InDesign Multi-line File Name Text Variable

[andrew_ross]

Hi everyone,

This has been asked as a question before, but I've not found an answer so I'm asking it a little more specifically to what I'm looking for. I have a text variable for the file name and I'm wanting to learn to make it automatically scroll into multiple lines. Currently if your text box is not wide enough, all of the characters condense into each other making it illegible.

I've found a forum regarding creating nested styles that didn't seem to work. Any specific help and instructions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Steve Werner]

Text variables are limited to one line. It's been a known issue/limitation as long as the Text Variable feature has existed.

Post a feature request here (but check there first, there may be one you already posted which you can vote for):

Feature Requests/Bugs

[Fina29387963bhfy]

I am having the same issue and still no solution 😞

[BobLevine]

You are not having an issue. Nothing's changed.

[Barb Binder]

This is important to a lot of people (myself included). Please vote for this as a feature request here:

https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601021-adobe-indesign-feature-requests/suggestions/31023790-ma...

~Barb

[adamh85664483]

I would love for text variable to be treated just like the text they are placed within. Looking at the feature request... and other requests... there is an emourmous outcry for action. Other requests with only 20% of the community upvotes have been closed with resolution from Adobe. This 'text variable issue' has been open since 2017 and has more than 500 upvotes. I feel it is just a no-go for Adobe. To further speculate, perhaps the outcry for resolution failed to increment quickly enough. 8 years and 500+ clicks may fall out of some checkbox. I would love it to work correctly, as a direct text replacement when placed. That said... If anyone has a work around or a macro to share, PLEASE DO! 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@adamh85664483

If it's in a separate TextFrame - you could duplicate it and convert to text - if in the middle of the text - it might be more inconvenient - but can still be automated. 

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @adamh85664483,  

I have reached out to the product team to check on the status of this request, and I’ll share any updates as soon as I hear back from them.  

In the meantime, if you're open to workarounds, converting the text variable to static text might help, though I know it’s not an ideal solution for dynamic workflows. If you or anyone else in the thread has found other ways to tackle this, feel free to share!  

I’ll keep you posted with the update. 

^
Abhishek

[Colin Flashman]

There is a workaround to this shown in Daniel Solis' video here: https://youtu.be/zaPnChlt0rE?si=iU2bNC_6Ix3z-IFh

It does however require a compromise in formatting - that is, the text must not be justified.

I've edited this comment as this does NOT apply to text variables - I'd misunderstood the question of data merge variables, rather than text variables, which is a different issue. Kudos to @Dave Creamer of IDEAS and @Robert at ID-Tasker for correcting me on this issue, my apologies.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

@Colin Flashman Are you saying the DataMerge "trick" works on variables (the original topic of this thread) too?

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Colin Flashman Are you saying the DataMerge "trick" works on variables (the original topic of this thread) too?

By @Dave Creamer of IDEAS

It doesn't:

(above is normal text)

Won't even "touch" text inside.

Text Variable is a single character entity.

You can even see this faint rectangle around the Text Variable:

But after you convert to text:

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Even if contents of the Text Variable is the same as GREP Style's text:

Top Text Frame - normal text.