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Any Adobe Scripting Programmer here?

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whatsinaname

New Member
We cut stickers/decals for phones etc and have a lots of different sticker outlines (based on lots of mobile phone models) that we need to cut in a single job. Currently we select and move each artwork as required from various master files into a single cut file into a boundary that represents the cutting area (usually 48" or 24"). All the artworks are bounded by their individual rectangular boxes as a group as you can see in the attached images. We then arrange all of these artworks manually to minimize the material wasteage and then send them for cutting using the plotter software. No printing or contour cutting is involved as the material is already pre-printed.

So we plan to automate this whole process using an input excel file or something and a adobe compatible scripting (extendscript or javascript). The excel file will contain the exact artwork name and the number of copies for each.

Step 1 - The script/software will read the excel file and then pull all the required artworks and number of copies required from a master file and dump everything into a single file (preferably in adobe illustrator format or PDF or SVG format)

Step 2 - All the artworks will be then nested automatically using the same script in the output illustrator file or we can import and do it in Flexi or any other sign software that supports nesting.

Well, the artworks will be matched using group names or a tag or something similar. We will have to edit all our artworks as required to match the scripting requirements.

We are looking for an expert scripting programmer who has experience in stuff like this. Please PM me for more details so that we can take this further.
 

Attachments

  • Input_for_nesting.JPG
    Input_for_nesting.JPG
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  • Output_after_nesting.JPG
    Output_after_nesting.JPG
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Solventinkjet

Solventinkjet

DIY Printer Fixing Guide
I know this doesn't completely answer the question but if you had each design saved as a separate file, most cutting software will nest it for you. Flexi also has a nesting feature that minimizes waste but you would have to buy that. I know it's not exactly what you're looking for but it's the first thing that popped into my head.
 
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ewded

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this doesn't solve your problem #2 but you can just drag what you need from your master file to the Asset Export window, export it as PDFs and let your rip nest it, can't be easier than that
 
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whatsinaname

New Member
Solventinkjet said:
I know this doesn't completely answer the question but if you had each design saved as a separate file, most cutting software will nest it for you. Flexi also has a nesting feature that minimizes waste but you would have to buy that. I know it's not exactly what you're looking for but it's the first thing that popped into my head.
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention that we have various versions of the same model of decal/sticker with minor changes in each artwork. And the biggest issue, we have more than 2000 such sticker models from which we copy and cut everyday. And half of them are just 1 copy each. So we have put everything in more broader files which makes it easier to open just 5-6 files and choose from them rather than opening 2000 such files in illustrator for every access. This is the manual part.

Now I am not sure if Flexi has any script to automate opening of these files based on names or any such similar criteria and achieve step 1 for us. If it does, that would be really cool.

So, step 2 (nesting) cannot happen unless step 1 is finished (dumping all required artworks in 1 cut file). Of course, step 2 can be solved even now using Flexi or any other nesting plugin for illustrator but if both can be automated together, nothing like it. Its the step 1 that's need attention now. :)
 
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whatsinaname

New Member
ewded said:
this doesn't solve your problem #2 but you can just drag what you need from your master file to the Asset Export window, export it as PDFs and let your rip nest it, can't be easier than that
Click to expand...

That's the part that's taking a lot of time for us. Pulling out artworks from files. Please read my reply above. :)
 
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