Want to get started right away mass producing barcodes with DataLinker and BarcodeMaker? Here are some steps to get the simplest case working as a starting point.
- Create a data source in DataLinker with the data you want to encode. Here's how.
- In the DataLinker palette, right click on the field that has the data and choose "Edit field". This will bring up the "Field Options" dialog.
- In the "Field Options" dialog, make it a barcode field and assign the data matrix barcode to the field. We also recommend choosing the "Fit frame to content" option. Here's more detail on barcode settings.
- Create a new document.
- Create a text frame.
- Select the text tool and click on the text frame. The text cursor should now be flashing in the text frame.
- Double click on the DataLinker field. This should cause that field to appear in a barcode in the text frame.
An example: after inserting a barcode into a text frame - Insert a column break after the anchored barcode in the text frame. Here's how to do that.
- Show the PatternMaker palette and select a the barcode using the selection tool (the black arrow). The settings for the barcode show in the PatternMaker palette. Make any adjustments you'd like to see on all the barcodes you want to generate.
- Change to the text selection tool and select everything in the text frame.
An example: after selecting everything in the text frame with the text selection tool
- Choose DataLinker > Merge. Select the records you want to merge and click OK
- The records should merge, with a new page for each record.
From here, there are lots of possibilities. You can:
- Merge over linked frames, each separated by a column break, and put different data in each frame.
- Link text frames over different pages. When you merge, DataLinker will copy all the pages for each record. So if you have a multi-page brochure, you can use DataLinker to produce it.
- Combine data from the data source with static, non-changing content you put in manually.
Tip: put the content that doesn't change on a master page. Merging will be faster. - Style all your text and graphics with the InDesign tools you're familiar with. DataLinker will preserve your formatting.
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