The new version of InDesign has a terrible bug: when importing a CSV with data merge, it doesn’t import the fields correctly (duplicates images, shifts rows and columns, copies the same cells across entire pages). Every day there’s a new issue with a program we pay a lot of money for, unbelievable...
Obviously, I can’t share a screenshot of a client’s data. It’s simply a .csv file with product codes, prices, and descriptions, along with some correctly linked images. I’ve tried splitting the source file to reduce the number of rows (thinking I could import everything in two separate steps), I’ve tried removing the images (thinking I could add them manually later), I’ve tried change the file name, import it again and I even tried converting the file to .txt. Nothing works. I have over 1,000 fields—I can’t import them one by one. I create new price lists every month with different items and have never had problems before. Now every item is duplicated multiple times. I also noticed that the field named “code” changes (the order of the data in the column actually shifts) simply based on the row spacing I set in millimeters during the setup phase. It’s absurd. I will now install some previous versions and try again. I’m wondering how I can verify that 1,000 fields are being imported without errors—shouldn’t that be the very point of using data merge?
Hi @_ross_,
Thanks so much for the detailed update, and I completely understand how frustrating this must be.
I tried reproducing the issue on my end using a CSV and a multi-record setup, and it worked as expected on the version 20.3. Since you mentioned you're unable to share the client file (which I totally respect), could you try testing the workflow with a different CSV file or by setting up a new InDesign file from scratch? This can help us isolate whether the issue lies with the file structure or something else entirely.
Also, I agree, it absolutely should not be this difficult when dealing with 1,000+ fields. Data Merge is meant to streamline your workflow, not make it harder. So I’d really like to help get this sorted.
Let me know what you observe after testing with a different file.
Looking forward to hearing back from you!
Abhishek
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