Comments on: The InDesigner – Episode 43: Data Merge

By: Chase Stockton

Chase Stockton — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:15:20 +0000

Thanks for the great tutorial. I am running into issues when linking to .psd files with transparent backgrounds using the data merge feature. When I merge the document for print the .psd files have a white background where there should be no background. Should I use another file format to maintain the transparency? I should also point out that I am using a Fiery VDP master in along with the merged document I described above. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

By: tamara

tamara — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 06:14:51 +0000

BIG THANK YOU for this tutorial. IT saved my life with conference name badges. I had to use Google Docs to make my data source file, but it all worked just fine.

I appreciate you time to do this video and I am becoming a subscriber today!

By: Evan

Evan — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:10:54 +0000

Thanks a Lot Sean. It works!

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:07:00 +0000

I have the same problem as Ralph Wirth above. Trying to print seperate documents instead of a stitched booklet:

I produce a 4-page newsletter that printed on both sides, folded and stapled and each folded page size is 8.5? x 11?. (a four page booklet on 11×17 paper) I want to print our 250-name mailing list on the outer cover but have discovered that it only prints the whole thing then staples it or I need to manually print each issue per address.

David recommends third party software, but this was in 2008. I am using CS 5.5. Is there a better solution now in Data Merge?

If we have to use a third party software, would you let me know what to look for? Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks for your help.
Amy

By: sean Jones

sean Jones — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:25:46 +0000

@Evan.

Try creating a new doc with the exact same page size and margins and cut and past your fields back into the master page. This works often to help reset a data merge indesign file. Also if you changed your CSV by adding columns or rows (with the exception of at the ends of the file) it can really mess with the way indesign see’s the csv data even though your field header names remain the same.

By: Evan

Evan — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:22:23 +0000

Question on Datemerge. HELP!!

Hi there,
thanks for your great videa, very useful!
However i’m encountering a difficulty. When trying to open either the Text tab format or the CSV format in indesign CS4, it reads:

“The data source cannot be opened.
Confirm that the file exists and that you have rights to open it, then choose the Select Data Source command again.”

Any idea?
Thanks a lot in advance for your help…

evan.

By: David Blatner

David Blatner — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:46:31 +0000

Cat: No, InDesign has no built-in way to do that. You could probably work with a scripter to create a custom solution, though, or perhaps there is some third-party plug-in that would do it. If it’s a big enough project to hire a scripter, contact us at the Contact link above and we’ll find someone you could work with.

By: Catherine

Catherine — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:07:50 +0000

Hi Michael,

Thanks so much for your incredibly helpful site!

We have been told that we can use InDesign to automatically populate text into multiple documents with a single csv file including font style, size and colour.

E.g. the CSV file would contain many lines of information, each may be for a different template/document. In-design would identify the template/document and populate the customised text and be saved as a printable PDF etc.

We are having trouble identifying how this is built or if it is in fact even possible.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Cat.

By: David Blatner

David Blatner — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:11:06 +0000

@Joe: The path needs to be really, really precise. To get the exact path, try opening TextEdit, making a new doc, choosing Format > Make Plain Text, and then dragging the image from the Finder into the TextEdit document. It should display the file path! If that path doesn’t work, try swapping out the slashes for colons instead.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 21:51:30 +0000

Hi,
I am trying to use data merge to produce different pictures.
I do as what I’ve seen (using “@” before “picture”, saving as txt, typing in the path for the picture, etc)
However, I am getting an error that says I am trying to link missing images. What Am I doing wrong?

Note: I am on a mac, using InDesign cs4.

Thanks,
Joe