ID Image Catalog FAQ Page

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Q: Does it work on a PC?
A: NO NO NO It does NOT work on any PC running that horrible Windows OS! I'm a real Pro-Mac guy and love to do cool stuff with Applescript, Cocoa, and easy to use Mac apps. I just don't do anything on PCs... ever. I will never program for Windows.

Q: Some files aren't recognized or there are zero files found. But I can see them in the folder!
A: Make sure all your images have the correct file extension on them. It's a pain, and surely a step backward, but OS X 10.6 pretty much requires all files to have an extension. So make sure you have the .psd or .jpg etc on each file name. It can be hidden in the Finder preferences, but legacy files with no file extension at all should have extensions added.

Q: I get an Error -43 when I try to make the catalog.
A: This is related to the Mac OS itself. It is generally caused by "illegal" characters in file names or perhaps folder names, or even names that are way too long. If you clean up most of the bad characters, you should have success. Look for / \ [ ] { } @ # $ % & * • | = - + ; , and see if you can remove them.

Even though the Finder may tolerate long file names with lots of odd characters, apparently the underpinnings of the system don't like to deal with them sometimes. This is not a shortcoming of the program, but OS limitations. Try shortening your filenames to the classic 32 character limit. You can check out these links for some additional information and background:

http://www.macwindows.com/MacOSX.html

Q: Why do my image boxes have a colored background?
A: Your InDesign defaults are probably set to have a fill color. When you have *no* document open in InDesign, set the fill color to "none" on the toolbar using the swatches pallet, or press D, which should default the fill to none and stroke to black.

You can use the Object Styles to change the look and color of the image boxes after you make a catalog, in IDIC version 3.9 and higher.

Q: Sometimes I get an error that a file isn't found?
A: If you selected a folder to catalog, then deleted items in the folder, or changed their names, the items aren't found when you make a second catalog, and you get an error from InDesign. Make sure you press the REFRESH button after you make any changes to the files or folders of a folder that you already had selected.

On a side note, the folder and file information isn't dynamically updated, so you can get a count of the number of files before you make a catalog. You probably want to change the number of boxes per page so you don't have 1 image on the last page.

Q: Must I always see the "OK it's finished dialog box"?
A: Your catalog may be small and be very fast to be finished, but some users may be making a catalog from a CD or DVD, or on a slower network; so if you wander away from your computer, you'd want a way to know that it's done. That's why the dialog is there. You can disable the dialog in v3 and up.

Q: Can I use master pages?
A: By default ID Image Catalog doesn't apply master pages to the new pages that are created. Master A is applied to a new document page by default, so the first page has that. If you'd like to have masters applied to the rest of the document, you can go to the Pages pallet and apply a master page to the rest of the document. My view is that primarily, most users will want to have a generic page, aimed at quickly getting a printable or PDFable record of a large number of graphics, without a lot of fuss. If you want to have a fancy layout, you can customize a document preset (the margins) to suit some graphics on the margins, and apply that master post facto. Version 3 and up also includes the ability to use document presets, which can help format a document more quickly for you. Also version 4 can set the document to have facing pages, and also not place images on the first page, in case you want to have a title or cover page.

Q: What version of InDesign does it work with?
A: Version 4.5 was tested primarily with CS5 through CC 2015. There are no significant scripting language changes in the core functions IDIC performs, so it should work the same.

Q: How do I make a catalog with 1 image per page that goes all the way to the edge, or the image is at full size or 100%?
A: First, create a new document preset in InDesign. It can be letter size or whatever size you need. Set the margins to 0. Save it with a descriptive name like "No margin letter". In ID Image Catalog, select this as your preset to use. Set the columns and rows to 1. Set the scale down and up options to be off. Set the center option on. If you don't want the image name, enable Remove image titles.

Q: Sometimes it just hangs. Or it seems like nothing is happening.
A: Make sure that when you go to make a catalog, that there are no InDesign warnings or dialog boxes present. If there is a dialog box open in InDesign, you'll have to close it first before pressing the Create Catalog button. If it seems like nothing is happening and it takes forever to make a catalog, be patient. It might take a long time to make a huge catalog. You won't see much progress after the first page of images are placed. The Hidden Document mode is faster, but then you won't see any progress, only the activity spinner in IDIC. If nothing really is happening, there is a chance that either InDesign locked up or IDIC locked up and you might have to force quit both and start over.

 

page last updated: Monday, August 22, 2016