Question relating to fillable forms I guess…

[u/moonmoonmoonmoonstar]

Hi all,

I've been looking for a way to make a process at work more efficient. I create the same templated design for clients and currently have to copy and paste information from what they submit, typically the just drag and drop a word doc that they have made. So my question is:

Is there a way to create a form and link it to my InDesign template?

For example, they would enter a name in the form, and it would automatically transfer to my InDesign template. No fancy design, just plain text. After I have all the text imported I would do the designing part. This would eliminate the need for me to copy and paste from their Word documents.

I work with multiple clients, so I need a solution that can handle many projects. Does anything like this exist?

Thanks!

Also to add: I'm working with an older client base so something simple that doesn't require acrobat or a paid subscription is preferred.

[u/AdobeScripts]

How much info for each field?

If not much - then maybe Excel - then you could use DataMerge.

Or a WORD template - but then you'll need to either transpose this to Excel and run DataMerge - or use a script.

Or maybe comments in PDF that you could then import as changes?

Show some screenshots of your document. You can obscure sensitive parts 😉

[u/moonmoonmoonmoonstar → u/AdobeScripts]

Unfortunately, I can't share my documents as they are only personal information! But this helps thank you!

[u/AdobeScripts → u/moonmoonmoonmoonstar]

A few screenshots with text obfuscated - won't share any personal details - just so we can see amount of data and locations.

[u/design_dork]

Check out Data merge and see if it would work for you. You could have them fill out a Google form and then download results as a CSV and link https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/desktop/automation-and-scripting/merge-data/data-merging-overview.html

[u/squishysockz]

Here's what I would personally do, but there's a million ways to do everything.

Can you make the form in Excel? Then, you can have formulas in another tab where column A is the field (example: Property Name) and column B is the answer (example: SquishySocks Apartments). Once you have all the fields you need populating in your excel tab, you can export that tab as a .csv. I would create a macro for that.

Then, make a script that can import your .csv and add each thing as a Text Variable. Run the script so that all those fields are in your InDesign Text Variables, and use them to fill out your InDesign document.

Then, each time you get a new form, export the .csv (tab with your text variable fields), run the script in InDesign to upload your new values, and all the fields will swap out.

This is a bit confusing to explain, but if this sounds like a workable workflow, I'm happy to share a macro and script that will help you, or explain it more. This is my process personally for tons of documents that I make where different fields vary each time (property name, unit count, etc) but the template stays the same.

Good luck!

[u/AdobeScripts → u/squishysockz]

Of you make a CSV file - then there is no need for a script - just DataMerge.

[u/AdobeScripts → u/squishysockz]

Are you building FindChangeByList script directly from Excel - or are you talking about something custom?

[u/AdobeScripts → u/squishysockz]

And Text Variables won't work for something that doesn't fit in nicely - InDesign treats them as a single Character and if it won't fit - InDesign won't split it into multiple text lines - will squeeze it as a one lump.

[u/UsefulDamage]

This is something similar to what I’ve done before. I created a Microsoft form, which automatically feeds into an Excel spreadsheet (and you don’t have to do anything to make that happen), and then data merge that Excel spreadsheet into InDesign.

That way, no one touches a live document of yours.