LikeFindsLike
Goal
This tool helps you quickly select a bunch of similar items that are scattered all over a page or a spread. Instead of having to shift-click-click-click to select a number of scattered frames of the same type, you can now select a single frame, and then use the Select All Similar function (preferrably via a keyboard shortcut) to select all the other similar frames in one go.
Download
This is a free download. Before you can use the LB LikeFindsLike Plug-In you also have to install our free APID ToolAssistant Plug-In, which is available as a second, separate download.
LB LikeFindsLike supports InDesign CS, CS2 and CS3 on Mac or Windows.
Download the LB LikeFindsLike Scripted Plugin (version 1.0.2 - Free download - does not include the APID ToolAssistant. Don’t worry about the icon of the .spln file: it will not be a ‘regular’ icon, and that’s OK.)
IMPORTANT: The ReadMe file in this download still mentions the outdated Active Page Item Runtime plug-in. Instead you should install the APID ToolAssistant plug-in shown below.
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 LikeFindsLike Plug-In will work fine with an unlicensed APID ToolAssistant.
To encourage us by purchasing such an 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!
Let us know if this tool is useful to you, at pluginsupport@rorohiko.com. Thanks!
Usage
A typical example usage is to manage pages that have multiple copies of a few intermingled frame types - for example, there are image frames for some pictures, and each of those image frames is accompanied by a caption frame right underneath.
Check the following example page: I’d like to select all smaller portrait-oriented frames - some of which contain text, some of which contain an image.
The first step is to tell LikeFindsLike that we want to select similar frames based purely on size - i.e. we don’t want to differentiate between text frames and image frames. We select theAPI - Like Finds Like - Configure… menu item:
Which brings up a configuration dialog box. By default, the Same frame type as selectedcheckbox will be checked. We uncheck it so LikeFindsLike knows not to look at the frame type (image frame vs. text frame):
Now select a single image frame - say, the top-left one, and then right-click (Win) or control-click (Mac) the selected frame to bring up the context menu.
Pick the API… - Select All Similar option.
And presto… all frames are now selected, ready to be manipulated:
It is strongly recommended that you use the Edit - Keyboard Shortcuts… option in InDesign to assign a shortcut key to the Select All Similar function. This makes the usage very efficient: click to select a single page item, then hit the shortcut key to select all similar. You’ll findSelect All Similar under the Active Page Item product area in the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog.
Work through this example first: create a new document, create two frames of different sizes, and then make a few scattered copies of each of these frames (e.g. 5 copies of the first frame, 6 copies of the second frame, scattered all over the page).
First select, and then right-click (Win) or control-click (Mac) one of the page items and look for the API… context menu - it should contain a submenu Select All Similar. Pick this menu option and note how all the same-shaped frames are selected.
In the configuration dialog for LikeFindsLike you’ll also notice a Comparison Tolerancepercentage - this allows you to have slight deviations between frames, yet still have them considered as being similar.
By increasing this percentage, you can have LikeFindsLike select frames that have a slightly different size, angle, tint,… As long as the differences are below this tolerance level, they will be considered ‘close enough’.
Let us know if this Scripted Plug-In is useful to you, at pluginsupport@rorohiko.com. Thanks!
Version history:
6-November-2007 Version 1.0.2:
- Fixed error dialog that occurred when grouped items were present.
- Substantially faster than previous versions on complex pages.
19-May-2007 Version 1.0.1:
- Fixed issue with items on invisible layers
- Updated to Active Page Item Runtime 1.0.41 (fixed conflict with Softcare’s K4).
9-May-2007 Version 1.0:
- Initial Beta Release