Pity! Does this free script help? All Caps to Small Caps Script | in-tools.com Mike ... View more

Does the font you are using have the OpenType All Small Caps available (Basic Character Formats)? If so, make that part of the character style and use the GREP as you are doing. Then there is no need to changing the case. ... View more

As mentioned above, there are free scripts that will link all those text boxes together. One can then delete all but the first one, drag out the frame size, and then have ID create a new frame on page two, flowing out to as many pages as needed. Then it is all in linked frames that one can then do as desired in that publication or put into another publication. This can take seconds of work with these scripts versus all the manual linking and sizing. The plug-in I mentioned obviates this and works in the original document. Mike ... View more

But I am stunned that you're seeing this because Ariel Regular isn't supposed to have discretionary ligatures. Do you know where you got that font? Yes, it does. I cannot remember how far back, but the Windows version (at least) does. ... View more

The only way I know of is a script to link all the merged frames, delete all but the first frame and reflow that frame to the pages. But really, that plug-in is the best money you will have spent if you have X number of these jobs to do. Data like your screen shot shows is merged and is all laid in seconds once the merge is written (which is reusable on future jobs). I don't know how long you have tried to resolve this, and I don't know what your or the business you own/work for is worth. I do know what my time is worth. So yeah, please let us know Adobe's solution. Rent CC for a month and give them a call. Mike ... View more

Consider InData, a plug-in by Em Software. Download the trial, try it. I use that plug-in all the time. It is a time saver and works far, far better than ID's native "dumb" merge that is really meant for address labels and the like. ... View more

Like in another thread I am about to post into, consider InData, a plug-in by Em Software. There can be condititional statements that would add the comma and title field where appropriate and leave it out if there is no data for Title (or whatever). I wouldn't consider doing merges without that plug-in. However, you can post-process the merged ID file to remove the commas. ... View more

What is the font used in AI / ID? It doesn't appear that the font has been embedded properly in the ID file and is substituted. Mike ... View more

It, to me, is a silly default setting, but it is what it is. You don't need to inform anyone--except those that may/might ever contact you about the issue. It will still print properly. Mike ... View more

See if turning off Enhance Thin Lines in Acrobat/Reader resolves the display issue. Mike ... View more

The font metrics are different for most any font (and/or font family). How they are calculated in various applications is a separate issue. As far as I remember (and hey, I am getting older...), Adobe applications do not retrieve the metrics from the respective OS and instead calculate metrics apart from the OS--at least ID does for optical kerning. In general, the bowls will rise above the x-height and cap height and below the baseline. But this depends on the font author for their particular font. Some caps without a bowl will rise above the cap height, etc., etc. As far as placing guidelines for these metrics, just be consistent. Here's a cap T. You can see the various heights. The top corners sit 7 f-units above the cap height meteric... And if I were to take a screen shot of the baseline, you would see it sits 2 f-units below the baseline. A screen shot of the lowercase c shows it both rising above the x-height and below the baseline. Different fonts will be placed at various positions. ... View more

Hi Uwe, If a font uses overlapping composites, I think Acrobat would have no choice but to see them as their distinct glyphs as that's what they really are despite their appearance. However, if the ligs are a distinct non-composite single glyph, Acrobat should pick that up. But in the first instance above, I cannot see how Acrobat would know that what appears as a single glyph is a change because technically it isn't. Anyway, my personal take on the compare feature is meh. I cannot see me ever using it. I don't get changes sent to me as PDFs from which I then need to copy text from. I generally get Word files that supersede a previous Word file. Perhaps my customers think I am too stupid to compare PDF versions and make the appropriate changes... I think the Acrobat team is searching for features to add that may or may not have real-life uses. At this point I don't think comparing PDFs is a useful feature--at least in the scenario given. And I cannot think of any other reason either that has ever effected me as a contractor or even when I was an employee of a mid-sized corporation for a short period. Mike ... View more

With the ligature example, it may be due to how the ligs are made in the font being used and whether Acrobat is decomposing them or not. ... View more

I work in both. Other than the typical recommendations for using Lynda.com to learn general things, I would say your time would be best spent before you need to do the client work by just recreating a couple projects in ID. What you will need to learn is specifically what was done before in Q and will have better correlation than just general learning without a real life application. And there is always here to ask questions that are specific to your needs. There are people around the world here, so most any question will not languish too long. Mike (I remember your user name from the Q forum...) ... View more

http://indesignsecrets.com/eliminating-ydb-yucky-discolored-box-syndrome.php How does your file print to your printer if you generate a PDF and print from Acrobat? Mike ... View more

...I have a major project that I have to complete today and the application is literally useless. Great job, Adobe. You had me update to a program I simply can't use ... Does anyone need to say it? Ah heck, why not. Updating during major projects is an iffy practice, and I would only do it if the bugs in what I was using were so bad there wasn't an option. And I would be ready to immediately roll-back if need be. If necessary I would just do it and get on with the major project in order to keep both the client happy and save what little sanity I have left. ... View more

Another option from using a plug-in (they are so much better than ID's native merge) is to break the file into smaller chunks and use chapters for the tables you seem to want to use. ... View more

I cannot tell what it up with your merge file per se from the screen shot. A note or two. I use no punctuation in the data headers and no parentheses. I (almost) always use a tab delimited file. And unless I need a certain format, I generally use a UTF-8 type of data file. For placing the placeholders, yes, tabs and returns. There can only be one set of placeholders in a single frame. I place the text frame for the placeholders on a regular page (not a master page). Mike ... View more

Yeah, what SJR wrote. Are you trying the InData product or using ID's in-built data merge? If trying InData and you need help with the expression, it would be helpful to have the data headers from the CSV file. Mike ... View more

You likely would have better success using a data merge plugin and avoiding tables altogether. I use XData in QXP and while I haven't tried such a large data amount, it likely would work just fine. The same plugin for ID works the same. Em Software's plugin trial cannot do more than 50 records, I think. But likely they can test with your file and let you know how well it worked. I would offer the same thing if you could share the file privately. Mike ... View more

Then I would think the easiest route would be to use a catalog plugin such as InCatalog or EasyCatalog. A custom solution can also be built, perhaps in conjunction with using ID Server if the cost/effort warrants it. But then, I have no firm grasp on the layout or the layout constraints. If all it is that the contents of these description text frames will change, but not the body and/or the images themselves, XML may well do fine, connecting the description boxes to those individual frames. Mike ... View more

Consider using InDesign tagged text. Place a sample chapter in ID, create the styles you will need and apply them to the ID sample chapter. Then export the ID file as tagged text. It should then be simple to look at the exported tagged text to see what the calculations in FM you need to use to export your FM database as tagged text. Then just import it into ID. Mike ... View more

It's a bummer. But we had to redo so much stuff it became routine...I worked there in the day of everyone is a desktop publisher (late '80s into the mid '90s) and we got so much crap. It would be cool to see it. You could share it privately via a private message if desired. For myself, I would need to have an IDML so I could open in CS6 if it was from a later version. But that raises a point. Have you exported as IDML and tried opening that? Mike ... View more

I use to work at a service bureau once upon a time. We would have gotten either fresh files from the client or offered to rebuild it...for a slight design fee to make a point or, if a decent or potentially decent client, for free. Unfortumately, getting fresh files often took either our time walking them through the issue or the reps. It literally took me 15 minutes to remake it as close as I did. All vector and the fonts used (as close as I could ferret out). I don't know if any of us can make any guesses that you haven't made yourself. Without at least a PDF or the original files, I am uncertain I can be of help--I'm not as smart as some of these guys... Mike ... View more

You may try associating ID files with a nonsense application. Reboot, then try associating it again to CS6 by selecting an ID file, doing the right-click thing and navigating to the CS6 installation folder. This has worked for me with another application. There are applications for setting default applications. but all they do, I think, is to delete the association from the registry in all its locations, then re-associate to the desired application. There is also a control panel option that may work. Under the Installed Applications, there should eb an option to view file associations. Mike ... View more