A Javascript file is just some lines of Javascript code saved in plain text format and given a .js file extension.

The .js extension is recognized by a multitude of programs that utilize Javascript. Adobe, like many other software companies, develops its own "flavor" of Javascript, which it calls ExtendScript. If a Javascript file has a .jsx file extension, it is recognized by Adobe's ExtendScript editor, a utility bundled with Creative Suite packages. So either .js or .jsx file extensions can be put on Javascript files you want to use with Illustrator.

Installing AI Javascripts
You don't really have to "install" a Javascript in Illustrator to use it. When working in AI, you can just select the File: Scripts: Other Script... menu command and use the operating system's directory dialog to navigate to a Javascript that you want to run, no matter where it is stored on your computer.

If you use a script frequently, of course, that's mighty tedious. So it's better to put your AI Javascripts in a special location that will cause them to be listed in the File: Scripts submenu the next time you start Illustrator To "install" the scripts you download from this collection, follow these steps:

  1. Use the menu at the upper left of this page to go to the scripts pages which briefly describe the scripts in each collection. If a script interests you, Click the .zip archive image at the top of the descriptions to download the whole collection.
  2. When the download is complete (it only takes a few seconds; script files are very small) decompress the .zip archive. On Windows, you do that by rightClicking the file and selecting Extract All. The .zip file will be decompressed and you'll then have a separate folder with the same name, but without the .zip extension.
  3. Open the resulting folder. The Javascripts are inside it.
  4. Navigate to Illustrator's Scripts folder. On Windows, that is located at C:Program Files/Adobe/Adobe Illustrator CS3/Presets/Scripts.
  5. Drag the script files into the Scripts folder.
  6. Quit Illustrator if it is running. Then restart it. The scripts should now be listed in the File: Scripts submenu.

The individual scripts do not have to be "loose" inside Illustrator's Scripts folder. You can use folders within the Scripts folder to organize them. Folders inside the Scripts folder become sub-submenus in the File:Scripts submenu, as shown in this screenshot of my menu:

Go to Transform Scripts page Go to TextScripts page Go to Selection Scripts page Go to Replace Scripts page Go to Randomize Scripts page Go to Primitives Scripts page Go to Path Scripts page Go to Label Scripts page Go to Draw Scripts page Go to Cleanup Scripts Page
Running the Scripts
Most of the scripts expect you to at least have a document open, and something selected that the script will act upon. For example, it's pretty obvious that the JoinNearest script, which is used to Join multiple paths, would require you to have some paths selected before running it. Don't worry, though; if you do something wrong, you might get an error message telling you that the script encountered a problem and therefore quit. But it's very unlikely that you'll break anything. If you've never used scripts before, and are nervious, simply do a Save just before running the script. That way, the worst case scenario would simply be to quit the script (pressing Esc) and reverting the file.

Instructions For the Scripts
Most of the folders that you download from these pages contain a plain text file named Instructions.txt. Just open that file in any text editor. Alternatively, you can read the Instructions that I've typed right into the script files themselves. Just open a script file with any text editor (WordPad, for example) and read the notes there. After doing so, close the file without saving it, to avoid any accidental edits to the script.

Most of the scripts should be self-explanatory after reading the descriptions on the various download pages. The more elaborate ones have an accompanying PDF file that you can view online or download. THe PDFs give a complete step-by-step description of using the script.