Batch updating across multiple documents

[Squatney_Borough_Council]

Hello there.

As the title states: is there a way to make (sometimes multiple) changes to images or copy inside and across a span of documents simultaneously? For example, if I have ten documents with more-or-less the same copy, but i need to update an address on eight of them, can this be achieved without opening them up individually? The process would run something like "replace x with y".

Many thanks.

[Laubender]

Hi,

if you like to Find/Change Text you have to open the documents you want to change.

Find/Change can work on all open documents at one time.

More on this here:

Find/Change text in InDesign

Regards,
Uwe

[Squatney_Borough_Council]

Thanks for your help!

So this can't be done across closed documents? Do you know of any third-party plugin that might support the batch editing of closed docs?

Thanks again.

[Laubender]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/squatney+borough+council  wrote

…So this can't be done across closed documents?…

Right.

Don't think there is an editor that would work on InDesign files doing find/change without damaging the documents.

Regards,
Uwe

[Document Geek]

If the address is set up as a custom text variable, you can add all the documents to a book and just sync the variables.

[Laubender]

Of course that will work.

But it also requires InDesign to open the book file and to open the InDesign documents in the background while doing the synch. Also running a custom script will work, but again, InDesign must running and open the documents, even if they are not visible in the process because they are opened windowless and closed and saved after the changes are done.

Regards,
Uwe