5/17/2023 0 Comments Data merge in indesign cc(That’s different than the way Data Merge normally works, which is to create a duplicate of your document.) So when you’re done, choose File > Save As, so that you don’t overwrite your original template/prototype table accidentally (you might need it again later!). (Of course, if you prefer each row be exactly the same height, you can do that, too.)īy the way, the script changes the table in your current document. Yay! Because I had set the original row’s height to “At Least 3 mm” each row is only as tall as it needs to be. Note that many of the “Street 2” cells were empty in the original data? that’s okay, the script strips those lines out so that they don’t appear in the final table. You have to have the whole row selected of you’ll get a javascript error! Now run the script from the Script panel by double-clicking on it. Select the row you want to repeat (in this case, the second row, with the data merge tags in it). I strongly recommend you save your document/template now, so that you can revert to it later if you need to. I’ve also created and applied paragraph styles to the tags inside the table. (You don’t have to include all of them.) In the example above, I’m using a two-column table with a header row. I create a table in an InDesign text frame, then place the Type tool into the frame and click on each Data Merge tag I want to include. (Notice that it uses the column header row in the spreadsheet above as the name of the data tags.) This loads my table into the Data Merge panel. Now I save this as a CSV (comma-delimited) or TXT (tab-delimited) data file, switch to InDesign and choose Select Data Source from the Data Merge panel menu. Here’s the data we’re working with, in Excel: This script lets you duplicate the rows themselves, all in the same table. Loic Aigon wrote this wonderful little free script called CSVtoTables that lets you use Data Merge with a table! Normally, Data Merge would simply duplicate the whole text frame that contains the table, which is useless. That makes it great for things like a yearbook or contact sheet, or business cards or anything that requires variable data within a particular layout.īut it’s terrible for directories where you just need a one long list or table of information. The reason is that InDesign’s Data Merge feature takes a “prototype” example and repeats it (either once per page, or in a grid on your pages) - that is, it duplicates the text and graphic frames themselves over and over. Merge Textframes is totally free to use by subscribing to our newsletter.Įnter your information below to get the free download.For years we’ve been saying: Data Merge is terrible for creating directories. The latest version takes care of that for you by unlinking the text frame automatically before it gets merged. Previously, if you tried to merge frames and any of them were part of a linked story, you would get an error. Bonus feature: linked textframes now supported In the newest version, you can now get easy access to Merge Textframes from the Object menu, or from the Context menu by right-clicking and choosing Merge Textframes…Ĥ. The Scripts panel is great, but who wants to have it open all of the time (with the other 500 InDesign panels that you need)? The script now remembers your previous settings and loads them into the dialog. The Merge Textframes settings make this script extremely powerful, but if you want to apply the same settings repeatedly, you had to re-enter/select them each time (or modify the code in the script to default to your preferred settings). Saving and restoring of previously used settings You can now undo the script in a single step. Previously-if you didn’t like the result of the merging-you had to undo all of the tens of steps that the script used to accomplish the end result. There are three main, major changes in this update. I can apply my years of experience to improve the script.The extension is still useful and these feature requests continue to come in.There are two main reasons that I’m releasing this update. It was wonderfully promoted by the community and has been one the most popular items on my site ever since. This is especially useful if you’re using the PDF2ID extension from Recosoft. The MergeText Frames extension combines multiple textframes into a single frame so that your text can easily be edited. Way back in 2008, I wrote my first InDesign extension at the behest of then InDesign Product Manager, Michael Ninness.
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