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albertah22546895
Participant
May 12, 2020
Answered

Automate a layout

  • May 12, 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 1090 views

I would like to know if there is some way to automate the layout process of a magazine? I have an 84 page book with multiple ads on each page (over 175 ads per magazine). Currently each ad's indesign file is "placed" on its corresponding page manually. Is there a script (or some other feature) that would allow me to automate this? I assume there would have to be some sort of file naming protocol (and maybe a corresponding excel sheet) that would determine where each ad is meant to go. Any ideas or more efficient  solution would be greatly appreciated.

Correct answer Laubender

Hi Alberta,

a couple of years ago I wrote a script for one of my customers that exactly is doing what you want.

In this case the ads are single pages PDFs and are placed to pages and positions on the pages according to an Excel spreadsheet. The script could be adapted exactly to your needs.

 

You can contact me by private message through the forum if you are interested.

Note: This script is not for free.

 

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

4 replies

Y
Yaakov356245492ozq
Participant
August 21, 2025

Hi, this is Yaakov from LayoutSystem.com .

Our program is tailored for magazines just like yours, and fully automates the indesign file production.

You can also check us out on youtube @layoutsystemsolutions

I wish I would have noticed this question earlier!

L
Community Expert
LaubenderCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
May 12, 2020

Hi Alberta,

a couple of years ago I wrote a script for one of my customers that exactly is doing what you want.

In this case the ads are single pages PDFs and are placed to pages and positions on the pages according to an Excel spreadsheet. The script could be adapted exactly to your needs.

 

You can contact me by private message through the forum if you are interested.

Note: This script is not for free.

 

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

    brian_p_dts
    Community Expert
    brian_p_dtsCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 12, 2020

    Lots of ways. 

    One way to be, as you say, to use a naming convention. You could have some convention where you name the ads based on their page and position. Let's say for simplicity's sake that all the ads are quarter pages, and could be in any quadrant of the page. 

    A file called p45-bl.pdf would be placed in the upper left quadrant of page 45. If all the ads live in the same folder, you (or a paid developer) could write a script to look in that folder location, parse the name with the relevant positioning and page information, and place in the corresponding page of the document. 

    You could do this without scripting too, using links - if the ads don't change, you can place a placeholder file and link it, then just update the links when the asset is updated or it replaces last month's version, for instance. Some scripting can help control that too. 

    Lots of different ways to go, depending on the complexity of the ads and their positioning, your workflow, etc. 

    jctremblay
    Community Expert
    jctremblayCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 12, 2020

    Absolutely possible probably in many ways. 
    Take a look a something like this script here ! It’s an old script bu still works in CC2020. 

    If this something that you do often, I think its worth spending some $ to ask someone to develop a scripts with your specific needs. Or even ask Kasyan (the developer of that script) to customize it for you.


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