Data merge and layout of photoshop files

Question

I have a PSD where the design contains a text layer.

I want to generate a version of the image for each name in a text file and lay out the results 6-up on a page for printing without any scaling or loss of quality (each image is 9mm square).

There may be 100s of images so ideally I would like to automate this. I'm using Photoshop CS (1) at the moment but I'm happy to invest in a more up-to-date version if it does what I need.

It looks like this is possibly achievable with data-merge in CS3 but I'm not sure how to then do the layout (Picture Package seems close to what I want but still requires manually choosing each image to use in the layout, a least in CS). I've heard that InDesign might be the right solution but I don't want to buy it unless it solves the problem!

Can anybody suggest a solution in Photoshop or any other software that fits the bill?

Answer 1

To create the set of images you need, you can use the technique I outlined here. It works, from what I recall, at least back as far as Photoshop 7. (It's a long time since I used Photoshop CS.)

Putting together your sheets, though, would be a lot faster and simpler using InDesign's data merge feature, especially if you have hundreds of images. Once the data file is created (text) and the document set up, the actual document creation will take a few seconds. Since you can now "rent" a license for InDesign CS6, I'd say that would be the way to go, especially if you only need the software long enough to execute the project. You wouldn't need Photoshop at all if your images already exist.