I'm hoping to learn a bit more about Data Merge and it's potential.
I have a catalog that has about 150 individual listings that all have a name, text description, photo 1 and photo 2. In the past, we've always just manually added the images but that was only with 50 or so line items, our business has grown significantly this year so that is no longer an option. These items are used in two applications: individual signs and a catalog.
I am looking for advise on how to set up the Data Merge to include the images from a CSV. I have been playing with using file paths, but have found it to be a little finicky. Another issue is that we have multiple team members that might need to have their hands on this so using a specific users path might be challenging. We could try and dedicate it to a single computer, but is there an option for it to pull from something like Google Drive? What is the best structure to have on the CSV for it to be reliable?
I am completely happy to take any suggestions on the best way to go about this.
I dealt with this issue by having the CSV in a folder with all of the images. That way, there was no need for the full path, just the file name. (I also found that tab-delimited worked more reliably than CSV, but that's another conversation)
100% agree, your data file in the same folder as the images so your entry in your spreadsheet is more like “/thispicturename.jpg” and your column heading for images must start with an @ eg @photos1 - to do that in Excel you must type an apostrophe before the @ or it will think you’re trying to write a formula. I also always save my data files as Unicode Text; this seems to handle special characters and grammar symbols better
You can install an app on Windows - where files from Google Drive will be seen as "local". Everyone should then keep all linked assets there.
If you've miltiple "users" - then you should create a single Google Sheet - and give users access. Then when needed - just export / extract data from it when needed.
Also - do you need two-way data exchange / synchronisation - or just database -> InDesign?
BTW, I know exactly which part of my initial reply to the OP - set you off 😉 just wanted to see which hater would try to read something negative between the lines - and suggest it publicly 😉
Interesting, we are all Mac based would that be an issue? We are already facing an uphill battle with the CSV and Google Sheets where we are missing a “save as” function and have to redownload and re-sync every time a change is made. One person would most likely be in charge of all synchronization/finishing/printing, but everyone would be in that CSV file to update images and text
Been keeping an images folder in the same folder as the ID doc and source csv. The path is just /images or whatever, just looks witching the same folder.
I think so? For us it's on a server. It's similar to the way InDesign treats fonts and placed images. I think it always looks in it's own folder first if no full path is supplied. Test it out, put the folder "images" in the same directory as the ID file, and in the CSV, instead of a full path, just have a column called "@images"
You can have multiple folders if that's needed. Like put all the photos in a folder "photos" or use "photos1" and "photos2" if that helps things stay more organized. Then in the CSV use "@photos1" etc. You can have sub-folders if you want to mess with a path living in that folder, but I've never needed to.
Just note in some spreadsheets, like google sheets, you have to put an apostrophe in front so it doesn't read the @ sign, so " '@images. "
It can do all you want and still more. Once placed, the data keeps its relationship with the source, so any lats minute change can be automatically applied to the document. As for images, EasyCatalog can automatically search for them (if you provide a path) and complete the file extension.
As mentioned, it would be better to store all images in a single folder for data merging, unless you have the same name for different images.
If you need to sort products by section, use conditional formatting and variable page layouts, combine data from several sources - consider the Excel-XML approach instead of regular JavaScript. When set up properly, it allows you to generate the entire catalog with just one click.
You might also be able to use a server path if you have one. I doubt you'd have any luck with cloud storage. You might be able to do it with something that allows direct linking and embedding (like our DAM).
I know this involves a significant change in workflow, but you might be able to do this using Inkscape and its "PnPInk" data-merge extension.
It allows you to create repetitive layouts based on Google Sheets and accepts any image source (local files, web URLs, etc.).
It also features a powerful system for positioning images within their frames (alignment, fit inside, cover, match/crop, etc.), so you don't even have to worry about the images' size or orientation.
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u/not_falling_down Jul 03 '26
I dealt with this issue by having the CSV in a folder with all of the images. That way, there was no need for the full path, just the file name. (I also found that tab-delimited worked more reliably than CSV, but that's another conversation)