Mail merge excel to indesign

A common workflow!

To mail merge data from Excel to InDesign, you'll need to follow these steps:

Step 1: Prepare your data in Excel

1. Create a table in Excel with the data you want to mail merge. Make sure the table has a header row with column names.
2. Format the data as needed (e.g., dates, numbers, text).

Step 2: Create a mail merge template in InDesign

1. Open InDesign and create a new document or open an existing one.
2. Create a new master page or use an existing one.
3. Create a text frame where you want to insert the merged data.
4. Go to Type > Create Mail Merge (or use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+M on Windows or Command+Shift+M on Mac).
5. In the Mail Merge dialog box, select Excel as the data source.
6. Choose the Excel file and the sheet containing your data.
7. Map the Excel columns to the InDesign text frame fields (e.g., Name to [Name]).

Step 3: Merge the data

1. Click Merge to merge the data from Excel into InDesign.
2. InDesign will create a new document with the merged data.

Step 4: Customize the merged document

1. Review the merged document to ensure the data is correct and formatted as needed.
2. Make any necessary adjustments to the layout, formatting, or styling.

Tips and Variations

• To merge data from multiple Excel sheets, create separate mail merge templates for each sheet and merge them separately.
• To merge data from multiple Excel files, create separate mail merge templates for each file and merge them separately.
• To use conditional formatting or formulas in your mail merge, you may need to use InDesign's scripting or JavaScript capabilities.
• To automate the mail merge process, you can use InDesign's scripting or automation tools, such as Automator on Mac or Power Automate (formerly Microsoft Flow) on Windows.

By following these steps, you should be able to successfully mail merge data from Excel to InDesign.