The new version now has the “Apply to” and “Ignore locked layers” as shown in the image below.

Note that any warning messages about having too few textframes selected have been delayed until after the dialog box appears to reflect the new options.

Downloads of the new version are available on the original post.

Want a good way to move your extension request to the top of the list?

Download
(Compatible with Flash MX 2004 & later)
INSTANCE – multi-name.mxp

This script will convert point text and text on a path into area text. You select multiple text fields and the script will convert them all. It does not take into account stories (linked text fields), so use with caution in those cases.

Download
(Compatibility: Illustrator CS – CS4)
Convert to Text Area.js
[right-click (ctrl-click on Mac) and choose Save Link As...]

Installation Instructions

Place the Convert to Text Area.js file into the Scripts directory within your Illustrator application directory:

Windows > C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator {version}\Presets\Scripts
Mac OS X > Applications/Adobe Illustrator {version}/Presets/Scripts

Note: In CS4, the directory path will include a region directory (e.g., Adobe Illustrator CS4/Presets/en_US/Scripts).

Usage

Select text field(s), choose File > Scripts > Convert to Text Area.

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BREAKING NEWS (12/6/08): I noticed that the new Kuler extension for Flash CS4 has an “add to swatches” button, and it actually adds swatches to the swatches panel. After some decompiling and a lot of detective work, I found an undocumented JSFL call that was added to CS4. The feature is undocumented for a reason: it sends encoded XML data, and if the data is faulty, it crashes Flash. I have a few test cases working and I’m confident that I can add it to this extension, so the swatches will go right in the Flash swatches panel, rather than onto the stage, though it will only work in CS4. Be on the lookout for an update in the next few days.

UPDATE (12/7/08): Updated to version 1.1.0. If you have Flash CS4, the swatches will now go right into your Flash Swatches panel. Hooray!
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There does seem to be a lot usefulness to such an extension, since XFL creates a new workflow between InDesign and Flash, and the Illustrator importer for Flash is fantastic, but neither one loads any of the swatches from the original document. I’ve certainly spent my fair share of time opening up the swatch properties, making sure the swatch is RGB or hex and copying all three fields one at a time.

So, I decided to plow ahead and see what I could come up with. The results are below. This extension takes the swatches from your current InDesign or Illustrator document and sends them to a new layer on the Flash stage. You can then use the eyedropper to pick up the colors, or you can add them to your swatches panel individually (similar to this demo of the Kuler panel).
UPDATE (12/7/08): If you have Flash CS4, you can skip the step above. Version 1.1.0 of this extension will send the Illustrator or InDesign swatches right to your swatches panel in Flash.

This extension will transfer spot and process colors of all varieties (RGB, CMYK, LAB, HSB). Rather than converting the CMYK with my own function, I used the applications themselves to convert the colors to RGB for Flash, so the transfer fidelity is quite good. It will ignore gradients, tints, patterns and fancy stuff like that. If you want to get your gradients into Flash see the bonus tip below.

InDesign to Flash CS4

Or, here’s what InDesign to Flash CS3 would look like.

Illustrator to Flash CS4

Or, here’s what Illustrator to Flash CS3 would look like.

Downloads and more below the fold.

Downloads

• Send Swatches to Flash.jsx (CS3, CS4)
• Send Swatches to Flash (ID).mxp (CS4)
  
• Send Swatches to Flash (AI).mxp (CS4-US only)

Installation

JSX file:

1. Place the JSX file into the appropriate directory:

InDesign CS3/CS4 > {application directory**}/Scripts/Scripts Panel
Illustrator CS3 >  {application directory**}/Presets/Scripts
Illustrator CS4 >  {application directory**}/Presets/{language/region}/Scripts

**Application Directories:
Windows > C:\Program Files\Adobe\{application name + version}\
Mac OS X > Applications/{application name + version}/

MXP file (CS4 only):

1. Double-click on the MXP file to install using Adobe Extension Manager CS4.

Usage

InDesign: make sure the scripts panel is open, Windows > Automation > Scripts, locate the Send Swatches to Flash.jsx script and double-click to run the script. If you installed the script using the MXP file, the script with be in the Ajar Productions subfolder.

Illustrator: Select Send Swatches to Flash from the File > Scripts menu.

Bonus Tip: Transferring Gradients

You can get a gradient from Illustrator to Flash by applying the gradient to a rectangle, copying the rectangle and pasting into Flash (CS3 or later). A dialog box will appear in Flash, make sure “Paste using AI File Importer preferences” is selected and it will retain you vector artwork, including the gradient! To get the gradient from InDesign to Flash, create the rectangle with the gradient in InDesign, copy and paste it into Illustrator, then copy and paste it into Flash using the instructions in the previous sentence.

FYI

I’ve added a donate button to the bottom of the navigation on the right-hand side of the page. If you’d like to help us spend more time making stuff that we can share with you, you’re welcome to leave a tip. Paypal is not required to donate. Donations are not tax deductible.

Anyone who’s tried to edit text from a PDF opened in Illustrator knows how frustrating it can be to make simple text edits when the text is broken up. This extension reduces that headache.

Special thanks to David Van Brink for posting the Omino Dialog Maker. His time-saving code was used to produce the dialog box in this extension.

Download Options

• MergeText_AI.jsx (CS2, CS3, CS4)
  
• MergeText_AI_CS1.js (CS1)
  
• MergeText_AI_en.mxp (CS4 – US English)
  

Installation Instructions

JSX or JS file:

1. Place the MergeText_AI.jsx (or MergeText_AI_CS.js) into the Scripts directory within your Illustrator application directory:

Windows > C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator {version}\Presets\en_US\Scripts
Mac OS X > Applications/Adobe Illustrator {version}/Presets/Scripts

Note: In CS4, the directory path will include a region directory (e.g. Adobe Illustrator CS4/Presets/en_US/Scripts).

MXP file (CS4 only):

1. Double-click on the mxp file to install using Adobe Extension Manager.

Usage

In Adobe Illustrator, select the text the you want to merge together and go to File > Scripts > MergeText_AI. If you’re using Illustrator CS3 or CS4, you will be prompted with a dialog box where you can choose your sorting orientation and a custom separator. If you’re using a version earlier than CS3, you will not be prompted with a dialog; the script will run using the default settings sorting topmost, then leftmost, with a separator of “[><]“. You can then run a Find and Replace and replace the separator with the characters of your choice.

The one thing that it doesn’t mention is that PNG is the only common (web) image format that supports 8-bit transparency. GIF only supports 1-bit transparency (transparent or opaque). So if you want a non-rectangular shape with a transparent background or a nice smooth drop shadow around the edges, PNG is the format for the job.

UPDATE 10/12/08: This project took home the ‘Most Useful‘ award at Flash Camp.

Creative Suite 4 will be introducing a new Flash format, XFL. This format can be created by other applications, including InDesign and After Effects, and then edited by Flash Professional. So print designers and video artists now have a new window into Flash. One consequence of retaining the formatting of an InDesign document into Flash, is that text blocks get broken into individual lines. This will be familiar to anyone who has opened a PDF in Illustrator. This extension will recombine those textfields into one block while retaining the individual formatting properties.

Video demo of InDesign to Flash with XFL: Part One, Part Two, Part Three.

Download
(compatible with Flash MX 2004, Flash 8, Flash CS3, and Flash CS4)
Combine Textfields.mxp

If you’re interested, you can also download and look at the source.

Source
CombineTextfields_src.zip

UPDATE 11/20/08: Unfortunately ligatures are brought in as shapes rather than editable text, so they are essentially ignored by this extension. I have it on good authority that this will be resolved in Flash Authoring (Flash Player 10 already supports ligatures), but I have no idea when.

UPDATE 11/20/08 (#2): Version 1.1.0 posted. I found a Flash bug with Windows that was preventing the textfields from being sorted properly, so I adjusted some code to account for that bug. Version 1.1.0 addresses this issue. Apparently Flash CS4 in Windows doesn’t recognize the label attribute of radio tag in an xmlui file unless it’s value begins with an uppercase character. This may occur in other versions of Flash, but I only tested CS4. If the explanation of this bug doesn’t make sense to you, don’t worry, the extension will still work for you. It’s a pretty esoteric use case, so most JSFL* developers won’t even encounter this bug. I also found a bug that occurs when the XFL has set the faux bold property of a textfield. If this is the first textfield that you’re sorting from, it will make all of your text faux bold, and Flash doesn’t currently allow JSFL to control this property. Flash has moved to using the bold face of a family, rather than the faux bold control. This is also likely to occur with faux italics. It only occurs when the entire textfield is set to faux bold or italic, and should not occur when individual phrases within a textfield are set this way. This is partially a bug with Flash’s new font controls and partially with InDesign’s XFL export. Both features are brand new (and fantastic), so these kinks will likely be worked out in the future. I’ve contacted both teams and the InDesign group will likely fix how the tag is generated in the XFL.

*JSFL is the language used to write Flash extensions.

This extension adds two items to the Commands menu in Flash:

• COLOR – match Fill to Stroke
• COLOR – match Stroke to Fill

I recommend adding keyboard shortcuts to really make these commands useful.

Download

(compatible back to Flash MX 2004)
COLOR – Unify Stroke and Fill.mxp

Update: The video tutorial is now live. See the extension in action!

I picked up this style of lip syncing in Flash from Chris Georgenes’ tutorial.

Update (8/26/09): A savvy user caught a stage refresh bug introduced in Flash CS4 with AS3. If you’re using Flash CS4 & AS3 and the symbol isn’t updating when you select a new frame from the panel, download the most recent version below (1.0.3 has the fix).

Download

(compatible with Flash MX 2004, Flash 8, and Flash CS3)

FrameSync.mxp