Barcodes in Adobe InDesign Data Merge
- This tutorial shows how to create barcodes in Adobe InDesign using an Excel file as data source.
Step 1. Create barcodes in Excel
- Click on Addins > Code 128 Options.
- Select Code 128 A, Code 128 B, or Code 128 C. This ensures our barcodes are created with only one font.
- Do not select Code 128 Auto.
- Close the window.
- Open the Excel file with data to convert or enter the values. Our example has the following data:
- Using your mouse, select the cells to convert to barcodes.
- Click on Selection To Barcodes.
Step 2. Save the file in CSV UTF-8 (Comma Delimited) format
- Click on File > Save As
- For InDesign versions older than 2022 Select CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) and enter the name of the file: Mail Merge Data.csv.
- For exporting for use in Macintosh or for InDesign 2022, select "Unicode Text (*.txt)".
- Close EXCEL. Otherwise, InDesign will not import the file.
- Contents of our saved file:
Step 3. Start Data Merge in Adobe InDesign
- Click Window > Utilities > Data Merge
Step 4. Select Data Source
- Right-click the panel menu icon and click Select Data Source...
NOTE! Close EXCEL before importing the file. If the file is open, InDesign won't open it.
- Browse for the file we saved in step 2 and click Open.
- The fields are now shown in the Data Merge panel.
Step 5. Add Data Fields to label
- Drag the field names onto the label area.
Step 6. Set Barcode Font
- Select the Barcode field on the label and change its Font Name to BCW_Code128B_2 and Size to 24 pt
Step 7. Create the Merged Document
- Click on the Create Merged Document button at the bottom of the panel.
- Select which records to merge and click OK. We are selecting All Records here.
Ready!
- The Merge is now complete.
