InDesign Import

Question

I want to create a folder on my desktop. I want to be able to drop in there, maybe 10-20 sized and prepped PDFs. As soon as they go in that folder, I want them to open in Indesign into a SINGLE document, but as separate image boxes, with the path to the graphic connected. Would this be Indesign scripts, automator, both, or more? Some help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Since you are considering Automator, I'm assuming you're working with OS X.

You can set up a folder action with Automator for your watch folder that sits on the desktop, in this folder action, the only thing it needs to do is run an applescript. Here is how the script could look (for InDesign CS6 in my case):

on run {input, parameters}

    tell application "Adobe InDesign CS6"

        activate

        do script "#include ~/desktop/myScript.jsx" language javascript

    end tell

    return input
end run

This will run the script myScript (sitting on the desktop) in InDesign. Additionally you could add some Automator action after the script to remove the files from the Watchfolder again.

In the .jsx you can access all the files currently in the watch folder like this:

var watchFolder = Folder("~/Desktop/InDesignWatchFolder");
var filesArray = watchFolder.getFiles();

The import procedure itself totally depends on your needs and on your PDFs (single page, multi page, placement options etc.) it can be rather simple or become really complex. Scott Zanelli has developed a rather sophisticated free script that you could have a look at. You can download it here: http://indesignsecrets.com/zanelli-releases-multipageimporter-for-importing-both-pdf-and-indd-files.php