Data Merge and Master Pages

[robertg86356713]

I'm having some trouble with a Data Marge file and Master pages. 

In my originating document I created a Master page for a 3 page per record file. I do a datamerge and all goes well. However, in the new document it doesn't seem as though the Masters still work correctly. Maybe i'm missing something, or doing something wrong. Do the masters disconnect where you can no longer adjust things, like removing an entire paragraph block and it then reflects througout the entire document? 

I should note that my data merge placeholders are on the master pages, perhaps they shouldn't be? 

[Laubender]

Hi Robert,

can you show with some screenshots what's going wrong with the masters?

FWIW:

[1] I would never save my data merge template document after the merge is done.

[2] So I can start with a new merge from the same template without thinking about that a merge has changed something to the bad in my template document.

[3] Is there a specific need for you to use the data fields on masters instead of document pages?

( With data fields on the masters you will add an XML tag tree with XML tags in the texts and image containers to the result document. Don't know if you are aware of this. )

Thanks,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

[robertg86356713]

Hey,

I don't think screenshots would really help at this juncture. I might not be explaining it correctly yet. 

[1] I would never save my data merge template document after the merge is done.

I"m not sure I understand what you mean by this. You would never save the originial document or the merged document? 

[3] Is there a specific need for you to use the data fields on masters instead of document pages?

I thought that perhaps was the 'correct' way of doing things. I was reading on the Adobe docs that you can do either or. I figured that if I needed to edit a paragraph, move something around etc that it should be on the Master, but thinking about it, maybe it doesn't make a difference? 

The other issue I'm having is that several pages of my document have a different layout. I thought at first I could work with those pages separately and do a separate data merge then combine them into the 'target' document, however that was not ideal. When I added those pages over it breaks anything llike the master that is attached to it, or the footer document numbers etc. So I can't even drag the master from the combined document on to those because then it shows double text on top of it etc. 

So to clarify:

I have a document that needs to be merged, but has a partially different layout for a few of those recoreds and maintain the ability to edit the master files to change the layout. 

Does that make sense? 

[Laubender]

Hi Robert,

I spoke about the template document with the prepared data merge fields. Not about the result document(s).

After done with the layout and just before doing the merge of layout and data I would save my template document once.

Then I would do the merge which creates e.g. a new unsaved document. That I will save to a new name.

I will close the one I started with, my template document, without saving. And open it again in the state InDesign left it before doing the merge.

Why that all?

There are some bugs with data merge preview.

Don't want to spoil my template document.

Best,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )