By Cyndie Shaffstall

If any of the projects within this article remind you of a job on which you recently worked, then you are probably intimately familiar with the benefits of Xdata and InData. If you're not, once you read this article, you'll want to be.

Em Software, the manufacturer of Xdata for QuarkXPress and InData for InDesign, touts their products as a mail merge on steroids. I think that definition is an understatement — of huge proportions.

In our screencast and in the images on the pages of this story, you will get a real feel for the power of Xdata. It's not just about importing data, it's about styling that text on import and removing as many manual tasks as possible. Take a look and see for yourself.

Want a quick tour? Click here to check out our new TimeSaver:MoneyMaker Screencast: Xdata for QuarkXPress 7/8 and InData for InDesign CS3/CS4.

While it's true that Xdata and InData can perform mail merges, very much like those within Microsoft® Word®, the term mail merge doesn't even begin to tell the story of Xdata and InData. Either of these products provide full automation of price lists, catalogues, directories, and even one-to-one marketing pieces using your customer data. Scroll down and you'll find a number of samples of actual products. The pictures have been fuzzed out to protect the innocent, but the screen shots are good examples of the different types of projects that can be conquered with a simple extension to your favorite application.

Note: These samples are representations only and may be copyrighted by companies other than X-Ray Magazine.

Product Catalogue The catalogue sample above is for books. It's a typical project for which you will receive all of the benefits of Xdata/InData. First, there are style-sheet changes galore, all handled automatically, then there are the book jacket images that needed to be placed. The document is two-column, and I wanted to ensure that a book description did not break across the column. I managed this through the use of the QuarkXPress paragraph formatting, Keep with Next Paragraph.

Whether you choose Xdata or InData the process is the same: build a sample (prototype) of what you want your data to look like and pass the raw data through the prototype as it flows into text boxes or blocks within the QuarkXPress or InDesign document — all in an automated manner.

 

Calendars A project like this creates a particular challenge. If you created this manually, you could either link text boxes, use tabs, or use the table features. This calendar is included in the data2date set up and is created with linked text boxes. There are style sheets set up for the date, the text, the month, and the year. All style sheets are applied on import and the 12-page calendar is complete in well under a minute.

For a look at writing prototypes and ideas on how to use your customer invoicing data for marketing messages, check out X-Ray Magazine v3n3: Creating Personalized Customer Notices with Xdata

If that's still a bit abstract, consider this: if you were a product designer and your design had just been picked up by a distributor, you would have to create a sample product — a prototype. This sample would be used by the manufacturer as a reference. The product would be duplicated in different sizes, or perhaps colors, but your sample would set the rules that the manufacturers would follow. I am the first to admit that Xdata and InData might be more than the beginning desktop-publisher should take on, but my math is pretty easy.

Xdata for QuarkXPress	QuarkXPress for QuarkXPress
InData for InDesign	InData for InDesign

Yes, this product is pricey, but it will take me 147 hours to manually create my ______________ (insert project type). I make $ ____ (insert dollars per hour). That means I will cost myself $ _____ (insert total) to complete the FIRST PROOF. Alternatively, I could purchase Xdata for $ ____ (insert the price you paid) and do the job in _____ (insert 1/10 of the time) and save myself $ ____ (insert net savings) and ______ (insert any number above 10) proofing cycles.

Where do I sign?

 

 

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