DesignMerge Pro Preferences

This manual details each of the available preference settings for DesignMerge Pro software, including preferences for output, errors, and search paths for external variable pictures and articles. Additionally, this manual provides instructions to set Keyboard Shortcuts (Hot Keys) for DesignMerge commands.

Topics Covered in this Manual:

  • A full description of all DesignMerge preferences
  • Output preferences for performance and file naming
  • Error preferences
  • Search Path options for Variable Pictures and Articles
  • Default PDF File Placement Options
  • Keyboard Shortcuts (Hot Keys)

SETTING YOUR DESIGNMERGE PREFERENCES

DesignMerge provides a number of preferences that specify how various conditions will be handled. You may change these preferences at any time. To access your DesignMerge preferences, select Preferences from the DesignMerge menu. This opens the Preferences dialog, as shown below:

General Preferences

This set of preferences affects the general behavior of the DesignMerge software.

Use Print Simulation for Preview

When this preference is checked (its default setting), a Data Preview merge session refreshes the document, returning the document to its pre-merged state, before merging another record. When the Data Preview dialog is closed, the document is also returned to its pre-merged state. When unchecked, a Data Preview session does not refresh the document before merging another record nor when the Data Preview dialog is closed. Attention: If Data Preview does not refresh the document, any changes that previewing a record made to the document will be present when the session merges another record and also when Data Preview is closed.

The Data Preview dialog displays information on the bottom of the dialog to indicate whether Print Simulation is On or Off. The only reason for turning this preference off is that it allows you to make persistent changes to the document while you are in Data Preview mode (the changes will be retained after you end the Data Preview session).

Always Use Document DDF

This preference (which is available only for Pro editions of DesignMerge) allows you to choose which type of DDF you will be using on a document: Document DDF or a Named DDF. When you are using the Document DDF on a document, you are using the unique DDF settings that are stored inside the InDesign document file. When you are instead using a Named DDF (a Pro-only feature), then you are using your own DDF settings that do not automatically change from document to document.

When this preference is checked (the default setting), a document will always use the DDF settings that are stored inside that document file and the Data Source Definitions (DDF) dialog will indicate the document’s Current DDF is the DDF named Document. Also, you will not be able to create or assign a Named DDF to a document. Using the Document DDF ensures whenever you open a document, you will be using the latest DDF settings that were applied to that document.

When unchecked, a document may still be set up to use the DDF settings that are stored inside that document file by selecting Document as the document’s Current DDF. However, you are also able to set up a document to instead use a Named DDF, which is a DDF that has been given a unique name and whose settings are stored on your system inside your own DesignMerge user preferences. Note that if two DesignMerge users both have a Named DDF of the same name, the settings stored for this DDF in one user’s preferences may not match the settings that are stored for the DDF of that same name in the other user’s preferences. In other words, the two versions of the DDF may not match.

Reset Page Numbering

This preference determines which page numbers are assigned to merged pages. If you check this preference (the default setting), then DesignMerge will reset the page numbering for each merged page set. For example, if you are merging a document that has two pages numbered “1” and “2” respectively, then the first page in every merged page set will be numbered “1” and the second page “2”. When using one of the Print Drivers for DesignMerge, the recommended setting is for this preference to be checked.

If you uncheck this preference, the next merge session will not reset page numbering. Using the same two-page example, the pages in the first merged page set will be numbered “1” and “2”, in the second merged page set “3” and “4”, in the third merged page set “5” and “6”, and so on. This may be helpful when running, for example, a Build Document merge session on a document that is not using the InDesign automatic page numbering feature to display a page number on each page.

Show Overset Text Info

When this preference is checked, DesignMerge will examine the document for overset text frames at the conclusion of the following types of merge sessions: Longest Line Test, Shortest Line Test, Update Document, and Build Document. Additionally, a count of text frames that are overset when a record is previewed in the document will be displayed at the bottom of the Data Preview panel. When unchecked (the default setting), these merge sessions will not examine the document for overset text frames and the Data Preview panel will not display a count of overset text frames.

Prompt for Data File Each Time

If this preference is checked (the default setting), DesignMerge will prompt you to select the data file each time DesignMerge needs to access it. If unchecked, DesignMerge will not prompt and instead will automatically use the data file that was previously selected for the Current DDF.

Treat EOF Conditions as Errors

This preference determines whether DesignMerge will continue merging a variable link that encounters an EOF (End of File) condition. An EOF condition occurs when a merge session reaches the end of a data file before all of the Variable Links have been merged. This would happen, for example, if you are using a two-up document (there are two sets of Links in the document, one set for one record and another set for a second record) but the data file contains an uneven number of records. On the final merging step through the data file, there would be no record for the second and final set of Links. When this condition occurs, the excess Links will display the EOF Error Flag, which is “EOF!” by default.

When this preference is checked (the default setting) and a variable link encounters an EOF condition, the variable link is filled with the EOF Error Flag and not processed any further. For example, a picture link or article link will not search for a file whose name matches the EOF Error Flag. Also, Link Rules will not be applied to that variable link. When unchecked, this variable link is still filled with the EOF Error Flag but that Error Flag is treated as though it were data for the variable link and processing of the variable link continues. For example, a picture link or article link will search for a file whose name matches the EOF Error Flag. Also, Link Rules will be applied to that variable link, which allows, for example, applying a Link Rule that evaluates whether a variable link’s data is the EOF Error Flag.

Prevent Sequencing in Panel

When this preference is checked (the default setting), the Sequence setting on the DesignMerge panel and the Page & Frame Rules panel cannot be edited. This ensures that you are always assigning Sequence Number 1 when placing Variable Links in a new document. To change which Sequence Number is assigned to Variable Links or Frame Rules, you can use the DesignMerge Sequence Page Items or Change Sequence Number features. When unchecked, you can change which Sequence Number is assigned to a Variable Link or a Frame Rule by editing the Sequence setting on the panel and then clicking the Assign, Insert, Replace, or Tag Frame button. Attention: When the Sequence can be edited on the panel, be careful to note which number is the current Sequence setting before you place a Variable Link or Frame Rule in a document.

Show Splash Screen at Startup

When this preference is checked (the default setting), the DesignMerge splash screen will be displayed briefly each time Adobe InDesign starts up. When unchecked, this splash screen will not be displayed when InDesign is launched. For integrations with Enfocus Switch and other automated workflows, it is recommended that this setting be turned off. Additionally, if your preferred method of launching InDesign is by opening an InDesign document, then uncheck this preference.

Show InDesign Tags Before Placing

This feature is unchecked by default, which is the recommended setting when producing Document or Print merged output. However, this feature can be helpful if your document is merging Text Links that have been set up to use the InDesign or MPS Tagged Text Import Filter and you would like to preview the data for each of these Links before the Links are merged, for example, during a Data Preview merge session. When this preference is checked, each time a merge session is about to merge data into a Text Link that has been set up to use the InDesign or MPS Tagged Text Import Filter, the merge session will pause to display the data for your review before this data is merged into the Text Link.

Trim Spaces from Data

When this feature is checked (the default setting), DesignMerge will trim all text read from the data file to ensure that there are no extra spaces on either side of the data. This feature can be useful if your data file contains extra spaces that you may wish to trim before merging.

Enable Copies per Record

This feature applies to variable data jobs where the data file contains a quantity field to indicate the number of copies to process for each record. This approach is especially useful for projects, such as business cards, that must be printed in a multi-up fashion or to produce a varying number of copies of the records in the data file. By checking this preference, you will be prompted at the start of the merge session to select the Variable Link that is pointing to the data field that contains the quantity value. During the merge, each record will be processed repeatedly up to the quantity entered into the field. When unchecked (the default setting), each record will be processed once and only once.

Skip Pasteboard Objects

Variable items that are placed on the pasteboard area of a document are not processed during a merge session that produces output in a print format (PDF, PPML, PostScript). However, these pasteboard variables can be processed during any other type of merge session (for example, Data Preview and Build Document). This preference allows you to determine whether pasteboard objects are processed during these types of merge sessions. In cases where it is sometimes desired not to process items that have been placed on the pasteboard area of the document, check this option (the default setting). When unchecked, any type of merge session will process items that have been placed on the pasteboard.

Variable Links Preferences

This group of preferences affects the appearance and behavior of variable links.

Color Attributes

When this preference is checked (the default setting), DesignMerge will apply a Variable Link’s Display Color setting to underscores marking all text assigned to that Variable Link. To assign a specific color to a Variable Link, open the Variable Links dialog, select the Variable Link whose color you wish to change, and then choose a color from the Display Color popup menu for that Variable Link.

When this preference is unchecked (the default setting), DesignMerge will apply a green color to underscores marking all Text Links, regardless whether a different Display Color has been selected for any of these Variable Links. Using the default color allows for the fastest display of content in documents that contain Text Links.

Smart Tags™

When you assign a Variable Link to a highlighted selection of text, the selected text becomes placeholder text that will be replaced by data when merging. If the placeholder text happens to include a line ending character or tab character, that character will be replaced as well when the incoming text is merged. This can cause merged lines to flow unexpectedly because the line ending or tab has been replaced by the incoming data. The Smart Tags preference determines whether DesignMerge includes any highlighted hidden or white space characters (for example, Tab, New Line, or New Paragraph characters) at the beginning or end of the text selection as part of the placeholder text for a new Text Link.

If unchecked (the default setting), all of the highlighted characters, including any highlighted Tab and Line End characters, become a part of the placeholder text for the new Text Link and will be removed during a merge. If this preference is checked, DesignMerge will not include these characters as part of the placeholder text. This helps to ensure that these characters will not be removed from the document when merging. Also when this feature is checked, all placeholders in the document will be examined in the same fashion and adjusted before the merge occurs.

Warn before deleting link

This preference determines whether you are warned before a Link is deleted from a document during a Data Preview merge session that does not automatically refresh the document before merging another record. This warning is displayed because you may not want a Link to be deleted in a document where you will be merging another record that may have data for that Link.

If this preference is unchecked, Data Preview will delete the Link with no warning. When this preference is checked (the default setting), Data Preview will display a warning where you can choose to either skip merging the Link, delete the Link, or flag the Link to indicate which Link would have been deleted during a Document or Print merge session and continue merging, as shown below:

Note that choosing Delete will permanently delete the Link from the document, which will prevent data from appearing in that Link in merged output for all subsequent records, even if other records contain data for that Link. Choosing Skip will leave the Link unchanged; it will not be deleted and its previous content will not be changed. Choosing Flag & Continue will replace the previous content in the Link with either the text “«•Link Deleted•»” or a picture of this text. Checking the Don’t show this dialog again option before you click one of these buttons will apply your selection to all subsequent Link deletions in the current Data Preview merge session.

This warning is not shown for Data Preview sessions that are run in Print Simulation mode. Additionally, this warning is not shown for any Document or Print merge sessions since they use a fresh copy of the original document’s pages for each step through the data file.

One-Click Link Assignment

This feature streamlines placing Variable Links in a document. When this preference is unchecked (the default setting), at least two clicks are required on the DesignMerge floating panel to place a Link in a document: one click to select a Variable Link from the Link popup menu; then, another click on the Assign, Tag Pic, Tag Frame, Insert, or Replace button to place that Link in the document. When this preference is checked, only one click is required: simply selecting a Variable Link from the Link popup menu or the Links list will immediately place that Link in the document. Additionally, selecting a Link Rule from the Rule popup menu or the Rules list will also immediately place a Link in the document.

Active Mode

This option indicates whether the DesignMerge Pro (VDP) software or the DesignMerge Catalog (Catalog) software is active in InDesign. Note that if you have activated both the DesignMerge Pro software and the DesignMerge Catalog software in the same InDesign application, then you can use this option to switch between using DesignMerge Pro or using DesignMerge Catalog.

Error Messages

There are three error conditions that may occur when merging.

No Data

This preference determines the content of the No Data Error Flag for your Variable Links. A No Data condition occurs when a merge session encounters an Empty Link, which is a Variable Link that does not receive any data because its data record does not have any data for it. There are several options for handling a Link when it is empty. For example, you can set up a Link to display the No Data Error Flag when empty (as described in Tutorial #1 in DesignMerge Documentation). Then, the merge session will replace the previous content in the Link with the text string (alphanumeric characters) that has been entered for this preference (the default text string is “Empty Field!”). For Empty Picture Links, a graphic representation of this text will be placed in the picture box.

Stack Pad

A Stack Pad condition occurs when a Cut & Stack merge session reaches the end of a data file before all of the Variable Links have been merged. This will happen when the number of records in a data file are not evenly divisible by the number of ups in a multi-up document. When this condition occurs, the excess Links will display the Stack Pad Error Flag, which is “SP” by default.

End of File

An End of File (EOF) condition occurs when a Step-by-Step merge session reaches the end of a data file before all of the Variable Links have been merged. This will happen when the number of records in a data file are not evenly divisible by the number of ups in a multi-up document. When this condition occurs, the excess Links will display the End of File Error Flag, which is “EOF!” by default.

GroupPicture™

The GroupPicture Module is an optional module that can be added to the DesignMerge software package. This module provides the ability to save a group of InDesign objects as an individual InDesign document file and also provides the ability to merge these groups (InDesign document files) into a document in their original format. These groups can include any type of DesignMerge Variable, which will be merged at the same time. For more information about GroupPicture, see the GroupPicture Module manual, which is available in DesignMerge Documentation.

Populate GroupPicture Elements

This preference determines what happens to the DesignMerge Variables within GroupPictures that are merged into a document. When checked (the default setting), DesignMerge will merge all of the Variables that are inside imported GroupPictures. When unchecked, DesignMerge will still place GroupPictures on the merged pages, but the merge session will ignore all Variables inside imported GroupPictures.

Adjust GroupPicture Sequence

This preference determines which records will be merged into DesignMerge Variables that are inside imported GroupPictures (for more information about sequence numbers, see Tutorial #3 in DesignMerge Documentation). When checked (the default setting), DesignMerge will change the sequence number of the Variables inside an imported GroupPicture to match the sequence number of the GroupPicture Variable Link that imported it. When this preference is unchecked, the Variables inside an imported GroupPicture will retain whatever sequence numbers were originally assigned to them.

Enable Parent Page Mode

The Parent Page Mode feature for GroupPictures allows a merge session to import GroupPictures that have been placed on a document’s Parent Pages. For more information about this mode, see the GroupPicture Module manual, which is available in DesignMerge Documentation.

Merge Options

These preferences affect how DesignMerge merges various types of content.

All; Text & Articles; Pictures

This preference determines which Variable Links are merged. Select All (the default setting) to merge all types of Variable Links. Select Text & Articles or select Pictures to merge one type but not the other, which can be helpful when testing or troubleshooting.

Prompt for Missing Pictures & Articles

This preference determines whether DesignMerge interrupts a merge session to warn you when it cannot find an external file for a Picture Link, Article Link, or GroupPicture Link.

If you check this preference (the default setting) before starting a merge session, the session will pause if DesignMerge cannot locate a file and will prompt you to locate the file or skip locating the file. If you skip locating the file, DesignMerge will skip merging the Variable Link or will fill the Link with content that represents the name of the missing file (depending on your setting for the Flag Missing Pictures as Errors preference). Additionally, DesignMerge will then prompt you how to proceed. At this point, you can choose to continue the merge session with prompts for any additional missing files, continue the merge session without prompts, or abort the merge session. If you chose to skip locating a missing file and continue during a Print Driver merge session, DesignMerge will record the error condition in the summary report according to your setting for the Missing External Files Error preference.

If you uncheck this preference before starting a merge session, then the session will not be interrupted when an external file is missing. Instead, DesignMerge will skip merging the Variable Link or will fill the Link with content that represents the name of the missing file (depending on the type of Link and your setting for the Flag Missing Pictures as Errors preference). Additionally, during a Print Driver merge session, DesignMerge will record the error condition in the summary report according to your setting for the Missing External Files Error preference.

For more information about the Missing External Files Error preference, see the “Errors Preferences” topic presented later in this manual.

Setting Additional Preferences

Each of these individual sets of preferences is presented in a separate dialog, which is displayed by clicking its respective button on the Preferences dialog. For information about these preferences, please see the topics that follow.

Output Preferences

Click the Output button on the Preferences dialog to access Output Preferences. These preferences, which you may change at any time, determine the manner in which DesignMerge produces merged output.

File Naming Preferences

These preferences address how DesignMerge will name its Print Driver output. For example, by default, DesignMerge names output by adding an underscore character followed by the record numbers associated with the file as a suffix to the base job name which is the name of the original document (for example, “BASEJOBNAME_1-10”, “BASEJOBNAME_11-20”, “BASEJOBNAME_21-30”, etc.). This helps ensure that each output file receives a unique file name to prevent overwriting previous files. DesignMerge then appends the file name extension that you have assigned here.

File Name Extensions
To change the file name extension for a particular type of output, click on that type in the list to highlight it and then click the Edit button. This opens a dialog where you can enter the new file name extension.

Append Record Range As Prefix/Suffix/None
This preference allows you to choose how the record count is added to a base job name. You can add the record count as a prefix or suffix, or choose to not append a record count.

Record Range Separator
This is what separates a base job name from the record count. By default it is an underscore character. You can specify any valid character for this separator. If you prefer not to have a separator character between the base job name and the number, you can specify none by removing the character previously specified so the box for this preference is blank or empty.

Workfile Preferences

DesignMerge uses one or more workfiles (temporary documents) during a Print merge session. At the start of each cycle in this type of merge session, DesignMerge builds a workfile based on the original document. Then DesignMerge merges the data for that workfile and prints the merged pages. This process is repeated as many times as necessary to complete the job. The preferences for a workfile determine the size of these workfiles and their application.

Size
To specify the number of pages, select Specify (the default setting) and enter a number between 1 and 250. Generally, the larger the number of pages, the better the performance; however, a larger number will also use more memory which may degrade performance. Therefore, we recommend specifying a lower number. Select Adjust Automatically to allow DesignMerge to determine the most efficient number of pages for a merge session’s workfile.

Enable Caching
Leave this preference checked (the default setting) to enhance performance. When checked, a merge session will cache its first workfile before merging any records into it for re-use throughout the merge session. If unchecked, a merge session will create a new workfile for each cycle of the session.

Copy Document-Installed Fonts
When you are using one of the DesignMerge Print Drivers (for example, to produce PDF or PPML merged output), DesignMerge will search for fonts that have been installed on your local system. When this preference is checked, DesignMerge will also search for fonts in a “Document fonts” folder that is inside the document’s folder. If unchecked, DesignMerge will only search for fonts that have been installed on your local system.

Performance Options

These options affect the efficiency and processing capabilities of the DesignMerge software.

Enable Background Processing
Leave this preference checked (the default setting) to speed the processing performance of the Print Drivers for DesignMerge. When checked, DesignMerge will hide the document’s window and process the document in the background, performing document updating off-screen. You will continue to see the DesignMerge progress bar, but you will not see the document window on the screen. This can dramatically increase performance because DesignMerge does not have to wait to display the merged pages prior to printing the pages.

If you are running a Document Output merge session, a session that processes only the current document (for example, a Build Document merge session), then this preference will not affect performance since the original document window is never closed. In cases such as this, minimize the document window before using DesignMerge. This dramatically increases performance, especially when you are building a long multiple-page document. For more information about your system’s Minimize feature for windows, please consult Macintosh or Windows Documentation.

Enable Control Frame Processing
DesignMerge Control Frames allow you to provide additional processing instructions. For example, you can use a File Name Frame to apply variable file names to Print Driver output. When this preference is checked (the default setting), a merge session will process any Control Frames that are in the document. If this preference is unchecked, merge sessions will ignore all Control Frames.

For more information about Control Frames (for example, a File Name Frame, a Number of Copies Frame, or a PostScript Control Frame), including which are available for use with a specific Print Driver, see that Print Driver’s manual in DesignMerge Documentation.

Disable Detailed Progress Dialog
The Print Drivers for DesignMerge have two progress windows which may be displayed during a merge session: a General Progress window and a Detailed Progress window. When this preference is checked (the default setting), Print Driver merge sessions will still display a General Progress window, but will not display a Detailed Progress window. This allows for best performance. If this preference is unchecked, Print Driver merge sessions will display both a Detailed Progress window and a General Progress window. Note that choosing to display a Detailed Progress window will slow a Print Driver’s performance.

Error Preferences

These error preferences are intended specifically for Print merge sessions. These error checking preferences do not apply to Document or Test merge sessions which have different requirements for error checking.

Overset Text

An Overset Text Frame error condition can occur when variable text that is being merged into a text frame causes the text in the frame to flow beyond the boundaries of the frame. Depending on the overflow, this can cause portions of the text to be omitted from the output.

You can avoid Overset Text Frame errors by running a Longest Line Test merge session before the Print Driver merge session (a Longest Line Test will detect any potential oversets) or by enabling CopyFit™ for the Print Driver merge session (CopyFit will fit text within variable text boxes on-the-fly while merging). For more information, see Tutorial #2 in DesignMerge Documentation.

Missing/Damaged Assets

A Missing External Files error condition occurs if an external file for a Variable Picture Link, a Variable Article Link, or a Variable GroupPicture Link could not be located.

You can avoid Missing External Files errors by running a Preflight Report merge session before the Print Driver merge session (a Preflight Report determines whether DesignMerge will be able to locate the external files for a VDP job). For more information, see Tutorial #1 in DesignMerge Documentation.

Available Options for These Error Conditions

You can choose to skip the page set where the error has occurred; or you can choose to continue processing the page set even though the error has occurred.

Skip Page Set
A Page Set is a single merged variation of the original document. Choose Skip Page Set to instruct DesignMerge to stop processing the current page set and continue to the next page set in the session. For example, if you are merging and sending data to a printer, the page set that encountered this error will not be printed. Jobs which are skipped will appear with a status of “Error” in the Print Driver’s summary report.

Process Anyway
Instructs DesignMerge to continue processing even though the error condition is present. Page Sets that encountered the error but were processed anyway will appear with a status of “Warning” in the Print Driver’s summary report.

Treat Missing/Damaged Assets as Errors

This setting controls whether you will be warned when an asset is missing or has been damaged. This setting is for technical support only and should not be turned off.

Search Path Preferences

As indicated in DesignMerge Tutorials, an external file such as a graphic file (for a Picture Link) or a text file (for an Article Link) can be specified in a data field by entering either the name of the file (for example, “FILENAME.TIF”) or the full path to the file (for example, “VOLUME:FOLDER:FILENAME.TIF”). If DesignMerge cannot locate the file based on the information provided in the data field, then DesignMerge will search for the file in locations that you have set up as Search Paths.

There are two types of Search Paths that you can set up for DesignMerge, Global Search Paths, and a DDF Search Path. By default, DesignMerge will search for the file in the following locations, sequentially:

  1. The same folder as the document (a Default Search Folder)
  2. The same folder as the data file (a Default Search Folder)
  3. The DDF Search Path, if set up for the Current DDF
  4. User-defined Global Search Paths, if any have been set up

Below is information to set up Global Search Paths (the preferred method), followed by information to set up a DDF Search Path, which can be useful for certain situations.

Set Global Search Paths

You can define a set of Global Search Paths that will be applied when you merge any document, regardless of which DDF is currently in effect. To set up your Global Search Paths, follow the steps below:

  1. Click the Search button on the Preferences dialog to open the Global Search Paths dialog.
    Alternatively, you can open this dialog by selecting Setup > Global Search Paths from the DesignMerge menu.
  2. Enable any or both of the two Default Search Folders.
    There are two options at the bottom of the dialog, representing the two Default Search Folders, as shown circled below:

    Check Document to always search the folder where the document is stored. This option is checked by default.

    Check Data File to always search the folder where the data file is stored. This option is checked by default.

    If you also check the Search Subfolders option, then all subfolders in the enabled set of Global Search Paths (both default and custom) will be searched as well. This option is checked by default.

  3. Click the Add button.
    The list of custom Global Search Paths is initially blank. To add a custom Global Search Path, click the Add button. This opens a dialog where you can select a folder/volume for a custom Global Search Path.
  4. Specify the path (folder or entire volume).
    Browse through the list to click on the folder/volume that you want, and then click the Choose button on the dialog. This returns the Global Search Paths dialog.
  5. Continue adding new Global Search Paths as desired.
    You can specify more than one custom Global Search Path. To add an additional path, click the Add button and select another folder/volume. The custom Global Search Paths will always be searched in the same order in which they appear in this list.
  6. Save your changes.
    Continue to click OK until you have closed all DesignMerge dialogs. Your new settings for Global Search Paths will be applied automatically from this point.

Global Search Paths are stored as one of your DesignMerge preferences. If you install an update of DesignMerge that resets your preferences, your current settings for Global Search Paths will be reverted to default settings.

You can run a Preflight Report merge session (described in Tutorial #1 in DesignMerge Documentation), to confirm DesignMerge will be able to find all of the external files that a variable job will require. Also, you can set up a merge session to prompt you if it cannot locate a file by checking the Prompt for Missing Pictures & Articles preference, available on the Preferences dialog, as described earlier in this manual.

Set a DDF Search Path

A DDF Search Path provides a single search path that is unique to a specific DDF (Data Source Definition). It can be useful in specialty situations, where you need a different search path for each separate DDF. Generally, it is preferable to use the Global Search Paths (as described in the previous segment) because those are shared across all documents and DDFs.

However, if you find a need to use a DDF Search Path, the instructions below will tell you how to set one up:

  1. From the DesignMerge menu, select Setup > Data Source Definitions.
    This opens the Data Source Definitions (DDF) dialog.
  2. Select the DDF from the Current DDF popup menu and click the Edit button.
    If the DDF that you wish to edit is not already selected as the Current DDF, open the Current DDF popup menu and select the name of the DDF that you wish to edit. Then, click the Edit button to open the Edit Data Source Definition dialog for the selected DDF.
  3. Check the Enable DDF Search Path option and click the Change Path button.
    First, check the Enable DDF Search Path option (shown circled below) to instruct DesignMerge to use this feature. Then, click the Change Path button, as shown below:
  4. On the DDF Search Path dialog, click the Change Path button.
    To select a path, click the Change Path button.
  5. Browse to choose a path.
    Browse through the list to click on the folder (volume) that you want the DDF to search, and then click the Choose button on the dialog. This returns you to the DDF Search Path dialog which now displays the new path.
  6. Check the Search subfolders option if desired.
    If desired, check the Search subfolders option to instruct DesignMerge to search all of the subfolders in the selected folder. This option is shown circled in the picture below:
  7. Save your changes.
    Click OK until you return to the Data Source Definitions (DDF) dialog, and then click OK to activate the DDF. Your new search path is now stored with the DDF. The next time you save your document, the revised DDF will be stored inside the document file.

As a shortcut, you can go to the DesignMerge menu at any time and select Setup > DDF Search Path. However, the path will be ignored if you neglect to check the Enable DDF Search Path option on the Edit Data Source Definition dialog, as described in the above steps.

PDF Placement Preferences

Adobe InDesign® supports a number of placement options for PDF files. DesignMerge allows you to specify which of these placement options to use when merging a PDF file into a Variable Link. This ensures that the import of PDF files will be consistent across all jobs. If you have multiple workstations, please be sure that this preference setting is synchronized.

To access DesignMerge PDF Placement preferences, click the PDF button on the DesignMerge Preferences dialog. You will see a dialog similar to the following:

Select the PDF Place Options that you wish to use for PDF files that will be merged into a Variable Link. We recommend selecting a specific PDF placement option here to ensure that all PDF files are placed in the same fashion during your variable data merge. Note the Use Default placement option will apply the very last set of InDesign PDF Place Options that are in effect on the workstation. These can be set up by checking the Show Import Options box while applying File > Place to place a PDF file onto a page.

Setting DesignMerge Keyboard Shortcuts (Hot Keys)

A number of DesignMerge functions have been assigned Keyboard Shortcuts (Hot Keys). If you wish to change (or turn off) these assignments, start by selecting Setup > Keyboard Shortcuts from the DesignMerge menu. This opens the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog for InDesign where you can open the Product Area menu and select DesignMerge Menu, shown circled in the picture below, to access the list of DesignMerge commands that can be assigned a keyboard shortcut:

Set Your DesignMerge Shortcuts

To change the assignment for one of the DesignMerge commands, select the command from the list provided and then enter your preferred shortcut in the New Shortcut box that is in the lower left corner of the dialog, as you would for any InDesign command.

Avoid Keyboard Shortcut Conflicts

The Keyboard Shortcuts dialog will display information below the New Shortcut box to let you know if the shortcut you have entered is already assigned to another command or is unassigned (is currently available). Naturally, we recommend setting Keyboard Shortcuts for DesignMerge that will not conflict with any other keyboard shortcuts that already exist in your InDesign installation.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about DesignMerge and its modules, please see the information provided in DesignMerge Documentation, as described below:

Tutorials present various features of DesignMerge in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step format to help you quickly learn more about using DesignMerge.

Manuals for the modules in the DesignMerge software package present more detailed information about the features that a particular module provides.

Remember: Help is available! If you have any difficulty at all, we are here to help. Please feel free to open a support ticket by going to the Meadows Online Support Center:

Meadows Technical Support