How do I merge multiple documents into one?

[mike_at_spd]

I am brand new to desktop publishing software of any sort and it appears that I made a major rookie mistake.

I have windows 7 OS and am using InDesign CS4.

I am creating a product catalog for my employer. I have created the individual pages, 85 of them, before it sunk in to my brain that I should have been clicking "add page" or "insert page". Nearly every page has photo links and chart/table links. Is there an easy way to merge all of these individual documents into one? Or do I have to "copy and paste" from the individual pages to a new page?

Thank you for your constructive criticism.

Mike

[Willi Adelberger]

Open the page panel and drag the pages from the origin into the merged document. This will copy the pages to the target.

[winterm]

Moving pages is ok for a few docs. When there are dozens...

Kasyan Servetsky shares a free script for doing this. It's originally written by Simon Wiscombe:

http://kasyan.ho.com.ua/downloads/mass_combine_a_bunch_of_indd_files_into_one.zip

Before running the script ensure all the files you want to combine into one document are put in one folder, and named in the order you want them to appear in the merged file (e.g. "001.indd", "002.indd", etc. or something) so they appear correctly when sorted by name in finder/explorer.

[mike_at_spd]

OK, I've downloaded the script and unzipped it. I opened a new document then clicked to open with" ExtendScript toolkit for CS4 and debugger (32-bit)". It goes thru the motions but only imports page 1 from the folder. It never asked me for a range of pages or anything like that. There are 85 pages in the folder and all are in sequentially named order. Everything in the folder is an InDesign Document. What am I missing?

[winterm]

hi, mike

you should install the script first.

follow instructions provided here, or just google 'indesign install script' for many more sources.

[mike_at_spd]

I followed the install instructions but for some reason I'm getting a Java Script Error #45 Error String: Object is invalid. I will use Malcolm Whild's suggestion as it seems to work.

Thank you all for your input.

Mike

[Malcolm Whild · Accepted solution]

Hi Mike,

I'm not sure if the book function was available in CS4. File menu - new - book. Then use the resulting book panel to add your individual documents.

Regards,

Malcolm

[Geоrge]

@Malcom Whild

Yep, you can do book in CS4.