MS Access to InDesign with Photos

[yannigogolak]

Hello there, I am looking to build a catalog with various fields. That seems easy enough reading what I have read. But the kicker for me is including photos that are not stored in the Access database.

Also, how do I get the data into InDesign? Do I need to export from Access any certain way and then populate or should I just use a plug-in?

I am a newbie with this task but not with InDesign. I have advanced skills with most of Adobe CS3 but I just don't have the time to learn this on my own. I figure you folks are the best resource around!

 

[eugenetyson]

Are you looking to retain the link with Access?

This seems like a massive project, you should look into XML workflows, there's an excellent book out there called "A Designers Guide to InDesign and XML"

There's also great videos at theindesigner.com that deal with databases.

I think I would write a book on how to do this, that's why I'm not going to spend time writing how to do it.

One way you could do it is to export it as a PDF.

Then you have all the access records.

Then use the Recosoft plugin PDF2ID which costs a few bucks then open the PDF right into indesign. Of course now you don't have it linked to the data base. You'd have massive amounts of Redesign to do.

It's not a pretty task, but if you want it all linked into a singular database, use XML workflow, or at least the Data Merge in InDesign.

I can guide you on certain parts of this project, but I could spend a long time writing a step by step tutorials.

Please feel free to ask more questions.

 

[yannigogolak]

I am not necessarily looking to retain the link with Access, but I am looking to update frequently, to the point of having fields that would denote exclusion altogether.

I am conflicted with the updating though. I do want to update from Access to InDesign but not always update backwards. But then again, I don't want to rebuild the whole catalog just to update one line. So the editing in InDesign is essiential.