Create your labels in InDesign easily and automatically
Omnipresent in our daily lives, labels need to be impactful and subtly reflect a brand’s identity. In fact, labels play a decisive role in product selection, and this trend isn’t slowing down anytime soon. According to the latest figures from the Marketing Smithers Pira institute, the global label market will continue to grow by 4% per year through 2024, reaching $49.90 billion.
Thanks to Desktop Publishing (DTP), new creation processes have emerged in the promising label market… Let’s focus on the EasyCatalog solution, which allows you to work directly within your usual design tool: InDesign.
Label creation: often a complex step
Labeling comes in many forms: from RFID tags to barcodes and laminated cards. Label creation applies to a wide range of industries, all highly diverse than the next: retail, logistics, manufacturing, cosmetics, and more.
Despite this diversity, they all share one common point: the label creation process, which is often complex. However, this can be simplified. Many companies do not fully take advantage of the opportunities offered by DTP, even though it is perfectly capable of meeting their specific needs.
EasyCatalog: a solution to label creation challenges
EasyCatalog is an add-on module for InDesign. Recognized worldwide, this tool enables automated document layout (product sheets, catalogs, price lists, directories, labels, etc.). This plug-in links your product data source (Excel file, ERP, PIM, etc.) to your InDesign document. Product data is then automatically imported into your layout, specifically into the areas where you have placed dynamic product fields. Hundreds of labels can be created in just a few clicks.
In addition, one of EasyCatalog’s key strength lies in data updating. The module can automatically detect differences between the content of your InDesign document and the data in your source file. Through bidirectional links, updates can be made in both directions: either from the data source to the InDesign document, or from the InDesign document back to the data source. This makes it easy to automatically correct discrepancies by updating your InDesign document accordingly.
What benefits does automated label layout provide?
Automated layout is an innovative alternative to the “traditional” process still used in some companies, where designers manually copy and paste data. Unlike that workflow, automation is far less time-consuming and burdensome: no more lengthy proofreading, copy-paste errors, or constant back-and-forth between different software tools. Creating dynamic links between your data source and your InDesign document ensures that your product information remains constantly up to date on your labels.
Can I edit the labels myself after automation?
EasyCatalog’s automated layout does not prevent you from revising the design or layout of your labels. If you’re a perfectionist at heart, you can manually adjust elements directly in InDesign.
Once this step is complete, the labels simply need to be associated with their respective products.
Need to urgently update label information? Modify it directly in your data source to automatically apply the changes to your InDesign document.
Are you interested in label layout automation and wondering whether it applies to your case? Take the “Is your document automatable?” test to find out.
