Needing to quickly split up a long InDesign file into individual INDDs, I turned to a favorite old InDesign script, Extract Pages (see post), but was having no luck. After some investigation I learned that the script was simply too old; it would work in CS3 or CS4 but not CS5.5.
This was not because CS5.5 has an “Extract Pages” built-in (it doesn’t), but because Adobe changes internal scripting rules from version to version. If a script refers to a certain object or process using an “older” name or with a deprecated method, it will likely fail in the current version.
Unfortunately for me, the script’s designer/developer, Loic Aigon, was not able to update the script for later versions, as he said in the comments of the Scriptopedia page I linked to in my post about it. I even tracked down his web site but just found the same CS3/CS4-era version.
I thought I was out of luck, until kind-hearted scripter Martinho da Gloria (developer of LayoutZone and Multi-Find/Change) sent me a neat little freebie he wrote on the spot: MakeItRun.
Make It Run is a cross-platform script that runs an old InDesign script using the older scripting engine, but within the current (CS5/5.5) version of InDesign.
It runs the old script by creating a new script you can name and save in your InDesign scripts folder. You can either have the new script point to the older script, or you can embed the older script completely in the new one, making it self-contained. Whichever method you choose, it doesn’t affect the running of any of your current scripts, they’ll all still use the current scripting dictionary and routines.
MakeItRun probably won’t work for every orphaned script out there, but it’s worth trying. The good news: I was able to get Extract Pages to run just like before! Thanks Martinho!
Download MakeItRun from Martinho’s site, Automatication. It’s free, but if you find it useful, please support his efforts by clicking the “Donate” Paypal button on that page.
This article was last modified on December 21, 2021
This article was first published on January 25, 2012
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