Vision Memo Field Formatting in Adobe InDesign Merge Templates

Some of the formatting for text in Vision memo fields that you add to Adobe InDesign merge templates is controlled by the Vision Text Editor, whereas other formatting is controlled by InDesign.

Formatting that Is Controlled by the Vision Text Editor

When you create an Adobe InDesign merge template in Vision and you select a Vision memo field (text box field) in the Field drop-down list on the Merge Code dialog box, the Format section on the Merge Code dialog box says "No format options available for this field." Instead, the formatting is controlled by the formatting choices that you make in either the Vision Text Editor or in InDesign.

The following text formatting that you apply directly to text in Vision memo field on the Vision Text Editor dialog box carries through and displays on InDesign merged documents:

• Bolding
• Bullets
• Indentation
• Italics
• Numbering
• Underlining

Although bolding and italics come from the Text Editor, they may not be applied in the merged document if the font that you use in the template does not have an option for bolding or italics.

Formatting that You Can Control from within InDesign

You can control the following formatting attributes for text in Vision memo fields from within InDesign when you create a merge template:

• Case (if you want to use small caps)
• Color
• Columns
• Drop caps
• Font face (family)
• Font size
• Hyphenation
• Justification
• Keep Options
• Kerning (adjusting the spacing between characters)
• Leading
• Space before or after a paragraph

When you apply this formatting in InDesign, it overrides the formatting from the Vision memo field.

Paragraph Styles Applied in InDesign

Attributes, such as bullets and numbering, from Vision memo fields may or may not be retained in an InDesign merged document when you apply paragraph styles in InDesign.

• When you apply a paragraph style to a Vision memo field merge code in InDesign and that paragraph style is compatible with the Vision Text Editor, the bullets and numbering may still appear for the memo field in a merged document. If the paragraph style is not compatible, the attributes will be stripped from the memo field in a merged document.
• When you do not apply a paragraph style to a Vision memo field merge code in InDesign, the paragraph style of the merge text will be "basic paragraph." This means that the bullets and numbering from the Vision Text Editor will be retained and displayed in a merged document. However, if the font is not compatible with the bullets and numbering, the bullets and numbering will not display correctly in a merged document.

Text Quantity

Vision memo fields can include a large amount of text, so it is possible for the merged data to exceed the allotted space in an InDesign text frame in a merged document. If this happens, you can manually adjust the text in the merged InDesign document. To allow larger quantities of memo field text to flow automatically onto the next page of a merged document, you can create a second page with another text frame and link the two when you create the merge template.