This would be great for large documents like catalogs.
We were looking into using a web based CMS to keep track of content (typo3) then exporting XML from the CMS to InDesign to produce printed publications and pdfs. Adobe's documentation was limited and it started to look like it would end up being a pretty brittle system if used on a complex document.
I would love to hear some success stories on the topic.
Thomas Green. I would love to contact you regarding a catalog project I need help with. I want to use xml data to build inDesign tables automatically. Anyone else who might be able to help should call as well.
I'm a total rookie when it comes to XML but am quickly understanding its power. In your business card example you mention the ability to include a different graphic with each employee. Can you expand on this? I imagine there's a way to get an XML file to refer to an image (jpg? pdf? other?) which would then be embedded into a preformatted box in the .indd -- buy what does the XML code look like? Simple unix style (../images/graph1.jpg)? Thank you very much, by the way, for this thorough and easy to follow introduction to XML. -Matt
Indesign XML works very well with dynamically loading images.
I am using Indsign 2.0 and the following works fine.
In Indesign:
Design the layout with a rectangle frame (the one with a cross on it), right click, define the contents as graphic and give it a tag name ie Image1.
In XML file:
Define the tag for Image1 with a href attribute:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<Root>
<Tag1>My New Product</Tag1>
<Tag2>Buy this and you never need anything else again</Tag2>
<Tag3>This Product gives you the following benifites</Tag3>
<image1 href="file:///C:/images/1380.jpg" />
</Root>
There are suppliers who offer these kind of functionality. Look at www.mycatt.com, web-based Network Publishing solution. Mycatt links with Indesign and Quark to offer automated DTP and generate high ress publications and pdf's.
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