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Mint_Design
Mint_Design
Participant
January 13, 2015
Question

Is there a plugin or script that will optimize my layout to maximize use of document space?

  • January 13, 2015
  • 2 replies
  • 2192 views

I'm producing labels for museum gallery objects.  We are printing them on adhesive vinyl with peel off back (i'm not sure what the correct term is at the moment).  We pay for the labels by the sheet.  It costs the same whether I get 2 or 6 labels on an 8.5 x 11 sheet.  We get anywhere from 10 to 200+ of these labels print at a time so you can imagine it can be a challenging puzzle to maximize the use of space in order to minimize the wasted space on each sheet.  It is essentially the same issue that people using laser cutters or CNC routers run into.  The material is too expensive to let any real estate go unused unless necessary.

Is anyone aware of a plugin or script that can process a document and move text boxes or objects around to the most economical arrangement possible?  I could also produce these labels in Illustrator if this issue cannot be addressed within InDesign.

Thank you in advance for you advice!

Brandon

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2 replies

C
carlos32697018w843
Participant
November 7, 2024

have you find a solution for that? I have the same problem, but i need it for dtf, i hope there is an script or something that aoutomate that process

Trevor:
Trevor:
Legend
January 13, 2015

Hi Brandon,

How many labels in total are there to do?

Are they all rectangular (or square) text frames, If not how you creating them?

Are they all different sizes or set of 5 or so different sizes?

Trevor

Mint_Design
Mint_DesignAuthor
Participant
January 13, 2015

Depending on the project, it may just be updating a few labels all the way up to 200+.  Currently I am putting together 3 projects with 25, 60 & 247 labels so it can vary. 

They are rectangular text boxes with a frame around them (cutting line for printer).

The text is of varying length, from 4 - 15 lines of text, this is inherently the obstacle.  If they were all the same size I could choose the best sheet size to maximize coverage.  Below are examples.  See how the page on the left has unused space at the bottom.  I would like a plugin that can search the document for another text box small enough to fit there in order to use the space, like the right page. 

Trevor:
Trevor:
Legend
January 13, 2015

Is it safe to asume that only one label can fit across the width and the only variable factor is the height?  At least in the vast majority of cases.

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