Auto-Updating Dates in a Diary/Calendar

[Graphic2903886820yw]

Hi Everyone

I created a daily diary for the last financial year in InDesign (excerpt attached). Now, I need to update it for the current financial year. Does anyone know a quick and easy way to update all the dates without manually changing each one?

Would love to hear any tips or tricks - thanks in advance! 

Jas

[Nikola34372729ojv5]

I handled the elements that follow each other (such as numbers in a calendar) using separate text frames that are linked across the pages of the document. This way, if I add or remove characters in a frame, the sequence automatically adjusts. So far, I haven’t found a better solution.

[Robert at ID-Tasker · Accepted solution]

Yeah, linked TextFrames and adding / removing starting day is the only solution to make it reflowable. 

Otherwise, it would need to be generated from scratch every year. 

[Graphic2903886820yw]

Thank you. 🙂

[Graphic2903886820yw]

Thank you. 🙂 

[Colin Flashman]

I've a script that will do the planner pages (e.g. page 1 and 2) of your PDF, but so far as the daily pages go, the information such as 1 January Wednesday can all be one threaded textframe, with Excel doing the heavy lifting of generating the dates. However, the three calendar panels will be harder to do, these I'd treat as images that are in a parent page relevant to the month at hand.

Another method might be to look at using data merge to make the pages, where - again - the data for the dates comes in from Excel.

For the last 10 years or so I've been looking to automate diaries in a completely foolproof way over a collection of 250 SKUs. Unfortunately there are so many variables in play that a one-size-fits-all solution. To be clear, that isn't just the dates such as 1 January Wednesday, but also the school terms associated with the weeks; the mini calendars, the front matter... it's a massive task.

[Graphic2903886820yw]

Thanks for your detailed response! It’s reassuring to know I'm on the right track. I appreciate the confirmation that my approach makes sense.