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Can I use Data Merge in InDesign to input various information from a .cvs file into multiple pages of a resource directory?

The idea is sustainability for the customer... lay it out once and then they can update the information in Excel, run Data Merge in InDesign to update the directory in months and years to come, and not have to pay a designer each time they update information.

Or is there a more efficient way altogether for them to input that information into an InDesign file?

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  • Its possible. But can you afford it? I publish rst on the with indesign all the time. You can pretty much do anything with a bit of xml transformation.
    – joojaa
    Jun 6, 2016 at 16:44
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    You may consider EasyCatalog Lite. It's an indesign plugin with reasonable price that can allow linking to a excel file as a datasource and then easily update informations. For more pagination options, yopu need the full version. But in both cases, updates are easy and secure and you will master any changes in a blink.
    – Loic
    Jun 8, 2016 at 9:53
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    They still should pay a designer :)
    – Silly-V
    Jan 12, 2017 at 20:52
  • Can you show us the data file or an example of it as well as an example of the pages? It's hard to know how to answer without more information.
    – CmdZzz
    Mar 14, 2017 at 19:28
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    Possible duplicate of Overlapping text with InDesign's data merge
    – Joonas
    May 8, 2018 at 7:23

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Are you asking how to do the DataMerge across multiple pages or multiple files?

Using a .csv file to update an InDesign document is extremely easy. I doubt there would be anything easier to use if you already have the InDesign file and an Excel file ready to go.

Do you know how to do the DataMerge? It's very simple, but not sure if that is what you are asking. The data merge works per document regardless of how many pages. If the document you are trying to update is in separate files - you'll have to run the DataMerge in each InDesign file. Ideally, you should put all the pages in one InDesign file so you only have to run the DataMerge once.

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If the layout is simple enough this might work. It's a free script that uses datamerge to generate inline text in linked text frames.

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    Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference.
    – Luciano
    Jun 16, 2016 at 15:45

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