How to handle issues that might happen when uploading an IDMP package.
Uploading an IDML file is a great feature of CampaignDrive™. However, there are times when the template does not upload correctly, or the template does not behave as anticipated in Template Composer. When that happens, we need to troubleshoot to determine the cause of the error.
What to do when you have an error
Depending on what has happened, you can either fix the template inside Compose or you can fix the InDesign file and re-upload. If the template will not load, then the InDesign file or graphics must be fixed before upload can occur. If the template uploads, but either the text or graphics have formatting issues, then the choice may come down to whether it is faster to adjust the file in InDesign or the Compose environment. The following lists outline some of the most common issues. This list is not comprehensive. If you come across something that needs to be added to the list, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager so that we can update this document.
Common Causes of Errors
Template Won’t Load
- Forgetting to strip out ligatures, hyphenate, superscript, all caps, etc.
- Having vertically aligned text set to Middle instead of Top.
- Forgetting to convert a color or line to a graphic
- When treating text as art, make sure to outline the text and any strokes (paths).
- Saving a PDF with drop shadows or bitmapped elements out of Illustrator instead of Photoshop. Remember, save flat vectors out of Illustrator, unless there is any sort of shading or drop shadow involved, in that case, save out of Photoshop.
- Leaving a color profile in a .jpg file.
- Leaving a spot color swatch.
- Leaving empty or hidden layers in an Illustrator file.
- Guidelines are left in an Illustrator file.
- Flattening multiple elements into one layer and forgetting to delete extra layers.
- Forgetting to create separate layers for every individual image and text frame.
Template has Formatting Issues
- Having the incorrect bleed.
- Leaving facing pages on.
- Having a reference point at any point other than the top left.
- Leaving rotation on.
- Having any kerning and leading.
- Color swatches or fonts are not loaded in the system.
- The image is not re-sized to the size of the image frame in InDesign.
- Image left on the pasteboard.
Images are “Broken”
- Converting a .png as a .jpg instead of .PDF.
- Not setting the artboard to the artwork boundary or omitting the bounding box.
- Images in RGB color space.
- Having an artifact, empty layer, or guideline left in a PDF file.
- Graphics in spot color or combined spot and process color.
- Reference to a spot color in a graphic (spot swatch)