adobe-illustrator-scripting

Write an ExtendScript .jsx file that uses the app global to access the Illustrator DOM, such as app.activeDocument for the current document. Run it via File > Scripts > Other Scripts, the Scripts menu, or place it in the Startup Scripts folder.

Use Folder.getFiles("*.ai") to list files, open each with app.open(), perform your edits, then close with doc.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES). Set app.userInteractionLevel to DONTDISPLAYALERTS so dialogs do not interrupt the batch run.

External launchers like ESTK -run or BridgeTalk do not forward arguments, so arguments[] often contains [object BridgeTalk] and $.fileName can be empty. Pass inputs through a sidecar text file at an absolute path and wrap the entry point in try/catch with logging.

PlacedItem.file does not accept SVG and throws an error. The reliable pattern is to open the SVG as a separate document, select all, copy, close it, then paste into the target document and group the pasted items.

A locked layer, sublayer, or parent group such as a clipping mask is blocking the edit. Recursively walk all layers and pageItems, clearing locked and hidden flags before performing DOM modifications.

Scripted documents use a bottom-left origin with Y increasing upward, and all values are in points (72 per inch). A page item's position property is the top-left corner of its bounding box as an [x, y] array.