Using Variable Data Merge in Adobe Illustrator

If you have hundreds, or THOUSANDS of graphics to create with the same layout, variable data merge might be the way to go. Learn how to set up one document to pull variables from a spreadsheet in this video!

My recording setup:
Recording software: Quicktime
Editing software: Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects

If you're interested in other graphic design video topics, check out some of these:

➝ PASSIVE INCOME

➝ ILLUSTRATOR

➝ INDESIGN

➝ PHOTOSHOP

➝ GRAPHIC DESIGN

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[Woodgal]

Ohhhh my goodness, what a huge blessing to find your how-to video! This is going to save hours….no, DAYS of work for me! Thank you, thank you!

[marcolucadano]

Anne, this is the the best tutorial on how to use variable data in Illustrator! Thank you, thank you! What a difference when a seasoned graphic designer brings her talents, this was so easy to follow and worked like a charm on the 1st try. I am soooo glad I found your channel. Thanks again!

[beaktama]

thank you so much for the batch saving part. I was reading and watching so many tuts on batch saving and none of them actually explained it properly! lifesaver!

[hasankelepir]

Anne, this has been the most useful tip I've ever learnt about Illustrator. I used to produce the files in Illustrator, paste them in Word and then use the Mailing function to add variables. Thank you for your share!

[GRANITE-EDUCATION]

So glad someone did a video on variables, this is so cool!

[temitopeaileru]

I've really suffered designing certificates before finally seeing this tutorial. Thank you.

[glitzyprints]

Yours was the third tutorial I watched on this and the only one I could get to actually work- thank you so much!!

[KevBotWorkshop]

You're an MVP for this.. Is there a way to independently edit? When you resized it, it resized on all of them... what if you wanted it resized on just one of them

[Chris-lxun]

you have no idea how much time you just saved me. thanks! ♥️♥️

[RedFalconInk]

This was a great help with one of our projects, thanks so much!

[OliviaMcDonald-ko]

Hi Anne, this is such a great, clear tutorial. I'd love to ask: how do you manage/edit your text layout individually per artwork type, once it is in the Illustrator document? I'm working on something at the moment that has one description longer than the other three, and I'd like to have a line break to break them into two paragraphs per artwork, but I can't figure out how. I tried adding them as two separate data variables, which worked, but then because of the quantity of text being different, there was too much space... any solutions?! Thanks, Olivia

[deploylearning]

Great video! Super easy to follow. Thanks!

[suryagraphic-ilustrasi]

THANK YOU SOOO MUCH, I WAS HAVING HARD TIME SOLFING THE CSV FILE PROBLEM, OMG THAK YOU

[tonnatang]

It's the best tutorial i found about variable data. This video saved me tons of time. I have one question. Is there anyway we can change the name of the data set? Otherwise, all exported files are named data set 1, data set Can we define the name of all data set by the data in variable1?

[josephfconti]

What an incredibly useful feature. Thanks for sharing!

[Artistramd]

Great tutorial! Which would you say is better (and/or easier) to use for Data Merge, InDesign or Illustrator? Thank you!

[Nick_NickH]

Hello,

This is a brilliant video; really helpful. I have a quick question about variables which hopefully you may know the answer to!

Do you know if you can use variables with multipage PDFs on Illustrator?

At the moment I can only get variables to import single-page PDFs, it will not work with multipage ones? It just comes back with errors and does not import the file.

Thanks.

[GhostBoy-dpck]

wow Anne. for years i have been doing this the hard way. thank you . new subie

[rnnieM]

Excellent video! I'm just trying this now, using Excel, and i'm unable to put the @ in the column title for images. What do you need to do in Excel for images?

[sarajitsil]

Very helpful tutorial. Thanks for making it. I am your new subscriber now.