How to import data from a .CSV file into Adobe Acrobat

[daniellem1234]

Hey, 

I have a small business which deals with personalisation. I have created a personalised letter which goes out to my customers each month inside their subscription box. At the moment I am going into the backend of the website, copying their names and pasting it into my illustrator file and exporting it as a PDF. However this is long and laborious. 

I have the ability to download a .CSV file which has the names of the customers on, so is there a way for me to input specific fields from this file into my PDF? 

Thanks,

[try67]

Yes. This process is called Mail Merge. You just need to add fields to your PDF form that match the names of the columns in your CSV file and then use a tool to import the data into it, generating a unique file for each recipient.

This can be done using the Adobe PDFMaker plugin for Word, or using a script, like this (paid-for) one I've created, which will even allow you to automatically email the merged files to the recipients if your data file includes their email addresses.

You can find it here: http://try67.blogspot.com/2011/09/acrobat-mail-merge-and-email.html

[daniellem1234]

Thanks so much for your speedy reply. Can I do this without using a PDF form?

I have designed a personalised letter in illustrator then saved it as a PDF. I then open this PDF in Acrobat, it is here I want to input the name onto an A5 letter along with a C6 envelope. 

[try67]

I guess it can be done with comments instead of form fields, but that's much more complicated.

Why don't you want to use a form?

[daniellem1234]

I guess it's because it's a bespoke design, I haven't really looked into form formatting. I will take a look at it as an option though. Thank you for your help, it's much appreciated. 

[Test Screen Name]

You should also take a look at doing this in Word. Word is really good at doing a mail merge of letters and can use a CSV file directly. 

[daniellem1234]

I hadn't thought of that. I have just looked into how this could work and I think it might be a much simpler approach. I think I was making it too complicated. Thanks so much! 

[dippingsauce]

If you have a bespoke layout that you want to mail merge, you should use InDesign. You can create the layout, import your CSV, and designate placeholders for your text. InDesign will create a merged doc for you. No plugins or additional apps needed. Check out this article for how to do that:
https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/data-merge.html