Build a catalog that flows across pages

You want a catalog, directory, or price list where entries flow across pages and the document grows to fit your data – not one fixed page repeated.

Before you start

• Your data ready to map.
• An idea of how a single entry should look.
• In the Layout area, DataMergeStudio shows whether your layout is compatible with Flow – keep an eye on that indicator as you set things up.

Step 1 – Build the layout block on the pasteboard

In InDesign, build the layout block for one entry on the pasteboard – outside any page. This block is the repeating unit DataMergeStudio flows onto the pages.

📷 Screenshot [NEU]: the layout block sitting on the InDesign pasteboard

Step 2 – Put primary text frames on your master pages

The master pages must contain primary text frames. As content fills, DataMergeStudio adds pages from the master spread, and your entries flow through these primary text frames.

📷 Screenshot [NEU]: a master page with its primary text frame

Step 3 – Set up Layout Flow in the node editor

Switch to the Editor and set up Layout Flow: select the layout block(s) you built and the order they should flow in.

📷 Screenshot [NEU]: the Layout Flow setup in the node editor, with the layout blocks selected

Step 4 – Add breaks where sections start fresh

In the same place where you select the layout blocks, you can add a break. Choose whether the break comes before every block or once before a new group of blocks, and pick the type: Page Break, Column Break, or Frame Break.

📷 Screenshot [NEU]: the break options on the layout block selection

Step 5 – Map your data

Still in the node editor, connect each field of your entry to its data column, exactly as in a normal merge.

📷 Screenshot [NEU]: the entry’s fields mapped to data in the node editor

Step 6 – Export in Flow mode

Open Export → Merge Mode and select Flow. Flow becomes available once your layout is compatible – the indicator in the Layout area tells you when it is.

📷 Screenshot [NEU]: the Merge Mode panel with Flow selected

Step 7 – Preview and validate

Open the Preview (the eye icon, top right) to check the result, then click Validate all records (the button in the bottom-right corner of the workspace) before exporting a long document.

📷 Screenshot [NEU]: preview and validation of the flowing document

Result

A flowing, multi-page publication composed from your data – pages added as needed, sections breaking exactly where you want them.

Related

• Layout Flow
• Primary text frame
• Master spread
• Flow mode
• Master–Detail – for sub-lists within an entry