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Lightning Brain ClipAThing

This is a free download; it supports Mac & Windows versions of InDesign CS, CS2, CS3 or CS4.

Goal

The Lightning Brain ClipAThing plug-in can access and apply embedded clipping paths from images placed in an Adobe® InDesign document.

LB ClipAThing can either scan your InDesign document or the current selection, find embedded clipping paths (e.g. created in Adobe Photoshop®), and apply these clipping paths in InDesign.

LB ClipAThing saves time and eliminates the tediousness of manually going through all placed images and performing manual configuration for use of an embedded clipping path.

Download

This is a free download. Before you can use the LB ClipAThing Plug-In you also have to install our free APID ToolAssistant Plug-In, which is available as a second, separate download.

LB ClipAThing supports InDesign CS, CS2, CS3 and CS4 on Mac or Windows.

Download the LB ClipAThing Scripted Plugin (version 1.0.1 – Free download – does not include the APID ToolAssistant. Don’t worry about the icon of the .spln file: it might not be a ‘regular’ icon, and that’s OK)

Download APID ToolAssistant for InDesign (version 1.0.46 – Free)

You don’t need to purchase a license for APID ToolAssistant (but we’re always grateful if you do – it helps us fund further development). The LB ClipAThing Plug-In will work fine with an unlicensed APID ToolAssistant.

To encourage us by purchasing the US$25 optional license, select the API – APID ToolAssistant… menu item, select the ‘APID ToolAssistant’ entry in the list, and click the Get License… button. Purchasing a license helps us fund further development of cool stuff!

If you don’t purchase a license, APID ToolAssistant will show itself as ‘Demo’ for the first 20 days after it was first installed, and after the 20 days are up, it will change to ‘Unlicensed’. Don’t be alarmed by this. It will not stop working. LB ClipAThing works with an unlicensed version of APID ToolAssistant, and purchasing a license is optional.

Let us know if this tool is useful to you, at pluginsupport@rorohiko.com. Thanks!

Installation

Please make sure you have a copy of the APID ToolAssistant plug-in installed.

Make sure you install the proper plug-in for your version of InDesign. InDesign CS, CS2, CS3 and CS4 plug-ins are mutually incompatible.

If you already have an APID ToolAssistant plug-in installed (e.g. because you use one of our other Scripted Plug-Ins), make sure it is up-to-date.

APID ToolAssistant used to be called ‘Active Page Item Runtime‘ – if you have any copies of Active Page Item Runtime or Active Page Item Developer installed, please remove them, and replace them with APID ToolAssistant.

When installing plug-ins make sure you copy plug-in files, not the folders they are contained in.

Copy the ClipAThing.spln into the same folder as the APID ToolAssistant plug-in you installed (typically that will be the InDesign Plug-Ins folder). Don’t worry about the icon of the .spln file: it might not be a ‘regular’ icon, and that’s OK.

Usage

To use LB ClipAThing, proceed as follows:

  • Open a document of your choice.

  • Check the API menu item that should sit on the menu bar for the new Apply Embedded Clipping Path menu.
Important:
The Apply Embedded Clipping Path menu doesn’t appear in the API menu if there is no document currently open.

The Apply Embedded Clipping Path menu has two options:

  • All Images
  • Selection

The first option, All Images, will scan the current InDesign document, find embedded clipping paths, and apply these clipping paths in InDesign

The second option, Selection, will scan the current selection, find embedded clipping paths, and apply these clipping paths in InDesign

Note:
ClipAThing only works on images with:

  • Embedded clipping path(s).
  • The clipping path Type set to None (Check Clipping Path dialog in InDesign).

If there’s more than one embedded clipping path in an image, LB ClipAThing will apply the first clipping path on the list provided by InDesign.

Limitation:
Due to a bug in InDesign CS2, embedded clipping paths can’t be applied using scripting. As a workaround, LB ClipAThing will create a replica of the embedded clipping path, that will be displayed as a User-Modified path in theClipping Path dialog.

Let us know if this Scripted Plug-In is useful to you, at pluginsupport@rorohiko.com. Thanks!

Version history

21-March-2007 – Version 1.0.1:

  • Speed improvement.

20-March-2007 – Version 1.0.0:

  • Initial Beta release.

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