DesignMerge FAQs
General FAQs
Q. How do I select InDesign Graphic Import Options for variable pictures?
A. When importing a variable picture (graphic), DesignMerge applies the Graphic Import settings that were last applied when using InDesign to place a graphics file of that type. To confirm or change the Graphic Import settings before you start a merge session, simply use “File>Place” to place a graphic file of that type and select the Import Options that you wish DesignMerge to use when merging.
Q. How do I select InDesign Graphic Import Options for variable PDFs?
A. When importing a variable PDF, DesignMerge applies the PDF Import settings that were last applied when using InDesign to place a PDF. To confirm or change the PDF Import settings before you start a merge session, simply use “File>Place” to place a PDF in the document and select the Import Options that you wish DesignMerge to use when merging.
Q. How can we merge more than one paragraph into a single variable text link? How can we merge data that has line ending characters such as return (end paragraph) and shift-return (new line) characters into a single variable text link?
A. You have several options available to you to import and display line ending characters in the middle of a variable link:
One would be to substitute the line ending characters that are in the middle of the data in a field in your database text file, with a character that will never be used in your current data set. You can then set up and assign an Import TransTable to your Current DDF to convert this character to a Carriage Return (paragraph break) character or to a Soft Return (line break) character or whatever character you wish. This conversion will happen on the fly when you merge data into any Variable Link. Please see the “Tips & Tricks” chapter in the DesignMerge manual for additional information regarding creating and using TransTables.
A second option would be to put the data in this field, where one or more of the rows have line breaks, into individual text files, one for each row or for each unique instance of data for those rows, and then set the data for this field in each row to the corresponding text file's name. Change the Variable Link assigned to this field to be an Article Link (DesignMerge > Setup > Variable Links) and you can then import this data as an Article where any breaks in the text file will be maintained when imported. See Tutorial #1 (Form Letter) for an example of using an Article Link.
A third option would be to substitute the appropriate XPress Tag for the line ending characters that are in the middle of field data in your database text file. Check the “Use XPress Tags Filter” option for this Variable Link (DesignMerge > Setup > Variable Links) and DesignMerge will then pass merged data to the XPress Tags Filter which will convert the tag to the appropriate break character before displaying the data in this Variable Link. See Tutorial #3 (ID Badges) for an example of using XPress Tags.
Q. Can DesignMerge merge variable paragraphs that contain variable text links?
A. Please note that an Article Link will not work in this case because, even if you embed Variable Links as XPress Tags in the text files that will be merged into the Article Link, the Variable Links that are created in the merged Article Link will be ignored during a merge session: once the Article Link has been merged, the process will stop and the links inside the article will not be processed.
However if the design of your document permits, you could merge the variable paragraphs that contain variable text links into your document as Variable Group Pictures. To do this, create a Group Picture for each variable paragraph that contains variable text links. Next, add a field to your database text file and enter the filename of the appropriate Group Picture for each record. Modify your Current DDF to add a name for this new field and create a new Variable Picture Link that will get its data from this new field. Finally, insert the Group Picture Variable Picture Link in your merge template document.
Note: Do not assign this Group Picture Variable Picture Link to an anchored picture box; merging Group Pictures into anchored picture boxes is not supported by DesignMerge. When merging, remember to set the options in the DesignMerge window that control how Group Pictures and their links will be processed. For more information about using Group Pictures with DesignMerge, please review Tutorial #4, the Business Cards tutorial.
Q. How should I sequence the variable links in my document?
A. Please review Tutorial #3, the ID Badges tutorial, which illustrates how to create a merge template document for a Consecutive Sequential job as well as for a Cut & Stack job.
The short answer to this is to sequence the links to the most number of "ups" or layout blocks on the page. So, if you are going to merge a 16-up layout of objects, then the links need to be sequenced to 16.
Q. How does DesignMerge handle empty fields?
A. Please review Tutorial #1, the Form Letter tutorial, where the Address_2 variable text link provides an example. //demonstrates handling empty fields.
The short answer to this is that the Variable Link settings within your Database Definition contain options for 'Delete if Empty' and 'Remove Empty Lines'. These two settings (set explicitly on individual Variable Links) ensure that an empty link will be deleted from the layout, and any empty lines it leaves behind will also be removed.
Q. One of my links has disappeared and data is not being merged into it!
A. First, confirm that the link still exists in the merge template document. It may have been accidentally deleted from the page. If it is not in the merge template document, then it will not be included in any output.
Next, open the Variable Links window (DesignMerge >> Setup >> Variable Links) to see whether this variable link is set up to be deleted if empty. If the Delete option is chosen for this link in the If Link is Empty section, please note the following: Each time a new record is merged into the links in your document during a Print or File merge session, the merge starts with a fresh copy of your merge template document. If the current record does not have any data for the link, then DesignMerge will delete the link for that record and for that record only. However, a document is handled differently during a Test merge. When you are testing a merge, then the changes that occur during a merge affect the merge template document itself. A Test merge does not use a fresh copy of the merge template document; it uses the actual merge template document. You can set a DesignMerge preference to prompt you before deleting links with a Delete Link Verification alert which provides various options for how you would like to handle the situation.
Please review Tutorial #1, the Form Letter tutorial, for more information regarding deleting empty links and the Delete Link Verification alert.
Q. Is there a way to superscript a few of the characters that are being merged into a link?
A. To apply superscript formatting to part of the data but not all of the data that will merge into a variable link, you can use XPress Tags. For example, to use XPress Tags with DesignMerge to apply superscript to a few of the characters, you could insert the XPress Tag <+> that assigns Superscript formatting before these characters in the data and then insert the XPress Tag <$> to remove all local formatting (to return to current style sheet) after these characters. Next, check the Use XPress Tags option for the Variable Link that will be merging this data into the document. For more information regarding using XPress Tags with DesignMerge, please review Tutorial #3, the ID Badges tutorial. For more information about XPress Tags, see the QuarkXPress manuals.
Q. Will DesignMerge allow me to put 4 sets of links, each set for a different record (row) of data, on the same page?
A. Yes, DesignMerge does allow this. Please review Tutorial #3, the ID Badge tutorial, which demonstrates using a 2-up document. While this tutorial demonstrates putting only 2 sets on a single page, please note that you can put as many sets on a page as you need. In fact, you can put as many copies of any variable link on a page as you wish, either all assigned to the same sequence or assigned to different sequences.
Q. Is it possible to remove all instances of a particular variable link?
A. One way to remove DesignMerge variable links is to select one or more of the links and click Remove in the DesignMerge floating palette. But if you can't include all of these links in a single selection, here is a power-user tip: To remove multiple variable links that cannot be included in one selection, create a duplicate of your Current DDF where you can set the Variable Link(s) that you wish to be removed, to be deleted when empty. Create a Pasteboard Database Box (see the DesignMerge Tips and Tricks manual for information about Pasteboard Database Boxes). Create the same number of records in this Pasteboard Database Box as the number of “ups” in your document. Enter data only in the fields that are assigned to links that you want to keep. Remove data from all fields that are assigned to links that you want to remove. Use this data with Test Merge Current Document to remove these links. Since the links have been set to be deleted if empty, DesignMerge will automatically delete all of the links whose assigned field is empty.
Q. DesignMerge can't find article files when trying to merge.
A. First, confirm that the filenames in the database text file match the names of the text files. Also, confirm that the Variable Link and any assigned rules have not been set to modify this filename inappropriately. Next, confirm that you have set up your Picture Search Paths or DDF Search Paths correctly. If these paths are to a folder on a server, confirm that your computer is connected to that server before you try to merge the document. Finally, if DesignMerge is still unable to find these files, the text files may not be in a format that DesignMerge can recognize. To determine whether this is the case, try changing their format to a standard SimpleText or Notepad text format. If DesignMerge now finds these files, then their original format was one that DesignMerge could not recognize.
Q. Is it possible to merge data from two different database text files?
A. No, it is not possible to merge information from more than one database text file. Therefore, you will need to merge the information from your two database text files into a single database text file for use with DesignMerge.
Q. How can I merge my merge template document to a different database?
A. Use Select Database to point the DDF to a different database file. If the new database has the same structure as the previous database, do the following:
1. Open the document.
2. Select the new database text file for your Current DDF (DesignMerge >> Setup >> Select Database); or click the Select Database button in the Database Definitions window which you can open by choosing DesignMerge >> Setup >> Database Definitions.
Note: If you prefer, you could instead duplicate your Current DDF, assigning it a new name, and then select the new database text file for this new DDF that you can then select as the document's Current DDF.
If the new database has a DIFFERENT structure than the previous database, then do the following:
1. Create a new DDF: When creating the new DDF, use the variable link names as before so the variable link names assigned to the links your document will match the names of the variable links in your DDF.
2. Select the new database text file for this new DDF which you can then select as the document's Current DDF.
Q. After using File: Build Document, how can I merge the latest version of data into the links in this merged document?
A. First, confirm that the links in the merged document were re-sequenced when merged. Links are re-sequenced by a merge session only if you had the DesignMerge Preference "Change Sequence # After Update" option enabled when you used File: Build Document. When enabled, this option will modify the sequence numbers assigned to the links when they are merged to match the sequence number of the record that has been merged into them.
If the links were re-sequenced when merged, then you can use Test: Merge Current Doc on the merged document (Built document) to bring the latest data into these links.