photoshopCore

The core module allows access to specialized commands within the application. Various application state properties can be modified or queried here.

Some of these commands can be considered experimental. Some will be integrated into the DOM at a later date. The use of which will then be easier, for example, removing the need to specify the document ID as an argument.

const {core} = require('photoshop');

Properties

Name

Type

Min Version

Description

apiVersion

number

22.5

API Version declared by the plugin's manifest.json under `host.data.apiVersion` field.

Functions

addNotificationListener

23.3

async : Promise<void>

Attach a listener to a Photoshop core event. A callback in the form of (eventName: string, descriptor: ActionDescriptor) => void will be performed.

A table of events is available.

For example: using group 'UI' and event 'userIdle'

Invoked after the Photoshop user idles for a specified number of seconds. See setUserIdleTime.
Invoked a second time with the descriptor {idleEnd: true} if the user is no longer idle. This signal can be used to finish up tasks being performed during the idle time.

await core.addNotificationListener('UI', ['userIdle'], onUserIdle);

Parameters

Name

Type

group

string

events

string[]

callback

NotificationListener

calculateDialogSize

22.5

async : Promise<{ height: number ; width: number }>

Returns the effective size of a dialog.

const idealSize = { width: 200, height: 500 };
const { width, height } = await core.calculateDialogSize(idealSize);

Parameters

Name

Type

preferredSize

object

preferredSize.height

number

preferredSize.width

number

identifier?

string

minimumSize?

object

minimumSize.height

number

Name

Type

sourceColor

ColorDescriptor

targetModel

ColorConversionModel.CMYK

convertGlobalToLocal

26.0

async : Promise<{ x: number ; y: number }>

Given the (x,y) coordinates of a position in global (display) space, we convert to coordinates with the origin based at the top left corner of the given panel. A plugin can only make calls against panels that are defined in its manifest, so the given target must be defined there.

In the example manifest on the documentation page for UXP manifest v5, the identifier is "panelName".

Note: global coordinates differ between macOS and Windows. On macOS global coordinates are expressed as points while on Windows the unit is pixels. See getDisplayConfiguration for more information on global coordinates.

const target = 'panelName';
const location = { x: 200, y: 500 };
const { x, y } = await core.convertGlobalToLocal(target, location);

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

target

string

The id of the panel to use as the origin.

location

object

Point coordinates in the form {x, y}.

location.x

number

location.y

number

createTemporaryDocument

23.0

object

Create a temporary duplicate document for background processing. This document does not appear in the UI, and there are limitations with some editing features.

await core.createTemporaryDocument({ documentID: 123 });

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

options

object

Object containing the id the document to duplicate under property documentID.

options.documentID

number

deleteTemporaryDocument

23.0

void

Remove a temporary document.

await core.deleteTemporaryDocument({ documentID: 146 });

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

options

object

Object containing key of documentID for the document to delete.

options.documentID

number

endModalToolState

22.5

async : Promise<void>

End the current modal tool editing state.

// close the modal dialog, cancelling changes
await core.endModalToolState(false);

Parameters

Name

Type

commit

boolean

executeAsModal

22.5

async : Promise<void>

ExecuteAsModal is needed when a plugin wants to make modifications to the Photoshop state. This includes scenarios where the plugin wants to create or modify documents, or the plugin wants to update UI or preference state.

ExecuteAsModal is only available to plugin that is using apiVersion 2 or higher.

See Modal Execution for details

Parameters

Name

Type

targetFunction

(executionContext: ExecutionContext, descriptor?: object) => Promise<any>

options

ExecuteAsModalOptions

getActiveTool

22.5

async : Promise<{ classID: string ; isModal: boolean ; key: string ; title: string }>

Returns information about the active Photoshop tool.

const { title } = await core.getActiveTool();

getCPUInfo

23.1

CPUInfo

Returns information about the host CPU.

const { logicalCores, frequencyMhz, vendor } = core.getCPUInfo();
const isAMD = vendor === 'AMD';
const isARM = vendor === 'ARM';

getDisplayConfiguration

23.0

Promise<[DisplayConfiguration]>

Returns the current display configuration as an array with an entry for each display.

Note: returned units differ by platform.

Mac uses logical units, points.
Windows uses physical units, pixels. Further discussion of the units may be found on Display Units

core.getDisplayConfiguration({ physicalResolution: true });

Parameters

Name

Type

Default value

Description

options

DisplayConfigurationOptions

{}

Additional properties to include, e.g., physicalResolution.

getGPUInfo

23.1

GPUInfo

Returns OpenGL and OpenCL information about the available graphics processor.

const { gpuInfoList, clgpuInfoList } = core.getGPUInfo();
console.log(JSON.stringify(gpuInfoList));
// > [{"version":"2.1 ATI-4.5.14","memoryMB":8192,"name":"16915464", ...}]
console.log(JSON.stringify(clgpuInfoList));
// > [{"version":"OpenCL 1.2 ","memoryMB":8589,"name":"AMD Radeon Pro 580X Compute Engine", ...}]

getLayerGroupContents

23.1

Promise<{ list: LayerTreeInfo[] }>

Returns a list of the layers contained by the specified layer group.

await core.getLayerGroupContents({ documentID: 123, layerID: 9 });

Parameters

Name

Type

options

object

options.documentID

number

options.layerID

number

getLayerGroupContentsSync

23.1

object

Returns a list of the layers contained by the specified layer group.

core.getLayerGroupContentsSync({ documentID: 123, layerID: 9 });

Parameters

Name

Type

options

object

options.documentID

number

options.layerID

number

getLayerTree

23.1

async : Promise<{ list: LayerTreeInfo[] }>

Returns the full hierarchy of the layer stack in nested "lists".

await core.getLayerTree({ documentID: 123 });

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

options

object

Object containing key of documentID for the target document.

options.documentID

number

getLayerTreeSync

23.1

object

Returns the full hierarchy of the layer stack in nested "lists".

core.getLayerTreeSync({ documentID: 123 });

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

options

object

Object containing key of documentID for the target document.

options.documentID

number

getMenuCommandState

22.5

async : Promise<boolean>

Returns whether a command menu item is available for invoking.

// can a Fill be performed?
const canFill = await core.getMenuCommandState({ commandID: 1042 });

Parameters

Name

Type

options

object

options.commandID

number

getMenuCommandTitle

22.5

async : Promise<string>

Returns the localized menu title of the menu command item.

const renameLayerStr = await core.getMenuCommandTitle({ commandID: 2983 });

Parameters

Name

Type

options

object

options.commandID?

number

options.menuID?

number

getPluginInfo

23.2

async : Promise<ActionDescriptor>

Return information about the execution of the plugin. This method is intended for developing plugins. Shipping code should not use this method.

The returned information include the following properties:

numberOfPendingMainThreadTasks: Number of pending promises.

batchPlayCount: Number of batchPlay calls since the plugin was loaded.

mainThreadTimeOutCount: Number of JavaScript calls that have timed out. This is typically caused by executing commands while Photoshop is modal without using executeAsModal.

v8HeapSize: V8 heap allocated for the plugin. This number is only accurate when loading plugins through the UXP Developer Tool.

await core.getPluginInfo();

getUserIdleTime

23.3

Promise<void>

Return the current number of seconds for user idle time. See also: setUserIdleTime

await core.getUserIdleTime();

historySuspended

23.1

Promise<boolean>

Returns true if the history is in a suspended state. See Document.suspendHistory.

await core.historySuspended( {documentID: 123} );

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

options

object

Object containing key of documentID for the target document.

options.documentID

number

isModal

23.1

boolean

Returns true if the plugin is currently in a modal state using executeAsModal.

performMenuCommand

22.5

async : Promise<boolean>

Invokes the menu command via its commandID. Returns false on failure, or if the command is not available. Record Action Notifications via the Plugins > Development menu can be used to capture the command IDs.

// menu item Select > All
await core.performMenuCommand({ commandID: 1017 });

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

options

object

Object containing key of commandID for the menu item.

options.commandID

number

redrawDocument

24.1

async : Promise<number>

Request that Photoshop redraws (updates) a document immediately. This method can be used to ensure that the document is updated immediately while a user is interacting with a UI element (such as a slider). This can provide a more responsive interaction. Updating a document can be time consuming, and will often happen at a lower frequency than UI events are received. Plugins may therefore want to implement a throttle between UI events and calls to redrawDocument. A throttle could be implemented by using a timer, or by avoiding to call redrawDocument for a small amount of time after a previous request completes. redrawDocument returns the time that it took Photoshop to update the target document in seconds. This number can be used to refine the throttle. redrawDocument is only available to a plugin that is using apiVersion 2 or higher.

await core.redrawDocument({ documentID: 123 });

Parameters

Name

Type

options

object

options.documentID

number

removeNotificationListener

23.0

Promise<void>

Detaches a listener from a Photoshop event. See addNotificationListener

await core.addNotificationListener('UI', ['userIdle'], onUserIdle);

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

group

string

Notification group.

events

string[]

Array of event names.

listener

NotificationListener

setExecutionMode

23.2

async : Promise<void>

The execution mode can be used while debugging a plugin. It is only available when the developer mode is enabled.

The following example illustrate how to enable stacktraces for batchPlay commands that fail. When stacktraces are enabled, then an error result descriptor from a batchPlay request will include a stacktrace property. The property can be used when reporting bugs to Adobe.

await core.setExecutionMode({ enableErrorStacktraces: true });

The following illustrates how to enable console warnings when a promise is rejected:

await core.setExecutionMode({ logRejections: true });

Parameters

Name

Type

options

object

options.enableErrorStacktraces?

boolean

options.logRejections?

boolean

setUserIdleTime

23.3

async : Promise<void>

Specifies the number of seconds a user must be idle on Photoshop before invoking the userIdle event handler defined with addNotificationListener. An idleTime of 0 turns off idle notifications.

await core.setUserIdleTime(3);

Parameters

Name

Type

idleTime

number

showAlert

22.5

async : Promise<void>

Show a generic alert box to the user. 'OK' to dismiss.

// script has completed.
await core.showAlert({ message: 'Operation successful' });

Parameters

Name

Type

options

object

options.message

string

suppressResizeGripper

23.1

Promise<void>

The "resize gripper", a small square in the botton-right corner of a panel, may be hidden by this function. This square will appear above the contents the panel itself including scrollbars. While many panels over the years have simply left space at the bottom to accomodate the gripper, this option removes it.

await core.suppressResizeGripper({ type: 'panel', target: 'panel's ID', value: true });

The value for target above will be the id attached to the panel's entry under entrypoints in the plugin manifest.

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

options

any

Object containing type, target, and value.

translateUIString

22.5

string

Given a Photoshop ZString (of format "$$$/slash/separated/key=english default value"), will return the translated string for the current UI language

Parameters

Name

Type

zstring

string