Adding Image Links or QR Codes Using the Data Merge

In this video segment, we will look at two of InDesign Data Merge’s lesser known features. They are the ability to add images or photographs as part of a mass merge and the option of adding a QR code that you can scan with your barcode reader or an app on your smartphone. The process of adding these two options is a bit more advanced than just working with text and styles, so make sure that you are comfortable with working with the previous files in past segments before you continue.

First, let’s talk about photos. Let’s use the file found– File, Open– in the Images folder. And you can find that in part 2, Multiple Images. And we’re using the file called Business Cards 10 Up Images Start InDesign file. Clicking Open.

As you can see, it is basically the same as the business cards that were used in other multiple merge segments. However, this time, I have drawn an empty frame with the Rectangle Frame tool with a stroke of 1 point. This is where I want to add the employee’s photo.

Normally, when I add a photo for a business card, I would use File, Place, then locate the image and click Open. This loads the image into the frame. However, this presents a problem with the Data Merge.

As you can see, when I go to the Data Merge to create a merge document and I click Preview, I have the same photo for every card. And this is something I do not want. I want each image to be unique, a photo of each employee.

Click Cancel here for a moment. To get out of this state, I will Edit, Undo, and then I will click on the Selection tool to cancel or unload the image from the cursor. For the Data Merge to work with images, we need an Image or a Photo field.

Now let’s look at the Excel file called EmployeeListPhotos.xlsx Excel file. You can find this in the Images folder. For your file, in a case like this, you need to add a new column for your Excel file called @Photos. The @ symbol will alert the Data Merge panel that this is an image link.

In Excel, to prevent it from thinking this heading is a formula, you need to add an apostrophe, and then @, and then the word “Photos.” While this will not show up when viewing the heading or when you convert to a CSV, you can see that the comma is present when I click on the heading cell.

Below the heading, you need to add a link or a path for that image. Yours will be different than mine. It is very important that you add the exact link of the image, or in the Data Merge, there will be a warning and the image will not appear in the merge. It is also a good idea to keep all the images in one folder so that you can locate them. I would also recommend keeping the image size and resolution the same for all images for optimum uniformity.

For the Windows or Mac computer, one of the easiest ways to find the path to a folder is to temporarily place an image on a page in InDesign. File, Place, Open. And then look at the Links panel in the Info section. If we look under Path, we can find the path here.

Once you know the path name, you can then right-click on it and choose to copy. And look for the full path. And then return to Excel. And then right-click on that cell and choose Paste. This will copy the full path into the cell of your Excel file.

You can then copy it to other cells and then adjust the last part of the path with a unique file name so that all the links are correct. Make sure when you do this to include the file type extension. In this case, it is a JPEG.

When you’re done working on your Excel file, make sure to File, Save. And then save the file as a CSV comma delimited, as you saw in the first segment. After you are done, close any open Excel files.

Returning to InDesign, you can see that my data source is already linked in the Data Merge panel to a CSV. I now have a new icon in the Data Merge panel for the heading field Photos. With my Direct Selection tool, I then select the frame. Then in the Data Merge panel, I click once on the Photo field, and the Photos field is added. And you can see that when you’re in normal view. And I’ll switch back to preview.

When I click the Preview button in the Data Merge panel, now instead of a text link, it has changed into a photo link. And when I cycle through all my links, if they are correct, I will see a new image each time– one for each record. If I’m happy with the placement of the image, I can go to the Create Merged Document or Export to PDF. However, if you find you’re having an issue with image placement, one area you can go to in the menu is the Content Placement Options.

As you create the merge, you can also find this exact same panel under the Create Merged Document dialog box in the Options tab. It will allow you to adjust the placement of the image better to fit the frame. And you can observe this while the preview in the dialog box is checked. I can change my options from the dropdown menu.

However, remember that this is affecting all the images in the same way. So that is why uniformity of image sizes and resolution is so important. As you saw with the business cards in past multiple merges, you can then export the file as a PDF and then email the file to your printer. This time, all the business cards in the record will have an employee photo.

The second option that you could include is a QR code. This is a code, like a barcode, that can be read by your barcode reader or an app that you have on your smartphone. It will then add a simple message, which could be in the form of plain text, a web hyperlink, text message, email, or business card information. As with an image in InDesign, you can create a single QR code one at a time. But you need to use the Data Merge to insert a unique QR code for each card. I go into more detail about this in my book.

To get started, let me show you how you can, in Excel, set up a QR code setting for plain text. Let’s go back to the Excel file EmployeeListPhotos.xlsx.

For this heading of a QR code, you need to add a heading with a number symbol or hash symbol. As with the Photo heading, you will also need to add an apostrophe first to prevent Excel from thinking it is a formula. And so type ‘#QRCode. It will then appear without the apostrophe when you click away from the field. Then you can type your plain text message below.

In your Excel file, once you are done, you would then save the file. And then File, Save As a CSV comma delimited, as you saw in the first segment, and then close any open Excel files.

Returning to InDesign, you can see that my Data Merge field is linked to a CSV file and that it has a field icon for the QR codes. If your frame is not yet filled with an image, you can use the steps that I showed earlier to add an image to the frame. However, this field is already present with an image in the frame. So in this case, we want to replace it with a QR code.

So in this case, just select the field with your Direct Selection tool. And then in the Data Merge panel, click the QR code once to replace it. As you did with the image, you can then preview the QR code and cycle through to make sure that all the records are appearing. You can then save the file and export it as a PDF, as you saw with other multiple merges.