Text Flow in multiple Text Frames per page

[Anthony_Paynter@adobeforums.com]

I am recent convert from QuarkXpress, trying to create a catalog using InDesign CS (Windows).

Each page of the catalog contains eight product listings.
Each product listing contains the following items:

Category Name
Product Name
Product Description
Price
Company Name
Part Number

....and also a TIFF image of the product.

I can provide the source data in Tagged Text or XML format, although from what I've read, XML can be very slow.

So far, I have created a Master Page which contains text frames for each of the items listed above. I have "threaded" these together, in the hope that I can add a "Text Frame Break" character into my Tagged Text file. The idea is that I would then "place" the text in the first box, and it would flow into the other boxes accordingly, adding new pages where necessary.

This is an idea of how my Tagged Text would be formatted:

<ASCII-WIN>
<Version:3.000000><FeatureSet:InDesign-Roman><ColorTable:=<Black:COLOR:CMYK:Process:0.000 000,0.000000,0.000000,1.000000>>
<DefineCharStyle:Title=<Nextstyle:Title><cTypeface :Bold><cSize:24.000000><cFont:CG Times>>
<DefineCharStyle:Other=<Nextstyle:Description><cTy peface:Italic><cFont:Franklin Gothic Medium>>

<ParaStyle:><CharStyle:Other>CATEGORY 1<CharStyle:><cNextXChars:Box>
<ParaStyle:><CharStyle:Title>PRODUCT NAME 1<CharStyle:><cNextXChars:Box>
<ParaStyle:><CharStyle:Other>Product 1 is the best product...... blah, blah, blah.<CharStyle:><cNextXChars:Box>
<ParaStyle:><CharStyle:Other>$999<CharStyle:><cNex tXChars:Box>
<ParaStyle:><CharStyle:Other>MyCompany<CharStyle:> <cNextXChars:Box>
<ParaStyle:><CharStyle:Other>#12345678<CharStyle:> <cNextXChars:Box>

<ParaStyle:><CharStyle:Other>CATEGORY 2<CharStyle:><cNextXChars:Box>
<ParaStyle:><CharStyle:Title>PRODUCT NAME 2<CharStyle:><cNextXChars:Box>
etc....

I have two questions, based on this scenario:

1) When I place the tagged text, the text does not flow through all the boxes, only the first on each page. How can I ensure that the text will flow through all of the text frames?

2) I have tried to use the "Insert Inline Graphics" script which seems to work fine in replacing the text with graphics, but it inserts them full size. Is there any way I can get the graphcs into a specific size graphics frame (in each record)?

I'm am also trying to get my head around scripting, but I'm very new to VB and I seem to be getting nowhere fast.

InDesign seems to be a very powerful applications and once I've got over these teething troubles, I think it will save me a great deal of time. Any help would therefore be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks,
Anthony

[kylielindstrom@adobeforums.com]

Hi,

Can anyone help with this text flow problem...

In the past we've created multiple certificates by placing the certificate design on a master page and setting the margins exactly where the name should print on the certificate.

Then on the first page of the document, set the same margins and create a text frame to the size of the margins.

Off to the side of the first page, import a text file containing the names ensuring each name is on a seperate line, but make the text field holding these names too small to fit even one. Click on the text overflow button then shift-click the text frame on the certificate. This causes InDesign to create a new page for each name, hence a certificate for each name! Beautiful.

My dilemma is that I've created a raffle ticket design and to save paper have tiled them 5 to an A4 sheet. Each ticket has a tear-off section and a stub, both of which need to have the same number on them.

My question is, is there a way to flow numbers from say 0001-5000 so that each ticket has the same number twice and so on 5 times down the same page?

For example page one:

0001 0001
0002 0002
0003 0003
0004 0004
0005 0005

For example page two:

0006 0006
0007 0007
0008 0008
0009 0009
0010 0010

And so on....until you reach 5000.

If anyone has any ideas on how to approach this.

Feel free to help out! I'm completely stumped!

Regards,

Kylie