Check InDesign data merge template for errors without creating document?

I've got a big InDesign template with hundreds of rows. Producing a full batch takes over an hour, and sometimes crashes. The deadline is fast approaching, and I'm waiting for the final minor amendments to the content spreadsheet, which could virtually land any minute.
I want to check for overset text errors on the current sheet without creating a merged document or PDF, so I can get on with fixing any likely major problems before the final sheet arrives - but I don't want to create a full merged doc, because that will take a very long time and will that doc's content will be obsolete, whereas the overall length of the text will change very little.
When you create a merged document, you have the option to turn "Generate overset text report" off. What I want to do, is ONLY generate the overset text report, without actually storing the merged document in memory.
Is this possible?
The closest I can see is click through the "Next" button in the Data Merge palette with Preview turned on, while watching the "No errors" preflight panel notification at the bottom of the screen. This is probably faster than creating a full merge, but still very slow.

That is what Indesign does when it does a data merge, it creates copies of the document and there's no way to change this. Have you tried exporting to PDF (In CS4 you can do this in one step from the original) and printing? I've never had anyone confirm it definitively but I'm pretty sure that the PDF created will be an 'optimized' one, meaning that when it sends it off to a compatible printer the images will be sent once and cached, with only the text that changes being sent separately.
Definitely worth comparing it to Publisher for speed anyway, Office programs can merge straight to the printer, but in effect they're doing the same thing. There are programs out there for doing far fancier stuff than data merge, probably the best is XM Pie, but unless you've got a printer that recognises their language they're a waste of time in this circumstance anyway.

Similar Messages

Multiple records in Indesign Data merge

When I select the option for multiple records in InDesign Date Merge, I still only get one record on a page in preview. When I ask it to create a merged document, each item from the excell file is put on a separate page. Why is this happening, I want 4 items on a page.

Message was edited by: p_lue
I figured out the problem. The margins would have to be smaller for the page to accomodate multiple records. Thanks for offering to help.

Data Migration Template for Singapore Payroll.

Hi
I need a help on data migration template for Singapore Payroll.
Would also need guidance on what i srequired in case i want to migrate the last year payroll cluster data from legacy system to ECC 6.0.
Will appreciate if you can send me the migration template at my mail id.
Thanks and regards

Hai..
Check some of the fields mentioned below.. it may be of some use to u..
Client
Personnel Number
Sequential number for payroll period
Payroll type
Payroll Identifier
Pay date for payroll result
Period Parameters
Payroll Year
Payroll Period
Start date of payroll period (FOR period)
End of payroll period (for-period)
Reason for Off-Cycle Payroll
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Client
Personnel Number
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Indesign Data Merge Scripts

I am looking to create a script that will enable me to feed in variable data from a csv to indesign data merge. I have the components built, with a column for quantity in the csv. Our printing needs vary day by day, so multiple records don't quite fit w

Thanks SDesigns; the GREP feature in particular looks like it might work, assuming I can get the data to merge with a separator between each company. That's where I'm having trouble now; I can't seem to be able to merge a particular column from the CSV that has the company names into a paragraph of text within my document, as it only seems to let me merge in the first company name only. Do you know how I can achieve this, and additionally how I can get it to automatically insert any particular separator (as there are hundreds if not thousands of company names, manually typing in the separator could get very tedious)? Attached is a screenshot of what the final text looks like in the document, though it doesn't seem to let me "Update source" on the paragraph, which would make things much easier.Thank you very much for your time and help!
Best,
Colton

Would installing Cheetah or Raptor drives make inDesign data merge work faster?

Would installing Cheetah or Raptor drives make inDesign data merge work faster?

I think SSDs might turn out to be slower. There are some other posts about major slowdowns when the OS and user profile are on SSDs.
As a 32 bit program, ID can't adress all that extra RAM, so you won't affect the amount of swapping required. I don't really know how efficient an SSD is for constant read and write operations, but my undertanding is they work great for fast loading of things that don't change, but not so much for files that rewrite constantly.

Data Mapping Templates for NON-RTA Systems

Hi all,
I'm designing n extractor for my NON-SAP System.
I've been reading the Appendix B: Data Mapping Templates for Non-RTA Systems from Configuration Guide - SAP GRC AC 5.3.
I have a couple of questions regarding the size of two fields in table ACTION PERMISSION OBJECTS TEMPLATE
Is correct the size that the documents says about fields:
ACTION (document says it's 20 but in other tables is 50)
PERMISSION (document says it's 10 but in other tables is 100
ACTVT (document says it's 10but in other tables is 50)
Thank you in advanced.

Hi Luis,
Yeah i will follow the recomendations but i'm updating some files to RAR and i've seen another kind of inconsistency such as in the table User File Template. Recomendation says that both FNAME field and LNAME field are 50 size each one but in my case i can update a FNAME 51 size and a LNAME 49, i mean between FNAME and LNAME it's 100 size.
Cheers.

Check which data records have been updated or created by the business rule.

Dear all,
   Is there any way to check which data records have been updated or created by the business rule?
   For ex:
   When I run a data package which execute some standard store procedure and the log shows :
Executing SPRUNCONVERSION 'LEGALAPP', [ACTUAL], [GGGG],'GLOBAL','SPSCOPE_42412','SPLOG_125272'
SPRunConversion Version 2.06
20071200 - 210 Rows Calulated
20071200 - 84 Rows Updated
Anyway to see the data content of "84 Rows Updated "?
Best Regards,
Jeff

Yes each aplication has 3 fact tables:
FACTWB:Real time storage, when you send data it is stored here and this is linked to the FACTWB partition in OLAP which is a ROLAP partition to enable real time updates of the data.
FAC2: Short term storage. If too many records are in the FACTWB the aplication becomes slow because these records need to be queried by the OLAP engine everytime new records are send to the database. To clean up te real time storage you can do a lite optimize, which will move the FACTWB records to the FAC2 partition. this lite optimize can be done even when users are in the system.
FACT: this is the long term storage. When your reporting is finished you can run a full optimize to clean up both FACTWB and FAC2 tables and store it in the FACT table. This contains all your historical records.
Evertime you run a reort, SAP BPC is looking at all 3 partitions and combines the data of the 3 partitions to present the correct value in your report. Remember that BPC is posting differences in the WB and not the final values. So if you have for example a record with 10 in the FAC2 partition and you send 12 to the database for that intersection, BPC will post only 2. When running a report it combines the 10 and the 2 which makes 12.
Hope this makes it more clear.
Joost
Edited by: Joost Hoppenbrouwers on May 6, 2008 12:19 PM : Seems that James and I where writing pretty much the same post at the same time

Error when creating document flow for delivery

Hi,
I would like to post the GR for Inbound delivery. I receive an error the TO is not confirmed. I have tried to confirm the tranfer order and I receive the "error when creating document flow for delivery . In order to avoid inconsistencies the goods movement posting was cancelled." It seems like the document already exist.
How can I do to confirm the TO and post the GR.
Thanks
Dede

In Inbound delivery after GR only a TO is created and confirmed.
So please check the PO history and see a GR is there or not .
Once a GR is found create a TO and do the confirmation

BAPI for counting without inventory document?

Hi,
Is there a BAPI for counting without inventory document? Eg transaction MI10.
Best regards,
Morten

Hi Morten,
Can checkout these FMs:
BAPI_MATPHYSINV_GETDETAIL 
Read items for a physical inventory document
BAPI_MATPHYSINV_GETITEMS 
Read list of physical inventory documents with items
BAPI_MATPHYSINV_GETLIST 
Read list of phys. inv. documents
BAPI_MATPHYSINV_POSTDIFF 
Post differences for certain items in a phys. inv. document
Regards,
Raj

Bapi-salesorder creation error in creating document

hai friends..
iam doing creation of sales order using bapi .-structures..
but error in creating doucment ....
can u send me some example .. abt sales order .creation ..
once u check my code ...
DATA: BEGIN OF HEADER OCCURS 0,
 VBELN LIKE BAPIVBELN-VBELN,
 AUART LIKE VBAK-AUART,
 VKORG LIKE VBAK-VKORG,
 VTWEG LIKE VBAK-VTWEG ,
 SPART LIKE VBAK-SPART,
 VKBUR LIKE VBAK-VKBUR,
 KUNNR LIKE BAPIPARNR-PARTN_NUMB ,"vbak-kunnr,
 END OF HEADER.
DATA: BEGIN OF ITEM OCCURS 0,
 VBELN LIKE BAPIVBELN-VBELN,
 POSNR LIKE BAPISDITM-ITM_NUMBER ,"vbap-posnr,
 MATNR LIKE VBAP-MATNR,
 NETWR LIKE VBAP-NETWR,
 KWMENGE LIKE VBAP-KWMENG,
 WERKS LIKE VBAP-WERKS,
 NETPR LIKE VBAP-NETPR,
 END OF ITEM.
DATA: ORDER_HEADER_IN LIKE BAPISDHD1,
 ORDER_HEADER_INX LIKE BAPISDHD1X.
DATA: ITAB_HEAD likE order_header_in,
 ITAB_HEADX likE ORDER_HEADER_INX.
DATA: ITAB_ITEM TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF BAPISDITM WITH HEADER LINE,
 ITAB_ITEMX TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF BAPISDITMX WITH HEADER LINE.
DATA: KUST TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF BAPIPARNR WITH HEADER LINE,
 RETURN LIKE BAPIRET2 OCCURS 0 WITH HEADER LINE.
DATA: VNO LIKE BAPIVBELN-VBELN,
 VCNT LIKE VBAP-POSNR.
LOOP AT HEADER.
 VCNT = 10.
 CLEAR ITAB_HEAD.
 ORDER_HEADER_IN-REFOBJTYPE = 'OR'.
 ORDER_HEADER_IN-REFOBJKEY = 'OR'.
 ORDER_HEADER_IN-REFDOCTYPE = 'OR'.
 ORDER_HEADER_IN-DOC_TYPE = HEADER-AUART.
 ITAB_HEAD-DOC_TYPE = HEADER-AUART.
 ITAB_HEAD-SALES_ORG = HEADER-VKORG.
 ITAB_HEAD-DISTR_CHAN = HEADER-VTWEG.
 ITAB_HEAD-DIVISION = HEADER-SPART.
 ITAB_HEAD-SALES_OFF = HEADER-VKBUR.
 KUST-PARTN_NUMB = HEADER-KUNNR.
 ITAB_HEADX-DOC_TYPE = 'X'.
 ITAB_HEADX-SALES_ORG = 'X'.
 ITAB_HEADX-DISTR_CHAN = 'X'.
 ITAB_HEADX-DIVISION = 'X'.
 ITAB_HEADX-SALES_OFF = 'X'.
 LOOP AT ITEM WHERE VBELN = HEADER-VBELN.
 REFRESH RETURN.
 ITAB_ITEM-ITM_NUMBER = VCNT.
 ITAB_ITEM-MATERIAL = ITEM-MATNR.
 ITAB_ITEM-NET_WEIGHT = ITEM-KWMENGE.
 APPEND ITAB_ITEM.
 ITAB_ITEMX-ITM_NUMBER = VCNT.
 ITAB_ITEMX-MATERIAL = 'X'.
 ITAB_ITEMX-NET_WEIGHT = 'X'.
 APPEND ITAB_ITEMX.
 VCNT = VCNT + 10 .
 ENDLOOP.
 CALL FUNCTION 'BAPI_SALESORDER_CREATEFROMDAT2'
 EXPORTING
 SALESDOCUMENTIN = SALESORDER
 ORDER_HEADER_IN = ITAB_HEAD
 ORDER_HEADER_INX = ITAB_HEADX
 SENDER =
 BINARY_RELATIONSHIPTYPE =
 INT_NUMBER_ASSIGNMENT =
 BEHAVE_WHEN_ERROR =
 LOGIC_SWITCH =
 TESTRUN =
 CONVERT = ' '
 IMPORTING
 SALESDOCUMENT = VNO
 TABLES
 RETURN = RETURN
 ORDER_ITEMS_IN = ITAB_ITEM
 ORDER_ITEMS_INX = ITAB_ITEMX
 ORDER_PARTNERS = KUST.
 CALL FUNCTION 'BAPI_TRANSACTION_COMMIT'
 EXPORTING
 WAIT = 'X'.
 IMPORTING
 RETURN = RETURN.
LOOP AT return WHERE type = 'E' OR type = 'A'.
EXIT.
ENDLOOP.
IF sy-subrc = 0.
WRITE: / 'Error in creating document'.
ELSE.
COMMIT WORK AND WAIT.
ENDIF.
 WRITE: / ' Sales Order NO IS: ', VNO.
 WRITE: / SPACE.
 CLEAR VNO.
 WRITE SY-ULINE.
ENDLOOP.
my HEader is 123 OR 1000 30 10 SATYA.
ITem 2 IS 123 10 HAI 15
once u check it ......

Hi Satya,
just check this
REPORT Z_STANDARD_SALES_ORDER no standard page heading.
DATA DECLARATION
CONSTANTS : C_X VALUE 'X'.
Structures to hold Sales order header data
DATA : HEADER LIKE BAPISDHD1," OCCURS 0 WITH HEADER LINE,
 HEADERX LIKE BAPISDHD1X." OCCURS 0 WITH HEADER LINE.
Internal Tables to hold Sales order ITEM DATA
DATA : ITEM LIKE BAPISDITM OCCURS 0 WITH HEADER LINE,
 ITEMX LIKE BAPISDITMX OCCURS 0 WITH HEADER LINE.
Internal Tables to hold Partners ITEM DATA
DATA : PART LIKE BAPIPARNR OCCURS 0 WITH HEADER LINE.
Internal Tables to hold Partners SCHEDULE DATA
DATA: SCHEDULE LIKE BAPISCHDL OCCURS 0 WITH HEADER LINE,
 SCHEDULEX LIKE BAPISCHDLX OCCURS 0 WITH HEADER LINE.
Internal table to hold messages from BAPI call
DATA: RETURN LIKE BAPIRET2 OCCURS 0 WITH HEADER LINE.
DATA W_MSG(150).
*DATA: begin of wa_MESSAGE,
 message(150),
 end of wa_message.
*DATA: itab_msg like table of wa_message with header line.
Data: Begin of Record occurs 0,
 Control type i,
 DOC_TYPE like HEADER-DOC_TYPE,
 SALES_ORG like HEADER-SALES_ORG,
 DISTR_CHAN like HEADER-SALES_ORG,
 DIVISION like HEADER-DIVISION,
 PURCH_NO_C like HEADER-PURCH_NO_C,
 PARTN_NUMB like PART-PARTN_NUMB ,
 PARTN_ROLE like PART-PARTN_ROLE ,
 ITM_NUMBER like ITEM-ITM_NUMBER,
 MATERIAL like ITEM-MATERIAL,
 TARGET_QTY like item-TARGET_QTY,
 REQ_QTY LIKE BAPISCHDL-REQ_QTY,
 TARGET_QU like item-TARGET_QU,
 PLANT like ITEM-PLANT,
 PMNTTRMS like header-PMNTTRMS,
 End of record.
data: itab like ALSMEX_TABLINE occurs 0,
 wa like ALSMEX_TABLINE.
data: SO like BAPIVBELN-VBELN.
Selection Screen
selection-screen begin of block b1 with frame title text-001.
PARAMETERS: P_FILE LIKE RLGRAP-FILENAME OBLIGATORY.
selection-screen end of block b1.
AT SELECTION-SCREEN ON VALUE-REQUEST FOR P_FILE.
PERFORM GET_FILE USING P_FILE.
Start of Selection
start-of-selection.
DATA: xl type string.
xl = '*.xls'.
IF not P_FILE CP xl.
 Message 'Wrong input file format' type 'E'.
ENDIF.
CALL FUNCTION 'ALSM_EXCEL_TO_INTERNAL_TABLE'
 EXPORTING
 FILENAME = P_FILE
 I_BEGIN_COL = 1
 I_BEGIN_ROW = 1
 I_END_COL = 13
 I_END_ROW = 3000
 TABLES
 INTERN = itab
EXCEPTIONS
INCONSISTENT_PARAMETERS = 1
UPLOAD_OLE = 2
OTHERS = 3
IF SY-SUBRC <> 0.
 MESSAGE ID SY-MSGID TYPE SY-MSGTY NUMBER SY-MSGNO
 WITH SY-MSGV1 SY-MSGV2 SY-MSGV3 SY-MSGV4.
ENDIF.
DATA POPULATION
loop at itab into wa.
 if wa-col = '0001'.
 record-Control = wa-value.
 elseif wa-col = '0002'.
 record-DOC_TYPE = wa-value.
 elseif wa-col = '0003'.
 record-SALES_ORG = wa-value.
 elseif wa-col = '0004'.
 record-DISTR_CHAN = wa-value.
 elseif wa-col = '0005'.
 record-DIVISION = wa-value.
 elseif wa-col = '0006'.
 record-PURCH_NO_C = wa-value.
 elseif wa-col = '0007'.
 record-PARTN_NUMB = wa-value.
 elseif wa-col = '0008'.
 record-PARTN_ROLE = wa-value.
 elseif wa-col = '0009'.
 record-PMNTTRMS = wa-value.
 elseif wa-col = '0010'.
 record-ITM_NUMBER = wa-value.
 elseif wa-col = '0011'.
 record-MATERIAL = wa-value.
 elseif wa-col = '0012'.
 record-REQ_QTY = wa-value.
 elseif wa-col = '0013'.
 record-TARGET_QU = wa-value.
 elseif wa-col = '0014'.
 record-PLANT = wa-value.
 endif.
 AT END OF row.
 APPEND record.
 CLEAR: wa, record.
 ENDAT.
endloop.
DATA: tot_lines type i,
 tot_po type i,
 index type i.
describe table record lines tot_lines.
read table record index tot_lines.
tot_po = record-control.
DO tot_po times.
 index = index + 1.
 clear: HEADER,HEADERX,ITEM[],ITEMX[],RETURN,RETURN[],SCHEDULE[],SCHEDULEX[], PART[],PART.
 refresh: ITEM[],ITEMX[],RETURN[],SCHEDULE[],SCHEDULEX[],PART[] .
POPULATE HEADER FLAG.
 HEADERX-UPDATEFLAG = c_x.
 HEADERX-doc_type = c_x.
 HEADERX-SALES_ORG = c_x.
 HEADERX-DISTR_CHAN = c_x.
 HEADERX-DIVISION = c_x.
 HEADERX-PURCH_NO_C = c_X.
 HEADERX-PMNTTRMS = c_X.
 loop at record where control = index.
POPULATE HEADER DATA FOR PO
 HEADER-DOC_TYPE = record-DOC_TYPE.
 HEADER-SALES_ORG = record-SALES_ORG.
 HEADER-DISTR_CHAN = record-DISTR_CHAN.
 HEADER-DIVISION = record-DIVISION.
 HEADER-PURCH_NO_C = record-PURCH_NO_C.
 HEADER-PMNTTRMS = record-PMNTTRMS.
*POPULATE ITEM DATA.
 ITEM-ITM_NUMBER = record-ITM_NUMBER.
 ITEM-MATERIAL = record-material.
 ITEM-TARGET_QTY = record-TARGET_QTY.
 ITEM-TARGET_QU = record-TARGET_QU.
 ITEM-PLANT = record-PLANT .
 APPEND ITEM.
*POPULATE ITEM FLAG TABLE
 ITEMX-ITM_NUMBER = record-ITM_NUMBER.
 ITEMX-UPDATEFLAG = C_X.
 ITEMX-TARGET_QTY = C_X.
 ITEMX-PLANT = C_X .
 ITEMX-MATERIAL = C_X .
 ITEMX-TARGET_QU = C_X .
 APPEND ITEMX.
*POPULATE SCHEDULE TABLE
 SCHEDULE-ITM_NUMBER = RECORD-ITM_NUMBER.
 SCHEDULE-REQ_QTY = RECORD-REQ_QTY.
 APPEND SCHEDULE.
*POPULATE SCHEDULE TABLE
 SCHEDULEX-ITM_NUMBER = RECORD-ITM_NUMBER.
 SCHEDULEX-REQ_QTY = C_X.
 APPEND SCHEDULEX.
 endloop.
*POPULATE PARTNER TABLE
 PART-PARTN_NUMB = record-PARTN_NUMB.
 PART-PARTN_ROLE = record-PARTN_ROLE.
 APPEND PART.
*BAPI CALL
 CALL FUNCTION 'BAPI_SALESORDER_CREATEFROMDAT2'
 EXPORTING
 ORDER_HEADER_IN = HEADER
 ORDER_HEADER_INX = HEADERX
SENDER =
BINARY_RELATIONSHIPTYPE =
INT_NUMBER_ASSIGNMENT =
BEHAVE_WHEN_ERROR =
LOGIC_SWITCH =
TESTRUN =
CONVERT = ' '
 IMPORTING
 SALESDOCUMENT = SO
 TABLES
 RETURN = RETURN
 ORDER_ITEMS_IN = ITEM
 ORDER_ITEMS_INX = ITEMX
 ORDER_PARTNERS = PART
 ORDER_SCHEDULES_IN = SCHEDULE
 ORDER_SCHEDULES_INX = SCHEDULEX
ORDER_CONDITIONS_IN =
ORDER_CONDITIONS_INX =
ORDER_CFGS_REF =
ORDER_CFGS_INST =
ORDER_CFGS_PART_OF =
ORDER_CFGS_VALUE =
ORDER_CFGS_BLOB =
ORDER_CFGS_VK =
ORDER_CFGS_REFINST =
ORDER_CCARD =
ORDER_TEXT =
ORDER_KEYS =
EXTENSIONIN =
PARTNERADDRESSES =
 loop at return where type = 'E' and ID NE 'MEPO' and ID NE 'BAPI'.
 WRITE:/ Return-message.
 endloop.
*Confirm the document creation by calling database COMMIT
 CALL FUNCTION 'BAPI_TRANSACTION_COMMIT'
 EXPORTING
 WAIT = 'X'.
*Messages
 loop at return where type = 'S' and number ne '233'.
 WRITE:/ Return-message.
 CALL FUNCTION 'FORMAT_MESSAGE'
 EXPORTING
 ID = return-ID
 LANG = SY-LANGU
 NO = return-NUMBER
 IMPORTING
 MSG = W_MSG
 EXCEPTIONS
 NOT_FOUND = 1
 OTHERS = 2.
 WRITE W_MSG.
 itab_msg-message = w_msg.
 append itab_msg.
 clear: W_MSG.
 ENDLOOP.
enddo.
 -->P_W_FILE text
FORM GET_FILE USING P_W_FILE.
CALL FUNCTION 'KD_GET_FILENAME_ON_F4'
 CHANGING
 FILE_NAME = P_W_FILE
 EXCEPTIONS
 MASK_TOO_LONG = 1
 OTHERS = 2.
IF SY-SUBRC <> 0.
 MESSAGE ID SY-MSGID TYPE SY-MSGTY NUMBER SY-MSGNO
 WITH SY-MSGV1 SY-MSGV2 SY-MSGV3 SY-MSGV4.
ENDIF.
ENDFORM. "GET_FILE
Regards,
Sachin

InDesign - Data merge for generate complex invoice for 10 000 customers

Is InDesign is a good solution to generate invoice with data merge with complexe role like multiple item charges, etc.
Thanks
Frédéric Hébert

Data merge is strictly a simple tool. It cannot handle variable numbers of fields other than to delete blank lines.
It's great for things like address labels and directories.

InDesign-Data Merge, Consecutive Empty Fields

Hi there,
I've been doing data merges in InDesign for quite some time now and I've always had this problem. I don't know of any other way, besides to go in and manually delete every line, to get rid of this issue.
Here's my data block:
<<First Name>> <<Last Name>>
<<Spouse First>> <<Spouse Last>>
<<Address 1>>
<<Address 2>>
<<City>>, <<St>> <<Zip>>
Normally, I can just combine address 1 and address 2 into one line separated by a space and it's no big deal. I've tried using the merge option to delete the empty line, but it has never worked properly.
My main concern is the second line. Not all records have a spouse associated with them and when merged, I have to go in an manually delete the entire line. Is there a way to fix this?

I've tried using the merge option to delete the empty line, but it has never worked properly.
That's odd; it's pretty much exactly what you are asking after. Can you tell us anything outside of "it has never worked properly"?
Is there anything non-standard about your merge? (I.e. unusual text encoding, images, master pages, n-up merges, et cetera.) Can you take screenshots of your merge dialogs? Or give us a step-by-step rundown of what you are doing? Are you previewing before merge?
I am an infrequent but long-time user of Data Merge, and I've always been able to use the "Remove blank lines for empty fields" checkbox without issue.

InDesign Data Merge / Image Frame Options

Hi! I am learning Data Merge and am trying to set-up some product sheets using it. I have done pretty well so far but have an issue with the way images are importing into the different image frames. There are a few different image frames on the layout (main product image, tech drawing, tech icons, etc.), and I need each image frame to have different frame options set.
So far using the general "Frame Fitting Options" for each has worked for all imported images except for my tech icons (which I can get to import correctly if I choose "Content Placement Options > Fit Frames to Images" from the Data Merge side menu --but when I do this, it applies to all image frames on the page and not just the one selected (which does not work overall).
Is there another option to get the icon image frames to "Fit Frame to Image" automatically without using the Content Placement Options from the Data merge menu? Is there a way to use the Content Placement Options so it works for individual frames vs all on the layout?
Any help is much appreciated!
Liz

Within the data merge, the frame fitting options apply to all frames that contain variable images, so if you want one variable image to fit image to frame, and another variable image to preserve its size, that cannot be done in the main file, but by manipulating the resulting merge file as P Spier suggests. With Data Merge, there are 8 ways an image can fit inside a frame - see the linked pdf: http://colecandoo.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/framefit.pdf
This is further complicated when importing ai or pdf images that contain different possible sizes to import (e.g. trim box, bleed box, bounding box, etc). If the "show import options" dialog box is used when placing an image into a data merge file, the settings used in those import options are maintained in the file for the importing of any pdf/ai files via the data merge. What this means is that a data merge containing pdf/ai images can go haywire quickly if the import options change.
There are some tricks that can be used to control a size of an image in a data merge, provided the images are pdf/ai. If images are being placed by bounding box size in the import options, a way is by drawing a no fill/stroke box behind (or on another layer) of the pdf/ai - this will be used to define the actual size of the image, instead of the top left/bottom right of the image. Similarly, if images are being placed by media box, a similar technique can be used by making the illustrator artboard the size used to define the incoming image size.
There are also other ways to control the way an image grows/shrinks when importing via the data merge. I have written about that elsewhere, but the trick relies on using making the variable image an anchored object in a larger text frame and controlling its coordinates with text and textbox formatting (e.g. top/bottom/center align; left/right/center, or tab position): Centering “fit frame to images” using InDesign CS6 | Colecandoo!

InDesign Data Merge Question....

I have a calendar created using the data merge feature within InDesign. The only question I have thus far is on each day of the week, we currently have a text frame linking to a .txt file that our customers add events to. How do I link the specific .txt files to the frame? I cant use the image function in my excel file as it does not reconize it as that. Is there another way to script/put this in my source file to link and place the text in the .txt files (individual txt files for each day of the year).?? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

I don't think I really undertand the structure of the data file you have. My sense, though is that this may not really be a data merge project.
At its heart, Data Merge is is very primitive. It's great for mailing labels, but can get defeated by more complex projects. For the merge to work, all of the data must be structured the same for each record in terms of the number of fields, and the text you want to include needs to be in the fields (as far as I know, you cannot use a pointer to an external text file in a field the same way that you can use a pointer to an image). You have a choice when setting up the merge template, though, of putting the plceholders on the document page or on the master page.
If you put the placeholders on the master page, the data can be updated AFTER the merge, at least in theory (doesn't seem to work well with images), but it doesn't really sound to me like that's what you need, but it is a possibility if you have a basic documenet and the clients add text later.
In any case, if you are letting the client add text, you need to add that text directly into your data file, either in Excel and re-export the entire data set, or set up some sort of find/change routine to replace tags in the text file with the text supplied by the client.

InDesign Data Merge w/Multiple Page Document

I am working to print a multiple-page newsletter, and printing the mailing information using a Data Merge in InDesign CS4 (PC), with the intent of printing this in-house to send to our members. (My office has been doing this successfully for years using Publisher, but I insisted we update to InDesign.)
I have the document ready, and I have the Data Source information (set up in tab-delimited (.txt) text format).
After I have selected the Data Source (Window > Automation > Data Merge), inserted the Data Fields, and then Created Merged Document, I wind up with multiple versions of the Document; one for each person we are sending the newsletter to!
I was working with our printer technician to solve the issue, but his sources told him that the only way to do this was by using one document as the newsletter master and another document as the Data Merge document, and doing a little magic thru the PostScript driver in the printer.
(Specifically: the document is letter-sized, set to print as a booklet. The work-around involves copying and pasting these pages into a new tabloid-sized document, creating another blank tabloid-sized document that has only the Data Merge info in the proper place, printing the cover with this Data Merge separately, loading that into a drawer, and printing the new document and wrapping it with the pre-printed cover.)
1 - What am I doing wrong that gives me over 800 InDesign documents for this newsletter?
2 - Is there a way for me to print this without the work around?

That is what Indesign does when it does a data merge, it creates copies of the document and there's no way to change this. Have you tried exporting to PDF (In CS4 you can do this in one step from the original) and printing? I've never had anyone confirm it definitively but I'm pretty sure that the PDF created will be an 'optimized' one, meaning that when it sends it off to a compatible printer the images will be sent once and cached, with only the text that changes being sent separately.
Definitely worth comparing it to Publisher for speed anyway, Office programs can merge straight to the printer, but in effect they're doing the same thing. There are programs out there for doing far fancier stuff than data merge, probably the best is XM Pie, but unless you've got a printer that recognises their language they're a waste of time in this circumstance anyway.

Check InDesign data merge template for errors without creating document?

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