I’m having issues with the files I place in indesign. If i have a file that is 8.75×11.25, which in includes .125 bleed all around, when placed in the indesign it comes in at 8.5×11. I make sure the bleed is open in the original PDF before placing but it still comes in at 8.5×11, without the bleed. If its not the script, can anyone suggest what this could be?
-Thank you!
Did you select Bleeds in Placement options when you run the script?
Great script. Awesome work from the developer.
It would suite my application more if it had the option of creating new pages for each pdf page. Also if these new pages could be identical to a specific page in the document.
Can this be implemented?
Thanks
Hi Boniface,
either I or you must be missing something: this is exactly what the script does as of now. If I set up a document with a single page and then import a multi-page pdf it will create additional pages based on the document I set up.
Please explain if you meant something else.
fyi: unless I am mistaken there is no active developer taking care of this script. I made a small fix a year ago and released it on GitHub for further development. That said, I don’t plan to add functionality unless my colleagues or I need it (too little time).
Download link: https://github.com/mike-edel/ID-MultiPageImporter/releases
Hi Mike,
Thanks for your quick response. I have tried it out again.
You are right when you say “If I set up a document with a single page and then import a multi-page pdf it will create additional pages based on the document I set up.”
My problem is: i have existing pages on indesign. I need new pages to be added automatically in the middle of the document. say i have an indesign document with 3 pages and objects already inserted. i need to add a pdf file with 4 pages in the middle of page 2 and 3 of my indesign document. What was my page 3 initially should now be page 7 and the new pages should apper as pages 3,4,5 & 6.
What is happening when i run the script is that The new page 1 of the pdf appears as an object on top of the objects that were initially on page 3. The rest of the pages are added automatically as new pages 4, 5 & 6.
I hope this is clear now.
Kindly advise if this script can do what i just described
Thanks again
Hi Mike,
Thanks for your quick response. I have tried it out again.
You are right when you say “If I set up a document with a single page and then import a multi-page pdf it will create additional pages based on the document I set up.”
My problem is: i have existing pages on indesign. I need new pages to be added automatically in the middle of the document. say i have an indesign document with 3 pages and objects already inserted. i need to add a pdf file with 4 pages in the middle of page 2 and 3 of my indesign document. What was my page 3 initially should now be page 7 and the new pages should apper as pages 3,4,5 & 6.
What is happening when i run the script is that The new page 1 of the pdf appears as an object on top of the objects that were initially on page 3. The rest of the pages are added automatically as new pages 4, 5 & 6.
I hope this is clear now.
Thanks again.
Dear Mike,
Kindly advise if this script can do what i just described.
Ah, I see.
Implementing this correctly would get pretty complex. Would also require adding some sort of ui for selecting where to insert.
I would normally suggest to manually move the respective existing pages (or the inserted ones – whatever is less) as a workaround. You can do that for a selection of pages so it should not be too bad.
Would like to add to Mike’s comment that this is exactly what I do. I regularly need to import huge PDFs (over 100 pages) into the middle of a 4-page template. I insert them at the end, and then move the pages around. It’s really not a big deal, and well worth it for the convenience of the script as-is. (Thanks, Mike!)
— Dena
Mike,
I’ve been doing this manually like you suggest. It would work a lot better for me and save me a ton of time if every PDF page was inserted into a new InDesign page.
Thanks
Mike,
Can you offer your support for modifying the code? I can get someone conversant with javascript to contact you for support.
Thanks,
Boniface
Hi Boniface – just for clarification:
I am not the maintainer/owner of the script. I have added some minor fixes in the past and implemented a (rather simple) feature as a quick hack to fix a need we had over here.
But I can’t really add functionality unless one of my own use cases warrants the significant time invest. While I see the point you are making none of my colleagues use the script in this way – so for now I can’t offer any support on this except sharing my latest version here:
https://github.com/mike-edel/ID-MultiPageImporter
Mike,
Thanks. Will keep looking for a solution for this.
Boniface
Great Script! Hoping it works with CC 2018!
Is there a way to UPDATE multiple page PDF links that may have changed number of pages AFTER you place them? I am placing a large number of financial reports that get updated on a regular basis. Right now, I manually go through and check for duplicate PDF page numbers in the links panel (if a multi-page PDF has shrunk) AND check each page to make sure that a total line is listed. Very time consuming on a 500 page document.
Thanks!
Melissa
We use it in a similar environment (many document structure changes) and the only workaround I have is always placing the pdf into a new layer. That way you can delete the layer and the pages and re-run the script. Quicker than manually fixing the links.
All the options I know for updating pdf links would also open the regular place options so they don’t save time here.
I used it on my Mac for several years to convert A4 files to lettersize, since we work closely with a European company. I just switched to a PC and upgraded to CS6 for the first time, and was amazed that the same cs5 script worked on both. Saves me weeks of work on every catalog, since I used it on hundreds of pages every year.
@Dave Blatner: can you please add the following download link in the article?
https://github.com/mike-edel/ID-MultiPageImporter/releases
I uploaded my modifications to GitHub some time ago and even got a submission by another developer/ID user. I just and published those changes as version 2.6.1.
Would love if GitHub becomes the new home of the script and I will submit any future changes there. This article is probably still the top search result for it so it makes sense to re-direct from here.
Thanks, Mike! I updated the article with the Github link.
Works friggin great. I love the fact you can scale the PDF to fit to page.
I make the indesign file the size I want it and import away.
this script rocks.. GRASIAS much. you’re a rockstar
Cannot get this script to run in InDesign CC 2018 on Mac OS 10.13.4.
Any suggestions?
Reinstalled the script and restarted the app, still doesn’t work.
Moved script from User Scripts to Application Scripts Panel and it’s working fine.
Whew!
Thank you for the scripts! They are so great!
I want to make heavy use of them, so I know that you have some comments you can skip 2 pages,
and would you tell me how to skip 4 pages, please?
That won’t work without further code changes. Unfortunately, I lack the time for that right now. Will need to consider it in more detail (including adding a respective entry in the interface) but that will take time.
Sorry there is no easy way for this,
Mike
What if you have pages within your InDesign doc that are named 1-1 or 2-1, etc? It will not let me import the pdf starting on those labeled pages that include dashes.
I was playing around a little bit and if I had a section, say section 2, and that technically started on page 4 even though it says 2-1 (and then page 5 would be 2-2). I inserted a pdf on page 4 and it worked even though in the Pages panel it reads 2-1.. hope that makes sense!
Just downloaded this as an ultimate lifesaver in converting eight separate 400-page PowerPoint slides into handouts and creating press-ready print files in InDesign for binding. Works flawlessly on the first try with my Mac 10.13.6 running CC 2018. Thank you!
Trying to read through all these comments but have given up. Please help!
I am wanting to create a 174 page document using this script but I get the error message the ‘end’ page number must be 1 or less.’
Is there problem with the way the page file names are setup (due to printer)?:
mmedialuxury1118p001 then > mmedialuxury1118p002 and so on.
Otherwise does anyone know the reason?
Would someone be able to edit the script to accept multi-artboard Illustrator Files? Added bonus would be to be able to select multiple files for import at once!
Thanks so much for everything thus far… huge time saver!!
Good point but full AI support probably takes a lot of work.
The good news is that basic support is already there provided you save your AI file with PDF compatibility (“Create PDF Compatible File” in the save options).
You just need to rename the file to PDF. In my quick test it works fine including placing multiple artboards as individual pages
is it possible to just change the script to allow *.ai files with PDF compatibility as an input option without rebuilding the script for full ai support? I have a team of 30 designers and changing the extension would likely cause too many headaches.
Hey Aaron,
I just tried to add .ai to the file list but there are multiple places in the script that look up document properties depending on the file type. So it’s not trivial to add it – need to fiddle with it to get it working. Can you maybe open an issue on GitHub so I can give you an update when I get to it?
https://github.com/mike-edel/ID-MultiPageImporter/issues
Ah, got the last error – please feel free to nevertheless open the issue on GitHub for easier tracking.
I published a new version with basic ai support here: https://github.com/mike-edel/ID-MultiPageImporter/tree/basic-ai-support
I only did a basic test so please be careful and let me know on GitHub if you run into any issues. Should be good with pdf compatible ai files but I have no idea what happens on others. ;)
Once we are sure it works as expected I will merge this into the main version.
Mike! Thank you so much!!! I will test this out with my team and let you know how it goes! Thanks again!
Mike,
The select file dialogue window that comes up is still only allowing PDF or INDD files… the AI files are still greyed out (Indesign 2019 & 2018 on mac).
We eventually sorted this out last Friday. Anyone interested in testing out the new (basic) AI support please download this version:
https://github.com/mike-edel/ID-MultiPageImporter/tree/basic-ai-support
And I’d appreciate if you could give feedback and report bugs here:
https://github.com/mike-edel/ID-MultiPageImporter/issues
Is there a working version for InDesign 2019?
The latest version still works for me but I only ran a quick test in 2019 for Windows.
Full disclosure: I gave it a new home on GitHub and merged a few code changes that add some functionality.
https://github.com/mike-edel/ID-MultiPageImporter/releases
Hello, thanks for this very useful script. It works great. But if and only if I comment out lines 86 to 94 AND set var usePrefs in line 49 to false. On the other hand, the script hangs. I also saw that there is no file named “MultiPageImporterPrefs2.5.txt”. That’s why I created this file as a “dummy” with empty content. This also causes the script to hang. But what is the cause for this malfunction?
Thanks in advance
Juergen Georg
Hi Juergen,
thanks for the report – there should indeed be no need to comment any lines or to force the script not to use the preferences file (.txt).
I have a slight suspicion that MacOS Mojave’s new strict file system permissions might be involved but that’s just a first guess. At least I don’t have any issues on Windows 10.
Can you please share some more information on your system (Mac/Windows including OS version) and software (InDesign version, script version)? Preferably open a new issue on GitHub for easier tracking:
https://github.com/mike-edel/ID-MultiPageImporter/issues
Best,
Mike
Hi Mike,
thank you so much for your nice answer. Let me try to make my problem more concrete. – I work in InDesign CS 6 on Windows 7.x64. I run the script directly with the toolkit CS6.
Now I have noticed in a new test, that I can in fact omit my commenting above. But only if I press the start button again after the script in line 86 (prefsFile = File((Folder(app.activeScript)).parent + “/MultiPageImporterPrefs2.5.txt”);
after the first execution. Now a window pops up and reports a runtime error and asks if I want to stop it. After entering “Yes” the script runs to end without problems.
Contrary to my first claim, it doesn’t matter if ‘var usePrefs’ in line 49 is true or false.
It is still noticeable that the file “MultiPageImporterPrefs2.5.txt” (which I created myself) remains empty.
Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator
Hi Jürgen,
is there a specific reason why you run the script in the toolkit and not from within InDesign?
If I’m not mistaken running the script from the toolkit is causing the config loading/writing issues you describe: the line 86 you quote looks for the configuration file in the folder where the active script is stored. This might execute differently in the toolkit – especially if you stored the file in a location that requires admin access for writing (basically everywhere outside your documents/user folders…)
fyi: you typically would install and run scripts like this: https://creativepro.com/how-to-install-scripts-in-indesign.php
Hi Mike, thanks for your reply. The reason could be that your script doesn’t run when I start it from Indesign => Error Number 11268
edit
I don’t know what it was, maybe I should have made a restart, but now it seems to be going. PS.: Didn’t know that starting from toolkit may cause such problems. Thanks a lot, Mike
In case anyone else has this problem, here is a fix for at least one of the errors that occur.
One of my colleagues who was using one of my templates regularly has to import multiple pages of PDFs. It has been fine so far, but today she was getting an error ‘error string: the default engine ‘main’ cannot be deleted’, resulting in no PDFs being imported.
It took me a while but I realised I could import the pages on a standard InDesign A4 page no problem so surmised there must have been a problem specifically related to the A4 template.
One template has 8.5pt body text and the one that was generating the error had 10.5pt body text. Both versions of these stylesheets were aligned to the baseline grid.
I managed to work out that in my Preferences for the 10.5pt template, I had adjusted the baseline grid to the Top Margin. When I changed this to Top of Page, which the 8.5pt template used, the PDFs imported no problem.
Strange little error but was relieved to find a fix!
Hi Debra,
thanks for the report and the workaround.
I’m actually pretty sure this is something I fixed in an earlier update. Could you per chance test it in the latest version and let me know?
https://github.com/mike-edel/ID-MultiPageImporter/archive/v2.6.2.zip
Cheers,
Mike
Thanks Mike.
You’re right, I was using v2.6.1.
The v2.6.2 update fixed the issue.
We love this script by the way!
Thanks Debra, good to know the fix is working. ;)
Hi Mike, I have run into this problem and tried all the above processes I could. I am running on a Mac 10.14.3 using the latest InDesign 2019. When I run the script I get the dialog saying “Error: This value would cause one or more items to leave the pasteboard.”
When I click past that I get a javascript error dialog for Error: 89867, Error String: The default engine “mina” cannot be deleted. The FIle points to the javascript located in my scripts folder. The line number is 582. The source is exit(-1).
I have deleted the script file and the, .txt file reloaded the script a few times and it’s still not working. Can you help?
Hi Rick,
did you use the latest version from GitHub? I specifically remember this error and that I made some small changes that fixed it for me.
https://github.com/mike-edel/ID-MultiPageImporter/releases
If that doesn’t help I can think about some workarounds but it would be best if you could share some more specifics (the file you place, the target document, other settings).
Cheers,
Mike
Hi, I am having the exact same error and I think it has something to do with the Crop type not being defined in the PDF. Since I can not source a different PDF I am stuck here and hoping for a solution. I downloaded the latest version of the script from GitHub (2.6.3)
Hi.
This script works beautifully. Thank you.
I got al my team to use it.
I have one request. Is it possible you can add an option to add an ‘Object Style’ to the placed PDF’s so they can be placed with a black border?
Regards
I downloaded the script numerous times and when double clicking, my copy of after effects kept opening.
Tried “open with” InDesign and scripts panel was greyed out to run script.
Thanks,
Jim
Please disregard. Installed and working.
Thanks,
Jim
I just wanted to say that I have been using this script for years. I have had to look for it several times over the years. I am a professional bookbinder and sometimes I have to reformat scanned documents or someone will provide me with a PDF and want the book bound in certain sizes. I can use this to change the size of the document and print from InDesign so easily. Sometimes I have a problem installing but other times it does so easily. I cant explain why. But I’m glad its available to everyone.
Hello Mike,
First, I’d like to thank you for writing such a wonderful Script. It became handy for me many times especially when I needed to resize pages of a long and complicated book (1826 pages) with tens of Pargraph & Character styles which would have caused me many days of redefinde all text and layout it smaller.
The only thing that would make it even better for me is an option to place the pages inside a frame that was created on the parent pages. it will make it easier, If needed later, to change the place of all the placed pages at once by moving the frame in the Parent pages intead of replaced them to a different place or to a different left and right margins.
What do you think?
Thank David for puglishing this useful tip. I love it.
Shlomit