Catalog Merge
Create catalogs from the data in a Google Sheet
With this Ultradox automation you can automate the creation of your catalogs. Ultradox uses data stored in a Google Sheet to create a catalog in PDF format.
Configuration
After copying the example to your Google Drive (My Drive), you will find the following files and folders in the Catalog Merge project folder:
The Ultradox automation Catalog Merge, the Google Sheet Products, the Google Docs template Catalog Template and the Catalogs folder.
Catalog Merge (Ultradox automation)
Ultradox loads the data with the help of the Load row(s) building block and passes it to the Generate PDF building block. This links the data with the Google Docs template Catalog Template.
Products (Google Sheet)
Open the Google Sheet Products and enter the appropriate content for your listing in the corresponding columns.
Catalog template (Google Docs)
Open the Google Docs template Catalog Template.
This template only consists of two pages:
the first page is the title page of the catalog, the second page contains the template from which the individual catalog pages are generated.
Design the title as you like and customize content and appearance. Be careful not to delete the last line of the first page, which is part of the foreach loop of the second page.
A foreach loop creates a section in the catalog for each row in the document.
In our example, the loop on the first page begins with the expression ${foreach rows row}
and then creates a page break.
In this way, each created section starts on a new page!
On the second page follow the further lines of the template from which the individual pages of your catalogue are created. The result can be previewed.
Change the appearance of the variable lines in font, font size and font color, but not their syntax.
Ultradox creates the entries in the PDF document with the help of the variables. Therefore, make sure not to change the variables unintentionally.
Familiarize yourself with working with variables if you want to add more placeholders, conditions, or loops to your contract.
Preview
Open the Ultradox automation Catalog Merge to create a preview of your catalog.
Select the Generate PDF building block in the automation and click on the preview button located on the top right of the block. Ultradox will then generate a preview in a new browser window.
If you are satisfied with the result, you are ready to generate your catalog.
Run
Open the Ultradox Automation Catalog Merge and click on the Run button in the Automation menu bar. Ultradox then creates a PDF document of your catalog and archives the document in the folder called Catalogs.
That's it! You have successfully automated the production of your catalogues.
Questions and Feedback
If you have any comments on this page, feel free to add suggestions right to the Google document that we are using to create this site.
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Last Updated: 6/15/20