Conditional Text with multiple documents within the same book

[Brandt1974]

I am trying to print multiple versions of a book that utilizes conditional text. Right now, my process involves opening each and every document (.indd) within the book (.indb) file, changing the conditional text "Set" to the correct version, saving and closing the file, and finally exporting the book to PDF. Is there a way to just print each version of the book without having to open each document file? Synchronizing the documents doesn't change the active "Set" I want.

[bretts21640563]

Conditional Settings can be synchronized within a book file (a collection of individual layouts) in much the same way paragraph styles and other settings can be synchronized.

1. Construct your first document with Conditions A and B (in real world this could be "Missouri Pricing" and "California Pricing").
2. Add all your layouts to a single Book. Be careful with the settings before you add documents so the book behaves correctly.
3. In the Bool pallet find Synchronize Options, and deselect all except Conditions.
4. Set the layout with Conditions already added as your Style Source document, then synchronize to all other layouts.
   1. This creates identical Condition settings in all your layouts
5. You will have to manually assign the Conditions within your text. Because there are two versions of content, both will be present in the layout, but you can choose to display only one, OR any combination if you have more than two, at a time. This can make your text flow weird, so experiment first with various ways of constructing files. (If text variations are similar in length, like prices, this usually won't be an issue.)
6. When ready to produce the PDF, set your Style Source document to the Conditions that you want visible, then synchronize the book. This produces version A.
7. Repeat step 6 with the other condition set, synchronize, and create PDF.

There is a bit of leaning that will take place, for example, regarding what paragraph returns are to included in a condition, etc. It's quite powerful, as you can have anchored objects as part of a condition which could allow logos or photos to change with the condition.

Enjoy!

[bretts21640563]

Adobe link to their description is worth reading, too.

Edit text in InDesign