Thanks. That is the current behavior. Wishful thinking on my part. It seemed to me that if it can search all the projects in a comp which means it is going through the precomps as well, the search of 'current comp' could do the same but just in that comp. It would be great to have that feature.
Hi Roz, Glad you like it! Unfortunately things like Faux Bold can't be set through scripting. They did make it partly accessible since CC 2014.2 (v13.2) but read only for some reason.
I'd encourage you to file a request with Adobe if you'd like them to extend what text style properties can be set through scripting. If they add support, I'll certainly look at implementing it.
Hi David, You can clear the whole font list from the help window, but to just delete certain fonts you'd have to manually edit the text file that stores them (do this when pt_TextEdit isn't running). To locate the font list, if you read the instructions under Presets it will tell you where the presets file is stored. The font list is in a different file in the same location.
Hi Vasily, It's an interesting idea. I'll certainly consider it for a future update. If you (or anyone else that would like this) could explain a bit about a workflow where this would be useful, that kind of thing is always helpful in making new feature decisions.
This would help quickly duplicate all text layers in all compositions to create another text, or a translation with saving the animation. And also edit all the duplicates in the script window. You can also turn off the visibility of duplicate layers. What will make fast switching between different text.
Hi Mike, you can edit the presets file to change the names. It's just a basic text file and you can find the location from the help window (just close TextEdit when editing then relaunch). Or you can select a preset, save it with a new name, then select the original one and delete it.
Wanted to see if, as per Joseph Ravellos comment, there was was a straightforward way to get the script to search nested comps? I thought the search 'current' would do this but looks like my only option is to find and select precomps in the project window?
Hi Edward, You're correct that there isn't currently a way to just search nested comps. But it is a good idea and thanks for bringing it up again. I will look at seeing if I can add this to the next update, but hard to say when that might be.
So that I can apply a text preset that will change the font, size, kerning and leading...
Selecting a text layer with some text that has had size, kerning and leading values changed on it, with the save text preset function, as well as the font, size, and colour, does it save the leading and kerning values as well? So that I can apply a text preset that will change the font, size, kerning and leading?
Hi Mike, No unfortunately those settings won't be saved / restored with a preset. A limitation of AE scripting is that only certain text style settings can be accessed, and changing any text layer using scripting will result in all characters adopting the exact same style settings as the first character.
I responded to Zach on the support ticket he opened, but for anyone else reading...I am looking into implementing this, but for now you can either select each text layer and click the All Caps icon in the Character panel, or if the layer has text keyframes and you're using CC2020 you can apply this expression to the Source Text property:
Can you use this to search for a single word or punctuation mark and replace it with something else? For example, searching for every instance of double quotation marks across multiple comps and removing them, without affecting the rest of the text in the layer?
@GXH Design I had to check this (because my pt_ExpressEdit has a search/replace feature) but no, TextEdit doesn't currently have a search/replace. It is a slightly strange omission but I guess simply no one has asked for it yet. Anyone else want a find/replace feature in TextEdit??
You could simply search for that punctuation to get a list of each text layer containing it (they may be 'smart quotes' where the start/end quotes are different characters from the regular straight quotes so watch out for that) but then you'd have to change each entry one at a time from the TextEdit list.
My pt_OpenSesame script could be an alternate here. Set it to Export List Only, in Show Export List click All Text (and set to Export Text: Text Only), then Export Project. This will give you a CSV/TSV file you can search/replace in any text editor, then import back using OpenSesame afterwards.
You can always trial both scripts to see how they handle it. One limitation with any scripted approach though, if you have text layers that contain multiple styles in a single layer, they will revert to the style of the first character once they're changed by any script/expression.
@zhou car, I believe it does work with Chinese fonts, but I suggest you click the Try button on the product page to download the trial version and check for yourself.
Can text styles be changed, and existing text with the style applied getting updated? For example, I have several layers using a Helvetica preset, can I later edit that preset, change the font to Futura, and all the layers that have the Helvetica preset will reflect the change to Futura?
Hi Mike, There's no live link between the presets and any text layers if that's what you're asking. If you alter a preset you'll need to select those text layers and apply the new style. Of course, you can always do a new search looking for a specific font to make it easy to find all those layers again.
Hi Danny, I'm not at all familiar with the Illustrator scripting ecosystem so can't help you there. I had a look at the Illustrator scripting guide and it does seem something similar would be possible, but my lack of familiarity with the app would probably mean a world of pain if I were to attempt it!
Hi Oliver, try installing it directly into the Scripts folder and launch it from the File > Scripts menu (or use Run Script File and select it from there).
Please open a support ticket and let me know what MacOS version you're on and if the above method works. There does seem to be some issue people are having right now but it's not on my main testing platform.
Hello, I am very interested in this plugin, but before i purchase i need to know does this work with MONOTYPE and ADOBE fonts ( both that are downloaded / installed OR synched from the web app )
Hi Laura, It should work with any font available to After Effects that you would typically select in AE's Character panel. There are trial versions available for all my scripts so I recommend you click the TRY button on the product page to download it, try it out and ensure it works for you.
It is very frustrating that now you have to do TWO clicks to edit a field in the plugin when you have already clicked outside AE.
Now on the first click, nothing is even selected and a blue outline appears around the panel that holds all the fields/layer info.
Before I swear it was just ONE click to select individual text layers in that main area but for some strange reason I always have to double click if I have for example copied some text from another window (which sometimes it doesn't even recognize). Whatever happened, it feels more tedious to edit fields and wish it was like before. Bummer! If there is a way you can fix this for next update or sooner that would be incredible. Please bring it back to ONE click to edit layer/fields in the plugin. It makes it feel like more work when selecting is annoying now. Thanks and hope this provides honest feedback for future releases!!!
Hi Alexander, nothing has changed in TextEdit as far as I’m aware, but there is a good chance Adobe changed the ScriptUI on AE’s side in some undesirable way. I already had to replace their built-in text prompt which broke in the latest MacOS. Please open a support ticket so I can properly engage with you on this, and letting me know your AE version and OS would help save time too.
Hi Paul, loving TextEdit but I'd love to request a new feature if pos (apologies if this has been mentioned prior) to copy things ike FAUX BOLD?
Kevin, sorry for the slow response. While Faux Bold and some other text attributes weren't accessible to scripting when TextEdit was first released, they are now. So yes it is a doable feature request and I'll certainly consider it for a future update.
Saw this was asked a long time ago, but I'll ask again as there is no clear, current resolution. I need GLOBAL find and replace. Example: change all instances of "~" with "-". This is my most common text searching task. It came up today and I hoped this plugin would provide a simple find and replace that would work globally.
Saw this was asked a long time ago, but I'll ask again as there is no clear, current resolution. I need GLOBAL find and replace. Example: change all instances of "~" with "-". This is my most common text searching task. It came up today and I hoped this plugin would provide a simple find and replace that would work globally.
Terry, it's good to hear that someone else wants this. An update with Search/Replace is in the final stages. It will work in much the same way as the feature in pt_ExpressEdit.
Hi Paul, loving TextEdit but I'd love to request a new feature if pos (apologies if this has been mentioned prior) to copy things ike FAUX BOLD?
Kevin, following up your request for more style properties like Faux Bold, it seems most of the newly accessible style properties are read only, which is of limited use. TextEdit could find them but not alter them. I'd encourage anyone interested to use Adobe's feature request form to request After Effects scripting access to both read and write for the extended text style properties.
The only new one with write access is Leading, which will be included in the next update.
Hi Ken, if you'd like to expand on that a bit I'm always open to feedback. It's not the easiest thing to pack in all of the functionality for the many different ways people might use it, especially as new features are added over time.
Hi Diego Is there anything specifically you'd like me to explain? I realise the new Search/Replace options could use a tutorial of their own, and that some other things have been added or moved around. But I have big plans for the next major version and would rather not have to redo all the tutorials twice.
After Effects warning: Unknown BIB Error. ATM Parse Error, CT, 0
Kevin, following up your request for more style properties like Faux Bold, it seems most of the newly accessible style properties are read only, which is of limited use. TextEdit could find them but not alter them. I'd encourage anyone interested to use Adobe's feature request form to request After Effects scripting access to both read and write for the extended text style properties.
The only new one with write access is Leading, which will be included in the next update.
I keep getting an after effects error when I try to open the script (in AE 2024). Here's what it says:
"Unable to execute script at line 2. After Effects error: Unable to set "font". Length must be between 1 and 63 inclusive."
Anything I can do to get the script to work?
Thanks