Having two or more pages restricts data merge to single-record mode. A multiple record data merge can only be produced from a single page InDesign document.IMPORTANT: Rules for multiple record data merge It is a complex technique that can create great – looking informational design when used correctly.
#Using data merge in indesign cc how to
You can download the script here if you need help installing the script, read this.In this tutorial we’ll show you how to data merge multiple records from a spread sheet (Numbers or Microsoft Excel) into a document with InDesign’s data merge feature.
#Using data merge in indesign cc free
But for a simple directory, where you just need a long multi-page table, this free script is awesome. Of course, there are many other commercial plug-ins (such as Em Software’s InData) that let you create far more complex and fancy directories based on spreadsheet or database data.
(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. For years we’ve been saying: Data Merge is terrible for creating directories.
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