Adobe InDesign - Manual (Page 810)

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1.Make plans to determine which data fields you’ll be using in your source and target documents.
Determine how you want the final document to look, so that you know which fields are necessary to accomplish the merge. For example, if you are
creating a postcard that will be mailed to customers, you might want to use the following data fields:
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Your spreadsheet or database might look like this:
Sample data file
2.Save the data source file—usually a spreadsheet or database file—as a comma-delimited (.csv) or tab-delimited (.txt) text file.
Make sure that your data source file is structured in such a way that you can include the appropriate fields in your target document. For example,
the top row of a spreadsheet should contain the field names that you’ll use in the target document, such as “Company” and “Address.”
For more information, see About data source files .
3.Create a target document that includes text and other items that remain the same in each version of the target document.
For more information, see About target documents .
4.Select the data source using the Data Merge panel.
For more information, see Select a data source .
5.Insert fields from the Data Merge panel into the target document.
You can add data fields to either a document page or a master page. If you add data fields to a master page, you have additional options.
For more information, see Insert data fields and Adding data field placeholders to master pages .
6.Preview the records to make sure that the target document will look the way you intend.
For more information, see Preview records in the target document .
7.Merge the target document with the data source file, or export to PDF.
For more information, see Merge records .
About data source files
The data source typically originates from a spreadsheet or database application, but you can create your own data source file using InDesign or
any text editor. Data source files should be saved in a comma-delimited (.csv) or tab-delimited (.txt) text format. Check your source application’s
user guide for more information on exporting to these formats.
In a comma- or tab-delimited text file, records are separated by paragraph breaks; fields are separated by commas or tabs. The data source file
can also include text or paths that refer to images on disk.
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