Can you place a linked Excel table into Affinity Publisher?

[thomasbricker]

I can see that I can place an Excel file into Publisher, but is it possible to keep the two documents linked. So that when you update the information in the Excel file it then updates the information in the Publisher file.
Similar to the way that you would be able to have a linked Photo file, and when the Photo file is updated, that update is reflected in the Publisher file.

If this is not possible, what is the next best workaround solution for this workflow?

 

Thanks.

[Old Bruce]

23 minutes ago, thomasbricker said:

is it possible to keep the two documents linked. So that when you update the information in the Excel file it then updates the information in the Publisher file.

No.

23 minutes ago, thomasbricker said:

If this is not possible, what is the next best workaround solution for this workflow?

Use the Data Merge capability of Publisher. XLSX files can be used.

[thomasbricker]

1 hour ago, Old Bruce said:

No.

Use the Data Merge capability of Publisher. XLSX files can be used.

Thanks old Bruce. Bummer about the fact that you cannot sync the files, but I will try the data merge method. Is it difficult to do? I did watch a tutorial on it. It looks like you simply map each of the fields to the appropriate cells. Looks like it might be pretty tedious if you have a very complex table, but perhaps, hopefully I am mistaken.  :-). 

[GarryP]

Try exporting the spreadsheet from Excel to a PDF and then linking embedding the PDF in the Publisher document.
When you make changes to the spreadsheet make sure to export it to the same location - overwriting the original PDF - and the Publisher document should update automatically.

Edited November 3, 2021 by GarryP
Made a correction.

[thomasbricker]

Thanks Gary,

While that would work, I need to be able to format the table once it’s in publisher. Would this method allow for styling of the table once is been placed into the publisher document?

[GarryP]

Hens: Yes, I got linking and embedding the wrong way round again. I knew what I meant but said it wrong. Thanks for pointing that out. I've edited my earlier post.

thomasbricker: What is stopping you from formatting the table in Excel before exporting? Excel has many more formatting options than Publisher.

[thomasbricker]

1 hour ago, GarryP said:

Hens: Yes, I got linking and embedding the wrong way round again. I knew what I meant but said it wrong. Thanks for pointing that out. I've edited my earlier post.

thomasbricker: What is stopping you from formatting the table in Excel before exporting? Excel has many more formatting options than Publisher.

I won't be the one creating the Excel files and my Excel expertise is minimal... : )

[GarryP]

Have I got this right?
1. Someone else creates the plain tables.
2. They send them to you.
3. The tables need to be reformatted.
4. The tables need to be placed in Publisher.
And steps 3 and 4 could be the other way round.

[thomasbricker]

33 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Have I got this right?
1. Someone else creates the plain tables.
2. They send them to you.
3. The tables need to be reformatted.
4. The tables need to be placed in Publisher.
And steps 3 and 4 could be the other way round.

Yes. That is correct we will be getting complex excel tables representing financial information. This information that needs to go into my publisher layout. I'm liking this idea of exporting the XL sheet to a PDF which I would bring into publisher and then tweak the look of the table in publisher. If I can then update the information in the Excel and re-export to PDF with the same file name, the linked PDF should update within publisher, retaining the new styling I have applied to it within publisher. Am I understanding this correctly?

[Old Bruce]

16 minutes ago, thomasbricker said:

the linked PDF should update within publisher, retaining the new styling I have applied to it within publisher. Am I understanding this correctly?

No.

The PDF should update but the styling won't be applied. This is why GarryP has suggested doing the styling in Excel, that would be carried over to the PDF and when it is time to update the information then you export from Excel a new PDF (again following GarryP's advice) with the same name and location and the PDF will update in Publisher.

I still think it would be doable with the Data Merge. Depends on the frequency of the updates the number of Columns you are importing data from and how many pages you are looking at having the 'tables' on. More frequent means it is more worthwhile doing the work. More Columns means more initial work.

[Petar Petrenko]

On 11/2/2021 at 8:00 PM, thomasbricker said:

I can see that I can place an Excel file into Publisher, but is it possible to keep the two documents linked. So that when you update the information in the Excel file it then updates the information in the Publisher file.

Up to this moment you can do it only in QuarkXPress -- neither in Publisher, nor even in InDesign.