Automate Nametag setup process

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
October 24, 2025
2 replies
100 views

Hi Adobe community,
In indesign, I am setting up nametags, to be printed 4 up on page, and double sided. So for 4 nametags, I ad each nametag to a corner of page, (top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right), and then create page 2 with nametags position left and right swapped, correct for printing. My issue is I have a hundred nametags, and would like to automate the process, how can I do that? The nametags designs are already setup in pdf, so i want to automate the pdf import process. Please help.

Thank you

Import and export

Colin Flashman

Community Expert

I agree that data merge would be how I would tackle this, but I wouldn't use the multiple record feature that comes with data merge. Instead I've created a method that I've outlined with the help of this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNbtRsMZVQI

If the answer wasn't in my post, perhaps it might be on my blog at colecandoo!

Mike Witherell

Community Expert

Hi CM,

It might be that InDesign's Data Merge feature will help you automate:

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/data-merge.html

Build 2 InDesign documents that are NOT setup to be facing pages.

If you build the front InDesign document with 4 linked textframes linking left to right; and then likewise linked down to the 2nd row and likewise linked left to right.

But on the (2nd) back InDesign document, you would also have 4 linked textframes; linked right to left; and then the 2nd row also right to left

In both documents, in each of the 4 textframes, you would implant the Data Merge placeholder within each textframe.

Mike Witherell

Peter Spier

Community Expert

N-up with Data Merge is tricky...

With multiple linked frames on the page you will get the same data in each frame. To get multiple records on the page you must have only one placholder, in the upper left position, and you have two choices for flow -- across then down, or down then across, but no right-to-left/left-to-right option.

If the only data that's changing is the names, then I would say that you could probably set up as @Mike Witherell is describing, but use linked text frames, and simply save the names as a text file, one name per line. Place the text file using a paragraph style with the Keep Option to start paragraph in next frame.

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