We have a PageMaker document that has variable data in it that is pulled from an Excel file. We would like to add a pie chart to the document and have it driven from the Excel file also. Is this possible in Pagemaker?
Placing OLE into PM is risky at best. PM does not play well with Excel spreadsheets or any kind of tables, and if you have not yet had a problem, chances are you will.
The best methods for placing Excel tables, and this would apply for the garph also is to create either a PDF or an EPS and place those.
PDF Method:
Print a .PRN file of the table from Word or Excel.
Use Distiller to distill the .PRN to PDF.
Place the PDF in your PageMaker document.
The table essentially becomes a graphic; if you make changes to the table, you will need to create a new .prn then redistill to PDF and replace in PM. This works great for single color documents and outputs perfectly to high-end postscript devices. If your table contains color, I cannot vouch for what will happen with CMYK separations.
EPS Method:
Select and Copy the table from Word or Excel and Paste into Illustrator (or Paste Special into CorelDRAW, which is reported to work better for this procedure).
Save as a CMYK EPS
Place this EPS in PageMaker.
This is probably the most straightforward and high-end-output-friendly, since the EPS will separate CMYK.
Another approach is to "print" a .prn file of the table, change the extension from .prn to .ps, then open this file with Illustrator, which you can then save as EPS.
Either of these methods should work for you. Unfortunately, these methods do nmot allow for auto-updating of the images if the originals are changed.
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