Adobe Illustrator: split text on line breaks

SplitTextOnLineBreaks.jsx

// Split Text on Line Breaks in Adobe Illustrator.
// Splits selected text object(s) into separate text paths for each line
// Retains font face, size and leading but not other character stylings, the placement is also a bit off
// Tested on Illustrator 30.2.1 (2026)


if (app.documents.length === 0) {
    alert("Please open a document first.");
} else {
    var doc = app.activeDocument;
    var selection = doc.selection;
    
    if (selection.length === 0) {
        alert("Please select a text object.");
    } else {
        // Store selected items in a separate array
        var textFrames = [];
        for (var i = 0; i < selection.length; i++) {
            if (selection[i].typename === "TextFrame") {
                textFrames.push(selection[i]);
            }
        }
        
        // Process each text item
        for (var i = 0; i < textFrames.length; i++) {
            splitTextFrame(textFrames[i]);
        }
    }
}

function splitTextFrame(textFrame) {
    var content = textFrame.contents;
    var lines = content.split(/\r\n|\r|\n/);
    
    if (lines.length <= 1) {
        return;
    }
    
    var x = textFrame.position[0];
    var y = textFrame.position[1];
    var layer = textFrame.layer;
    var fontSize = textFrame.textRange.size;
    var typeFace = textFrame.textRange.characterAttributes.textFont;
    var lineSpacing = undefined
    var lineSpacing = textFrame.textRange.characterAttributes.leading;
    if (lineSpacing === undefined || lineSpacing === 0) {
        lineSpacing = fontSize * 1.2;
    }
    var currentY = y;
    
    for (var i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
        if (lines[i].length > 0) {
            var newText = layer.textFrames.add();
            newText.contents = lines[i];
            newText.position = [x, currentY];
            newText.textRange.size = fontSize;
            newText.textRange.characterAttributes.textFont = typeFace;
        }
        currentY -= lineSpacing;
    }
    
    textFrame.remove();
}