An old article for Adobe Illustrator 10.
http://www.adobe.com/uk/designcenter/illustrator/articles/ill10datadrvn.html
Some design tasks are tedious and repetitive (like creating dozens of related Web banners or designing business cards for 800 employees). With data-driven graphics,Adobe® Illustrator® 10 lets designers and developers collaborate to generate highly formatted graphics automatically. In this new workflow, designers focus their time and talent on designing, rather than cutting and pasting, and developers control the links between a template and its content. Follow along and learn how you can use data-driven graphics to streamline the design process.
1. DESIGN A TEMPLATE.
Create a basic design to use as a template. The template must have one or more of the following objects: a linked image, a text object, a graph, or an object that will be visible or hidden. Later in this tutorial, you’ll use variables to make these objects dynamic (changeable) and create different versions of the design. But for now, just think of these objects as placeholders.
We designed a template for business cards, in which the name, title, image, address, phone number, fax number, e-mail address, and URL are objects that will be dynamic.
2. ASSIGN VARIABLES TO OBJECTS IN THE TEMPLATE.
Select an object you want to make dynamic. (Again, the object must be a linked image, a text object, a graph, or an object that will be visible or hidden.) Then click the Make Object Dynamic button or the Make Visibility Dynamic button in the Variables palette. Clicking the Make Object Dynamic button creates a Linked File variable, a Text String variable, or a Graph Data variable, depending on the object that was selected. Clicking the Make Visibility Dynamic button creates a Visibility variable.
The type of variable you create determines which attributes of the object are changeable. For example, you can use a Text String variable to change the string of text in a text object. In our business card template, we assigned a Linked File variable to the image, and Text String variables to the name, title, and contact information.
3. CREATE A DATA SET AND EXPORT A VARIABLE LIBRARY.
Click the Capture Data Set button in the Variables palette to capture a snapshot of the changeable data currently displayed on the artboard. Then choose Save Variable Library from the Variables palette menu.
Now the design work is finished and the variable library can be handed off to a developer.
4. HAND OFF THE VARIABLE LIBRARY TO A DEVELOPER.
There are many ways to automate the production process using a variable library. For example, a developer can use the variable library to link variables and data sets to a database, and write a script to render the final artwork.
We didn’t need such a sophisticated solution to generate our business cards. We simply opened the variable library (which is an XML file) in a text editor and edited the original code to define additional data. Next, we’ll import the variable library into the template, and use a batch process to render the final graphics.
5. IMPORT THE EDITED VARIABLE LIBRARY INTO THE TEMPLATE.
Back in Illustrator, choose Load Variable Library from the Variables palette menu, and load the edited variable library.
Our template now has 22 data sets. We viewed each business card by clicking the Next Data Set button in the Variables palette. We’ll use a batch process to save each business card. But first, we have to create an action that saves the final graphics in the desired format.
6. CREATE AN ACTION TO SAVE THE VARIABLE DESIGNS.
Display the Actions palette, and click the New Action button. Enter a name for the action, and click Record. Save the template in the desired format, then click the Stop button in the Actions palette to stop recording.
We created an action to save the business cards in EPS format.
7. USE A BATCH PROCESS TO RENDER THE FINAL GRAPHICS.
Choose Batch from the Actions palette menu. For Action, choose the action you recorded in Step 6. For Source, choose Data Sets. For Destination, choose None, and select a file naming option for the rendered graphics (File + Number, File + Data Set Name, or Data Set Name). If you want to save the rendered graphics in a location other than the one you recorded in the action, select Override Action “Save” Commands, click the Choose button, and select a new location. Finally, click OK to start the batch process.
This is just a simple example of how you can create data-driven graphics. Other options include using Adobe’s server-based product, Adobe AlterCast™ or Adobe GoLive® to generate data-driven graphics from an Illustrator template.
8. HAND OFF THE VARIABLE LIBRARY TO A DEVELOPER.
There are many ways to automate the production process using a variable library. For example, a developer can use the variable library to link variables and data sets to a database, and write a script to render the final artwork.
We didn’t need such a sophisticated solution to generate our business cards. We simply opened the variable library (which is an XML file) in a text editor and edited the original code to define additional data. Next, we’ll import the variable library into the template, and use a batch process to render the final graphics.
9. IMPORT THE EDITED VARIABLE LIBRARY INTO THE TEMPLATE.
Back in Illustrator, choose Load Variable Library from the Variables palette menu, and load the edited variable library.
Our template now has 22 data sets. We viewed each business card by clicking the Next Data Set button in the Variables palette. We’ll use a batch process to save each business card. But first, we have to create an action that saves the final graphics in the desired format.
10. CREATE AN ACTION TO SAVE THE VARIABLE DESIGNS.
Display the Actions palette, and click the New Action button. Enter a name for the action, and click Record. Save the template in the desired format, then click the Stop button in the Actions palette to stop recording.
We created an action to save the business cards in EPS format.
11. USE A BATCH PROCESS TO RENDER THE FINAL GRAPHICS.
Choose Batch from the Actions palette menu. For Action, choose the action you recorded in Step 6. For Source, choose Data Sets. For Destination, choose None, and select a file naming option for the rendered graphics (File + Number, File + Data Set Name, or Data Set Name). If you want to save the rendered graphics in a location other than the one you recorded in the action, select Override Action “Save” Commands, click the Choose button, and select a new location. Finally, click OK to start the batch process.
This is just a simple example of how you can create data-driven graphics. Other options include using Adobe’s server-based product, Adobe AlterCast™ or Adobe GoLive® to generate data-driven graphics from an Illustrator template.
