As new versions of InDesign are released frequently, and as I move from computer to computer frequently, I have found it more and more challenging lately to keep all of the preferences and panel options set up the way that I like them. So I did what any reasonable person would do in this situation…I wrote a script to set all of my preferences.
If you’re interested, you can download a copy of the script here. A few things you should know.
- The script is intended to be run with a document open. Why? Some preferences in InDesign are document preferences, and some are application preferences. This script sets both, so it requires that a document be open.
- You can easily edit the script to make it set the preferences the way YOU want them. If you are adventurous, open the script with a text editing program, make your changes, and save the file in text-only format with a .jsx extension. You’ll see lots of text in the script preceded with “//”. This text is “commenting” that I’ve added liberally to help you figure out how to make changes.
- The first 200+ lines of the script set each and every one of the settings found in InDesign > Preferences (Mac) or Edit > Preferences (Windows).
- The lines following those set most of the options found in the various menus in InDesign.
- Next, you’ll see lines that set many of the options found in various panel menus, such as the appearance of the Pages panel
- The final lines set various setup-related things the way that I like them.
- Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any way to set the small panel rows option that appears in the Paragraph Styles panel menu and many other places. Likewise, there isn’t a reliable way to turn on the View > Extras > Show Text Threads setting with a script.
I’m sharing the script here with a bit of trepidation. The way I like to have my preferences and panel options set is not necessarily the way you want them to be. I don’t want to start a firestorm of “why do you set up your preferences that way!”
If you have suggestions for making the script better, please leave them in the comments below. However, I can’t provide any technical support for the script. And of course, you use the script at your own risk. I use the script every day, but I can’t be responsible for what it might do to your InDesign setup or documents.
This article was last modified on January 16, 2022
This article was first published on December 7, 2016
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