AutoFit Columns script

[DainParticipant]

Hi guys,

First things first, congrats for that script. It is blazing fast and really helpful.

 

I’ve downloaded the free trial to see by myself if I could use it, as I’m working with many tables and that could save a lot of time. And the answer is certainly, but…

The first thing that I would ask whether it is possible is :
– Could there be a way to skip the popup window that basically asks only to click OK. This way, adjusting the size of the columns could just be 1 shortcut away.

– Could there be a way to run the script for all the tables within a document ?

 

Thanks for your answers

 

Best

Fred

[ArielKeymaster]

Hi Dain,

Thanks for your comment!

Regarding a no-UI option (to launch the script with just 1 shortcut) – already you’re not the first person to ask for this – it makes a lot of sense, so I’ll probably add it quite soon.

And running on all tables also makes sense. I guess that should be an option in the main UI window.

Good suggestions, which I hope to implement soon…

Ariel

 

[DainParticipant]

Thanks for the quick answer !

 

I’m happy to hear you’re thinking on improving the script. Very happy actually. Can’t wait to see that coming.
I’ve been using an old fashion script to resize the columns so far, but it is nowhere near yours in terms of efficiency and speed. Good job !

Best

Good luck

[ArielKeymaster]

Thanks.

I’ve posted an update to fix a few minor bugs today (so we’re now on version 1.0.4): a bug fix for users who were using optical margin alignment (which causes the script not to work), and a more important bug fix in cases where the alignment of the contents was not left-aligned.

Regarding the no-UI vesion, and running on the entire doc, this is something that will appear, but probably not for at least a month, as I’ll be on holiday (more or less) for the next 3 weeks…

[DainParticipant]

Thanks for the update,

I’m sure you’re taking some well deserved time for yourself. We have to actually. Recharge the batteries and else.

 

I’ll be around anyway

 

 

[DainParticipant]

Hey Ariel,

Hope you had a nice holiday and get some well-deserved rest ;)

Just passing by and wondering whether you had the time to think about the improvements we were talking about ?
Especially for dealing with all the document tables all at once. The No UI thing is useful but rather cosmetic in terms of time-saving. My documents have usually 300 small tables. I can surely say your script is already saving me quite some time but could be even more.

 

 

[ArielKeymaster]

Hi Dain,

Not yet. It’s still on the radar though.

Ariel

[DainParticipant]

Hey,

As long as it is on the todo list, I’m ok ;)

CreativePro magazine #20 is giving your scripts a big  thumb up btw ^^

I’m always pleased to see such things happening. Hope it’ll do some good for your business ;)

[AndyBrownParticipant]

The auto fit script has been very helpful.  I product 5 different catalogs with one or two tables on each page.  One of these catalogs is 700 pages so there are a lot of tables.  Being able auto fit an entire InDesign file at once would be extremely helpful!

Thanks, Andy

[ArielKeymaster]

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the reminder! The squeaky wheel gets the grease, so keep at it! (I’m just right in the middle of a major update with FormMaker, and won’t be able to get to this until then.)

I do wonder, though: Are you really finding that the script does a good enough job that you could just run it on 700 pages and get helpful results? I would have thought that in any case each table needs a little manual tweaking, in which case that extra click for the initial fitting is not such a hassle?

[AndyBrownParticipant]

Hi Ariel,

Yes, it works really well.  I think I should be able to just run it.  What I found is I have to make sure all the cells are open wider than I need them to get them to close up to the right amount space.  If the space is already smaller, it’s problematic since your code doesn’t expand cells.  If I have go through and manually adjust some of them it’s much better than having to do them all.

The code has saved my team a lot of time and makes the tables looks much cleaner and consistent.  I have bought two versions already and need to buy a third for another employee.

Thanks, Andy

[DainParticipant]

Hey guys,

I would second Andy on this.

We are working on books which can be up to 650 pages as well. Some of the tables need indeed to be tackled through scripts but it’s minor. 95% of the tables are very simple (1 row, up to 8 columns). At the moment, I’m using a homemade script that adjusts the size of the cells but it needs quite a few minutes to get the job done, when the script doesn’t crash, for some reasons.

I’ve tweaked the script to work only on the selected table, but takes a few seconds still. Your script is faster, by far.

In the end, 2. things would be very nice to have.
– Global adjustment
– Running the script with no need of having UI

[DainParticipant]

Hey there,

 

Just checking in, in case there was an update on the burners ^^

[Philip Andrews]

Hey Ariel, just seconding the request for a way to apply autofit columns across all tables in a document.

We have been using the plugin for the last few months and are really happy with it but we have documents with many tables and it would be super helpful to be able to do a first run of all tables and then adjust each individually if needed.

[DainParticipant]

Hey,

Just giving my two cents about the use of the script so far. I’ve been using it for a while now and if my voice would matter, I would suggest this , coming from hours of work :

1- An option for using it with No UI. Using a stream deck/ Shortcut I found not optimized having to use the mouse for 1- Select the table and 2- Clic on the Autofit button. It would be faster just selecting the tables + hit the shortcut with the other hand

2- Being able to select a textframe that contains the tables. The script would identify the tables and run the autofit on them. I’ve currently got one script that does that. More convenient but unfortunately slower.

3- Having a UI for further preferences, being the current ones or for working on the whole document

 

I’m currently working on a document of 617 tables that need adjustments… What a game changer it would be to have these options …just saying ^^

 

Hope to hear from you soon

Thanks anyways ;)

[~~Ariel~~Participant]

Hi Dain (and everyone else),
The deed is basically done. Just to test things, is there any chance you could send me a long document to test with? That would be helpful and speed things up instead of me finding the time to make a test document. (I want to see if it’s necessary to add a progress bar when there are multiple tables.)
If so, please email it over: admin [at] id-extras.com
Many thanks,
Ariel

[DainParticipant]

Hey,

I’m glad to hear an updated version is close

Thanks for reaching out to us for providing help (in such a way)

I’m preparing the file right away and send it to your email

 

Thanks again

 

[ArielKeymaster]

That would be great. Did you get a chance to send it yet?

[DainParticipant]

Hey,
I just sent it seconds ago !

[DainParticipant]

Hi guys,
The update just got out!

The new version is … pure magic. Blazing fast.

Made a test on my iMac 2019 – 778 tables in 50seconds. Before, it was taking 30+ minutes for the script to work that many tables. Great Job Ariel !

Note that the parameters you set in the UI script will be also applied to the No UI version. I have no idea how it’s done without a txt file that stores the setting… never mind.

I would then call it a perfect script, with a blazing speed.

Thank you very much Ariel for having us heard and worked on this new release.

Looking forward to seeing more scripts from you

[ArielKeymaster]

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

The new version (1.1.0) is available to download here: https://www.id-extras.com/shopping-cart/my-account/

The new features are (1) The ability to run the script on the entire document, or on all tables in a selected story. (2) A no-UI version that you can assign a keyboard shortcut to.

More details here: https://www.id-extras.com/help/autofit-columns/

[AndyBrownParticipant]

Ariel–thanks a lot for this update.  It works perfectly as long as I have all my indents set properly. Moving forward I have my tables set up to work with the script. I still have three old catalogs to update and need to just my right indent.   I would like to talk with you and see if can write a custom script that will adjust my indents globally.

[ArielKeymaster]

Should be possible. I’ll answer your email…

[Author]

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