So… still using (first dowgraded to) 19.3 until this issue is really solved. Don’t want to be a beta tester working with client files and deadlines…

This appears to have been broken again in the latest release version 19.5.

Relative paths are not working, but anything in the immediate same folder does work.

Adobe InDesign v19.4

I have a Data Merge file that pulls from a CSV that does not work on this version of InDesign. I have since reverted back to v19.3 and is working again. Sorry I don't know the technical terms, but the issue was that the image path wasn't reading correctly and looked like it overwrite the path to where the CVS file was. For example instead of ...HD:Image Folder:Xfile it changed it to HD:Downloads:Xfile.

I believe the issue is the new Text to Image feature that is doing something.

on my Mac with MacOS Sanoma 14.5 icw InDesign 2024 version 19.4.0.63 is not working with data merge and images. The path delimiter : is not working anymore. This is critical for me since I work with Data Merge daily.
Same file works flawless in InDesign 2023 regarding te images. Some data fields I have to repair (re-assign).

Thank you for providing the information on the PreRelease. I downloaded this today, but unfortunately, I still have the same issue with the images not displaying. I am able to do this in the process in the old version.

I will send an email with screenshots.

PreRelease v19.5 still doesn't work like in 19.3

Solution:
Switching to POSIX Style!

number,@image
"0001”,”/Volumes/ExternDataVolume/Production/Image/0001.jpg"

I can backup this report, I had to roll back to 19.3 It attempts to fetch all graphics from 'downloads' even if the csv says an absolute folder

After upgrading InDesign to v. 19.4, importing images via Data Merge did not work.

I reverted to v. 19.3 and it worked.

Data Merge not finding images in v. 19.4

macOS Sonoma 14.4.1
Apple M2 Pro
InDesign 19.4

When trying to place images from a network-share the formatting to obtain the correct image-file used to be: ShareName:Directory:Subdirectory:Subsubderictory:imagename.ext

Now there has to be added a "/" (forward slash) after the last character ShareName:Directory:Subdirectory:Subsubderictory:imagename.ext/

When trying to use the POSIX path formatting /Volumes/ShareName/Directory/Subdirectory/Subsubderictory/imagename.ext or /Volumes/ShareName/Directory/Subdirectory/Subsubderictory/imagename.ext/ This doesn't work either.

Please update the help-files OR fix this!

I also had to revert to 19.3 for this to work.

Working in 19.4
I have commented in another post about this:
The issue is: the @image fields in the datafile are ignored, replaced by the path to the imported data file:
my:path:to:the:image.jpg
is ignored and changed, in effect, to:
whatever:other:path:to:the_data: file:image.jpg
I have tested this, and the merged file works when the data source file is linked from the source folder of the images.

I have this issue too: it ignores the @photo path:
Users:ric:Sites:shn:shnplus.com:classified:0325-19-51-01.jpeg

and inserts another path: (from the error report)
/Users/ric/Sites/shn/shnplus.com/_HbG/classified/0325-19-51-01.jpeg
(/Users/ric/Sites/shn/shnplus.com/_HbG/classified/ is the folder where I store the generated data)

when I place the data file in the same folder as the images, it generates a proper merged document, even though I don't change the @Photo column.

with another document: the @Photo path: (which has worked before the update)
Users:ric:Sites:hcautos:hcautos.com:dealers:kenneth:12-28-01.jpg

My past path to the csv file is:
Users/ric/Downloads/
which gives the "missing image" error:
/Users/ric/Downloads/12-28-01.jpg

I had to revert to 19.3 for this to work again.

Since latest update to 19.4 the data merge no longer works. Paths in the csv file are always automatically changed to /Users/username/Desktop/...

For example, Data:Production:Image:0001.jpg is automatically changed to
/Users/username/Desktop/0001.jpg

Hi, I use data merge with images daily, after I updated my Mac OS to Big Sur the file path format changed.

from FolderName:file.jpg
to
FolderName/file.jpg

Any chance Data Merge can adopt to that soon?

thank you

Hi,

I have found a workaround for this issue. Using Excel or Google Spreadsheets, you can URL-encode your texts, then data-merge them, and finally decode them with a script:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign/how-can-you-get-text-including-emojis-into-a-data-merge-document/m-p/10560859#M149770

It has some limitations though, e.g. non-text content is stripped from text containers, such as images and tables. One could surely extend the script to fix this.

Regards,
Johannes

IF i remember correctly then GREP will not work with data merge (i could be wrong... has been a while since i hat a similar problem) - could it be related to this?

I've created a test file with links and images and test text to try and replicate the fault. Follow the steps in the InDesign file attached.

Put simply, text – whether it is UTF-8 or UTF-16 can import unicode characters that are meant to represent emojis etc, and this is demonstrated in the test file. While not in the minion character set, I've created a GREP style that looks for unicode characters and changes them to apple color emoji. That bit works.
What does NOT work is when importing the text as part of a data merge... instead the unicode characters are completely skipped.
Links to the testfile are here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/32graq18jww5itp/AAAu0Y2bJnCiXjseSTBBFLcJa?dl=0

I've created a test file with links and images and test text to try and replicate the fault. Follow the steps in the InDesign file attached.

Put simply, text – whether it is UTF-8 or UTF-16 can import unicode characters that are meant to represent emojis etc, and this is demonstrated in the test file. While not in the minion character set, I've created a GREP style that looks for unicode characters and changes them to apple color emoji. That bit works.
What does NOT work is when importing the text as part of a data merge... instead the unicode characters are completely skipped.