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PDF mail merge

Community Beginner ,
Dec 04, 2017 Dec 04, 2017

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I'm looking to mail merge into a fillable PDF form with addresses in an Excel file.  I had Acrobat 9 but was advised this functionality was only available in newer versions of Acrobat so upgraded to Acrobat Pro 2017.  However, still cannot find any options to perform a PDF mail merge. Is this possible?

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LEGEND ,
Dec 04, 2017 Dec 04, 2017

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Do the mail merge in Word using the Acrobat merge-to-PDF function.

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Community Beginner ,
Dec 04, 2017 Dec 04, 2017

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Thank, but I want to merge into a pre-defined fillable PDF form, not merge from Word into a PDF file.  Thanks anyway.

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New Here ,
Jul 07, 2021 Jul 07, 2021

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Same here! How do I merge from Excel into a fillable PDF file?

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Community Expert ,
Dec 04, 2017 Dec 04, 2017

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If you can't find this option under the PDF Maker tab in Word you can always use a script, like this one I've developed: Custom-made Adobe Scripts: Acrobat -- Mail Merge and Email

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Community Beginner ,
Dec 04, 2017 Dec 04, 2017

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Thanks, but I've just spend the money on upgrading from Acrobat 9 to Acrobat Pro 2017 on the understanding it had a mail merge function (as advised by Adobe pre purchase).  I was advised PDF maker is not supported Adobe.

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Community Expert ,
Dec 04, 2017 Dec 04, 2017

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That's what a mail merge is, merging an email mail message with data. However, you should complain to the support people who advised you. To be precise, what you want to do is not a mail merge, but a variable data operation. The support people should have pointed this out.

There are 3rd party tools to do this, or you could write (or purchase, try67 is not expensive) a Script to do it. It's actually not too difficult. I have information and customization scripts here: https://www.pdfscripting.com/members/ExcelAndAcrobat.cfm

Your best options is to save the data to a CSV file, then a short script to import data from the CSV.  This only works when the CSV column headers match the field names.

Thom Parker - Software Developer at PDFScripting
Use the Acrobat JavaScript Reference early and often

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Community Beginner ,
Dec 05, 2017 Dec 05, 2017

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Thanks Thom for your advise.  Actually mail merge was in existence long before email, to merge address data into a standard letter and/or label template.  That is exactly what I wish to do with a PDF standard form.  You can do it for a single address, but there is no function for multiple addresses.  I could use word to merge into PDF but the resultant PDFs need to be fillable interactive forms.  Thanks again.

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New Here ,
Nov 12, 2018 Nov 12, 2018

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Why isn't this a feature in Adobe Acrobat Pro already?

Merging is a common task, not only for emails (relatively new) but other documents as well.

I have a 2 page fillable form with approximately 40 text fields that needs to be filled out for 30 different sites. My work around is to convert the form to Word, spend time making edits, then merge in Word. This is not ideal, and the most efficient way is to have a feature in Acrobat that does this.

Not to knock someone's hustle, but every time someone asks the "merge" question there is typically a 3rd party plug. Shouldn't that be enough encouragement for developers to say "hey, our customers really want this feature, let's add it to the software." 

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Community Expert ,
Nov 13, 2018 Nov 13, 2018

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It's a part of the PDFMaker plugin for Office that comes with Acrobat.

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New Here ,
Oct 12, 2018 Oct 12, 2018

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Would kindly suggest that you provide tips/recommendations that exist in Adobe, Word, Excel, etc. vs. linking to a product you built and charge for.

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LEGEND ,
Oct 13, 2018 Oct 13, 2018

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If the features of Word and Excel do what you want, you should use them. The mail merge in Word is flexible and easy to use.

There is no built in mail merge in Acrobat, if that's what you mean by "Adobe".

A programmer can make mail merge solutions with Acrobat and the information in the Acrobat SDK. If you're not a programmer, it may be a more cost effective use of your time to pay for work already done than to reinvent the wheel. Or, you may have the time and experience to do this.

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New Here ,
Oct 13, 2018 Oct 13, 2018

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Whatever you’re trying to say — I’m suggesting that you stop selling your plug in on forums.

Kindly,

Chuck

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LEGEND ,
Oct 13, 2018 Oct 13, 2018

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I'm not trying to sell anything. Wasn't my message. Have a nice day!

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New Here ,
Nov 02, 2018 Nov 02, 2018

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 01, 2019 Mar 01, 2019

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If anyone wishes to perform a bulk merge of data into a PDF form, see this link: http://khkonsulting.com/2015/10/batch-import-excel-data-into-pdf-forms/

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New Here ,
Jul 19, 2019 Jul 19, 2019

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In the past, I have normally used python (via fdfgen and pdftk) to code a solution. Fdfgen can create an FDF file (a specially-formatted filetype that contain the fill data for a pdf form), and pdftk can combine the fdf and form to create a filled-in version of the pdf.

If coding isn't your thing, I have a free site where you can do a mail merge from a spreadsheet and a pdf form at pdfzero.com. Once you upload the PDF form and spreadsheet, you can click on the fields you want to fill in and select the spreadsheet column you want to use for that field. You can also use the spreadsheet data in the filename to keep things organized.

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 09, 2020 Apr 09, 2020

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Instead of purchasing and downloading and installing scripts or plug-ins, the BEST solution I found was simply using Adobe InDesign. I'm not too familiar with InDesign so I was hesitant, but I gave it a try and it works great! I had hundreds of names I needed to import from an Excel spreadsheet onto an award certificate and I exported each into it's own PDF.

 

The best part is I didn't need to redesign everything in InDesign. I imported my designs (from Illustrator) into my InDesign project without issue. Easy to follow instructions here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/data-merge.html

This video is great too in explaining more of the process:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1QV6R1y8Y0

I hope this helps others. 

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New Here ,
Jul 01, 2020 Jul 01, 2020

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I know the post is like 2 years old, however I found a nice tool which get's the job done quite well: www.pdfmailmerger.com

if someone has the same problem

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New Here ,
Oct 27, 2021 Oct 27, 2021

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You have to our faces the "plug in" for $149

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New Here ,
Aug 09, 2022 Aug 09, 2022

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I use this offline tool and it works. It costs a little money though https://plainlab.gumroad.com/l/plainmerge.

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New Here ,
Jan 23, 2023 Jan 23, 2023

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This plain merge is useful for doing similar things to Word mail merge to PDF tools.

It does have the ability to email to a field in the Excel, however that is not super useful when you want to have people sign the Adobe form.

 

Honestly I think it is crazy that Adobe haven't developed this tool for Acrobat already.
I did find a "bulk send" option on Acrobat DC 2023, which will send 1 field, email address, to the PDF, but no "mail merge" option.

 

I expect, like a lot of things, it might be available in the crazy expensive "Enterprise" version of Acrobat. Pity they don't want to support smal businesses. Obviously you can do this with DocuSign or other signing app's out there - but I pay for Acrobat as part of CC, so it really disappoints when these simple tools are not a part of it.

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New Here ,
Jan 23, 2023 Jan 23, 2023

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So Acrobat do have this as a feature now.


It is called Mega Sign

https://helpx.adobe.com/sign/using/mega-sign.html#sa_src=web-messaging

 

Of course, Adobe in their greatness, only support large businesses with their tools - so it is only available to Business and Enterprise level accounts, not individual or small business 😞

 

I think we should petition Adobe/ Acrobat executives to make Mail merge and API available to individual accounts. Small businesses are the ones that need the most help for time saving tools.

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