Multiple ad workflow help. PLEASE!

[jamesmurphy]

Our studio produces a variety of ads for a large boat manufacturer, however these ads are taking up more and more time to put through as we are now producing around 5/10 a day. Now this isn't to much of a hassle for the Brand awareness ads which just have to be sized and the correct contact details inserted, however for the Brokerage style ads which contain loads of boats it can be very time consuming... And I just think there must be a better way of organising my work flow through the studio.

We currently receive all the text from another department in Word format, which we then cut and paste each section into the relevant InDesign ad file. However I'm sure there is a way we can use Excel linked to InDesign?

We have lots of Ad master templates for each publications pre-sized and setup, so we just copy / rename the file and insert the new content each time. Some boats may just have a price change from last months ad, and others will be completely new.

Please excuse my terminologies in the above, I've come from a create background and IT is not my strong point!

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[zbphill]

Try

http://www.65bit.com/products/easycatalog/overview/overview.shtm

I use it and it saves me days of work.
It takes an Exel file and imports info & pictures into indesign.
But It is expensive, cost $1300, but they do have other versions, a little cheaper.

Or
Try Indata, it's cheaper but it will take you longer to figure the software out. (more codeing)

Both have a 30 day trail.

 

[jcape]

I tried using Excel to do this and it can be done but if you have to update the information, any formating done in ID will be lost. You can set up templates to link text and graphics with xml tags. Its free but it will be a little more involved than using a plugin.

There is a good article on some benefits of xml here:

http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2004/08/04/indesign.html