Gnits

Thanks for all the responses. I will explore.

Please delete this ... posted in the wrong thread.

I have done a prelim test of the data merge. I can honestly say that the functionality exceeds my expectations. ☺️ ☺️ I would like to congratulate all involved. I can see some refinements I need to make with the document I am using as the template for my initial test data merge, but suspect these are specific formatting tricks I need to learn within the basic Publisher App. I did not try Publisher until I knew data merge was a feature. I will post a separate query if I cannot find the answer myself, so as not to confuse this thread with a separate query. I have written my own JavaScript which allows me do sophisticated data merges with InDesign and Photoshop documents. However, the Adobe mail Merge Tools are clunky and difficult to use (and have built in gottchas) and I hate maintaining this functionality myself. The functionality I have tested in Affinity Publisher allows me to achieve 90% of what my custom JavaScript does. I am hoping I will figure out how to do the remaining 10% and will post here if I do. Very clever to be able to have multiple source data docs. Very clever to be able to place the data merge into different places. The architects of this knew what they were doing and did an exceedingly good job. I am seriously impressed. My best regards.

Thanks for the prompt response. Yes.... I had found the 'preview' option. Very useful. Such a pity there is no default answer which can be applied at start-up. Such a pity I cannot use Affinity as a default Acrobat reader as well as a Publishing tool. Can anyone recommend a good Acrobat Reader (I wish to avoid the Adobe Acrobat reader as it keeps opening the tools panel and keeps pushing ads to purchase Adobe products). (Still delighted to see the data merge option and will explore its features as soon as I can.) Regards.

Now that DataMerge is part of Publisher I can consider using this app seriously (I really appreciated the new feature and was waiting for it before abandoning InDesign). To replace Acrobat I wonder if the following behaviour is possible. I would like to tell Windows to use Publisher as my default app when opening Acrobat files. Most occasions I only wish to read the Acrobat files. Can Publisher be configured to open all pages in the document automatically and default to preview mode. In this way I can eliminate Acrobat from my system. Regards.

I am seriously pleased to see Data Merge appear. Also, it looks comprehensive. I also like the fact that a tutorial is available via the Help Manual. Super well done.

I am fed up waiting. I have developed my own solution using Lr data to populate a Powerpoint template. Powerpoint then saved as pdf.

Microsoft makes it very difficult and non intuitive to dynamically merge text and images. Adobe has its own clunky and error prone process for merging text and images. The benefit over Microsoft is that merging images dynamically is more reliable. Whatever solution is adopted, make sure that tabbed delimited files and or native excel files can be used to store the text and url of the images to be inserted. A workflow based on csv is a disaster, as normal text punctuation gets mixed up with commas, or other delimiters, resulting in corrupted merged documents.

I am delighted to see this response and understand completely where you are coming from. I cannot wait and have created a Python Script, which allows me specify the fields from a tab delimited file, define the x,y coordinates on a page, plus font name and font size. I can select a Word or PowerPoint document as output (and am sure could extend to other doc types). The script runs extremely quickly and I end up with an extremely professionally formatted document. A big advantage of using PowerPoint is that I can create a Powerpoint template, with text and image elements predefined. My script can select from a list of my frequently used templates. The PowerPoint is saved as a Powerpoint File and a PDF file. I can then always customise the PowerPoint file created. This is so efficient for me that maybe I will find it difficult to use your products later. Both Microsoft Mail Merge and Adobe InDesign/ Photoshop make it way way way to difficult to handle basic mail merge of data to a templated document. If and when you do release this product with this feature set, I may not use it myself now, but will be delighted to show others who need this functionality but do not have the skills to work with existing Microsoft and Adobe product sets. I can place text or images. For images I use the url of the image file on disk (plus width / height required of image on the page. Regards.

I am pleased that the beta phase is complete and I am sure many people will benefit from the features it will deliver. However, for me, it is useless without the data merge functionality. I will not be taking advantage of any of the beta offers, as I am happy to wait until the feature is present and then I will be happy to pay for the product. In the meantime, I am becoming an expert with Python and can easily use this to create very good Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Pdf documents with amazingly few commands. The advantage of using something like Python is that once I have the data source and formatting rules tested, I can run the Python mini app with an extremely high level of confidence of it working, it is extremely efficient. I am still interested in a Data Merge as for some clients setting up a more user friendly data merge will be of more value. With Powerpoint / Python combo, I can create a very sophisticated Powerpoint package (ie multiple pages with different and complex layouts) and easily insert data and images into their respective placeholders. In fact, this is easier and more reliable than Word Mail Merge. Best wishes with the launch, glad to see progress made and hoping the Data Merge gets some TLC asap. Regards.

I am seriously interested in this product, but only if has an easy to use DataMerge option. I am intimately familiar with the options available within InDesign and Photoshop (and other tools) and have coded Javascript mini apps to automate their use. I have watched this discussion now for a long time. I am now going to turn off the notifications and forget about this. I will re-vist, maybe in 6 months, maybe a year. I hope this feature is added. I will not be purchasing this product without this feature.

+1 for me. Needs tab delimitted and excel formats. Tab delimitted is better than CSV as there is no confusion with ‘, “, chars, etc Xml / Jason would be great. Absolute must. I have written my own Javascripts to automate this in Photoshop and InDesign and have built in logic to place images and text on the page to produce a pro result I would move from these products in a hearbeat because, despite the fact these features are in Adobe products, Adobe does not understand real world workflow and their implementation is clunky, non intuitive and close to a nightmare to debug, even for experienced developers . There is a real opportunity to steal a big leap on Adobe. You will also get the designer who will adopt your other products if they start to use Publisher I also deal with lots of photographers who need this functionality. I would be happy to recommend Affinity Publisher to all these people if the functionality exists. I will wait patiently for news on this feature . Without Datamerge there is no point in me continuing to spend time on the Beta as I will not be able to use the product. Fingers crossed.

I have been looking forward to the arrival of this product for a long long time and sincerely hope these features are achievable now or on your roadmap.

I can see that a lot of work has been completed on this product. However....2 vital features are missing for me. These are showstoppers. Placing Images. I need to place images regularly on a page. In 99% of cases I will want to fit the image into a square picture frame and have the image fit minimum image size (ie I need to see the entire image). I use a square format because it facilitates landscape and portrait. Also, I never know the exact width /height ratio in advance and these can be an infinite range of ratios. I then need to place a stroke around the image. Your app allows me put a stroke around the picture frame but not a stroke around the image. Is there a way to achieve a stroke around the image in this scenario. (Ps. It is not practical for me to put the stroke around the image in a different image editor). Data Merge. I see there is a Data Merge request topic already. I will read it in due course. However, if there is no Data merge feature then my use of Affinity Publisher comes to a shuddering halt. Both Photoshop and InDesign have this feature (and it is horribly clunky and hard to use). In some scenarios I use the Microsoft Word Mail Merge. I have JavaScript scripts to automate this requirement for my needs in Photoshop and InDesign and Microsoft Word to maximise the efficiency of my workflow when adding 50, 150, 300 plus images into a document with the relevant Title and Captions placed professionally relative to the placement of the image. I cannot go backwards. If this feature is not present I cannot use your App. Regards.

Ok. My view of the target audience for this app was wrong. I assumed be caused it was called Affinity Designer that it was targeted at an Adobe InDesign audience. It looks to me that it is really geared for an Illustrator audience. My primary need is for InDesign functionality. I will explore this product at the next opportunity I need vector art. In particular, I am really interested to see how easy it might be to link different vector objects, something which Illustrator and Adobe do a terrible job of. Great to see Affinity making progress and looking forward to Affinity Publisher on Windows before too long.