14 Replies Latest reply: Jun 15, 2010 4:04 PM by Quite CJ RSS

    Business Card 10 up place holder?

    IAmTallAUS

      Hi there,

      I'm new to the whole indesign thing really, so I'm just looking for a bit of advice or maybe a suggestion or two.

       

      I work for a small print shop, we print business cards, at the moment we have a template which sits ten cards on a sheet. So we take the individual pdf's or indesign files for the business cards and place and step and repeat them into place.

       

      Now my question is, is there an automation or action in which I can create an indesign file with say a place holder so that all I have to do is drag the business card file onto it and it will automatically fill in the spaces?

      Or how are multi up business card templates usually handled?

       

      if there is a way to automate the process, is there also a way to automate the process when the cards have say 5mm bleed?

       

      many thanks for any future tips

       

      Andy

        • 1. Re: Business Card 10 up place holder?
          Stix Hart Community Member

          Hi, I run a small print shop too.  I'll be interested to see what other answers you get because I don't know of any easy way to do that, although it would be very handy.

           

          One way of doing it is creating an Indesign document with a file placed 10 times like you do now, then replace the linked file with another one called the same name and in the same location.  Then when you re open the Indesign document it will automatically update, although the original and the new file would have to have the same bleed or crop settings that you used when you placed the file the first time.

           

          How we do it is export everything to PDF (which has other advantages too) and then use Quite Imposing which is a plugin for Acrobat Professional.  It's not cheap but is simple to use and you can setup saved sequences, most of our imposing jobs take me about 5 seconds or less to do.  It automatically uses the bleeds settings created within Indesign and can also do very complex impositions too.

          • 2. Re: Business Card 10 up place holder?
            IAmTallAUS Community Member

            "One way of doing it is creating an Indesign document with a file placed 10 times like you do now, then replace the linked file with another one called the same name and in the same location.  Then when you re open the Indesign document it will automatically update, although the original and the new file would have to have the same bleed or crop settings that you used when you placed the file the first time."

             

             

            genius!

             

            never thought of that, even tho I do it most days, never intentionally.

             

            I'll look into the Quite imposing plug in cheers for the tips.

             

            I think the quote above has just saved me a bit of hard work, it's ok for me to do it the old way but we have staff here who aren't clued up in design as much and that will save them a lot of hassle.

            • 3. Re: Business Card 10 up place holder?
              Stix Hart Community Member

              Another way you can use to is the relink button on the links palette, select a link, click that, and make sure 'Relink All Instances' is ticked.  Once again it has to have the same settings etc....

              • 4. Re: Business Card 10 up place holder?
                Eugene Tyson CommunityMVP

                Make a blank image called "Placeholder" or something, and insert the business cards onto the page.

                 

                Then when you want to insert the business cards in place, copy your PDF to the links folder where "Placeholder" is stored.

                 

                Delete placeholder and rename your PDF "Placeholder"

                 

                Relink in InDesign and you're done.

                • 5. Re: Business Card 10 up place holder?
                  P Spier CommunityMVP

                  New in CS5 is an improved step and repeat which allows you to build the whole grid at once. While the re-link method is certainly viable, I tend to use step and repeat myself. It's pretty hard to beat the speed and you don't need to rename anything, which I think is a potential problem in the making.

                  • 6. Re: Business Card 10 up place holder?
                    Eugene Tyson CommunityMVP

                    Yes step and repeat is by far the easiest way.

                     

                    Sidenote:

                    You can do the Grid thing CS3 - although it's an extra step or eleven

                     

                    Say for an 80 mm wide business card on A4

                    1. W: 80mm *3 (constrain with height)

                    2. Then  Fit Content to frame

                    3. Window>Automation>Make Grid

                    4. Insert how many rows/columns

                    5. Delete Original Object

                    6. Select All

                    7. Fit Content to Frame

                    8a. Group each Column

                    8b. Distribute Content (how man mm you need for the gutters, if any?)

                    8c. Ungroup each column, Group each Row

                    8d. Distribute Content (how many mm you need for the gutter of the Rows)

                    • 7. Re: Business Card 10 up place holder?
                      IAmTallAUS Community Member

                      hey, thanks everyone for the advice, much appreciated. This should make running the shop a little bit easier.

                      • 8. Re: Business Card 10 up place holder?
                        Stix Hart Community Member

                        You'll be able to get answers to pretty much all your Indesign and printing related questions on here, it's the only software I've ever come across that's supported like this by it's users, really amazing....  I ask questions and read what's on here mostly, the occasional question like this is up my alley so I contribute by adding my 2c worth then.

                         

                        I still think something like Quite is what you need, for example none of the above addresses how to add trim marks to each card, which is a piece of cake with an impo program.  The way to do it using any of the above is to make sure your placed files have them already (usually would be by exporting from Indesign with them) ot make your own grid of trim marks on the base document.

                        • 9. Re: Business Card 10 up place holder?
                          P Spier CommunityMVP

                          Stix,

                           

                          I have a ten-up template (and an eight-up one too, for bleeds) and I just put the marks right on the template. I put the first card inthe upper left, use step and repeat, and the whole thing is ready to print in less time than it takes me to type this.

                          • 10. Re: Business Card 10 up place holder?
                            Stix Hart Community Member

                            Peter,

                             

                            That's very true, it's fast to use for something like that and I still use Indesign a lot myself for imposition.  But if the business card are a few mm smaller on one edge or there's 50 names it all starts taking longer in Indesign, whereas in Quite it's still just a few clicks.  It all comes down to how much you're doing it as to whether it's worth the $.  You can do anything in Indesign, but Quite literally saves me hours a week.

                            • 11. Re: Business Card 10 up place holder?
                              P Spier CommunityMVP

                              OK, I'll buy that. I was mostly answeringyour question about the trim marks. If things are standardized the template works very fast.

                              • 12. Re: Business Card 10 up place holder?
                                Quite CJ Community Member

                                Hi Andy,

                                I see that we're mentioned (Quite) a few times here so, here is a temporary number so you can test drive Quite Imposing Plus before you purchase.

                                If you have any questions while your test driving it let us know.


                                Quite Imposing Plus V1/V2
                                  Expires end 7/2010  Serial 2683-1727-4016-9433  Code 6064

                                 

                                Also, once loaded... Please Check out Getting Started tech sheet. Go to our Imposition Control Panel and click on the ? button.....then click the Getting Started button. Also, lots of good information on signature setups, Step-by-step Instructions and New features.

                                 

                                 

                                 

                                 

                                 

                                cheers,

                                Charles

                                 

                                 

                                 

                                 

                                Charles James

                                Quite Software

                                USA

                                1527 Law Street

                                San Diego, California 92109

                                858.581.9143

                                 

                                 

                                • 13. Re: Business Card 10 up place holder?
                                  BobLevine CommunityMVP

                                  You do realize that you just posted that serial number to the forums, right?

                                   

                                  Bob

                                  • 14. Re: Business Card 10 up place holder?
                                    Quite CJ Community Member

                                    Hi Bob,

                                    Yes, it's just a temporary one, which dies at the end of July.

                                     

                                    cheers,

                                    Charles