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1. Re: Speeding up production in using a template. Variables? "Edit-mode only" highlighting?
jaymcdonald Oct 24, 2011 10:57 AM (in response to jaymcdonald)It would be great if there was a way to have blocks of content swap out based on some sort of choice made... like I could toggle the job type, and have all pieces of copy pertaining to that job type swap in to replace the boilerplate stuff in all the right places.
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2. Re: Speeding up production in using a template. Variables? "Edit-mode only" highlighting?
peter at knowhowpro Oct 24, 2011 12:22 PM (in response to jaymcdonald)jaymcdonald wrote:
I have a standard proposal format I use, and within it I have a lot of boilerplate content intermixed with custom items written for the specific project. I'm wondering, what kind of workflow help is there for optimizing the production of a custom proposal from a document like this?
I'm thinking I'd like to be able to somehow highlight content so that it is clearly called out (like a yellow highlight on it) when I am editing (so as to mark the items that need personalizing, and separate them visually from boilerplate content that doesn't) but that highlight gets auto-filtered out when exporting to PDF, or after running some sort of command to remove it all in prep for sending it out.
Also, is there a way to set up varibale tokens that I can drop in key spots (like where the client's name is used) and just set their value in some central localtion? This seems less prone to glitches and also faster than using a global search/replace.
Are there any other clever ways of handling this sort of workflow scenario?
Consider using conditional text for the different boilerplate needs. You can mark it with a highlight color that won't print. You can create sets of conditions that you can toggle from visible to invisible.
Also, you might look into using Data Merge with a data file that keeps different boilerplate chunks in individual fields (spreadsheet columns for example) and drag the appropriate fields into place for the merge. Depending on the document length, you might need to enable the Smart Text Reflow preference to allow automatic new page creation.
You can use both of these together, and with text variables. You can load text variables from one document to another.
Search Google for terms like "InDesign data merge tutorial," "InDesign text variables tutorial," "InDesign conditional text tutorial," without quotes for details.
HTH
Regards,
Peter
_______________________
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices
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3. Re: Speeding up production in using a template. Variables? "Edit-mode only" highlighting?
jaymcdonald Oct 25, 2011 6:49 AM (in response to peter at knowhowpro)Peter,
Thaks for the insight. I thought there should be something like what I was describing, but didn't know what to look for. Greatly appreciated!
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4. Re: Speeding up production in using a template. Variables? "Edit-mode only" highlighting?
jaymcdonald Oct 25, 2011 1:00 PM (in response to peter at knowhowpro)I can't seem to work out how to apply a highlight to text that only shows in editing mode but doesn't export. How is that done?
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5. Re: Speeding up production in using a template. Variables? "Edit-mode only" highlighting?
peter at knowhowpro Oct 25, 2011 2:06 PM (in response to jaymcdonald)jaymcdonald wrote:
I can't seem to work out how to apply a highlight to text that only shows in editing mode but doesn't export. How is that done?
Read more about conditional text. You can apply a condition marked by an underline or highlight, and you can show or hide the condition marker. You can also set it to not print even when visible.
HTH
Regards,
Peter
_______________________
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices

