Extending the Power of Publishing™

DesignMerge Pro Tutorial 1 - Form Letter

This tutorial covers the basic merge and output capabilities of the DesignMerge Pro software. The sample document consists of a single-page form letter that has several variable elements, including text and pictures. Additionally, you will learn how to use DesignMerge Rules to apply conditional processing while merging. You will merge data from a tab-delimited text file into the form letter document to produce pages containing each version of the variable data. This tutorial also covers how to produce a DesignMerge PDF file containing the merged pages.

TOPICS COVERED IN THIS TUTORIAL

INTRODUCING THIS TUTORIAL

This tutorial provides detailed step-by-step instructions for each of the four basic steps in using DesignMerge to produce a variable data job:

  1. Set up a Data Source Definition (DDF)
  2. Assign Variable Links to content in the document
  3. Check your work by running merge reports and tests
  4. Create merged output

Sample Document

The sample document is a simple one-page document to represent a sample form letter. The name of the document for this tutorial is Form Letter.indd and it exists in the 1) Form Letter Tutorial folder.

DesignMerge Variable Links have not yet been placed in this document. This tutorial will show you how to assign Variable Links to text for the Inside Address and Salutation, to a text frame for Contact Information, to a picture frame for a Credit Card Logo, and to a picture frame for a Map.

Sample Data File

When any DesignMerge dialog window or documentation refers to a data file, it’s referring to a delimited text file that contains the data for a variable document. DesignMerge accepts simple, delimited text files (for example, a comma-separated or tab-delimited text file) that have been created on a Macintosh, PC/MS-DOS (Windows), or UNIX system. The data file can use either ASCII encoding or UTF-8 Unicode encoding for the text it contains. Delimited text files are easily created using most of the popular database or spreadsheet software programs. For more information, see Data Files and Data Source Definitions.

The variable data for this tutorial is contained within a tab-delimited text file named Form-Letter-Data.txt which exists in the 1) Form Letter Tutorial folder. This data file holds six records (lines), each containing ten fields (columns) of data. The first record in this tutorial’s data file contains names for the fields. The remaining five records contain data for variable content in a document. The first seven fields provide data for Variable Text. Note that the Address #2 field does not contain data in two of the records. Next, two fields (Logo and Contact) contain names of files that are located in the same folder as the tutorial document. DesignMerge is able to merge (place) external graphic files and text files when they are referenced by either a file name or the full path to the file. Finally, the last field indicates a preferred customer status.

Please note that although this data file is small for training purposes, DesignMerge can merge data files that contain any number of records and the records may contain up to 1500 fields.

SETTING UP THE DATA SOURCE DEFINITION (DDF)

When you have a document that does not yet contain any Variable Links, then the first step is to let DesignMerge know some things about the data file you will be using. This is accomplished by setting up the document’s data source definition (also referred to as the document’s DDF).

What is a Data Source Definition (DDF)

A DDF is simply a view or description of a data file. For example, a DDF describes the following characteristics of a data file:

  • Field delimiter: The character that separates each field in the file (e.g., a comma or a tab)
  • File origin: The computer system that created the file (e.g., Macintosh or Windows)
  • Field names: The number of fields (columns) and their order

It is easy to set up a document’s DDF because DesignMerge provides a Setup feature to determine the characteristics of a data file automatically.

When Not To Run Setup

Generally, you will prefer to set up a document’s DDF only once, when the document has not yet been set up. Running Setup on a previously set-up DDF will reset all of the DDF’s settings, including its definitions of Variable Links and Rules. If the document already contains Variable Links, resetting the document’s DDF could cause the document to encounter errors when merging.

A common mistake that new users make is to run Setup every time they receive a new data file for a document whose DDF has already been set up. The fact is that as long as the structure of the data file has not changed (i.e., as long as it still has the same number of fields as before and the fields are in the same order), then there is no reason to rerun Setup. When you receive an updated data file, just select the new data file when prompted to do so. The current settings will continue to work just fine! If you wish to change a setting in a document’s existing DDF, instead of rerunning Setup, you can simply click the Edit button on the Data Source Definitions dialog window. You can then change individual settings without affecting the other settings. For more information about editing a DDF, see Data Files and Data Source Definitions.

Set Up the DDF

Follow the steps below to set up the DDF for this tutorial:

  1. Open this tutorial’s document.
    Open the Form Letter.indd document file that is in the 1) Form Letter Tutorial folder.
  2. From the DesignMerge menu, select Setup > Data Source Definitions.
    This opens the Data Source Definitions (DDF) dialog window, as shown below:
  3. Click the Setup button.
  4. Select the data file.
    DesignMerge prompts you to select the data file that the DDF is going to describe. For this tutorial, select the Form-Letter-Data.txt file in the 1) Form Letter Tutorial folder, and then click the Open button to complete the selection.
  5. Verify the Setup entries.
    DesignMerge reads the selected data file and attempts to determine how it is set up. Also, Setup assumes the first record contains names for the fields in the data file. For more details about the Setup dialog window, see Data Files and Data Source Definitions.
  6. Make changes to the setup if necessary.
    Although you will usually want to apply the default setup, you may change any of these settings before continuing. For example, notice the Empty Link setting on the bottom right corner of the Setup dialog window. A Variable Link becomes empty when DesignMerge is merging a record that does not have any content for that Variable Link.

    For this tutorial, choose Delete and Remove Empty Line to indicate that you would prefer DesignMerge remove any empty Variable Link and any empty line this produces from merged versions of this document.

    The Setup should now look like this:

  7. Click OK to assign the settings to the DDF.
    This returns you to the Data Source Definitions dialog window.
  8. Click OK to assign the DDF to the document.
    This closes the Data Source Definitions dialog window and places a copy of the DDF’s settings inside the document file.
  9. Save the document.
    You can now start applying these DDF settings to content in the document. For more details about managing DDFs, see Data Files and Data Source Definitions.

PLACING VARIABLE LINKS IN A DOCUMENT

Setting up a DDF creates a list of Variable Links that you can assign to content in the document. Then, when you merge the data file with the document, the content that is assigned to Variable Links will display data from the data file. DesignMerge provides several different types of Variable Links that you can place in a document. This tutorial will introduce you to three of these types: Text, Picture, and Article. The other two types (Barcode and GroupPicture) are introduced in other tutorials.

By default, the Type setting for each of the Variable Links that Setup creates is set to Text, however you can change a Variable Link’s settings whenever you wish. Also, if you assign a Variable Link to a picture frame, DesignMerge will automatically treat that Variable Link assignment as a Variable Picture.

Open the DesignMerge Panel

DesignMerge provides a panel, as shown below, to assign Variable Links to content in a document and also to see which settings have been applied to Variable Links that have already been placed in a document:

To show the panel, open the DesignMerge menu and select View > DesignMerge Panel. The DesignMerge panel is grouped by default with its companion panels, the CopyFit panel and the Rules panel. You can manipulate the arrangement of these panels in the same manner as any InDesign panel.

The DesignMerge panel interacts with the current selection in the document. Some of the options on the panel will be dimmed when no content is selected in the document, and the Sequence setting (which is introduced in Tutorial #3) will always be dimmed by default. Additionally, the DesignMerge panel will not display a Style menu if the Price Style optional module has not been included in your product order. For more information about the features provided by this panel, see DesignMerge Panel.

Note the DesignMerge panel provides a button to display a list of all of the Variable Links and Rules that have been set up in the DDF (the same lists are available in the drop-down menus that are presented on the top portion of the panel). Click this button on the panel to switch between collapsed and expanded mode as you prefer:

Place Variable Text in the Document

The Form Letter document requires Variable Text Links for the inside address. To place these Text Links in the document, follow the steps below:

  1. Select the InDesign Type tool from the InDesign Tools panel.
    To assign Variable Text Links, first confirm you have selected the InDesign Type tool.
  2. Drag-select (highlight) the word Name.
    Do not include the New Paragraph (Carriage Return) character in the highlighted selection because the text that is highlighted will be replaced when DesignMerge merges data into the document.
  3. On the DesignMerge panel, select Name from the Link menu.
    Confirm the panel looks like the picture below:
  4. Click the Assign button that is on the panel.
  5. The DesignMerge panel now displays green bars.
    If the Variable Link was successfully assigned, the panel will now show a set of green bars above and below its rows of buttons. Additionally, a green underscore marks the Text Link in the document, as shown below:
  6. Repeat this process to place additional Text Links in this frame.
    One by one, select the text that you wish to make variable (Address_1, Address_2, City, State, and Zip) and assign the appropriate Variable Link to each selection. When you have finished, the document’s inside address text will look like this:
  • You can also assign a Variable Link to a selection of text by dragging the name of the Variable Link from the Links list on the panel and dropping it on top of the text frame that contains the selected text.
  • The green underscores that mark Text Links are visible when the InDesign Screen Mode is set to Normal. To hide the green underscores, open the InDesign View menu and select Screen Mode > Preview. Note this does not unlink or hide the linked content; it’s solely a viewing option for the document.
  • You can eliminate the need to click the Assign button for each Variable Link assignment by selecting the One-Click Link Assignment option in DesignMerge preferences (DesignMerge > Preferences). When One-Click Link Assignment is selected, DesignMerge will assign settings to a text selection each time you make a selection on the panel.
  • You can also set up DesignMerge to exclude any preceding or trailing New Paragraph, New Line, and Tab characters when placing a Text Link in a document by selecting the Smart Tags option in DesignMerge Preferences.

Place Variable Picture Links in the Document

The Form Letter document additionally requires a Variable Picture Link for the logo of a credit card, and the 1) Form Letter Tutorial folder contains three graphic files that provide different versions of a credit card logo (VISA.eps, AMEX.eps, and MSTR.eps). These filenames are in the Logo field in the data file. Note that while the graphic files for this tutorial’s Variable Picture Link are all in an EPS format, DesignMerge can place any type of graphic file format that InDesign supports.

Change the Settings for the Logo Variable Link

By default, DesignMerge will size a graphic file to fit within its assigned picture frame. However, you can apply different settings. To change the Logo Variable Link’s settings, follow the steps below:

  1. From the DesignMerge menu, select Setup > Variable Links.
    This opens the Variable Links dialog window, which lists each of the Variable Links in the document’s DDF, as shown below:
  2. Select Logo in the list of Variable Links.
    This displays the settings for the Logo Variable Link on the right side of the dialog window.
  3. Choose Picture for the type of Variable Link.
    This sets the Logo Variable Link’s default type to Picture and displays Picture settings. You can choose whichever Fitting and Alignment settings will best suit the graphic files that this Variable Link will place in a picture frame. For this tutorial, keep the default settings, as shown below:
  4. Click OK to close the Variable Links dialog window.
    This saves the changes to the settings and returns you to the document.

Assign the Logo Variable Link to a Picture Frame

To place this Variable Link in the document, follow the steps below:

  1. Select the InDesign Selection tool from the InDesign Tools panel.
    To assign a Variable Link to a picture frame, first confirm you have selected the InDesign Selection tool.
  2. Click on the Logo picture frame near the top right of the page.
  3. On the DesignMerge panel, select Logo from the Link menu.
    Confirm the panel looks like the picture below:
  4. Click the Tag Pic button.
  5. The DesignMerge panel now displays green bars.
    If the Variable Link was successfully assigned, then the panel should now display a set of green bars above and below its row of buttons. Additionally, when InDesign is showing frame edges (View > Extras > Show Frame Edges), a small non-printing green icon will be displayed to indicate the picture frame has a Variable Link assigned to it, as shown below:

Place Variable Article Links in the Document

A third type of Variable Link that you can place in a document is a Variable Article Link. Use a Variable Article Link when you would like DesignMerge to place a text file in a frame. For example, this tutorial’s document has a text frame for displaying contact information, and the 1) Form Letter Tutorial folder contains three text files that provide different versions of contact information (contact1.txt, contact2.txt, and contact3.txt). These filenames are in the Contact field in the data file. Note that while the text files for this tutorial’s Variable Article Link are all in a plain text file format, DesignMerge can place any type of text file format that InDesign supports.

Change the Settings for the Contact Variable Link

By default, each Variable Link is originally set up as a Text type of Variable Link. If you would prefer for a Variable Link to treat data as the name of a text file to place in the document, then the Variable Link’s Type must be set to Article. To change the Contact Variable Link’s settings, follow the steps below:

  1. From the DesignMerge menu, select Setup > Variable Links.
    This opens the Variable Links dialog window.
  2. Select the Contact Variable Link in the list of Variable Links.
    This displays the Contact Variable Link’s settings on the right side of the dialog window.
  3. Choose Article for the Type setting.
    This sets the Contact Variable Link to treat data as the name of a file to be placed in the document and displays Article settings. You can choose whichever Filter setting will best suit the text files that this Variable Link will place in a text frame. For this tutorial, keep the default settings, as shown below:
  4. Click OK to close the Variable Links dialog window.
    This saves the changes to the settings and returns you to the document.

Assign the Contact Variable Link to a Text Frame

To place this Variable Article Link in the document, follow the steps below:

  1. Select the InDesign Selection tool from the InDesign Tools panel.
    To assign a Variable Link to a text frame, first confirm you have selected the InDesign Selection tool.
  2. Click on the empty text frame for Contact Information near the bottom left of the page.
  3. On the DesignMerge panel, select Contact from the Link menu.
    Confirm the panel looks like the picture below:
  4. Click the Tag Frame button.
  5. The DesignMerge panel now displays green bars.
    If the Variable Link was successfully assigned, then the panel should now display a set of green bars above and below its row of buttons. Additionally, when InDesign is showing frame edges, a small non-printing green icon will be displayed to indicate the text frame has a Variable Link assigned to it, as shown below:

Assign a Variable Link to a text frame when you prefer for the merged text frame to contain only data from that Variable Link. Note you can choose instead to assign an Article Link to a selection of text if you would prefer non-variable text remain in the text frame when variable data is merged into the Article Link.

PREVIEWING DATA

You have completed placing Variable Links in the document and are ready to preview data being merged into the document. To run a Data Preview on this tutorial’s document, follow the steps below:

  1. Open the DesignMerge menu and select Merge.
    This opens the DesignMerge dialog window, as shown below:
  2. For the Records: Select All, Skip Header Row, Step by, and enter 1 for the step value.
    You first need to indicate which records you would like to merge from the data file. For this tutorial, select All to process the entire data file. Additionally, select Skip Header Row to ignore the first row of the data file since in this tutorial it contains field names and not actual data. For the record sequence mode, which determines how the records will be sequenced for this session, select Step by and enter the number 1 to merge each consecutive record.
  3. For the Action, select Data Preview.
    If you do not see an Action menu, click the Merge button.
  4. Choose Options for the Data Preview.
    To display options for this merge session, click the Options button. Then, select Off for the CopyFit option, and select Standard Mode for the Rules option. Note this document does not need to apply CopyFit (which is introduced in Tutorial #2), and choosing Standard Mode for the Rules option will allow the merge session to process assigned Rules (introduced later in this tutorial).
  5. Click the Start button to begin the Data Preview.
  6. Select the Form-Letter-Data.txt data file.
    DesignMerge will prompt you to select or confirm which data file to apply to this merge session. If a data file has already been assigned to the document’s DDF, you can select a different data file. Also, you can deselect the Prompt for Data File Each Time option if you prefer to use the same data file each time you merge this document.
  7. Review the Data Preview results.
    DesignMerge merges the first record into the document. Additionally, the Data Preview panel displays what this record’s data looks like in each field of the data file that is assigned to a Variable Link in the DDF, as shown below:

  8. Click the Step Forward button on the Data Preview panel.
    The panel provides arrow buttons to step through the records. Additionally, the Auto Preview option on the panel determines whether a preview automatically merges a record’s data into the document. If you prefer to step through the records in the panel without automatically previewing changes in the document, deselect this option and then, to preview the current record, click the Preview button located on the top right corner of the panel.
  9. Continue previewing until you are ready to proceed with this tutorial.
    You can continue to scroll through the other records in the data file. Additionally, to preview a specific record, enter the record’s number in the Record Number edit box and then either click the Preview button or press the Return key on the keyboard. When ready, click the Done button to close the Data Preview panel and return the document to its original state.

APPLYING RULES WHILE MERGING

You can use DesignMerge Rules to apply conditional processing to Variable Links, frames, and pages. With rules-based processing, a merge session can apply specific actions based upon the data in the record being processed. In the following section of this tutorial, you will see how to create and assign the three different types of DesignMerge Rules — Link, Frame, and Page.

The Components of a DesignMerge Rule

A DesignMerge Rule consists of one or more statements. Each statement specifies criteria and actions, as in the following example: If <<Gender>> is “M”, then Add Prefix: “Dear Mr. ” The criteria consist of one or more expressions that compare given data against conditions. When there is a match, then the specified actions are performed. Each action defines a modification that will be made to content in the document while merging. For example, a Link Rule can add a prefix to the content that a Text Link will display when it is merged.

Use a Link Rule to Add a Prefix

The Form Letter has Salutation text that can be filled with data from the Name field in the data file, but the names in the data file do not include any greeting or title (such as “Dear Mr.”). However, there is another field in the data file that indicates Gender. So, you can use a Link Rule to add an appropriate greeting and title based on the Gender data when merging Name data for a Salutation. For example, the Link Rule can insert “Dear Mr. ” when the Gender data is M, but insert “Dear Ms. ” when the Gender is F, and otherwise insert “Dear “. First, you will see how to create this Link Rule. Then, you will see how to assign the Link Rule to a Text Link in the document.

Create a Link Rule to Add a Prefix

To create this new Link Rule, follow the steps below:

  1. From the DesignMerge menu, select Setup > Rules.
    This opens the Rules dialog window, as shown below:
  2. On the Rules dialog window, click the New button.
  3. On the New Rule dialog window, enter Set Salutation as the name for this new Rule.
  4. Also, select Link from the Type menu.
    There are three types of Rules, one for each type of content a Rule can modify. Since this Rule will be applied to a Variable Link, select Link. The New Rule dialog window should now look like this:
  5. Click the OK button to close the dialog window.
    The list on the left side of the Rules dialog window should now display the name of the new Rule, as shown below:

Set the Default Condition Statement

A DesignMerge Rule will automatically have a Default Condition Statement. This statement indicates what the Rule should do by default. In other words, the Default Condition Statement’s action will be applied whenever the Rule does not apply any other action. In a new Rule, the Default Condition Statement’s Action is automatically set to No Action. When a Rule does not apply an action, then content that is assigned to this Rule will be merged as if no Rule had been applied to it. Of course, you can assign other actions to a Default Condition Statement. For the Default Condition Statement in the Set Salutation Link Rule, if a record does not have an M or an F in the Gender field, then let’s add the greeting without including a title (“Dear “). To do this, follow the steps below:

  1. Select the Default Condition Statement and click the Actions button.
    This opens the Edit Criteria & Actions dialog window to display the Actions settings for this statement.
  2. Select Add Prefix from the Perform Action menu.
    The Perform Action menu displays actions that may be applied to a Variable Link. For this Link Rule, select Add Prefix.
  3. Enter Dear in the corresponding frame.
    Also, remember to enter one word space after the word “Dear” (“Dear “) so there will be a single space inserted between this greeting and the Name data that will be merged into the Name Text Link for the Salutation. The Actions settings should now look like this:
  4. Click the OK button.
    This returns you to the Rules dialog window where you will set up another statement for this Rule in the following set of steps.

Add a Statement to Insert “Dear Mr. ” as a Prefix

Next, you will add a statement to indicate when you would like to insert “Dear Mr. ” as a prefix. To do this, confirm you have selected the new Set Salutation Link Rule in the list on the left side of the Rules dialog window and then follow the steps below:

  1. Click the Add button on the right side of the Rules dialog window.
    The Rules dialog window now displays two statements in this Rule’s Statements list, as shown below:
  2. Select the new statement and click the Criteria button.
    This opens the Edit Criteria & Actions dialog window to display the Criteria settings for this statement. Since this is a new statement, there is only one expression that has not yet been set up.
  3. Select Gender from the Variable Link menu for the expression.
  4. Select is from the Qualifier menu and enter M for the value.
    The Criteria settings should now look like this:
  5. Click the Actions tab at the top of the dialog window.
    This displays the Actions settings for the statement.
  6. Select Add Prefix from the Perform Action menu.
  7. Enter Dear Mr. in the corresponding frame.
    Also, remember to enter one word space after the period in “Mr.” (“Dear Mr. “). The Actions settings should now look like this:
  8. Click the OK button.
    This returns you to the Rules dialog window where you will set up another statement for this Rule in the following set of steps.

Add a Statement to Insert “Dear Ms. ” as a Prefix

The Set Salutation Link Rule currently has two statements – a statement to add “Dear Mr. ” as a prefix when the Gender data is M and the Default Condition Statement. Next, this Link Rule needs another statement to indicate when to add “Dear Ms. ” as a prefix. Follow the steps below to add this third statement:

  1. Click the Add button on the right side of the Rules dialog window.
    The Rules dialog window now displays three statements in this Rule’s Statements list, as shown below:
  2. Select the new statement and click the Criteria button.
    This displays the Criteria settings for this new statement.
  3. Select Gender from the Variable Link menu for the expression.
  4. Select is from the Qualifier menu and enter F for the value.
  5. Click the Actions tab at the top of the dialog window.
    This displays the Actions settings for the statement.
  6. Select Add Prefix from the Perform Action menu.
  7. Enter Dear Ms. in the corresponding frame.
    Again, remember to enter one word space after the period in “Ms.” (“Dear Ms. “). The Actions settings should look like this:
  8. Click the OK button.
    This returns you to the Rules dialog window where the Statements list for the Set Salutation Link Rule should now look like this:

Save the Changed Set of Rules

Now that you have finished setting up a new Link Rule, you are ready to save this change to the DDF. To do this, click the OK button on the Rules dialog window. This updates the set of Rules that are stored in the DDF while closing the Rules dialog window. Then, select Save from the InDesign File menu to update the DDF settings that are stored in the document.

Assign This Link Rule to a Text Link

You can use the DesignMerge panel to assign a Link Rule to a Text Link. For example, to assign the Name Variable Link and the Set Salutation Link Rule to the text for the Salutation, follow the steps below:

  1. Use the InDesign Type tool to select the text Salutation in the document.
    Do not include the colon (:) in the highlighted selection.
  2. If the DesignMerge panel is not showing, open it.
    To open the panel, select View > DesignMerge Panel from the DesignMerge menu.
  3. Select Name from the Link menu or list.
  4. Select Set Salutation from the Rule menu or list.
    The document and panel should now look like this:
  5. Click the Assign button on the panel.
    The Name Link and the Set Salutation Rule are now assigned to the Salutation text. The panel will indicate which Link and Rule are assigned and will show a set of green bars above and below its rows of buttons. Additionally, since both a Variable Link and a Link Rule are assigned, two green underscores mark the Text Link in the document.

Run Another Data Preview Merge Session

Now that you have assigned a Variable Link and Link Rule to the Salutation text, you may prefer to preview merging data into the document to confirm the Link Rule is being applied satisfactorily. To do this, first save the document with the changes you have made and then repeat the steps to run a Data Preview merge session by following the steps below:

  1. Select Merge from the DesignMerge menu (or click Merge on the DesignMerge panel).
    This opens the DesignMerge dialog window, as shown below:
  2. For the Records settings: Select All, Skip Header Row, and Step by: 1.
  3. For the Action, select Data Preview.
  4. For the Options, use the same settings as before.
    Select Off for CopyFit, and select Standard Mode for Rules.
  5. Click Start and, if prompted for the data file, select Form-Letter-Data.txt.
  6. Review the Data Preview results.
    DesignMerge merges the first record into the document. Note that since the Gender data in Record 1 is M, the Set Salutation Link Rule has added “Dear Mr. ” to the Name data that is displayed for the Salutation.
  7. Click the Step Forward button on the Data Preview panel.
    DesignMerge merges the second record into the document. Note that since the Gender data in Record 2 is F, the Set Salutation Link Rule has added “Dear Ms. ” to the Name data that is displayed for the Salutation.
  8. Continue previewing until you are ready to proceed with this tutorial.
    You can continue to scroll through the other records in the data file. When ready, click the Done button to close the Data Preview panel and return the document to its original state.

Use a Link Rule to Set Data

The Form Letter also has a Map picture frame to display the location of the closest bank branch for each record that is being merged into the document, and the 1) Form Letter Tutorial folder contains the three required map graphic files (BurbankMap.eps, HollywoodMap.eps, and GlendaleMap.eps). However, these filenames are not in any field in the data file. Regardless, you can still merge the appropriate map for each record by using a Link Rule to specify a graphic file based on the record’s City data.

Set Up a Link Rule to Set Data for a Variable Link

To set up this new Link Rule, follow the steps below:

  1. From the DesignMerge menu, select Setup > Rules to open the Rules dialog window.
  2. Click the New button, enter Get Map as the Name, select Link for the Type, and click OK.
    The list on the left side of the Rules dialog window should now display the name of the new Link Rule, as shown below:
  3. Add a statement to evaluate if the city is Hollywood.
    To do this, click Add to add a new statement. With this new statement selected in the Statements List, click Criteria. Set the criteria to evaluate if the data for the City Variable Link is Hollywood, as shown below:
  4. Next, click the Actions tab, select Set Data To and click the Edit button.
    To facilitate entering a filename, click the Edit button, as shown below:
  5. Choose to insert a filename.
    Click Insert Filename to select a file.

  6. Navigate to select the HollywoodMap.eps file and click Open.
    You will find this file inside the 1) Form Letter Tutorial folder. Clicking Open places the name of the selected file in the Edit Rules Data dialog window, as shown below:
  7. Click OK to return to the Actions dialog window.
    The filename of the selected file will be automatically entered for the Set Data To action.
  8. Click OK to return to the Rules dialog window.
    The Statements List for the Get Map Link Rule should now look like the picture below:
  9. Add a statement to set data to GlendaleMap.eps if the city is Glendale.
    Click Add to add a new statement, select the new statement, and click Criteria. Set the criteria to evaluate if the data for the City Variable Link is Glendale. Next, click the Actions tab, select Set Data To for the Perform Action, and then click the Edit button to open the Edit Rules Data dialog window where you can click the Insert Filename button. Navigate to select the GlendaleMap.eps file in the 1) Form Letter Tutorial folder and click Open. Click OK to return to the Actions dialog window and then click OK to return to the Rules dialog window. The Statements List for the Get Map Link Rule should now look like the picture below:
  10. Add a statement to set data to BurbankMap.eps if the city is Burbank.
    Add a third statement in a manner similar to adding the previous two statements. The Statements List for the Get Map Link Rule should now look like the picture below:
  11. Keep No Action for the Default Condition Statement.
    If none of the above statements apply an action, then the Link Rule will take no action and any Variable Link using this Link Rule will treat whatever data the assigned Variable Link provides as the name of a file to place in the Variable Link. For example, if we assign the City Variable Link to the picture frame and a record’s data is Peoria, then DesignMerge will search for a file named Peoria. If DesignMerge cannot find a file named Peoria, then the merge session will prompt you to find the file, and consequently you now know a statement needs to be added to this Link Rule to handle the name of one more city before you merge the document again.
  12. Click OK to save this new Link Rule while closing the Rules dialog window.

Assign This Link Rule and a Variable Link to a Picture Frame

You can use the DesignMerge panel to assign both a Variable Link and a Link Rule to a picture frame. For example, to assign the City Variable Link and the Get Map Link Rule to the Map picture frame in the Form Letter document, follow the steps below:

  1. Use the InDesign Selection tool to select the Map picture frame in the document.
  2. If the DesignMerge panel is not showing, open it.
    To open the panel, select View > DesignMerge Panel from the DesignMerge menu.
  3. Select City from the Link menu or list.
    Although the City Variable Link is set up as a Text type of Variable Link, you can still assign it to a picture frame. When a Variable Link is assigned to a picture frame, DesignMerge will automatically treat that assignment as a Variable Picture Link. 
  4. Select Get Map from the Rule menu or list.
    The document and panel should now look like this:
  5. Click the Tag Pic button on the panel.
    If the Variable Link was successfully assigned, then the panel should now display a set of green bars above and below its row of buttons. Additionally, when InDesign is showing frame edges (View > Extras > Show Frame Edges), a small non-printing green icon will be displayed to indicate the picture frame has a Variable Link assigned to it, as shown below:

Run Another Data Preview Merge Session

Now that you have assigned a Variable Link and a Link Rule to a picture frame, you may prefer to preview merging data into the document to confirm the Picture Link is merging satisfactorily. To do this, first save the document with the changes you have made and then repeat the steps provided earlier to run a Data Preview merge session. Or, run a Data Preview merge session after you have also set up and assigned a Frame Rule (described next).

Use a Frame Rule to Delete a Frame

A Frame Rule lets you modify the attributes of any frame – the frame does not have to contain variable content. For example, you can use a Frame Rule to vary the fill and stroke of any frame while merging. You can also set up a Frame Rule to delete a frame. For instance, the Form Letter document has a frame containing a Preferred Customer picture to indicate a preferred customer status. Since the Form-Letter-Data.txt data file contains a field named Preferred Customer to indicate this status (Y or N), we can use a Frame Rule to delete this picture frame when a record’s preferred customer status is N.

Set Up a Frame Rule to Delete a Frame

To set up this new Frame Rule, follow the steps below:

  1. From the DesignMerge menu, select Setup > Rules to open the Rules dialog window.
  2. Click the New button, enter Preferred Customer as the Name, select Frame for the Type, and click OK.
    Since this Rule will be applied to a frame, select Frame for the Type, as shown below:

    The list on the left side of the Rules dialog window should now display the name of the new Frame Rule, as shown below:
  3. Add a statement to evaluate if the preferred customer status is N.
    To do this, click Add to add a new statement. With this new statement selected in the Statements List, click Criteria. Set the criteria to evaluate if the data for the Preferred Variable Link is N, as shown below:
  4. Next, click the Actions tab, select Delete Frame.
    The Perform Action menu displays actions that may be applied to a frame. For this Frame Rule, select Delete Frame, as shown below:
  5. Click OK to return to the Rules dialog window.
    The Statements List for the Preferred Customer Frame Rule should now look like the picture below: