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StepRock
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Automate export of a single .indd to multiple PDFs

May 12, 2010 3:24 PM

Hi guys!

 

I've been looking for a script to automate a tedious, repetitive process. What I do is to use a data merge on a master to set up a series of very similar documents with a partner's information...we have LOTS of partners. There are a total of 10 different documents all in one long InDesign file.

 

After their data is in, I export the pages out in 2-page increments (except for one wich is a 4-pager) as seperate PDFs. It's the same set of documents every time with the same file names, it just has different contact info on it.

 

If it saves the right pages over an old copy OR if it exports new PDFs with the right names, that would rock!

 

 

Thanks for any input,

StepRock

 

----------------------- DETAILED DESCRIPTION -------------------

 

Export pages out as documents like this:

 

Page 1-2 "About Us.pdf"

Page 3-4 "Services.pdf"

Page 5-8 "Solutions.pdf"

etc.

 

 

InDesign CS3 on a WinXP PC

741 Views   9 Replies   Latest reply: Peter Spier, May 17, 2010 3:16 PM
 
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  • StepRock
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    1. StepRock,
    May 17, 2010 12:36 PM   in reply to StepRock
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    Guessing no one's got any thoughts? Or it's just not going to happen... :-(

     

    -StepRock-

     
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  • Kathlene Sage
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    2. Kathlene Sage,
    May 17, 2010 12:59 PM   in reply to StepRock
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    I ue applescript to do this and it does it well, but I am MAC and don't think it will help you much. Look in the InDesign Scripting forum - someome with some JS skill will come along.

     
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  • StepRock
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    3. StepRock,
    May 17, 2010 1:14 PM   in reply to Kathlene Sage
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    Thanks, Kathlene. Can you tell me what the script is that you use? I work with a guy that can code Java, so it might be informative at any rate.

     

    Thanks again,

    StepRock

     
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  • Kathlene Sage
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    4. Kathlene Sage,
    May 17, 2010 1:21 PM   in reply to StepRock
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    It is a long custom script - Would you PM me and I'll try to send it later tonight when I get to my studio? I export out to a server so you will have to tweak it to your system. In addition to that, have you looked into a pdf splitter - www.artspdf.com - They have some interesting plug ins for acrobat that may help with similar tasks.

     
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  • Peter Spier
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    5. Peter Spier,
    May 17, 2010 2:20 PM   in reply to StepRock
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    It's also pretty easy to extract the pages to individual files from a multi-page PDF in Acrobat.

     
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  • StepRock
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    6. StepRock,
    May 17, 2010 2:28 PM   in reply to Peter Spier
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    Yeah, I'm just hoping to automate the process a bit more than what I've got right now. It's not that it's hard to do; it's just tediously repetitive.

     

    I guess it's just driving me nuts because I'm sure that PhotoShop Actions do things that are more complex than this. You know how PhotoShop goes; you just hit Record and it can play back what you did.

     
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  • Peter Spier
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    7. Peter Spier,
    May 17, 2010 2:45 PM   in reply to StepRock
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    StepRock wrote:

     

    Yeah, I'm just hoping to automate the process a bit more than what I've got right now. It's not that it's hard to do; it's just tediously repetitive.

    Um, what makes it more repetitive than doing the operation in ID on a file-by-file basis? You do have to open the file in Acrobat, which is an extra step, and use the menu to select extract pages, but at that point its a checkbox and a single click.

     

    You might want to check the Acrobat forum as well. Someone there may have a script that will do a whole folder full of files.

     
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  • StepRock
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    8. StepRock,
    May 17, 2010 3:09 PM   in reply to Peter Spier
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    Thanks Peter,

     

    No, it's no more repetitive, but not really any less either. I think you may be on to something going the route of Acrobat though. If I can export the entire document from InDesign and then automatically save out page ranges (with the right file names of course) it would really be a hit.

     

    -StepRock-

     
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  • Peter Spier
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    9. Peter Spier,
    May 17, 2010 3:16 PM   in reply to StepRock
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    You can specify any range you like,but if you want some grouped, and some as individuals you probalbly would hgave to list them like 1-5, 6,7, 8-12... as you do inthe print dialog in ID. I haven't tried this. If you want just individual pages check the box:

     

    Extract.png

     
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