Meadows Publishing SolutionsExtending the Power of Publishing™
Meadows Publishing SolutionsThis manual describes how to use the GroupPicture™ software for Adobe® InDesign®. GroupPicture gives you the power to save complete “groups” of document elements (text frames, picture frames, lines, etc.) in special files which behave just like pictures. They can be archived, databased, and imported just like any other supported graphic format. The difference is that when you import a GroupPicture file, you get the original, native elements perfectly positioned on your page and ready to be edited and styled. Additionally, GroupPicture has been tightly integrated with DesignMerge® Pro (variable data software) and DesignMerge® Catalog™ (data publishing software) from Meadows Publishing Solutions.
Topics Covered in this Manual:
The GroupPicture software for InDesign is perhaps best described as an import filter for InDesign documents. It allows you to save and import a group of native InDesign objects into a document. Additionally, GroupPicture allows you to use a picture frame to indicate the location for the InDesign group that you are importing, and you can even import a group using the InDesign Place command, similar to placing a TIFF, EPS, or other image file type supported by InDesign. The difference is that you get a copy of the original group of InDesign objects pasted onto the page at the location of the picture frame, and the objects in the group are fully editable.
Virtually any program designed to track, manage, and catalog images can be used to do the same with GroupPicture files. These include programs like Adobe® Bridge®, Canto® Cumulus®, Extensis® Fetch™/Portfolio™, and other digital asset management software products. Some of these applications also provide the ability to drag GroupPicture files directly from image management software documents to InDesign pages.
GroupPicture files integrate nicely with a variety of publishing workflows. Any database program that supports pictures will support GroupPicture files. It works great within scripting applications, making it easy to manage automatic page assembly. Additionally, because the GroupPicture software is tightly integrated with the Meadows Publishing Solutions DesignMerge Pro and DesignMerge Catalog software, it is useful for creating fully variable layouts. The remainder of this manual describes GroupPicture features in detail and how to use GroupPicture in conjunction with DesignMerge Pro and DesignMerge Catalog, and also with image database applications.
To create a GroupPicture, start by selecting the objects you wish to save as a member of the group. To do this, click on the Selection tool in the Tool panel and then shift-click each of the desired objects. Group the selected objects by choosing Group from the InDesign Object menu. In the example shown below, the user has selected a product block consisting of lines, text and picture frames, and is about to group them:
After grouping the objects that you wish to save as a GroupPicture, select the group. Then, if you have installed GroupPicture with DesignMerge, open the DesignMerge menu and select Options > GroupPicture > Save. If you are have installed GroupPicture without DesignMerge, open the InDesign File menu and select MPS > GroupPicture > Save.
Enter a file name for the GroupPicture and navigate to the folder in which you wish to store it. In the example above, the user has entered a part number associated with the product block (S-427) as the name for this GroupPicture. This type of naming convention makes it easy to identify this GroupPicture later when ready to import it into an InDesign document. You may wish to choose a similar naming convention for your GroupPicture files; however, any valid file naming scheme is supported.
For the file name extension, you may use the default extension “.indd” (GroupPicture files are saved in an InDesign document format). For those using GroupPicture on Macintosh systems, you may choose instead to use the “.gp” file name extension, which will help you differentiate regular InDesign document files from GroupPicture files. Windows operating systems will automatically append a “.indd” file name extension to a GroupPicture file. When using the default “indd” file name extension, you may wish to include information in the file name that indicates this is a GroupPicture file, for example, by changing “filename.indd” to “filename_GP.indd”.
After clicking the Save button, the GroupPicture file will be created. You can now import it onto a page, or you can catalog it in your favorite image database program.
When importing a GroupPicture, GroupPicture can position the imported GroupPicture in the normal paste location of the current page. Additionally, GroupPicture can use a picture frame as the positional target for the imported GroupPicture.
For example, let’s import a GroupPicture to a specific location on a page by creating a picture frame or by selecting an existing one where we would like to place the GroupPicture. Select the picture frame. Then, if you are using GroupPicture with DesignMerge, open the DesignMerge menu and select Options > GroupPicture > Import. If you are have installed GroupPicture without DesignMerge, open the InDesign File menu and select MPS > GroupPicture > Import.
You will be prompted to open a file. Navigate to and select the GroupPicture file that you created earlier. Click Open when you are ready to continue.
After clicking Open, the GroupPicture will be imported. If you did not first select a picture frame, the GroupPicture will be placed on the current document page at the normal paste location for InDesign. If you did first select a picture frame, the imported GroupPicture will be imported by default on top of the selected picture frame. In this example where a picture frame was selected for the GroupPicture, the imported GroupPicture will look similar to the sample shown in the picture below:
Once imported, the objects in the GroupPicture can be edited normally. In this example, the imported group is actually smaller than the encompassing picture frame. For information about automatically adjusting how a GroupPicture is aligned with a selected picture frame (as well as whether you would additionally like the selected picture frame to be automatically resized or grouped with the imported GroupPicture), see the “GroupPicture Preferences” section later in this manual. There is also an option to delete the targeted picture frame once the import is complete.
You may also use GroupPicture > Import to import the objects that are on the first page of any regular InDesign document. If you choose a regular InDesign document file, all of the objects that are on its first page will be imported as though these objects compose a single GroupPicture.
If you wish to modify a GroupPicture file that you’ve imported, you can do so right in the document as the imported GroupPicture is fully editable. Any changes that you make to an imported GroupPicture will not affect the original GroupPicture file nor any documents where this GroupPicture was already imported.
Correspondingly, any changes to the original GroupPicture file will not affect any documents where this GroupPicture was previously imported. Additionally, since an imported GroupPicture is not linked to the original file, there will not be any notification in the document where you have imported a GroupPicture if the original GroupPicture file is modified after it was imported into this document.
Or, if you prefer, you can open and edit the actual GroupPicture file at any time just as you would any standard InDesign document, then save your changes and re-import the GroupPicture into your document or any other document.
The Links window in InDesign does not track imported GroupPicture files, because importing a GroupPicture is equivalent to having created a new copy of its content in the “receiving” document.
The InDesign Place command can also be used to import GroupPictures. However, note there is an option in GroupPicture Preferences that determines whether the Place command may be used to import GroupPictures. The Place InDesign Files as GroupPictures option determines whether the Place command places any InDesign document, including a GroupPicture file, as a graphic (which is the usual behavior of the InDesign Place command) or as a GroupPicture.
When this option is Off (unchecked; its default setting), InDesign Place will operate as it normally does, placing any InDesign file, including a GroupPicture file, as a graphic.
When this option is On (checked), InDesign Place will place any InDesign document, including a GroupPicture file, as a GroupPicture. This option is also explained later in the “GroupPicture Preferences” section of this manual.
To use the InDesign Place command to import a GroupPicture, first open the GroupPicture Preferences dialog. To open this dialog, if you have installed GroupPicture with DesignMerge, open the DesignMerge menu and select Options > GroupPicture > Preferences. If you have installed GroupPicture without DesignMerge, open the InDesign File menu and select MPS > GroupPicture > Preferences. Then, turn on (check) the Place InDesign Files as GroupPictures option.
Next, create a picture frame or select an existing one, then select Place from the InDesign File menu. Navigate to and select the GroupPicture or InDesign document that you want to import and click Open. (If you choose a regular InDesign document, all of the objects from its first page will be imported as though these objects compose a single GroupPicture.) The GroupPicture will be placed on top of the targeted picture frame.
There are a number of preference settings available for GroupPicture. To view or change them, if you have installed GroupPicture with DesignMerge, open the DesignMerge menu and select Options > GroupPicture > Preferences. If you are have installed GroupPicture without DesignMerge, open the InDesign File menu and select MPS > GroupPicture > Preferences. The GroupPicture Preferences dialog looks like this:
From top to bottom, each of the GroupPicture Preferences is described below:
This preference tells GroupPicture what to do with the receiving picture frames after GroupPictures are imported. Each option for this preference is described below:
Don’t Change
Leave the picture frame alone.
Size to Match Group
The picture frame will be resized to match the dimensions of the incoming GroupPicture.
Delete After Import
The picture frame will be deleted after the GroupPicture has been imported.
Add Picture Frame to Group
When this check box is checked, the picture frame will be grouped with the imported group.
Import GroupPicture: Bring to Front or Send to Back
This preference determines whether GroupPictures are imported to the front (the default setting) or to the back of the stack of pre-existing objects on the page.
Track GroupPictures
When this option is On (checked; the default setting), incoming groups will be “attached to” the picture frames into which they were imported. If a different group is later imported into that same frame, the group that is currently attached to the frame is deleted before the new group is imported. This feature is handy for such things as product switch-outs in catalogs.
Place InDesign Files as GroupPictures
When this option is Off (unchecked; the default setting), the InDesign Place command will import InDesign document files as pictures (which is the usual behavior of the InDesign Place command). When this option is On (checked), the InDesign Place command will import InDesign document files as GroupPictures.
Copy File Info when Saving GroupPictures
If this option is On (checked; the default setting) when a group is saved as a GroupPicture, some of the file information from the source document will also be assigned to the new GroupPicture file. Examples of document file information that will be assigned include Document Title, Author, Description, and Keywords. If this option is Off (unchecked), this information from the source document will not be assigned to the new GroupPicture file.
Match Picture Frame Rotation
When this option is Off (unchecked; the default setting) and a picture frame has been selected to receive the GroupPicture, the imported GroupPicture will not be rotated even if the target picture frame has been rotated. When this option is On (checked) and a picture frame has been selected to receive the GroupPicture, the imported GroupPicture will be rotated to match the rotation of the target picture frame.
Import Locked Items
This option determines whether items that are locked in the GroupPicture file are imported along with its items that are not locked.
Import Hidden Items
This option determines whether items that are hidden in the GroupPicture file are imported along with its items that are not hidden.
Import Master Page Items
This option determines whether items that are on the Master Page that is applied to the document page in the GroupPicture file are imported.
DesignMerge Pro is a suite of software for variable data printing and document creation applications. Everything from simple mail-merge projects to complex data publishing and document assembly workflows is fully supported by the DesignMerge Pro software. Just take an existing InDesign document and “Make it Variable”.
DesignMerge Pro also provides specialized modules that extend its variable data publishing features. For example, the CopyFit Module adds the ability to automate the fitting of copy in variable text frames. The Rules Module adds conditional logic functionality. Used by major publishing professionals worldwide, DesignMerge Pro is the proven tool-of-choice for a wide variety of variable data applications such as direct mail pieces, brochures, business cards, name badges, labels, coupon supplements, invitations, event programs, tickets, financial prospectuses and fund statements.
GroupPicture has been tightly integrated with DesignMerge Pro for the express purpose of adding the ability to incorporate variable groups in your variable data jobs. Your variable groups may be virtually any size, including complete pages, and may also contain DesignMerge Pro Variables. For example, below is a variable data job for a postcard that will display a different group of objects, depending upon the interest of the recipient.
An example of a variable data job that has a GroupPicture Link for a Coupon
An example of two variable copies created by the above variable data job
