you can, using findchangebylist.jsx, and the script is shipped with adobe indesign. manipulating the queries is done by navigating to the text file where the script calls its queries from, normally findchangelist.txt. there is the ability to generate hundreds of different lists and when running findchangebylist.jsx, navigate to the text file which contains the find/changes you want to use.

this bit is fairly cody, not really user friendly for non-coders. to make things easier, there is a script called RecordFindChange_CS3.jsx which can be found at https://indesign.hilfdirselbst……s3jsx.html (may want to use a google translator if you don't speak german)

My workflow is like this: I make a copy of the findchangelist.txt and name it appropriately based on what i'm changing (i.e. particularcustomerchanges.txt). In Indesign, i make a find/change query and test it on the file i want to change, and when i'm satisfied that the change works (particularly for GREP expressions) i use the RecordFindChange_CS3.jsx script and copy the text it generates into the text file i had.

i hope that makes sense… i'm so used to doing it i've probably missed vital steps

you can, using findchangebylist.jsx, and the script is shipped with adobe indesign. manipulating the queries is done by navigating to the text file where the script calls its queries from, normally findchangelist.txt. there is the ability to generate hundreds of different lists and when running findchangebylist.jsx, navigate to the text file which contains the find/changes you want to use.

this bit is fairly cody, not really user friendly for non-coders. to make things easier, there is a script called RecordFindChange_CS3.jsx which can be found at https://indesign.hilfdirselbst……s3jsx.html (may want to use a google translator if you don't speak german)

My workflow is like this: I make a copy of the findchangelist.txt and name it appropriately based on what i'm changing (i.e. particularcustomerchanges.txt). In Indesign, i make a find/change query and test it on the file i want to change, and when i'm satisfied that the change works (particularly for GREP expressions) i use the RecordFindChange_CS3.jsx script and copy the text it generates into the text file i had.

i hope that makes sense… i'm so used to doing it i've probably missed vital steps

I think the script Jongware is talking about in point 3 is “multipageimporter2.2.1.jsx” which can be downloaded from this link: https://creativepro.com…..r2.2.1.zip. This is one of the more commonly used scripts that i use as a prepress operator.

The script allows a multi-page PDF OR INDD to be imported into an INDD but treats the placement as graphics, so its not possible to use any of the editing features in indesign to edit the graphic directly in that file, edits have to be done in the original indesign file.

I don't think its possible to do what's being asked in the last para of your post (scale original pages to fit the new page size and still have all editable/controllable objects in indesign) BUT i'm not very good at javascript. Perhaps try https://www.adobeforums.com and then search Indesign, then Indesign Scripting.

The solutions offered by Jongware are the same suggestions that i'd offer you, particularly the first one: let the printer do it. Any printer worth their salt has a piece of software called a RIP (Raster Image Processor) which controls the output of the file, and in the RIP its possible to control the layout imposition, ink trapping, page size, scale, orientation, etc. The RIP my work uses (AGFA Apogee) lets an operator select all the pages in the run-list at once and scale them to 97% proportionally and center the pages. 

tables. hands down. after years of using tabs in quark, and then going to indesign and using tables, i'd never go back to tabs.

it works really well PROVIDED that the quark file being opened was collected for output properly (if there are missing links or fonts, the conversion will be bad). are some issues with text boxes having unwanted inset values or text wrap values but a while ago a script called qxdcleaner.js was available which was run AFTER using the Q2ID plug-in which fixed a lot of that. i've tried looking for it to put a link in but it looks like its not on the author's website anymore (https://www.jursz.com).

the link for kasyan's indesign comparing script is https://creativepro.com/scr…..encing.php

so far as comparing a pdf to an indesign file which may have created it, could make a new indesign file and run the multipageimporter2.2.1.jsx to import the pdf into that file; and then compare the two using kasyan's script. read the link to see how the differences between the two files appear.

my workplace has an SOP that ANY artwork with hard copy supplied MUST BE overlaid to our proof to ensure that linebreaks are consistent, amongst other things. however, that falls in a heap when the hard copy:

* isn't to scale;

* isn't the latest version (i.e. type alts have been done);

* is double sided (can't see through the hard copy properly).

mind you, the customers that DO supply proofs normally supply pdfs of their art anyway (no native files) and rarely have problems.

i might add that supplying hard copy is still a good idea, it gives the prepress people like myself some comparison to the artwork the RIP produced, and given that we haven't seen the artwork before, won't be aware if images have dropped off, etc.

the batch rename feature in bridge is one of the things i really love about bridge. its actually the only reason i really use it.

navigate to a particular folder using bridge so that the files to be renamed are visible. from here, click on the tools menu and then click batch rename.

a new dialog box will appear and within this box are several options on how to rename all the files in that folder. next to the options there are plus and minus signs which either add or remove file naming options. for the example in question, only the “sequence number” option needs to be present with three digits option at the end. to see if these options are going to work, there is a preview of how the renamed files will look at the bottom of the dialog box. at the top of the dialog box there's also the ability to copy to other folder so that if the renaming didn't work, it hasn't ruined the originals.

breaking the one 300 page file up into 300 one page files and naming them 001.pdf; 002.pdf etc is important for the datamerge onto a 5-up template as (AFAIK) datamerge won't reference pages in a multipage pdf file, just the first page.

hope this helps :D