Phoenix Acrobat User Group

Meeting Notes Archive

February 27, 2006

Acrobat JavaScript tip from Phoenix user-group chapter meeting

The second meeting of the Acrobat User Group in Phoenix, AZ featured several speakers and presentations, including one by chapter co-leader Carl Young on "Using Adobe Acrobat JavaScript." Young, founder and host of the annual PDF Conference and principal of Carl Young Training Associates, discussed Adobe's implementation of JavaScript. He showed examples and discussed some ways JavaScript can be used to extend Acrobat's capabilities, including modifications to the user interface.

Young's presentation, which is now posted in the Phoenix chapter's area on AcrobatUsers.com, includes a tip for creating a New menu item under the File menu in Acrobat. You can download the PDF-based presentation and a JavaScript file named <newmenu7fromAdobe.js> — the presentation explains how the process of saving the script in Acrobat's JavaScript folder, then closing and re-starting the application to see the added menu item.

Young says the Acrobat JavaScript Scripting Reference, from which this sample script is available, is an especially useful resource for beginners.

If you're interested in attending an Acrobat User Group in your local area, check to see if one has been established. If not, and if you might be interested in helping to organize one, start by reading the Acrobat User Group Starter Kit.

Learn more about JavaScript in Acrobat in our JavaScript Tech Corner.