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
• Setting up the data source definition (DDF)
• Placing Variable Links in a document
• Previewing data merged into a document
• Applying Rules while merging
• Running a Preflight Report
• Creating output for a printer

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: