How can I change multiple placeholder names or numbers with a pre-existing list of data

[lucash1529470]

Hello! I'm looking for a solution to a problem that I have been trying to solve for the last few days. I am doing some work for a client where there will be around 50-100 invites or mailers with the same design on them but each design needs to have unique name, address or phone number changed. It has been pretty time consuming to change them all by hand and I am looking for a quicker way. I have looked into the variables and variable methods of exporting a CSV file but this doesn't work well for me because I need to have the design on multiple art-boards and not just one dynamic one where I can cycle through the data sets and have to record an action to save each file separately.

The closest thing I've seen or found online was from this adobe forum, but the script that is shown inside I haven't been able to make it work in Illustrator on my end but maybe I am doing something wrong... I used the translate tool on their forum to read some of the non-english comments but I am struggling to decipher what the solution is. There are some great GIFs in the forum discussion that show close to perfect examples of what I am trying to achieve.

Here is a link to the article - https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/hello-everyone-i-often-use-to-replace-names-a...

In the GIFs throughout the discussion, you will see the first example from user "lengxiaomo" that shows the jerseys all with the number 1 on the back of them and a list of random numbers to the left, it appears that after just a couple of clicks the number 1's on the back of the jerseys are simply updated to match the order of the numbered list that is on the left. This is exactly what I am going for. Whether it be a list of numbers or list of names, I'd love to be able to do this quicker than manually changing or by going the variable route. Any advice on this matter would be truly appreciated and a real time and life saver!

Thank you in advance!

[hhas01]

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/import-csv-file/m-p/14427733#M397733

[lucash1529470]

Thank you for the link. Unfortunately the variable method will not work for what I have in mind!

[hhas01]

The linked script doesn’t use Illustrator’s variables/data merge feature, so can insert multiple CSV rows per artwork. Did you test the script with the supplied example files?

If that script is not suitable for your needs as-is (e.g. you need to replace portions of text within the text frame) then you will need to provide more details if folks here are to help you. I recommend adding Before and After examples of your artwork, plus a sample CSV file, to your original post.

[lucash1529470]

Oh! Sorry about that! I must have only quickly opened the link and didn't go down to your comment regarding the script. 

I downloaded the working files you provided the other user, saved the script as "rendercards.jsx", but when I try load the script using File > Scripts > Other Script, I am given this error message: Error 8: Syntax error. Line: 1 –> {\rtf\ansi\ansicpg1252\cocoartf2580.

Do you have any ideas why I might be getting that error? I don't have any experience with running scripts in Adobe Illustrator. I am using Illustrator version 28.5.

Thank you for your help.

[lucash1529470]

@hhas01 Scratch, that. I think I solved my problem! I was using rich text format in my text edit and switched to plain text and that seemed to solve the problem!

I will keep you posted as I play around with this but thank you so much, this definintely looks more like what I'd like to do.