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SamMills890
Participant
April 30, 2020
Answered

Data Merge with multipe paragraphs of text in InDesign

  • April 30, 2020
  • 3 replies
  • 4342 views

Is it possible to use data merge to fill tables in Indesign with multiple paragraphs of text?  I'm finding that the commas, paragraph breaks etc in the text mess up the data merge.  Thanks for your help!

 

 

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Correct answer Colin Flashman

While I agree with other posters about not being able to preserve line breaks in a data merge, it is possible to work it out. I've prepared a video that outlines this in action and some other techniques here: https://youtu.be/VoHd4Fz4S0k?t=19

 

The way they are accomplished is detailed below:

InDesignsecrets article: https://indesignsecrets.com/controlli...

Daniel Solis' video: https://youtu.be/zaPnChlt0rE

3 replies

Colin Flashman
Community Expert
Colin FlashmanCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
May 1, 2020

While I agree with other posters about not being able to preserve line breaks in a data merge, it is possible to work it out. I've prepared a video that outlines this in action and some other techniques here: https://youtu.be/VoHd4Fz4S0k?t=19

 

The way they are accomplished is detailed below:

InDesignsecrets article: https://indesignsecrets.com/controlli...

Daniel Solis' video: https://youtu.be/zaPnChlt0rE

If the answer wasn't in my post, perhaps it might be on my blog at colecandoo!
John Mensinger
Community Expert
John MensingerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
April 30, 2020

"Paragraph breaks will always make a new field."

 

Right, and that's not even an InDesign problem, but a limitation of the delimited format. You can see that by reopening your data file in the original spreadsheet app. Each paragraph is interpreted as a new record.

 

Some catalog plug-ins can do it, or at least it was possible with EasyCatalog back when I used it.

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Community Expert
SJRiegelCommunity Expert
Community Expert
April 30, 2020

Paragraph breaks will always make a new field. For the comma problem, you could use tab-delimited instead, but then any tabs in your text will create the same issue. 

Data Merge is not designed for that kind of work. If you can further explain intended workflow, someone here may have another idea of how it could be accomplished. 

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    SamMills890Author
    Participant
    April 30, 2020

    Thanks for the help!  I'll explore other options.

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