Illustrator Variable data - ignore blank cells in the csv

[KevinB703]

I'm looking and looking for a solution to have variable printing ignore a blank cell in my file.  I've tried adding a space into the cell, as well as every combination of " ", ' ', " [space] –– no luck.  I am now reading that you shouldn't have blank cells but is there truly no workaround?

To create the csv I'm working in Google Sheets if that matters – I've also edited the file using text editor so I don't believe it should.

[Lukas Engqvist]

When doing variable data you may need to some cleaning in your data before merging. One option can be to merge the data from several fields to preprocess the data. There is also a script for variable data in illustrator, don't know if that opens a solution. See Adobe Illustrator Variable Data Importer - YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com › watch

[sbrown.terarecon]

Make sure the text objects in your template are empty.  Otherwise, they will switch back to the original text when Illustrator encounters an empty field in the data set.

[aTomician]

That isn't what happened to me, I have 5 text boxes, corresponding to 5 columns in a CSV.  For each row, only one of any of the 5 columns contain a value.

When I cycle through the datasets, the text box only updates for a valid value, and keeps the previous values if they're blank, so my my text boxes look like this when I cycle through the datasets:

First row has "A" in col 3:

[   ]  [   ] [ A ]  [   ] [   ]

Second row has "B" in col 4:

[   ]  [   ] [ A ]  [ B ] [   ]

Third row has "C" in col1:

[ C ]  [   ] [ A ]  [ B ] [   ]

Fourth row has "D" in col5

[ C ]  [   ] [ A ]  [ B ] [ D ]

[Jordan23020942r3ec]

Quick fix for anyone still searching,

copy an empty character from emptycharacter.com

paste that in the blank cell. You're welcome

[default4idfpndkfegd]

This was a good idea, but I tried it for mine and it doesn't work. I get a character that looks like a box with an X thru it.

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @default4idfpndkfegd,

We are sorry to hear about the trouble. If you are getting a character like shown in the following screenshot, then I would like to inform you that it is a known issue while copy-pasting, and we are currently investigating it.

You may upvote this UserVoice (https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/43954350-why-do...) and add your comment there.

By doing this, you will get an update when it is fixed.

If this is not the issue you are facing, then I would request you to share a few details like:

• OS & version of Illustratoror
• A small video demonstrating the issue
• Download link to the sample file
• Is this happening with all the files?

We will be looking forward to your response.

Thanks & Regards,

Anshul Saini

[Aydar15C2]

Did you guys solve this issue?

Thanks in advance.

[aTomician]

Yes, me too, I don't think this works for variable import.  I think the reply from Anshul is about regular copy / paste.

[templatemaker-nl · Accepted solution]

This works in my case, great.

Instead of the website you mention, since we are in Illustrator anyway, we can obtain the character by entering it in a text object through

Illustrator --> Type --> Insert WhiteSpace Character --> Em Space

and then copy-ing it.

[aTomician]

Same issue here.  I had a idea that I could put loads of spaces followed by a character that would be outside of the textbox so the textbox looked blank... however just found out that Illustrator removes preceding and trailing whitespace...  which is odd and unnecessary really.

Edit: just been doing some more research into Illy Variables.  Conclusion: What a frickin shite system.  It literally does nothing useful, unless you're prepared to put loads of time into it, in which case you're better off creating a Word mailmerge, InDesign template or just dong it manually.  It would be quicker to write a html / Javascript webpage to run through the data and save as PDF then it would be to do it in Illy.

[defaultqnjfvgoc6yay · Accepted solution]

I had the same issue - worked round it by adding an additional visibility column in the .csv

Eg.

Column_A,Column_A_visible

Data 1,TRUE

,FALSE

Data 2,TRUE

And then mapped 'Make visibility dynamic' to this field for the columns that contain blanks.

[margieo12137808]

I am having the same problem and I am not sure where to enter 

Column_A,Column_A_visible

Data 1,TRUE

,FALSE

Data 2,TRUE

Any help is much appreciated as I am not a coder.

[Christoph286895045j4q]

Add an extra column in your spreadsheet and name it "#visible" (the "#" is important as it later defines if it's visible or not). Below you add the funktion "=not(ISBLANK(C2))" so when C2 is blank you get a FALSE and if it's not blank you get a TRUE. 

In Illustrator you make the desired object "make text dynamic" and also "make visibility dynamic". Then you replace the reference name "Variable1" next to the eye-symbol with "visible" as that's the actual name of your added column "#visible". You may need to reload the csv-file.

[Aydar15C2]

Hi there,

Christoph286895045j4q, is it possible if you record short video regarding this matter and post it here how you utilize it? I understood spreadsheet part, but it did not work in Ai.

Thanks in advance.

[Javier25574794nbdy]

I had the same question and was never able to solve it even after following the advice shared here. I simply turned to InDesign because it alreadu has an "ignore blank data fields" options built into its data merge funcitonality.