JavaScripting InDesign

A U2U forum visitor posted a request for a script to replace linked color images with black & white (grayscale, probably) equivalent images using a particular naming scheme. Here's the script I created:

//DESCRIPTION: Replace color linked images with BW alternates

 /*
   Color images have "_cp" in their names; BW have "_bw"
 */
 
myDoc = app.activeDocument;
myLinks = myDoc.links;
for (j = myLinks.length - 1; j >= 0; j--) {
  myName = myLinks[j].filePath;
  myNewName = myName.split("_cp").join("_bw");
  if (myName != myNewName) {
    // Original link includes "-cp" in name
    myNewImageFile = File(myNewName);
    if (!myNewImageFile.exists) {
     alert ("Can't find file: " + myNewName);
      continue;
    }
    myLinks[j].relink(myNewImageFile);
    myLinks[j].update();
  }
}

It occurred to me having written the script for the situation where the two sets of images are in the same folder, the logic for converting the names will also work if the two sets are segregated into two side-by-side folders that use the same naming trick to distinguish one from the other.

PS: Things have been very hectic lately getting huge jobs out the door, so I've neglected the blog some. Hopefully, this will change now that the jobs are complete.