Script Update News (February 2024)

We’ve been busy over the last few months with updates to several popular scripts, as well a major change to how scripts are activated. Let’s begin with that!

Out with the serial numbers, in with the email-address activation

We’ve updated the activation method for all scripts, old and new. Moving forward, instead of using serial numbers, all scripts will be activated by typing in, when asked, the email address used to make the original purchase.

The advantage is simply to have one less number (the serial number) to keep track of! And hopefully, most people remember their email address…

The activation server should recognize whether a single license, or multiple licenses, were purchased, and allow the appropriate number of activations on different computers.

As well, as soon as a script is activated, it is linked to the specific Adobe User ID that is in use with InDesign at the time of activation. So make sure you are logged on properly to your Creative Cloud account before activating any scripts for the first time.

Transferring a license to a different Adobe User account is not an automated process, and incurs a license-transfer fee ($19).

To take advantage of this more convenient activation method, please re-download your purchases here: https://www.id-extras.com/shopping-cart/my-account/.

Along with this news, a number of scripts have recently been updated.

Always Fit Spread Version 1.2.5 Update

Always Fit Spread is one of my favourite scripts. InDesign has the annoying habit of not showing you the entire spread when you travel from one page to the next. Always Fit Spread remedies this nicely by continuously invoking the Fit Spread option whenever a selection change occurs. The following improvements have been made in version 1.2.5:

An option has been added to “Always Fit Page”, alongside the classic “Always Fit Spread”. Both options are part of a single script file.
The menu location of these options has been rationalized. They can now be found in the most natural place in the View menu, under the respective commands “Fit Page in Window” and “Fit Spread in Window”. The two options are, naturally, mutually exclusive.

Settings are now remembered when InDesign is restarted. So if “Always Fit Spread” was activated when InDesign was closed, it will be activated when InDesign is reopened.

The new version of the script can be downloaded from the My Account page as usual. Remove any older versions, and remember that this script needs to go in the Startup Scripts folder, not the usual Scripts Panel folder.

Footwork Version 3.1.0 Update

The update to Footwork version 3.1.0 includes one change and two important bug fixes.

Feature request: Several users requested that after Footwork finishes the process of laying out the text and footnotes, it returns to the initial page from which it was run, rather than end on the final page. So this is now the default behaviour. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease!” If you’re not happy with the change, and preferred the way it used to work, let me know!
Major bug fix: If the option “Footnotes may appear on the next page” is enabled, in previous versions Footwork felt free to take advantage of this option far too much. It would fill the page with main text, adding lots of footnote references, and defer the placement of those footnotes till later in the document. Clearly incorrect! The logic has now been improved, and, in version 3.1.0, Footwork will do its best to minimize the number of footnotes not appearing on the same page, and only take advantage of the flexibility the user has allowed when absolutely necessary. This is a major change and improvement, and if you have been using the option to allow footnotes to appear on the next page, you should download this update for this reason alone!
Bug fix: If no progress is made in laying out the text for 3 consecutive pages, Footwork assumes it has reached a dead end. This happens with native InDesign footnotes too, and occurs mainly when a single line of main text includes multiple footnote references, not all of which can appear on the same page, and the option to allow footnotes to appear on the next page has not been enabled. In previous versions, Footwork expected to see some advance in the main text, and if there was none for 3 consecutive pages, it assumed a dead end. But in the case of very long footnotes, this is not necessarily the case. If a single footnote spans more than 3 pages, we have clearly not yet reached a dead end. Version 3.1.0 takes this into account, and will not show the “dead end” warning if new footnote text has been added in the course of those 3 pages.

FormMaker Version 4.0.5 Update

A couple of bug fixes here:

A recent update of FormMaker prevented it working on non-English versions of InDesign. This has now been fixed.
This update addresses an issue that affects text with a fill colour that is a tint. FormMaker fails to create an interactive PDF.

Autofit Columns Version 1.1.0 Update

Two major new features!

It is now possible to run Autofit Columns on all tables in the document. To do so, deselect all (Edit > Deselect All) and run Autofit. It is also possible to run it on all tables in the selected story. To do so, select a text frame and run Autofit. And of course, if you just want to autofit a few columns, select some cells in those columns, as usual.
Thanks to user feedback, Autofit Columns now comes with a “no-UI” version of the script. This script is identical to the main script, but, when run, will bypass the dialog that is normally displayed. It will use the options that have previously been set when running the version with the dialog. The advantage of having this available is that you can assign an InDesign shortcut key to this version of the script, and quickly run the script on a selected table or text frame by pressing the shortcut key. For documents with dozens of tables, this can be a more efficient way of working than having to click the Autofit button repeatedly.

Id-Extras Website Update

Finally, I’d like to give a quick mention to the updated Products page on the website. All the Id-Extras scripts on that page have been grouped under five major categories: (1) Interactive PDF, (2) Graphic Design, (3) Long Documents, (4) Specialized Tools, and (5) Table Tools. Although this division is somewhat artificial, and many of the scripts can fit under multiple headings, I think this makes it a lot easier to take in at a glance. The Products menu on the website has been updated to reflect these headings as well.

That’s it for this time! Thanks for reading. I hope you find the new activation easier to handle, and all the updates and bug fixes useful!

As always, feedback, questions and ideas are welcome, so feel free to hit Reply and let me know your thoughts!