Export artboards from Adobe Illustrator documents
export-artboards is a Mac OS "Javascript for Automation" script
packaged as a command-line application. It exports all of the artboards
in an Adobe Illustrator file to a specified directory, in formats defined
by a configuration file, using the "Export for Screens" API. It is designed
to support the repeatable export of figures in predefined file formats, as
aspects of the core document are changed.
This script supports a figure-annotation workflow for academic publishing, based on laying out all figures for a paper as multiple artboards in a single Adobe Illustrator file (with referenced images and PDF compatibility off to ensure small file sizes for ease of version control). Exporting the artboards using this script can then update all images simultaneously.
Usage
export-artboards [OPTS] docFile exportFolder
OPTS:
--format/-f Export format [png*,png8,png24,pdf,svg]
* default (alias for `png8`)
--create-folders Whether to create subfolders
[boolean default false]
--preset PDF export preset
default "[Smallest File Size]" (same
as Illustrator default)
ARGS:
docFile Illustrator document
exportFolder Folder in which to export (will be
created if it doesn't exist)
Contributing
Node JS is required to build; run npm install to get required modules
for bundling executable, and then run make to build. make test both
builds and attempts to export a test document containing two artboards to PNG.
The script currently works only on Mac OS but an alternative
implementation for Windows could be created using COM scripting,
potentially using the same API.