Octo for actions, batch and variables in Illustrator

Three hundred badges, one checked spreadsheet, not a single name swapped. Who releases it to the printer is you.

Illustrator plays actions over whole folders with Batch and turns a spreadsheet into pieces with the Variables panel. Octo inventories the actions, builds and checks the spreadsheet before importing, exports each data set without overwriting anything and checks the folder by content. The artwork, the copy and the release stay with people.

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Current version30.8August 2026, according to Adobe Help

Batch sources2a folder or the document's data sets

Documented command linenonein the pages read; Batch runs with Illustrator open

Sources14listed at the end of the page

What Octo does with your pieces in series.

Six possible deliverables, drawn from the assessment. None saves over the original, all check the result by content, and all go to review by whoever is accountable for the piece.

Action sheet

Each .aia set opened step by step: dialog on, "Save As" with a recorded name, a step inserted via menu item, owner and review date.

Deliverable: ficha_acoes.csv reviewed with design

Spreadsheet ready for the panel

Headers without spaces, "@" for images, "#" for visibility, relative paths, UTF-8 and data set names that become file names.

Deliverable: checked crachas_evento.csv

Versioned output profiles

Proof PDF, print PDF and screen PNG, with preset, resolution and file size. The script and the check read the same file.

Deliverable: perfis_saida.json with history

Script that walks the data sets

Displays each data set in the template, exports one file per profile with the standard name and logs what came out and what is pending.

Deliverable: exportar_conjuntos.jsx and registro_conjuntos.csv

Content check

One file per row and per profile, missing, extra, valid PDF, PNG size, file size and a sha256 manifest.

Deliverable: conferencia.csv and manifesto.csv

Originals untouched

The artwork folder is read-only; the queue works on copies with sha256, in parts, each with its own output folder.

Deliverable: fila_lote.sh and fila.csv

Eight arms, one checked batch.

The same Octo cycle, applied to actions, Batch and variables. Each arm has a narrow role; the people approve the artwork, the copy and the delivery.

Discovery
Surveys what already goes out in series

Which pieces go out every month, with which templates and actions, on which Illustrator version and on how many workstations.
Data
Writes the sheet, profiles and spreadsheets

Action sheet, output profiles, naming pattern and data sets in versioned files.
Security
Handles the source and the data

Originals read-only, separate output, nothing overwritten, spreadsheets with personal names flagged (LGPD).
Architecture
Chooses the path

Batch on a folder, Batch on data sets, a script or an SVG template, depending on the task and the volume.
Development
Writes the script, queue and check

Script that walks the data sets, a queue for the artwork folder and a check, with the source of each rule noted.
Review
Checks by content

Missing, extra, format, size, file size and name. "Batch finished" is not a check.
Release
Prepares the delivery

Checked folder and manifest. Sending to the printer or the client is approved by a person.
Documentation
Records what holds in your environment

Templates, actions and versions, profiles, who approved each batch and what changed between versions.

Octo does not save over the original or overwrite files. It does not approve artwork, change a template without the designer or decide the print PDF.

Each task, its own path.

The criteria Octo uses to choose, with the documented limit of each path.

Task	Path	Note
Same action on an artwork folder	Batch, Folder source	Destination = Folder; "Save and Close" saves over the file
One piece per spreadsheet row	Variables and Batch, Data Sets source	File name from the data set name
Several outputs per piece, with a log	Script walking `dataSets`	Does not overwrite; an existing destination becomes pending
Several actions or several folders	Action that records the Batch command	Tip from the Help itself; folders via shortcut
Pen, Paintbrush or Effect menu step	Stop with a message or a menu item	Not recorded directly; a person follows along
Another system fills in the variables	SVG template with data from Graphics Server	Object names in XML-safe form
Check the generated folder	Python, outside Illustrator	Missing, extra, format, size, sha256

From copy and paste to a checked batch.

Three steps. Each one only makes sense after the previous one has shown results on your team.

A proposal, not a promise

1 Today

Sheet and check

Octo opens the actions and checks the folder that already goes out, without changing how you produce.

Actions with dialogs and recorded names
Missing and extra against the spreadsheet
Manifest with sha256

Benefit: fewer pieces sent back by the printer

2 Next

Spreadsheet and variables

Spreadsheet checked before importing, a template with locked variables and Batch on data sets.

File name from the spreadsheet
The right photo and seal on each piece
Designer looking at the hard cases

Benefit: no more copying and pasting name by name

3 Later

Script and queue

Script with several profiles per data set and a checked queue for large artwork folders.

Nothing overwritten
Log of every file
Parts that redo themselves

Benefit: the whole campaign in one afternoon

Confirmed in a source.

Each point below has a source published by the vendor, the project or the responsible body. The sources are in the next section.

points with a published source, each with its reference shown alongside.

ConfirmedBatch on data sets: "Data Sets" source; naming by "File + Number", "File + Data Set Name" or "Data Set Name".Source: Adobe Help, Batch options (Oct 27, 2025)
Confirmed"Save and Close" saves in place: The "Save and Close" destination saves and closes the files where they are; "Folder" saves to another folder.Source: Adobe Help, Play actions on a batch of files (Oct 27, 2025)
ConfirmedName recorded in "Save As": If the name is changed while recording, Illustrator reuses it on every run.Source: Adobe Help, Record actions (Oct 27, 2025)
ConfirmedWhat doesn't record: The Effect and View menus, showing or hiding panels, and tools such as Pen, Paintbrush, Pencil and Scissors.Source: Adobe Help, Insert non-recordable tasks into actions (Oct 27, 2025)
ConfirmedSpreadsheet for variables: CSV or XML; field names without spaces; "@" for images, "%" for graphs, "#" for visibility; one data file per document.Source: Adobe Help, Set up and Import data source files (Oct 27, 2025)
ConfirmedRecordable alignment: 30.7 (July 2026) lets you record alignment and spacing tasks as actions.Source: Adobe Help, What's new in Illustrator (Oct 14, 2026)

What Octo does and what stays with you.

Octo prepares everything, but it does not sign. The document of record stays with whoever is accountable for it.

Octo prepares

Surveys, calculates, organizes and generates the documents: files, artboards, proofs and reports.

Deliverable: material ready to check

Your team checks

The client or the art director checks what Octo delivered before approving. If something doesn't add up, it goes back to Octo with the correction.

Step: review by the approver

Who approves

Octo does not approve the artwork. Artwork carries no legal signature: approval of the artwork and the proof stays with the client or the art director.

Approval: client or art director

Sources.

Illustrator Help pages, Adobe's developer page and the scripting reference in the community guide that reproduces Adobe's content, consulted on Oct 31, 2026.

What's new in IllustratorHelp; 30.8, August 2026
Technical requirementsHelp; version 30.0 and later
Actions panel overviewHelp; .aia, modal steps
Record actionsHelp; name in "Save As"
Insert non-recordable tasksHelp; what doesn't record
Play actions on a batch of filesHelp; source, destination, errors
Batch optionsHelp; names by data set
Merge dataHelp; merge steps
Set up data source filesHelp; CSV, XML, prefixes
Import data source filesHelp; UTF-8, one file per document
Variable panel overviewHelp; variable types
Illustrator on Adobe DeveloperScripts, C++ plugins, panels
Dataset (scripting reference)Community guide; display, update
Document (scripting reference)Community guide; importVariables

Your Illustrator pieces in series, with a checked spreadsheet and a checked folder.

The assessment starts with a sheet of the actions already running and a check of an output folder that already exists. You get what was missing, what was extra, what came out off-profile and the questions only your team can answer, and you decide with that in hand.

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