[Merging data into a single frame]

On 5/31/2023 at 12:43 PM, lacerto said:

I would use Word, as its Mail Merge is specifically created for stuff like that:

You could subsequently be able to import such Word document with styles and enhance it in Publisher.

If you do not have Word, you can use LibreOffice Writer to create much the same (by "cheating a bit"):

After having merged in LibreOffice (and saved as a Word docx to be imported into Publisher), the records are in separate pages but it is an easy job to remove page breaks and have continuous flow.

Either way you get a merge document that has empty fields (rows) removed, and field-specific paragraph formatting that is easy to edit in Publisher.

I did consider using MS Word to import the data but I have had inconsistent results when importing anything other than plain text from non-Affinity products. Merging Word and APu styles in particular has been problematic but I perhaps could create dummy styles like [Name style] in Word and then use find/replace in APu to turn these into actual styles.

I'll probably go down the Affinity data merge route now as explained above.

 

[Merging data into a single frame]

On 5/31/2023 at 10:29 AM, thomaso said:

Do I understand right that your goal is to use APub to edit the contents of an external data source? Note, the Affinity feature is called "data merge" as kind of a data collector, not as an editor (compare an image cataloging app which is different from an image editing app).

What prevents you from editing the data source in its initial file type / with an according editor app?

If you insist to involve Data Merge: Have you tried to export the generated result as PDF and to export that as text with an according PDF viewer app?

Or, workaround 5 for specific* file types only: In APub don't use "Data Merge" but menu "Edit" -> "Place" to edit the resulting table, cells and contents in APub.
*works in APub V1 for instance with .xlsx – but not with .xls or .csv.

The data is merged from an xlsx file of about 80 records. It is inserted into APu as part of a brochure and each field is given a text style in APu. In this specific instance and because of the way that data merge works, I need to change the layout (not the data) from the resulting output. That is why editing the source data (or importing text from a PDF) is not appropriate in this instance.

The last suggested option is not appropriate because the outcome is not required in tables but as follows...

 

I can live with the following...

Use the data merge layout tool on a master page as above with the fields styled using text styles.

Generate the output to a new APu file.

From the resulting output, link each text frame.

Click in the linked text frames, select and copy all the content.

Paste the output into a single text frame and edit to to arrange content (so that Producer and location only appear once) as required...

<Producer 1>                                         <location>
<description>
<No.1> <name1> <type>
<No.2> <name2> <type>
<No.3> <name3> <type>

<Producer 2>                                         <location>
<description>
<No.4> <name1> <type>
<No.5> <name2> <type>

<Producer 3>                                         <location>
<description>
<No.6> <name1> <type>

...

So resulting output is...

Acme Company  Weymouth, Devon
Established by Josiah Wedgewood in 1834, the company have been making furniture since 1960.
[1] Windsor Chair Furniture
[2] Wardrobe Furniture
[3] Wall Light  Electrical

M&S Company  Matlock, Derbyshire
Established by Olivia Smite in 1934 and specialising in modern designs.
[4] Revolving Door Furniture
[5] Stool Furniture

Milliband Hemmingway  Stroud, Gloucestershire
Traditional plumbers with a large stock of supplies.
[6] U Bend Plumbing

 

[What happened to the Affinity workbooks?]

There is also the issue that they were written for version 1. 

[Merging data into a single frame]

Workaround4 I took the results of the data merge and manually linked each frame. I was then able to select all the text which I was then able to copy into a new document.

I was hoping for a less manual method.

[Merging data into a single frame]

Workaround3? I exported the results of the data merge to a PDF. I then opened this in a new instance of publisher with these two options set

However rather than being presented with a single frame of text, I was left with multiple text boxes.

[Exporting PDFs for booklet printing: "File>Export" vs "Print>Save as PDF"]

14 minutes ago, bici said:

So i have made headway. it now shows the PRESETT that i created.... but DAMM no matter what i do it insists on defaulting to SPREADs rather than PAGES which is what my printer wants.  Oh well soon i should be getting a new computer and then ill be using the new  V2. 

This annoyance sadly persists in V2. I don’t know if will ever be fixed.

[What happened to the Affinity workbooks?]

56 minutes ago, JoesB said:

This answer if from a year ago. How long does it take to publish a book? Problems with the design maybe?

 

Or a commercial decision possibly based on the increased cost of paper.

[Merging data into a single frame]

Is it possible to merge multiple records into a single frame so that they can be edited?

I have a data merge set up using the data merge layout tool but I need to edit the contents to delete unwanted data and have the other records move up to fill the gaps.

This is proving difficult because of the multiple frames created by the layout tool.

Workaround 1? If it's not possible to have multiple records on a single page without using the data merge layout tool, a way of combining the text from each separate frame into a single frame would be a workaround. 

Workaround 2? Instead of using the data merge layout tool, I tried adding the fields multiple times to a master page but this created duplicate records. Is there a field I could add to advance the record by one?

Context...

Catalogue comprising Name and description followed by multiple records. Note the number of products may vary.

Required output:

Name1
Description1
Product 1 - other fields...
Product 2 - other fields...

Name2
Description2
Product 3 - other fields...
Product 4 - other fields...
Product 5 - other fields...

 

[Center Text On Baseline]

Have you tried turning on a visual grid and enabling snapping? That would seem to be more appropriate for this case than the baseline grid.

[Data Merge from multiple sources]

3 hours ago, anto said:

You can do this and it works. I checked it out. For the second data merge, add a blank page (Master B, for example) at the end and specify the merge range, i.e., only this page. Repeat this for the next master page for new data source.

Thanks. That might be the best way for me to go.

[Data Merge from multiple sources]

I need to produce a catalogue that uses three different products on three different master pages that are displayed using three different data sources.

Given that (from the above) I can only use one data source at a time, is this possible/sensible to import each of these as follows:

Add data source 1 and generate output

Using output generated above, add data source 2 and generate output

Using output generated above, add data source 3 and generate output

 

[Can you fit frame to text in a text frame?]

I am producing a set of over 100 labels using Data merge. A fit to frame function in APu (by reducing font size) would be appreciated. Currently I am having to do this in Microsoft Publisher which has this function.

[Resources not displaying in picture frame]

I don’t think it does but I will check when I get the issue again as unfortunately I cannot summon it up at will 😁

[Remove background]

I’d take a look at the Affinity Revolution and Olivio Serakis videos on YouTube 

[Resources not displaying in picture frame]

I was hoping that the issue of linked graphics not displaying correctly (see below) in APu would have been fixed with the 2.1 update but sadly not.

My guess is that the application is running out of memory to display the PDF image but the file is less than 600Kb so that seems strange. 

This is a PDF (I am not sure if ADe or APh files are affected) linked file but changing it to embedded makes no difference. Using the Replace Image from the Picture frame returns the full image but it "disappears" again after some time working on the file.

In the absence of a solution, a refresh option would be helpful.

 

[Odd behavior in paragraph leading]

This is a case where having and setting an overriding text style can help to ensure consistency.

[Affinity Publisher 2 walkthrough?]

11 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

I would start by getting some text in a Word Processor file and saving it as a Plain Text file, this will remove all formatting.

I think this is is key when dealing with APu. Even though I produce magazines rather than books I get my authors to adopt the above strategy typically using Google Docs.

[Apply changes on one to layer to other layers automatically]

9 hours ago, thomaso said:

Assets don't work this way, they neither can get "updated" nor can they contain linked contents

Maybe I am misunderstanding the OP, but I did not see a request/need for shapes to be updated or that the base object needed to comprise linked elements.

[Apply changes on one to layer to other layers automatically]

You could create the shape and make it an asset or symbol.

[Baseline Grid viewing]

The baseline grid tool icon is on the top toolbar by default.

[Change guide color?]

In that thread Ash said “The colour thing, that is noted but will likely not be a 2.1 thing“ .

[Change guide color?]

I do share the surprise that this request has been ignored for so long. Perhaps I am imagining it, but it seemed in earlier versions of the suite (around 1.6) these type of updates were far more common that with the current version.

[Paragraph and Text styles change at random]

The majority of styles I have created are paragraph styles because I want them to apply until I hit return. I have set a base style that sets the font and based most of the others as children on this.

Where I want changes to appear within the line, I will use a character style. I don’t use these so often.

I have set a group style to manage these but I would not worry about these for now until you have got your head around the above and the workings of “based on”

 

[Forum Security Alert: Important Information for All Forum Users]

10 hours ago, Guest said:

Would Affinity be sharing more details on exactly how the attacker was able to compromise your services, and what services were breached?

For their own security I would desperately hope not.

[How to style bullet points lv 2]

From what I have discovered, each bullet level is a different style and is edited accordingly. When using bullets, I always intent every level (including the first) with a tab.