🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <27499df1-fa8a-4d5f-99c8-104a4cc4938a@googlegroups.com>,
bluesbrothers16@gmail.com wrote:
> On Wednesday, January 16, 2013 6:25:51 PM UTC-6, Helpful Harry wrote:
> > In article <e74d74a2-dfe2-4884-b5c3-b749d2f68a62@googlegroups.com>,
> > bluesbrothers16@gmail.com wrote:
> >
> > > Anyone have any more suggestions on this?  I'm trying to automate 50-100
> > > charts but all i see is pp/excel ---> pdf ----> Illustrator ----> ID
> > >
> > > I don't care what format but is there a way to automate charts in ID?
> > > I can create csv or tab deliminated as inputs if necessary.
> > 
> > I don't know an easy way to import Excel charts, but why are you going 
> > via Illustrator? InDesign can import PDFs directly.
> > 
> > You could try these links from Google:
> > 
> >    Getting a chart from Excel to InDesign - YouTube
> >    <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DtyBNpBbMcI0>
> > 
> >    Import Excel data, charts, graphs | InDesign 2.x, CS, CS2
> >    <http://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/kb/import-excel-data-charts-graphs.ht=
> ml>=20
> > 
> >    Charts & Graphics from MS Office to InDesign =BB Creative Progression
> > <http://www.creativeprogression.com/charts-graphics-from-ms-office-to-ind=
> esign/>
> 
> Thank you Harry for the information.  The pdf is for Vectors which allow 
> for very high resolution.  

Creating a PDF may not mean you get vector graphics - it depends on the
application being used and the software used to create the PDF. For
example, on my old computer here, using Mac OS X's built-in "print to PDF"
converts anything more difficult than standard text into bitmap imagery. 
:o(



> I'm not sure why illustrator before ID.  It's just what i've seen people 
> do, such as the youtube link.  I'm going to try that and see if it's still
> vector.

Just opening the PDF into Ilustrator and re-saving it won't do anything to
change bitmap images to vector images, nor the other way around. In fact
it won't do anything useful (other than perhaps remove some excess
Microsoft created garbage in the document), which is why it's just a
wasted step as far as I can see.

The exception could be if you're using Illustrator to convert the Excel
PDFs into CMYK colours for proper printing, but even then InDesign has the
oiption of converting images when creating the final PDF (although I
haven't checked to see if that includes imported PDFs).

The only other reason I can think of for opening the PDFs in Illustrator
is if you need to make some editing tweaks (e.g. adjusting the colours
from Excel into corporate specific colours).




> I'm not tied to excel so the chart we used up to this point were created in
> illustrator.  I need to mimick them as much as possible.  I'll try the pdf
> to ID option as well if I can get the Excel graph to look right.

Creating the charts in Illustrator is probably a better idea. For simple
bar / column charts I just create them directly in InDesign itself. Once
I've created one I can group all the elements, and then copy / paste it
where ever I need another bar / column chart and simply alter the length
of the bars / columns or height of the columns. Of course, this isn't
"live" data which automatically updates, but then neither are charts from
Excel or illustrator.

Using Excel (or Apple's Numbers on a Mac) does make making charts easier
... although the newer versions of Excel actually make it more difficult
than it used to be. :o(

There is evidently a plug-in for InDesign to create charts, but it's aimed
at professional print / design companies and costs a whopping US$3,000!!

If you're only needing fairly simple pie charts, then there is this free
plug-in for InDesign CS4 or CS5.
<http://www.indiscripts.com/post/2010/06/claquos2-pie-chart-builder-for-indesign>


Helpful Harry   :o)