Each time I show someone the Artboards feature in Illustrator, inevitably, the first question I get is always "so can I open a multi-page PDF file in Illustrator and have it open as a single Illustrator will multiple artboards"?
Sadly, Illustrator can still only open or place one page of a PDF at a time. So you'd have a lot of manual work on your hands -- basically creating your own artboards and then importing the PDF pages one at a time....
OR, you can do it the efficient way and use a script :)
Back when Artboards was first introduced in CS4, my friend and scripting guru Shane Stanley created an AppleScript that would basically allow you to drop any multipage PDF file on it -- and it would turn it into a mutli-artboard Illustrator file, with all the PDF pages -- in one step! Being that the script is written in AppleScript, it will only run on MacOS. The original script didn't support CS5 or Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard).
I'm happy to announce that Shane has graciously taken the time to update his script, so it now works for CS5 and also works on Mac OS 10.6. If you use the script, Shane has humbly requested that in lieu of paying him, you instead make a donation to help those in need in Christchurch and Japan. He suggested this organization, or the Red Cross.
You can download the script here.
**UPDATE**
People have reported that the script works in CS6 and CC as well.
A blog about Adobe Illustrator and design in general
Ok Mordy - the inevitable question. What chance for a Windows platform version of this script?
ReplyDeleteI can't say, Gary. Shane is an AppleScript guru, so I don't know if he knows how to convert this to VB Script to run on Windows.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mordy.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mordy.
ReplyDeletehi many thanks for sharing the pdf converter that...I have download the script...
ReplyDeletebest regards :)
still doesn't work for cs5
ReplyDeleteMany Thanks it worked a treat
ReplyDeleteWhat am I missing....I push my PDF file on top of the .app and it opens the application but it doesnt' seem to do anything. Would love to have this working. Please help.
ReplyDeleteIt works great, I just unzipped, dragged to my desktop and made sure I had CS5 open already. It created a document with 64 pages/artboards with out a hickup. Thanks for the script!
ReplyDeleteIt worked perfectly for me. I had Illustrator CS5 open, dragged the pdf onto the app (inside of the app directory) and it converted the pdf pages to artboards inside of a single ai document.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Mordy/Shane
Yeah. Still doesn't work. What am I missing? Anyone?
ReplyDelete@ Chris, the script is a drag and drop application. Drop your PDF file on the icon and then the script will run. Illustrator CS5 doesn't have to be running because the script will open it. Do not place inside the Illustrator scripting folder and try and work it from the application because it will not work. Hope that helps.
ReplyDeleteIs this script still available for Illustrator CS4?
ReplyDeleteLove the ide, but me aswell as another cant get it to work with cs5, the dialog box taht shows when installing said something with cs4..- but when i drag my pdf to my illustrator icon nothing new happens. Im still asked witch i want to open...
ReplyDeleteThank you very much, works like a charm.
ReplyDeleteI was wrong! it really works even in CS5.1 the problem was the distance between the pages, I let it in default and it was just too much and the pages where place out of the working area, I change that to 1cm and work really good!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Thank you! It worked fantastic and you just saved me something like two hours of work!
ReplyDeleteOMG I super appreciate this!! Thank you so much for sharing! YOU super rock! Happy Halloween!
ReplyDeleteThanks bud, saves alot of hassle
ReplyDeleteDoes this work with Windows 7? The icon is not showing. When I drag the PDF to PkgInfo nothing happens. Correct me if I'm wrong.
ReplyDeletedonation made! thanks!
ReplyDeleteI would really love to get this working but am having the same problem that it looks like a few others have had. I saw the comment by Richard about how to install, which is what I did, and it still only opens the application but no document in illustrator. This could be really helpful - anyone have ideas? I have CS5 and mac 10.5.8
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. Worked perfectly.
ReplyDeleteHi guys, I just posted a win/mac script in the Adobe forums, get the script and follow the comments here
ReplyDeletehttp://forums.adobe.com/thread/946055?tstart=0
or get the script here
http://www.fileswap.com/dl/QDc2eDC9v4/AI_openMultiPagePDF_CS4_CS5.zip.html
enjoy
Carlos Canto
It worked! Very cool. I mostly use Photoshop, but this will definitely come in handy for my Illustrator stuff.
ReplyDeletethankyou so much! Shane is the MAN!!!!!!! That has saved me time and effort and more importantly my patience!!!! thankyou xx
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot!! I'm using CS5. On my first attempts something was goin wrong in the 9th page. But then I discovered that that artboards weren't fitting tha illustrator page. So, for multi(many)pages PDF file, its recommended to reduce the spacing of artboards and use more columns!
ReplyDeleteThx a lot again!
SHANE IS A BALLER!!!
ReplyDeleteDoesn't seem to work with Lion :(
ReplyDeleteThanks!!! Works great for me, OS X Lion, CS 5.5
ReplyDeleteCheers
Thanks!!! Works great for me, OS X Lion, CS 5.5
ReplyDeleteCheers
THANK you it worked great. You are a hero. One question. All of my text, logos, art is created to outlines - is there an easy fix for this or do I have to paste all of the text back?
ReplyDeleteYOU ROCK!
Hello : sorry for the double post but I'm not sure my first one posted... ONE QUESTION: the converter worked! YOU ARE A GENIUS.. but now all my text is separated into single lines and words - anyway to avoid having to retype the text?
ReplyDeleteHi, :) evereybody!
ReplyDeleteA long time ago Im searching for script wich convert AI layers to AI artboards. There was only on plugin wich convert layers directly into the pdf pages, but it is very slow.
Is there a script wich convert layers to artboards?
thank you !!!
Thank you very much!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIT WORKED...... Thank you so much. I have been fighting this problem for so long.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy right now! Lots of hours saved by using this script. Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteGreat script. Has saved me hours of work. Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteBig advantage is that it also works in CS6!
ReplyDeleteBig advantage is that it also works in CS6! Fantastic little script
ReplyDeleteshould it work also on Illustrator Cs6 (Italian version?) I drag a PDF on the icon, it starts and also starts AI, but.. that's all - no artowrk is created :8 Any suggestion? TIA,
ReplyDeletePaolo
Woah! Thank you so much! Been struggling with this for days, it worked great for me.
ReplyDeleteIt works now - I was trying using it dragging from a LAN server. I dragged the files on my desktop, then in the script's icon.. voilà!
ReplyDeleteTHANKS!!!
Thanks, I also got it to work on CS5. Had to place both the script and the file on the desktop and then it worked great.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much. This saved me a lot of work and frustration!
ReplyDeleteThis is the greatest thing since sliced bread! Thanks for saving me a ton of time!
ReplyDeleteHey it won't work for me I really want it to work but keeps saying
ReplyDeleteAdobe Illustrator got an error: Can’t get page item 1 of document 1. (-1728)
Event: doProcess(1, 20.0, 9, "acrossdown", false)
Script: application
and then
Adobe Illustrator got an error: Can’t get page item 1 of document 1. (-1728)
Event: action button id -115 of window id -102
Script: button "ok" of window "main" of application
Can anyone help? I am using CS5 on a Mac.
Fantastic script.
ReplyDeleteWell worth a donation.
Many thanks.
this is awesome!! Thx so much!!!
ReplyDeleteFantastic! Shane & Mordy, hats off to you. A BIG heartfelt thankyou! :)
ReplyDeleteWorks like a charm on CS5 on OSX, but I have the weirdest problem. All my text boxes didn't convert to outlines or separate into multiple text boxes - instead, the words that were in the boxes converted to symbols entirely, like "Shape" became "$!#"&". So now my artwork's titles all look like swear words haha. What a weird little quirk.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this, I was about to start writing a script with the same goal. Also thank your friend for me!
ReplyDeleteCheers from Brazil.
great script!! thanks
ReplyDeleteThis script isn't working for me. I'm using Illustrator CS5 and Mac OS 10.6
ReplyDeleteAnyone else have this problem and found a way to resolve?
Saved my life! THANK YOU!
ReplyDeleteWon't work for CS6, fyi.
ReplyDeleteWon't work in CS6, fyi
ReplyDeleteBeautiful script. It worked for me as well.
ReplyDeleteOnly one improvement suggestion, all the text is converted to graphics. So I am not able to edit any of the text, I have to write all the text again.
If this feature can be added in future, it would prove very useful.
btw. I used OSX Lion 10.8.3 and Illustrator CS6
So it seems to work with higher OS versions.
Works fine here, Mac OS 10.6.8 and Illustrator CS5 (15.0)
ReplyDeleteAWesome!
Yes all the text is line by line text objects. To edit the text you really need to remove and start again. Is there any way to merge text objects into one. changing a headline or page number is easy and it works great. This on Mac 10.6 and CS5
ReplyDeleteIt works on the CS6 as well! Thank you so much for making our lives easier Shane! lol
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Shane! This also works in CC, folks. Now, if you could bless us with one for PC, lol. Shane, you are a blessing, sir! And thank you as well Mordy, please give my regards to all the gang at InDesign Secrets and Lynda.
ReplyDeleteYBIH,
YEAH!!!! BOOM WORKS SO WELL MASSIVE HELP!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Works with CS5 on my MacPro
ReplyDeleteBig thanks!
ReplyDeleteMassive help on CS6!
ReplyDeletecoreldraw is the answer
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteI need the script but it is not available
Can someone send it 2 me
Many 10x in advance
Yoram Oshri
OMG uve saved me hours of work - THANKYOU :)
ReplyDeleteSeems to have stopped working in Maverick for obvious reasons, anyone seen a fix around?
ReplyDelete/D
Daniel Ruuth,
ReplyDeleteYes, sadly I have had no luck using it on Mavericks also. Sigh. I have an AWFUL lot of files to process and this would have saved me 15 hours this week.
I just wet myself watching it save me about 30 minutes of work.
ReplyDeleteThe issues with Maverick is exactly why I never upgrade until the new OS has been out for a while.
Worked very well using CS6 and Mavericks. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks!!! Works perfect!!!
ReplyDeleteHello!! I have a problem running the app on Mavericks 10.9.1 and AI CC. When I drag a PDF into it, Illustrator runs but does not open the app importing menu, instead of this, appears a message that says "Can't make {missing value, " ", missing value} into type string. (-1700) Event: run current application Script: application". Could you please help me to solve it? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It works fine on OS X Mavericks and CS5
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! Worked for my CC version on OSX 10.8.5!!!!
ReplyDeleteI am having trouble opening in OSX10.9 and CS6. Says it can't be opened because it's from an unidentified developer. I had it working before I upgraded to Maverick.
ReplyDeleteI can't do the Help Center suggestion to open in shortcut menu, because I don't have the shortcut menu option...
One one know a way around this?
Really would love to have this app working again as it's so handy.
Can't open since I've upgraded to Maverick. Using OSX10.9 and CS6.
ReplyDeleteSays it is an unidentified developer. Have tried the Help Center but that isn't working either.
Would really love to get this working again. Anyone got any hints?
Thank you so much! This has made my life SO much easier
ReplyDeleteTania, hold down the Control button and double-click the script - the same "unidentified developer" window will pop up, BUT with the option to open the app. It'll probably error out when you do, but then you can use it normally as you've approved it once.
ReplyDeleteNo work here - Illustrator CS6 and CC, english version, legal license, doesn't work.
ReplyDelete:( I've been looking for such a script for years, i'd even pay for it.
here's a script for Windows users (it works on mac too)
ReplyDeletehttp://aiscripts.com/ai-scripts/openmultipagepdf/
So I downloaded the script, opened the app and dropped my PDF on the icon.. nothing happened. Then I realized "maybe it doesn't work with files that are being pulled from a server through a network" and saved a copy of the file to my desktop. IT WORKS! Just an FYI for people who typically work through a network connection. I have a Mac running the most recent OS version and am using CS5 and it works lie a charm! Thank you! Do you still want donations to go to Japan?
ReplyDeleteOops my bad, its CS6. ;)
ReplyDeleteWorked brilliantly though its important to have a file open in illustrator to make it work. Can't thank you enough!!
ReplyDeleteSaved me a ton of work...most of our files from clients are multipage pdf's!
plz 4 windows plz m8
ReplyDeleteThat's perfect feature. Big thanks
ReplyDeleteI agree with the others that I would pay to have the developer update the script to work with Mavericks and Adobe CC.
ReplyDeleteName the price Shane!
ReplyDeleteExcellent...its working for cs6
ReplyDeleteYou, good sir, are amazing.
ReplyDeleteI love your work Mordy!
ReplyDeleteI downloaded the script from your link on your page "Scripts make multiple art boards in Illustrator CS4 even better", but i get an .app file. in CS6's scripts folder, it looks like everything is .jsx files. Illustrator tells me that "Script does not exist". How do I get a .jsx file?
Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteVery helpful! I wish I found this script a lot sooner - works flawlessly on latest Adobe CC for me!
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing script and works perfectly in Adobe CC 2014. I've successfully saved a 35-page Indesign CC 2014 doc as a pdf; then dragged/dropped the pdf onto the script icon. It perfectly created 35 art boards in Illustrator. I then converted type paths to outlines. Perfect and ready to send to my printer! Thank you so much for saving me so much time!! :)
ReplyDeleteWorked flawlessly for me with CC 2014 and Yosemite, creating a document with 51 artboards extremely quickly. Can't thank you enough for this wonderful, time saving script.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Worked on CC after I lowered the space between artboards a littel.
ReplyDeleteI loathe it how Adobe & other software creators invent new terms & just expect people to re-learn things.
ReplyDeleteOk, yes, an artboard isn't technically a page... But when I press the make art board button, it generates, dare I say... An A4 PAGE. These people who build software must know that nothing on a PC really relates to real life because it's all digital. Technically a page on a screen isn't a page. It's just a rectangle. So why not just confuse everyone and just call everything a rectangle?
Yes, I am trolling, and I apologize. But honestly... 'Art board'?? Just use the term PAGE. We're used to PAGE. PAGE makes more sense then art board. Anyway. 2015.
Good work.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing it, which give a guide on my work.
convert raster image to PDF
i don't know how to use this script
ReplyDeleteplease help me where to place content folder.
and how can i place multiple PDF in illustrator not open but place them
for embedding the font.
thanks
I get an error every time I drag and drop a pdf onto the converter script app,
ReplyDeleteAppleScript Runtime Error
Adobe Illustrator got an error: Can't get page item 1 of document 1. (-1728)
Event: doProcess(1, 100.0, 4, "acrossdown", false)
Script: Application
Anyone know what's going on here? (Ugh it's never easy is it?!)
awesome!!!!!!!!!!! thank you very much
ReplyDeleteGreat article!! Solved my problem in opening my pdf file on Illustrator CS6. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI had to ctrl+click the script and click "Open" first. It didn't let me open it before I do that.
ReplyDeleteCool scrip, I appreciate your work!
I think I'm doing something wrong? It opens in ai, alright, but the font is just gibberish symbols.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteit seems that there is no .app file.
is it possible or I just can't find it?
thanks
As of today, the script still works like a charm (Illustrator CC 2015.3)
ReplyDelete:)
thank you so much for this
Hi to everyone someone has the link for the script because the link on top it's broken, and also someone knows if this work fine on illustrator CC 2015
ReplyDeleteLink is dead, here's one on the archive: https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.mordy.com/pics/PDF2Artboards.zip
ReplyDeleteAwesome, worked beautifully on an 85-page PDF (CS6)! Saved my ass on a rush job for Aston Martin at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance :)
ReplyDelete