Update 2020: I recently wrote a new tutorial on how to make several business cards using InDesign Data Merge. When should you use data merge?ĭata merge is great when you have to lay out a document (or part of a document) that has a 'prototype example' (repetitive layout) that needs to be repeated in a grid or one record per page with different data. However, she doesn't talk about data merge with images, so for that (and because this guide goes more in depth), I invite you to keep reading even after you've seen the video. It's great content, explained very well, and Teela’s voice is calm and clear. She explains in eight minutes how to create a certificate using data merge. If you prefer a video guide, see this video by Teela Cunningham. Read further in the tutorial to create documents with a structure-layout similar to these: Run a preview to make sure of the result.Add the placeholders to the prototype design in your document.Select the data source in InDesign using the Data Merge panel.Create a prototype in an InDesign document.Create the data source file-in the first row, name the fields (use in front of the field name for images).In this tutorial, I'll show you the basics and then I'll highlight possible issues you might encounter and their solutions, so that you can master this feature in no time. So before jumping in and trying it out yourself, I’d suggest reading the whole tutorial and learning first about the limitations and errors that you may face later.

Using data merge is not hard at all, but you might need a few attempts to get it right. With data merge you can easily paginate text and images in InDesign in a matter of seconds by reading an external data source file in.

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