Articles missing after Data Merge

[AODA_Developer]

I'm looking for some insight with the InDesign "Data Merge" functionality as it relates to Articles and Tagging in the exported PDF.

We have a document layout with placeholders for incoming data, and everything is perfect and Articles are correct. Exporting to PDF (Interactive) works for the base document, and the resulting PDF passes PAC 2024 just fine (albeit with variable names instead of actual data).

If we connect to the dataset (a CSV spreadsheet), map the variables to the correct placeholders, and run the merge (to an InDesign document), the resulting multi-page document (one page for each row in the data) has the Articles for the first page, i.e. the very first row of data, but the subsequent pages are NOT articled. So when we Export to an interactive PDF, we're missing Tags on every other page after page 1. The first page is great, it passes the PAC tests 100%, but the rest of the pages fail because they are essentially untagged.

Anyone run into this before? I haven't found anything in Adobe's Knowledge Base, and can't figure out if I'm just missing a setting somewhere, or if I've found a fundamental flaw in Adobe's merge engine.

[Mike Witherell]

Is the base document using paragraph styles?

[AODA_Developer]

Yes, the base document – let's call it the "Template" – uses paragraph and character styles to properly format the content. Do the stylesheets impact the Articles and the merge operations in some way?

[Colin Flashman]

I've written an article about a similar issue here: https://colecandoo.com/2016/12/17/data-merge-pdf-export-vs-regular-pdf-export/

That said, I have read your note that you are merging to InDesign first, but looks like you have issues with everything after page one. If you were to merge a 1pp file to a new indesign file, and then merge the next record to another indesign file, do both records articles appear correctly? Wondering if you could use the script mentioned in the article to merge to uniquely named indesign files and then run Peter Kahrel's batch convert script to export to interactive pdfs afterwards.

[AODA_Developer]

Thank you for the information Colin! My initial research has taken me down the exact same path as what is described in the article – I'm at the point of of writing a script that can merge individual records to an InDesign file, then export that using the Export to Interactive PDF.

I don't want to reinvent the wheel again, so I'll look at the scripts you mentioned to see if they can be incorporated into our solution. What really hurts though, is that this "bug/feature" has been present in InDesign since at least 2016, and Adobe hasn't addressed the issue. It's seems like such a simple thing: when merging a document that has been articled, the generated documents should also include thier own set of Articles. That is the proper solution.

[Colin Flashman]

the paid version of my data merge to single record script will export to interactive PDF. it exports to a temporary indesign file and then exports as an interactive PDF based on the last saved interactive PDF export settings used.

[AODA_Developer]

That sounds like an easy solution to me! I've purchased a copy and will see how well it incorporates into our process, thanks for your help!

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@AODA_Developer 

Quick question - have you ever used PREVIEW on your template?

[AODA_Developer]

Yes, I have used Preview with on the template, and I'm aware of some of the issues that have been reported. However, if I work from a test doc that is "clean", and try running the merge (without using the preview option), the results are the same.

The issue is that InDesign does not replicate the Articles for the generated documents. It only "carries over" the Articles to the very first merged record – any subsequent records/documents do not have the Articles populated correctly (or at all). This is why the PDF from the subsequent "Export to Interactive PDF" is missing the tags on all remaining content (after the first page).

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@AODA_Developer

How your document looks like? 

I've a crazy idea - as always 😉 - but would've to see your template first. 

Can you post a screenshot? 

Or you could share your file privately with me - please click my nickname. 

[Mike Witherell]

Hate to ask a dumb question, but missing tags upon generation of data merge don't trace back to something simple like a spacebar space in the .csv file, does it?

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Hate to ask a dumb question, but missing tags upon generation of data merge don't trace back to something simple like a spacebar space in the .csv file, does it?

By @Mike Witherell

But first page is OK. 

[AODA_Developer]

No, I checked the patency of the CSV file and everything there is fine. The issue appears to circle back to the InDesign data merge engine not being able to handle Articles correctly. I'm sure that if I could get the merge to walk through the records and generate an InDesign doc for each row, and have it include the relevant Articles, then all would be good. But I haven't found a workaround for that yet. 

In the meantime, I've prototyped the solution from Colin and it works as expected (thanks Colin! Great minds think alike, ...even if it is 9 years later, LOL). It's a bit of a roundabout way of exporting the tagged PDFs, but it will work in a pinch until I can code up a proper plugin to encapsulate and simplify the process.