Export ai files to PNG with our preferred settings for manuscript figures

ExportDocsAsPNG.jsx

/****************************************************************
 * Script to save a directory of ai files to PNG
 * Options are: white bakcground, 300 dpi and clipped to artboard
*****************************************************************/
var folder = Folder.selectDialog();
if (folder) {
    var files = folder.getFiles("*.ai");
    for (var i = 0; i < files.length; i++) {
        var currentFile = files[i];
        app.open(currentFile);
        var activeDocument = app.activeDocument;
        var pngFolder = Folder(currentFile.path + "/PNG");
        if (!pngFolder.exists)
            pngFolder.create();
        var fileName = activeDocument.name.split('.')[0] + ".png";
	var destinationFile = File(pngFolder + "/" + fileName);
		
        // set options here for export
        var opts = new ImageCaptureOptions();
        opts.resolution = 300;
        opts.antiAliasing = true;
	opts.transparency = false;
		
        try {
            activeDocument.imageCapture(new File(destinationFile), activeDocument.controlBounds, opts);
        } catch (e) {

        }

        activeDocument.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES);
        currentFile = null;
    }
}

A note on this code. There's two options to export PNG in illustrator ExportType.PNG24 and imageCapture. With ExportType.PNG24 I could use ExportOptionsPNG24.artBoardClipping = true but I could not set the resolution. With imageCapture it was possible to set the resolution but the clip to artboard setting was hard to find. The second optional argument in imageCapture allows the user to set bounds and controlBounds is the artboard (AFAICT, the documentation is poor on this point, but otherwise excellent).