🦊Automatically Replacing Helvetica Fonts in Adobe InDesign with a JavaScript Script
As of January 2023, Type1 Helvetica fonts are no longer usable in Adobe InDesign...
This has been a headache for the company I work for.
To mitigate this problem, I created a JavaScript script that automates the process of replacing Helvetica fonts with Arial fonts in Adobe InDesign documents.
// Specifies the script is targeting Adobe InDesign.#target indesign;
// Initialize a flag variable as true.
var flag = true;
// Check if more than one document is open in InDesign.
if(app.documents.length > 1)
{
// Prompt the user if they want to edit multiple documents when more than one document is open.
flag = confirm ("You have more than one file open in InDesign. Want to edit multiple documents?");
}
// If the user confirms to edit multiple documents or there's only one document open.
if (flag == true)
{
// Loop through each open document.
for (a=0; a<app.documents.length; a++)
{
// Assign the current document to myDoc variable.
var myDoc = app.documents[a];
// Get the paragraph styles of the current document.
var myParaSt = myDoc.paragraphStyles;
// Call myFunctionA which modifies paragraph styles based on certain conditions.
myFunctionA();
// Loop through each paragraph style group in the current document.
for(c=0;c<myDoc.paragraphStyleGroups.length;c++)
{
// Get the paragraph styles of the current paragraph style group.
var myParaSt = myDoc.paragraphStyleGroups[c].paragraphStyles;
// Call myFunctionA for the paragraph styles of the current group.
myFunctionB();
}
}
}
else // If the user chooses not to edit multiple documents or cancels the prompt.
{
// Work with the active document only.
var myDoc = app.activeDocument;
// Get the paragraph styles of the active document.
var myParaSt = myDoc.paragraphStyles;
// Call myFunctionA for the paragraph styles of the active document.
myFunctionA();
// Loop through each paragraph style group in the active document.
for(c=0;c<myDoc.paragraphStyleGroups.length;c++)
{
// Get the paragraph styles of the current paragraph style group.
var myParaGrSt = myDoc.paragraphStyleGroups[c].paragraphStyles;
// Call myFunctionB (which seems missing and might be a typo or missing function) for the paragraph styles of the current group.
myFunctionB();
}
}
// Function to replace specific fonts in the paragraph styles with new ones.
function myFunctionA()
{
// Loop through each paragraph style.
for (b=0; b<myParaSt.length; b++)
{
// Check and replace the font of the paragraph style if it matches certain conditions.
switch(myParaSt[b].appliedFont.name)
{
case "Helvetica\tMedium":
myParaSt[b].appliedFont="Arial\tRegular";
break;
case "Helvetica\tBold":
myParaSt[b].appliedFont="Arial\tBold";
break;
case "Helvetica\tBold Oblique":
myParaSt[b].appliedFont="Arial\tBold Italic";
break;
// No default action specified for other fonts.
default:
}
}
// Reset the index variable b to 0 at the end of the function.
b=0;
}
// Display a completion message to the user.
alert ("completed");
// Initialize a flag variable as true.
var flag = true;
// Check if more than one document is open in InDesign.
if(app.documents.length > 1)
{
// Prompt the user if they want to edit multiple documents when more than one document is open.
flag = confirm ("You have more than one file open in InDesign. Want to edit multiple documents?");
}
// If the user confirms to edit multiple documents or there's only one document open.
if (flag == true)
{
// Loop through each open document.
for (a=0; a<app.documents.length; a++)
{
// Assign the current document to myDoc variable.
var myDoc = app.documents[a];
// Get the paragraph styles of the current document.
var myParaSt = myDoc.paragraphStyles;
// Call myFunctionA which modifies paragraph styles based on certain conditions.
myFunctionA();
// Loop through each paragraph style group in the current document.
for(c=0;c<myDoc.paragraphStyleGroups.length;c++)
{
// Get the paragraph styles of the current paragraph style group.
var myParaSt = myDoc.paragraphStyleGroups[c].paragraphStyles;
// Call myFunctionA for the paragraph styles of the current group.
myFunctionB();
}
}
}
else // If the user chooses not to edit multiple documents or cancels the prompt.
{
// Work with the active document only.
var myDoc = app.activeDocument;
// Get the paragraph styles of the active document.
var myParaSt = myDoc.paragraphStyles;
// Call myFunctionA for the paragraph styles of the active document.
myFunctionA();
// Loop through each paragraph style group in the active document.
for(c=0;c<myDoc.paragraphStyleGroups.length;c++)
{
// Get the paragraph styles of the current paragraph style group.
var myParaGrSt = myDoc.paragraphStyleGroups[c].paragraphStyles;
// Call myFunctionB (which seems missing and might be a typo or missing function) for the paragraph styles of the current group.
myFunctionB();
}
}
// Function to replace specific fonts in the paragraph styles with new ones.
function myFunctionA()
{
// Loop through each paragraph style.
for (b=0; b<myParaSt.length; b++)
{
// Check and replace the font of the paragraph style if it matches certain conditions.
switch(myParaSt[b].appliedFont.name)
{
case "Helvetica\tMedium":
myParaSt[b].appliedFont="Arial\tRegular";
break;
case "Helvetica\tBold":
myParaSt[b].appliedFont="Arial\tBold";
break;
case "Helvetica\tBold Oblique":
myParaSt[b].appliedFont="Arial\tBold Italic";
break;
// No default action specified for other fonts.
default:
}
}
// Reset the index variable b to 0 at the end of the function.
b=0;
}
// Display a completion message to the user.
alert ("completed");
The script operates by checking if more than one document is open in Adobe InDesign and asking the user if they want to apply font changes to all open documents. Depending on the user’s choice, it then iterates through each document, replacing instances of Helvetica Medium, Helvetica Bold, and Helvetica Bold Oblique with their Arial counterparts.
