Release: InData 2.18 for InDesign 2020-2022

May 9, 2022 by car

This release adds high resolution previews for auto-downloaded pictures and support for QR codes.

Note: The original, May 9th release was replaced on May 17th to fix critical issues that are noted below. Check your product’s About dialog to ensure that you have the most up-to-date version.

Changes

• Adds support for inline, InDesign-native QR codes in a prototype. A QR code found in the prototype is replicated during data import. If the contents of a QR code field exactly matches the name of an InData field or global variable, then that reference is replaced with the current value of that field or global variable before the QR code is generated.

  The name of a referenced field or global variable may, but is not required to, include enclosing chevrons, like «prod_url».

  For example, to add a barcode to your prototype,

  1. Place the text cursor in the prototype where you’d like to insert a barcode.

  2. Use InDesign’s Object > Generate QR Code… to bring up the Generate QR Code dialog.

  3. Select the barcode’s Type and then, instead of entering literal text, enter InData field names for that barcode’s various fields.
     

     (We’ve used optional chevrons around the field name in the Generate dialog to help make it stand out.) During an import, InData will replace the field name with the field’s actual “then” content (just like «put company_url» would).

  4. Click OK to save your changes. InDesign will insert a barcode that will then act as a template for future InData imports.

  If a barcode’s content needs to be constructed “live” (if you don’t have an import field that’s exactly what you need), you can build content in a global variable, like

  «put "http://emsoftware.com/products/" & product_name & "/" into prod_url»

  and then reference that variable («prod_url») in the QR Code dialog.

  Note that QR code images are displayed within normal picture frames that can still be referenced by their index within the prototype using a «set [the] filename of picture to » statement. Be sure to count and name QR code frames just like other inline picture frames in the prototype when mixing QR codes with picture imports. Meaning, if a QR code is inserted before an existing picture frame, you’ll need to change that picture frame’s set filename of picture 1, for example, to set filename of picture 2 (because the inserted QR code’s picture frame is now picture 1).

• Adds Create links for auto-downloaded pictures to the General panel of InData’s Preferences dialog that enables high resolution previews by saving the picture as a local file in a Downloads folder within the document’s parent folder, creating the folder if needed, and then creating a link to that file. If the document has no parent folder (if it’s a new document that hasn’t yet been saved, for example), pictures are saved to the user’s own Downloads folder (~/Downloads) instead.

  

• Adds a Prevent naming collisions option to the General panel of InData’s Preferences dialog which, when enabled, attempts to prevent confusion between like-named internet resources by creating a deep folder structure for all downloaded pictures within the Downloads folder that’s based on the source URL’s host name and path components. For example, the URL

  https://images.pexels.com/photos/10717781.jpeg

  would, if it was actually valid, be saved locally as

  document's-folder/Downloads/images.pexels.com/photos/10717781.jpeg

  For comparison, with the option disabled, the same image would be saved locally as just

  document's-folder/Downloads/10717781.jpeg

  [May 17th, 2022] This option is now enabled by default in new documents for maximum safety.

• Fixes the prototype frame badge drawing in the wrong place. (InDesign 2022 only)

• [May 17th, 2022] Fixes a glitch with the new Prevent naming collisions feature.

• [May 17th, 2022] Fixes a problem with the original release that was causing imports using old-style HFS paths to fail. (macOS only)