Have you ever had a series of information and/or data you needed to insert or transform into a document with a precise layout?
Normally, this process requires the user to copy and paste from the data source to the chosen software to create the document.
Adobe InDesign and InDesign Server are the ultimate graphics program for creative editorial projects. They allow you to make this task quicker with its Data Merge InDesign feature. You can learn InDesign basics here. Check out also our InDesign Data Merge API.
In this page we’ll cover every aspect of Data Merge for InDesign starting from:
Let’s start clarifying the term Data Merge. Data merge is also known as Mail Merge, even if it’s more accurate to refer to the term “Mail Merge” as a specific Microsoft Word feature to create personalized emails, letters, envelopes, and label with the recipient’s information. Data Merge is generally referred to as a specific InDesign feature to merge a data source with an InDesign document.
Data Merge is a specific InDesign feature that allows you to transfer determinate information from your file data into an InDesign document and to create multiple variations of this document.
You choose the desired fields of the InDesign document, and they will be populated with the corresponding information from your data source. This process is automatic. In fact, you won’t need to copy the data from the source to the new document by hand.
Data Merge InDesign is generally used to create documents composed of many pages in which data are repeated and structured in a similar way across the whole document (If you want to use multiple product templates, read this).
Data Merge is frequently used to create documents with a simple and repetitive layout, like business cards, simple brochures, badges, and so on.
If you want to create more complex documents such as catalogs, price lists, weekly ads, and more, it’s possible to run into some limitations during the project creation process.
If you want to use Data Merge for Adobe InDesign, you need:
This tutorial will show you how to create a catalog using Data Merge InDesign.
To help you to learn and practice Data Merge, we provide a free working template. Download it from the button above. In your downloaded zip file, you will find the InDesign template and the data source in .xlsx, .csv, and .txt format.
Let’s start by preparing the data source. You need to prepare a spreadsheet (CSV or TXT) following the exact specifications of Data Merge for InDesign. Click here if you want to use a simple spreadsheet (Excel, CSV, XML or export from your business application).
Open a blank spreadsheet and use the first row to define your fields. Be sure to write the field names correctly. Add a field for every column and never duplicate a field name.
Image fields should be defined with the @ symbol prefix (e.g. @Image). The @ symbol is a special character in Excel, so add an apostrophe before it if you’re presented with an error (e.g. ‘@Image). The apostrophe will force the cell’s entire content to be considered as text.
When all of the fields have been defined, the next step is to populate the table with your records. Take care to make all image paths match your file system, for example.
On a Windows system – C:\Users\UserName\My Documents\Image.psd
On a Mac system – Macintosh HD:Users:UserName:MyDocuments:Image.psd
The populated table should next be exported as either a comma-delimited file (.csv) or a tab-delimited file (.txt). The Data Merge function won’t work with .xls/.xlsx or alternatives! Perform the export in Excel by using File > Save As.
By exporting the data source as a .csv file, you’ll have to choose the encoding. If you’re using Libre Office, we suggest choosing Unicode UTF-16 encoding to display special characters correctly.
Now close your spreadsheet and open InDesign.
Conversion of .xls/.csv or .txt files can be quite complex. An Excel add-in can help you in this task.
Now it’s time to set up the Data Merge InDesign panel. Open your InDesign document and the Data Merge panel via Window > Utilities > Data Merge > Select Data Source. In the new window, choose your .csv or .txt file and click Open.
Optional: You can change the data source import options. To do this, check the “Show Import Options” box (shown below).
Now, click “OK” and take a look at the new dialog box that appears:
The window already shows the right settings based on your data source properties. Remember, you can change these options in this box to match your situation:
Click on “OK” once you’re finished. The Data Merge panel will now fill with all of the fields from your source file:
InDesign has identified two field types in our catalog example: text (
) and image (
).
Now it’s time to map each field within your desired layout. Each of your data source records will follow this mapping during the subsequent automatic pagination process.
Text fields are inserted by creating a Text Frame, selecting that frame and then clicking on the selected text field in the Data Merge panel.
Image fields are inserted by creating a box with the Rectangle Frame tool (R), selecting that box and then clicking on the selected image field in the Data Merge panel.
You can also insert the fields in the layout by choosing the field in the Data Merge Panel and dragging it into the chosen frame.
Fields that are successfully mapped will appear surrounded by << and >> symbols. Numbers will also appear next to each field in the Data Merge panel. These numbers reference the page number on which each field is mapped.
If you want to insert a field in a text of your layout, you just have to place the cursor inside the text in the desired position and insert the field using one of the above methods. The field will be inserted where the cursor is positioned.
If you don’t place the cursor, the field will be queued with the rest of the contents of the box.
Continue to add all of your fields and customize the layout to meet your needs. Our example catalog uses a simple style: a large image at the top, a text frame with the price, and then a list of all of the other fields.
> We used only one product template because with Data Merge InDesign is possible to automate only one product layout. If you want instead to use multiple product templates, discover how to do it using Pagination cloud database publishing service. Click here to know more.
Finally, we’ll create the merged document. Begin the final step by clicking on ‘Create Merged Document’ within the Data Merge panel. All three tabs in this dialog box – Records, Multiple Record Layout and Options – require our attention.
Records: This is where we choose whether to have one record or multiple records on each page.
For our example catalog we’ll opt to merge ‘All Records’ and have ‘Multiple Records’ per document page.
We’ll also choose to generate an overset text report and set up an alert for missing images. These options can help us to identify issues that may occur during the document creation process.
Multiple Record Layout: This is where we establish how the records will be laid out during the merging process.
The Data Merge tool works in accordance with page margins. This means that a record that’s too big to fit within a page’s margins will be automatically placed on the next page.
Records can be paginated using one of two directions: ‘Rows First’ or ‘Columns First’. Rows First merges records left to right and then top to bottom, while Columns First merges records top to bottom and then left to right. The following image shows Rows First on the left and Columns First on the right:
The distance between each record is defined by the two spacing options: ‘Between Columns’ and ‘Between Rows’. Setting both options to 0 will cause the records to appear attached in the final result.
For our example catalog we’ll choose a ‘Rows First’ arrangement and 1mm of space between both the columns and rows.
Options: This is where we configure a few remaining choices.
There are five options for placing images during the merge:
Each option is shown in the following image:
Select ‘Fit Images Proportionately’ for our catalog. Also, select ‘Center in Frame’ and ‘Link Images’.
Now click on ‘OK’. A new document will be created and all of the records will have been merged! If the document you want to automate is more complex, for example you need to group different SKUs under the same parent product or you want to break the categories/chapters automatically, discover Pagination, the turnkey cloud database publishing solution.
Data Merge is very useful for creating simple projects with repeating layouts. Learning to use this feature is quite easy, even for InDesign newbies, and it allows users to create complete documents in a short time. Data merge can be a valuable first step to optimize your document workflow, increasing its efficiency and accuracy. But if your intention is to go further along the path of document automation, you could encounter some of the following limitations that are frequently mentioned by users who tried to use data merges in real-world document creation. You will find the limitations of InDesign Data Merge in the below paragraph.
If your goal is to create a perfect document, you need to find out how to use a product catalog generator such as Pagination. It’s the perfect tool for the creation of catalogs and price lists, so much so that it is defined as a catalog maker or a price list maker. With Pagination, you can overcome the most common data merge limitations and make the publishing of your data accurate, fast, and flexible.
Data Merge Limitation
A product layout is the element that you are going to repeat inside the page. With standard Data Merge InDesign, it’s not possible using multiple layouts for your products, mixed in the same document. You can only use one type of product style per page.
Pagination Solution
With Pagination, you can assign different layouts to different kinds of products. Click here to download the project files (InDesign + PDF + Excel) of the document you see in the image below.
Data Merge Limitation
You cannot merge multiple data rows inside the same product layout. Your document is merged with one design for each record. This is a major obstacle, as most documents group together products with minor differences. This is a very common occurrence in many documents.
Pagination Solution
With Pagination, it is easy to group together similar products and describe shared features, like name, description, and image, in the upper part of the product style, and to explain the differences in easy-to-read tables.
Data Merge Limitation
InDesign Data Merge cannot automatically create a print-ready document, adding static or dynamic pages in the same workflow. You have to manually close and export the document.
Pagination Solution
With Pagination, you can create in one command finished, ready-to-print documents, which include:
Data Merge Limitation
With Data Merge InDesign, you cannot choose to change text formatting of selected parts of a field. You can merely change the entire field formatting, and this is often prone to something called “style contagion,” where adjacent paragraphs or text styles override each other.
Pagination Solution
Using HTML tags in your data to emphasize a single word or phrase.
Data Merge Limitation
Data Merge cannot create or edit header, footer, or thumb indexes.
Pagination Solution
With Pagination, you can easily assign a part of your data (such as groups or notes) to show on page headers or footers.
Ex.1 – Header and footer update
Ex.2 – Chapter color
Ex.3 – Thumb Index
Data Merge Limitation
With Data Merge InDesign, it is difficult to break a document’s elements when needed.
Pagination Solution
With Pagination, you can assign specific rules to insert breaks when your data changes: breaks, page breaks, and document breaks.
Data Merge Limitation
When you create a document using Data Merge, you cannot export linked graphics with a package command.
Pagination Solution
Documents created with Pagination are easy to share and use for collaboration. Linked graphics are located in a folder inside the package file, or you can choose to export to an IDML format.
Data Merge Limitation
InDesign Data Merge process times rapidly grow when you manage large datasets instead of small datasets.
Pagination Solution
Pagination’s process times proportionately grow independently of the data amount, and you can split the creation of large documents in multiple parallel instances.
Data Merge Limitation
Only .csv and .txt files can be imported.
Pagination Solution
Pagination supports several data source formats (in addition to .csv and .txt), such as:
Adobe InDesign Server is far less known than its desktop alternative. In this article, we outline what Adobe InDesign Server is, when to use it, and why and how Adobe InDesign Server is different from Adobe InDesign Desktop.
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To overcome these limitations, try Pagination – The Turnkey Database Publishing Service that allows you to create data-driven PDF and InDesign files in a jiffy.
Use one of our free InDesign Templates or upload your own layout. Create documents anytime and from anywhere.
Really useful, thanks.
Thanks for giving the required information about print merge. I have an adobe illustrator CS4. Does it have a Indesign software in it? or whether it has to be separately installed. Does excel spreadsheets work in the print merge, because i have a templete of students certificates in Adobe illustrator CS4 where I have to mail merge their names and their marks allotted to them. Is Indesign software freely downloadable from internet. Please help me and advise.
Hello,
Sorry my english is not very good.
But, it’s possible to import a idms file?
Thank’s
Hello,
At the moment it’s not possible to work with .idms files, but if you’d like to check the feasibility of your project, feel free to send us your project files for a quick analysis.
Regards,
Riccardo
You did not think of mentionning WHERE will the … pdf document be stored??????
Hello Jean-Pierre,
You can save the file wherever you want on your computer.
Riccardo
thanks for this. I am creating a basic photo over name type of directory:
I keep getting Indesign Error: The data source references one or more missing images, the missing images cannot be previewed or merged….
I have checked the paths, the single apostrophe before the ‘@images and i just can’t figure out what is wrong. It populates the names under the photo frames, but not the photos. What am I doing wrong?
thank you if you can please help.
I have a . CSV file. I can go to the data merve and tell it to open the file. I draw out the one text box and stylize the fieldes. I go to create the merged document with multiple entries per page and it will not let me. Where it says Records per Document Page I am unable to select anything. I have followed your instructions. What am I doing wrong?
Cool!
Hello, I am working on a product catalogue similar to the one in the image under “number 5: Variable Master Pages Data.” I’ve set up the datamerge, everything is okay except for the fact that some products have longer descriptions and they overlap with the product listed underneath them. Is there a way to tell InDesign to extend the textframe to fit the text AND to shift the next product further so they don’t overlap?
Thanks
There isn’t a function that does this automatically in inDesign. The only way is to set the frame to auto-fit and move the other things by hand. If you want something more automatic, try our service. Click the following link to watch the demo: https://pagination.com/registration-demo/
Hi, is it possible to place 2 or 3 images in a template? I would put them in different columns and maybe name them “@image”, “@image1”, “@image2” etc.. Will that work and is there an option to blank out a Frame if there´s no image available?