![]() Just install the Plug-in and use File > WordsFlow > Place with WordsFlow and proceed using the normal Place dialog. WordsFlow doesn’t require any special configuration or extra steps to do its magic. (called a “merge-update.”) So you never lose any of your hard work, while WordsFlow saves you hours of manual merge drudgery. (For example, you can double-click on the link-changed status icon.) WordsFlow then kicks in, and, instead of replacing the placed story wholesale, it magically merges the changes in the new file contents with all the existing changes to the current InDesign story. When you or anyone else updates that file (locally or in a shared-file situation), InDesign will notice that the link’s source has changed, and allow you to update it using the usual mechanisms. When you place the original Word or Excel file (or any text file), WordsFlow asks InDesign to keep a link to the file. In either case, you end up wasting a lot of time in a highly error-prone process. Or, if you’re more sophisticated, you might run some kind of file-difference utility, and go through each difference, manually editing the InDesign story to match, and scratching your head a lot. In the past, you might bite your tongue and simply re-place the story, losing all your hard work, then go through and manually make all the same changes you made before, hoping you’re not forgetting something (and likely losing that bet). Then, the author or your editor sends you another version of the file, and expects you to figure out what changed, and weave those changes into what you hoped was the final story. An author sends you a story via email or file-sharing, and you’ve placed it in your InDesign publication, fixing typos, changing formatting, adding and deleting text, etc. If you use InDesign for production, you already know the pain point. New data in Excel? You need only hit ‘Update in InDesign’ and it merges the tables together, even if you’ve made edits to the data on your InDesign page! (Note that Em already has a lot of experience with linking directly to databases and spreadsheets because of their pro-level InCatalog product.) That means you can place a spreadsheet as a table. WordsFlow also works with Excel spreadsheets. ![]() This spares you the pain, frustration and inevitable mistakes involved in hand-merging changes. WordsFlow does this by “merge-updating” from changed Word or Excel files, rather than letting InDesign just re-import over all your work. WordsFlow for InDesign – Auto-merge linked Word/Excel files for production bliss
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