8 Replies Latest reply: Apr 11, 2012 11:36 AM by absqua

How to save/export as tiff in a script?

gmauer Apr 9, 2012 2:24 PM

I need to use indesign server to convert an idml file to a tiff.

I find that I can easily export to a jpg (which is lossy) or a pdf (which is not), but I cannot find any options to export to tiff. Is this possible?

If not, what is my best bet since I will have to convert it to tiff using another process.

1. Re: How to save/export as tiff in a script?

Laubender Apr 10, 2012 12:42 AM (in response to gmauer)

You could export to PDF and then render a TIFF in PhotoShop. In that way you have more control over image quality and color space.

Uwe
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2. Re: How to save/export as tiff in a script?

gmauer Apr 10, 2012 8:14 AM (in response to Laubender)

This whole process needs to be automated and writing code against PDFs is messy. Surely this has been done before.
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3. Re: How to save/export as tiff in a script?

Laubender Apr 10, 2012 11:29 AM (in response to gmauer)

It certainly depends on the platform you're working on.

To do so in PhotoShop you could use BridgeTalk if you want to stick with InDesign scripting launching PhotoShop, open up the PDF with some parameters and saving the new file as TIFF in a directory of your choice.

Search for "BridgeTalk" in this forum. There are some examples for implementation around here…

OR: implement some Acrobat Pro scripting to export to TIFF via Acrobat Pro.

OR: use some hotfolder based tools that come with some PDF workflow systems.

Uwe
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4. Re: How to save/export as tiff in a script?

gmauer Apr 10, 2012 11:46 AM (in response to Laubender)

So hold on,
I don't have Photoshop or anything like that (actually I don't even have InDesign), I just have an instance of Indesign Server to work with.
My understanding is that just about anything you do with InDesign, you can script with InDesign Server - are you saying that is untrue?
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5. Re: How to save/export as tiff in a script?

Muppet Mark Apr 10, 2012 12:37 PM (in response to gmauer)

My understanding is that just about anything you do with InDesign, you can script with InDesign Server - are you saying that is untrue?

I don't have ID server… but where do you see *.tiff export in the standard ID? ( I only have CS5 btw )
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6. Re: How to save/export as tiff in a script?

Bob Stucky Apr 10, 2012 1:54 PM (in response to Muppet Mark)

ID server has pretty much everything that's in ID except anything that has to do with UI.

As for exporting a TIFF, InDesign does not support exporting tiff's.

You can export a jpg, converting that to tiff.

You can also write a plug in that could export a TIFF (see the SDK).

Regards
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7. Re: How to save/export as tiff in a script?

gmauer Apr 10, 2012 2:02 PM (in response to Bob Stucky)

Is there a way to export jpg without loss in quality? I saw png as a key on ExportFormat but I get an error whenever I try to use it.

The nuclear option is to go
Idml -> Indesign -> PDF -> Inkscape Command Line -> TIFF

but good god is that asking for trouble.

Any other good options?
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8. Re: How to save/export as tiff in a script?

absqua Apr 11, 2012 11:36 AM (in response to gmauer)

It does seem that there should be a non-lossy raster export format.

Here's a nutty idea: export to swf with rasterizePages set to true and rasterCompression at RasterCompressionOptions.LOSSLESS_COMPRESSION and then extract the png from the resulting swf with swftools. At least that way you wouldn't be relying on a third-party tool to perform the rasterization.

Jeff
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