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[Implemented] Data merge


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@Jeremy Curry, @EerieAria, @Bruno Belo, @burkeingraffia, @Himura @swanlike @Decimortis @jcdickinson & all the many others who created accounts to contribute to this thread  

Welcome to the Serif affinity forums :) 

I hope you are satisfied when it is implemented, thank you for your patience.

Patrick Connor
Serif Europe Ltd

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your previous self."  W. L. Sheldon

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

darn, I probably would not have bought this if I knew the data merge was not there! 

I was excited at the prospect of not spending 70+ a month for adobe and purchased the suite based on all the positive reviews and from what I saw - but didn't remember the monthly mailers in my haste - I cannot lose InDesign without having that feature. 

Does anyone know any work-arounds? plugins? other software? (besides Microsoft word)

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2 hours ago, SarahPower said:

darn, I probably would not have bought this if I knew the data merge was not there! 

I was excited at the prospect of not spending 70+ a month for adobe and purchased the suite based on all the positive reviews and from what I saw - but didn't remember the monthly mailers in my haste - I cannot lose InDesign without having that feature. 

Does anyone know any work-arounds? plugins? other software? (besides Microsoft word)

Monthly mailer sound like some newsletter that could probably quite easily be handled by html/css/js. Any browser could make it to a pdf, if required.

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On 6/16/2020 at 5:49 PM, Patrick Connor said:

I hope you are satisfied when it is implemented, thank you for your patience.

Patience et longueur de temps font plus que force ni rage.

Patience and length of time do more than force and rage.

Nous sommes tous impatients. 🙂

Toujours pas !
Windows 10 Pro 21H2 - Intel Core i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz - 16 Gb Ram - GeForce GT 650M - Intel HD 4000
Affinity Photo | Affinity Designer | Affinity Publisher | 2

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5 hours ago, SarahPower said:

darn, I probably would not have bought this if I knew the data merge was not there! 

I was excited at the prospect of not spending 70+ a month for adobe and purchased the suite based on all the positive reviews and from what I saw - but didn't remember the monthly mailers in my haste - I cannot lose InDesign without having that feature. 

Does anyone know any work-arounds? plugins? other software? (besides Microsoft word)

Well, you can do it the old way. You can create the data merged layer with Word (combine correspondence or mail or something like that) and the common background with Affinity, exporte both to pdf and merge them in Acrobat Pro or similar app. That`s the way we did it before Indesign :)

Upps i have seen "besides Microsoft Word" right now... Sorry mate.

Edited by Jose Alvarez
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There is software specifically for variable data that is far more powerful then Indesign. This is one I have seen recommended many times https://fusionpro.com

Personally the data merge option in Indesign is enough for my variable data needs at the moment so would not be leaving Indesign for Publisher anytime soon. Publisher also cannot handle embedded fonts in a PDF which would makes placing a client supplied PDF in Publisher a nightmare if you did not have the fonts loaded already. 

My guess is we may see this come in V2, I doubt there will be any big changes from the requests in this version as they will want people to upgrade. Hopefully PDF passthrough is top of the list and works in V2 as that is the foundation for a lot of other things like data merge if you are not working with a native file. 

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Fusion Pro comme les logiciels de gestion de données variables (VDP) sont de bons produits mais plutôt dédiés pour le traitement de gros volumes, le marketing, l'impression numérique... les fonctionnalités sont orientées dans ce sens et le prix de ces produits n'en font pas une solution "grand public".

Fusion Pro like Variable Data Management (VDP) software are good products but rather dedicated to the processing of large volumes, marketing, digital printing... the features are oriented in this direction and the price of these products does not make it a "public" solution.

Toujours pas !
Windows 10 Pro 21H2 - Intel Core i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz - 16 Gb Ram - GeForce GT 650M - Intel HD 4000
Affinity Photo | Affinity Designer | Affinity Publisher | 2

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  • 5 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Another +1 for data merge. IMHO absolutely essential feature for Publisher and I would actually love if Designer can do that as well.

Absolutely amazing would be also option to do it from script. E.g. run publisher similar like following `Publisher.exe -input my_publisher_file -output data_merged.pdf -data datafile.csv`. This way the processes can be hugely automated.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
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  • Staff

@the_t, @orjanbd , @Henry Audubon, @SarahPower & @Aprinti

Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums :) 

8 minutes ago, the_t said:

When do you plan to implement it?

We are working hard on this and many other features. We do not tend to announce features before they are available in a beta.

Patrick Connor
Serif Europe Ltd

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your previous self."  W. L. Sheldon

 

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3 hours ago, Patrick Connor said:

We are working hard on this and many other features. We do not tend to announce features before they are available in a beta.

@Patrick Connor Might I suggest you make that a "recommended post" for this thread so that it won't get buried. I think it succinctly makes clear 2 points

  1. that Serif is actively working on this feature, so it will not be necessary to keep saying how much we want it: Serif clearly has got the hint and has decided to make it happen.
  2. that Serif is not typically in the habit of responding to the many "any updates?" posts on unannounced features.
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16 hours ago, Meztli said:

Hopefully we will get Data Merge for Christmas this year! ❤️❤️❤️    I'm wasting my youth typing in all the data. 

Sounds like you are not using the right software for the job. There are options out there, be it Indesign or stand alone software for this very task. There is no way you are saving money by manually entering in records that could be done in minutes with a data merge. 

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10 hours ago, wonderings said:

Sounds like you are not using the right software for the job. There are options out there, be it Indesign or stand alone software for this very task. There is no way you are saving money by manually entering in records that could be done in minutes with a data merge. 

InDesign aside, which is not that helpful a recommendation because despite being the premier option we (or I'm certain most) are here to avoid it, what options offer the layout capability we have with Affinity Publisher and includes data merge? No *office suite cuts it, that's for sure.

 

Genuinely curious as I'd love to check them out.

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I love Affinity products. I, too, used the legacy software and was very unhappy about them dropping Page and Draw Plus. They both had a feature that was not picked up in the new stuff, Namely, Merge in PP and Auto-Trace is DP.  Although I am using AFPub and AFDesign, I was forced to turn to something else for those time I need the above mentioned. Luckily, I have Corel Draw and can use auto — trace (I use that feature several times a week). But the merge feature is not found in too many affordable programs. I purchased Quark Xpress because I read an article that it had that feature — to my sadness you had to use XML. I don't know anything about that and tried to learn but it just was taking me to long to figure out. Therefore, I use Microsoft Publisher exclusively for the Merge feature to make directories and so on. It works very well and isn't a half bad DTP for everyday tasks. It is more affordable than having to purchase ID.  I think you can buy it stand — alone on Amazon or from the Microsoft website. 

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11 minutes ago, undercovergypsy said:

... I purchased Quark Xpress because I read an article that it had that feature — to my sadness you had to use XML. I don't know anything about that and tried to learn but it just was taking me to long to figure out. ...

QuarkXPress no longer has XML capabilities beginning with version 10 (v.9 was the last version). QXP can now use JavaScript for simplistic merges. However, I've long used Em Software's merging solution for both QXP/ID. ID's merging capabilities are too simplistic too. That also applies to PagePlus' merging--too simplistic, but better in some use cases than ID's.

I did use QXP's XML quite a lot and was a bit miffed when they dropped it. I had a dozen companies I used it for. I did get those companies to switch over to using tagged text, so other than having to have their IT people change output from XML to tagged text, it went smoothly once their little bit of learning curve was over.

Depending on what one has to do with merging, a word processor, such as Word (same capabilities as MS Publisher I believe), post merge can be brought into APub. Or a PDF generated and opened in APub.

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