incremental serial number on each print

[davidv4792599]

hello,

i am searching a way to add/write - on every page of a book - a serial number (that's easy) that increase at each prints.

print1 : serial 0001

print2 : serial 0002

print3 : serial 0003

...

I have tried some procedures like data merge or add footer (bates number) with acrobat pro but nothing work the way i need.

The one thing i could do is create a pdf for each SN but it means export 350 pdfs and maybe more.

Does anyone has an idea how to make it? 

Thanks

David

[Peter Spier]

There is no way to do this directly in InDesign without creating a copy for each number. Talk to your printer, though, as there are some solutions on that end that he might have available.

[Robert Kyle]

Might be possible, depending on how you initiate the output. The simplest thing would be to use a script, which would output the page and then insert the version number in a labeled text frame. That frame could be outside the image area, like a header or a crop mark. I wrote a script like that years ago. The catch, of course, is that you always have to use the script to initiate the output. 

It also might be possible to use an beforePrint event listener. There's an example in the Adobe scripting guide for running preflight checks, but it probably can be used to increment the version number. 

If you don't like the idea of using a non printing text frame, it might be possible to use xml data or a script label to record the version number. 

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

If you aren't printing these yourself, yes, talk to your printer. If you are printing digitally, many larger machines have such an option (e.g. Xerox calls it "Program Set Numbering"). They may ask you to put a placeholder where you want the serial, and ask what specs/font/colour/etc you would want.

[davidv4792599]

Thanks for your answers, it brings ideas i will explore but finally i've succeded in my task with merge data and a txt file.

The trick in my case was to set the number of recordings per page to 1 in the the data merge/option panel. INDD duplicates my full document (because the same SN is repeated on each page) and replace the entry with the next one from the xml list. The bad thing is that INDD creates all the documents at the same time, so i have 50 documents open together. For more entries, there is the possibility to select the range (1-50,51-100,...) so my computer won't explode and luckily for me, the max entries needed is 200. After that i've to export and close each one manually. I will try a script.

The second trick was to disable the overset text check in the data merge (my textbox is big enough so there is no hazard). This setting was too much for my MAC (MBpro-I9-32go) and INDD. It makes my coloured wheel cursor spinning for ever. With it disabled the process takes 5 minutes to creates 50 documents of 60 pages. 

Now i've 50 files to give to the printer. This is certainly not the most elegant way to do this but it works and help me to respect the deadline.

I think the best way would be to ask the printer to add it at a specific place so i would only work with one file but it will be for next time. 🙂

Best regards

David

[Peter Spier]

From the printer's perspective, if they have variable data printing capabilities it is much more efficient to process a single document than 50 copies of the same file with a minor change on each copy since each of those 50 copies must be processed individually.

[davidv4792599]

I am sure this is the best way and i will ask him if he can do it. Thanks