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OK... Now I have an even bigger problem. The first 6 imposed without issue - I set those up last night. I started working on the next set this morning, and in addition to having to reprogram the sequential numbering rule, I now get this error... x every record the file imposes the numbers, but not the art. I have quit and restarted numerous times, but it won't do it.

How do I get this through to you? I'm telling you it doesn't work that way. Forget it.

Regardless of whether the variable text originates in ID or not, did you not read the last part? Basically, I either have to open and close Acro 456 times and reprogram the sequential numbering rule, so how do I fix this issue, or how do I use the 456 page pdf so that I can separate the tickets so they impose properly?

Ok. I appreciate you guys trying to help me, but I am getting really SUPER frustrated here. I don't know how much clearer I can explain this. I have posted detailed information and screenshots. I feel like they're not getting looked at, or you'd "get it." I think I have to ask that you to to re-review carefully the screenshots to see the subtle differences and re-read my posts so that I can limit my frustration and get the help I need. Last try - then I just do it the way I know it will work, and spend 5 days on this. Again, as I clearly stated before, there are 456 "originals." Each original has a date, a time, a car assignment and an image. The dates and times are unique to each of the 456 lots. They are different colors and have drop shadows that also are different colors. Using a .csv to generate the dates and times for each ticket is really not an option, because you would have to set it up 456 times to make each one the correct color - leaving it on the "master" and not imprinting it as a variable is best. There is an image on each ticket. There are 24 different images. Because of the reason stated above it is best to NOT place the image as variable. This leaves me with 456 originals. Each of these originals will get a different quantity. Forget about the different backs - I can take care of that. For example tickets 1-38 get 20 each numbered sequentially BUT NOT IN ORDER. Ticket 1 would be numbered 1-20, but ticket 2 would get numbered 81-100, ticket 3 would get 161-180... Essentially the file is set up so that I get all the dates for car 1L at 3:30, then I get all the dates for car 1P at 3:30, then car 2, 3, 4, and 5 at 3:30. Then I get all the dates for car 1L at 5:00, then 1P, 2, 3, 4, and 5 at 5:00... and so on. The numbers must go in order for each date, so on the first day at 3:30 it goes 1-296, at 5:00 it will number from 297-592, at 6:30 it will number from 593-888 and at 8:00 from 889-1184. There are 19 days in all, for a total of 22,496 total tickets. I've attached a file that I printout and mark off so I know which ones I've done, and that the bindery uses when they cut the tickets out to keep track and make sure they have them all. I've also attached screen shots from the job done two years ago (numbered differently, but shows the difference between the tickets). What I wanted/have been trying to do is set the variable field in ID, export to pdf. Open FP, add the sequential numbering instructions, cut and paste 456 times, and the separate the document into individual pdfs. Open each of those 456 pdfs, put in the starting number and impose. The problem is this year, as in years past, is that while the 456 page pdf has the sequential numbering rule in the variable field, when separated, it LOSES the rule, and only retains a blank variable field. I then have to re-add the sequential numbering rule. I can't cut and paste because Acrobat crashes after each file, so I can only work on one at a time, quit, restart and do the next one. This has been true every year I have worked on this job. New Intel Mac this year, but same results. Using Acro 9, FP 6.2P1a on 10.6.8 (2 x 2.26 Quad-Core Intel Xeon with 12 GB RAM). Numbering.xls.zip 1---1126-1l-330.png.zip 2---1126-1l-500.png.zip 3---1126-1l-630.png.zip 4---1126-1l-800.png.zip

Ok... just ran into the same problem I had last few years. If you set up a single file, in this case 456 pages) with the sequential number rule, and then try to extract the pages as separate files, it's just like reserving the box in .indd and exporting a pdf - it loses all the programming and just leaves an empty variable data box. Cutting and pasting is not working, so I basically have to reprogram the rule 455 times.[edit] and I also like how in the process, it turns the variable data text I defined as red into black, so that I get to redo a step changing it back to red. oh... and I also like how it crashes after you work on one job, so you have to quit and restart acrobat for each individual file. Why can I not get this to work?

No, no no.... that won't work at all. What you're totally not getting is that NO MATTER how you slice it, you have 456 unique fronts. I stress unique.... that screen shot I posted last time only shows 10 of the unique fronts. These are train tickets for a special Christmas event. There are 6 cars (1L, 1P, 2, 3, 4 and 5). There are 19 days the event will be held. There are 4 times each day. Each ticket has an image (there are 24 different images), but also has a unique text with the date and time. The color, wording, and drop shadow of the text is different for each front. 6 x 19 x 4 = 456 different lots. Each lot has a different quantity based on number of seats per car. Car 1L has 20 seats, car 1P has 20 seats, car 2 has 60 seats, car 3 has 85, car 4 has 70 seats and car 5 has 48 seats. So art for 11/26/12 at 3:30 will have 6 unique fronts, and 1 of 2 different backs (one for first class (cars 1L and P) and one for standard (cars 2-5)). Art for 11/26/12 at 5:00 will have 6 different unique fronts, and 1 of 2 different backs (one for first class (cars 1L and P) and one for standard (cars 2-5)). Repeat for 4 times a day x 19 days. Each ticket will have a unique number - no repeated numbers. To use a variable graphic, you still have to have 456 because of the dates and times. EVEN if you wrote a .csv for the dates and times, the color of the text and the color of the drop shadow changes from ticket to ticket, for 24 different possibilities. The logistics alone for accounting for that is staggering - like I said, I am much better off setting up one variable number, and then separating the file. I guess I have walked myself through the best way to set up the numbering - what I really want to know is if there is a way to program the imposition so my tickets not only come out stacked and in order with the correct quantities, but that I can sequentially number them properly remaining as a single 456 page .pdf, or do I have to separate them and do each one individually?

I understand the first part - that's done. The second part confuses me. Are you saying to use something like Freeform on my Xerox to marry the two files together? I did it that way last year and it was kind of a disaster keeping all those files organized. It would have been real easy to run the wrong numbered sequence onto the wrong ticket fronts. Using a .csv for the numbering on this job is pretty much worthless, since it's just sequential.

I see what you're saying... I think it actually creates more work to do this job that way. Regardless of the image, there is unique text to each lot - no matter what, I have to have 456 unique originals to uniquely number. To do it as you'd describe, I'd have to create and compose a .csv with the dates and times and then create a new variable text field... and even then it wouldn't really work because the text in those fields have a drop shadow, and between the lots the color of that text and the color of the drop shadow is different. It's FAR easier to have 456 originals and then fix the unique numbering. This is from two years ago, and only shows one day - November 26 - but it will give you an idea: http://forums.printable.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=336&d=1291156139

Doing something similar, but there are 456 lots, but it's more like lot 1: 1-20, lot 19: 21-40, lot 37: 41-60... lot 2: 1521-1540, lot 20: 1541-1560... is it possible?

That's how I've done it in the past, but the cut & paste in FP is not always stable so I think I'd save time doing it in ID. One thing I discovered, and not mentioned in any of the literature, is that when you make the variable field in ID, it cannot be on a MASTER page or it won't export out properly.

Ok... this annual job is back, and I am looking for any way possible to make this easier. Here's the gist of it again: I have a job that has to number sequentially. The job is made up of 456 different lots, to be numbered, in order, from 00001-22496. The way I see it, the easiest way for me to do this is to take the native InDesign file, add the variable box, and then export it to a pdf and separate the resulting pdf into 456 individual files and number accordingly. I am a FusionPro novice, even though I have had and used it for several years. The problems I have run in to in the past - I have not been able to export the ID file to pdf and have the pdf retain the variable field. And I have not been able to take the pdf, add the variable field (with or without the sequential numbering rule applied), and then separate the file into 456 individual lots so I can number them accordingly. The variable box disappears, and I have to re-add it. There is no .csv file, and each of the 456 lots gets a different quantity so no two are alike. I don't see how to set it as a single file and have it number properly. Because of the large quantity of unique lots, I don't think importing the image as a variable image makes things go any faster. In the past, I have made a pdf, separated into 456 lots, and then created each field individually, cutting and pasting from file to file to try to speed up the process. Our digital press can only use a pdf file - the other formats won't work (to my knowledge). Due to the large file sizes of the artwork, I can only send and print about 7 lots before the press is out of RAM to handle processing the jobs and out of hard drive space to store the jobs. Because some lots have a different back, I also don't see how I could take the 456 page pdf, number the pages accordingly, and then output, breaking up into sections - I wouldn't be able to assign the correct backs. What I really need is how to get 456 separate pdfs, each with a sequential numbering rule variable field, in the quickest manner possible.

It's all done and delivered. Now that I can catch my breath, I'll fill you in: This will give you an idea of what I was doing with this job. Here's one of each ticket from November 26 at 3:30, plus one of just Car 1 Lounge seating First Class at 5:00, 6:30 and 8:00 plus one from November 27. First Class tickets got one back, Coach seating got a different back. There were 5 rail cars (car 1 had Lounge and Parlor seating) with 4 times for each ticket on each day, 18 different days for a total of 432 different tickets. Each was uniquely numbered in a different quantity depending on the seating availability for each rail car for a grand total of 24,000+ tickets. They were impo'd 6-up on 17 x 11 for DocuColor output. From beginning to end, it took me 3 10+ hour days to copy the FusionPro script, setup, number, impo, run and cut.

Because of the differing quantities for the 432 lots, I must impose one at a time. Since I made a 432 page document, I now have to break it apart. Is there a limit to how many pages can have variable data? Before I left on vacation for last week, I placed FP seq. numbering data on all 432 pages. When I came back this a.m., the seq. data was lost/missing after page 250. I checked my backup file on the desktop, and it too had lost all the data after page 250. I pulled the tape backup from before I left, and it also had lost the data after page 250. I am just so thrilled with FP and it's limitations; I now get to renumber pages 251-432. Also, I cannot use Acrobat to separate the pages - when I do, it too loses the seq. numbering data, so I get to do this again one page at a time.

Well, here's another fly in the ointment. I cannot use 1 432-page file. FP Imposer won't let you select a single page to impose - you must impose the whole document. You can't export the files into separate pages, because Acrobat won't export a single page and maintain the FP data. I will have to open my 432-page pdf with FP data, delete all the other pages sans the one I am imposing (since each have different quantities), and save. Then impose separately. I will have 432 different imposed files to send to the digital press. Fun times.

OK. I numbered the 432 pages (I was able to cut & paste the seq. #ing rule in position). I read that it is possible to have multiple originals numbered differently on the same signature, but not sure if it was a feature of v7 or available on v6. Essentially, can I have 6 different originals on one form, each one with a different numbering sequence... how can I explain better? On one form/sig can I have a ticket for Car 1 number in a stack from 1-20, a different ticket with different artwork for Car 2 number from 21-40, a different ticket with different artwork for Car 3 number from 41-60 and so on? Or do all-up on my sig have to be the same artwork (i.e. art for Car 1 only)? If you can have multiple artwork and different numbering, how do you do it?

I do not know how much more clearly I can explain it. I have an InDesign file. It has 432 pages, each one a unique ticket containing different information printed on the front. Each ticket/page prints in a different quantity. For example, if page one of my file is Friday December 4 at 5:30pm, railroad car 2, I have 65 seats, so I need 65 individually numbers tickets 00001-00065. If page 2 of my file is Friday December 4 at 5:30pm railroad car 3, I have 45 seats, so I need 45 individually numbered tickets 00066-00111. If page 3 of my file is Friday December 4 at 5:30pm reilroad car 4 I have 75 seats, so I need 75 individually numbered tickets from 00112-00187. And so on. I need to do this for 432 originals. All I want to know is do I have to place the sequential numbering rule on a pdf 432 times, and then strip accordingly (this is what I plan to do), OR can I take the InDesign file and create a sequential numbering rule on a master page and then export my pdf so it is already placed in position? The second choice (doing this in InDesign) would be lightning rounds faster than having to place the rule 432 times in the same position. Is this possible? Last year I had this same job, but there were only 48 originals, so I hand placed it 48 times (but last year it was in two positions so technically I placed the rule 96 times), and stripped accordingly. The sample photo in my original post is an example.

I think I'm just going to do it the only way I know how - create the sequential numbering rule 432 times (one for each ticket). Then strip it 6-up to 72 signatures (template is common to all lots), with the stack setting. First class tickets get a different back. I just wanted to know if there was a way in ID to create the sequential numbering rule before exporting to .pdf.

I have 432 different fronts for tickets. I have 3 different backs. Each ticket needs a unique number, but they are different quantities. Ticket 1 might number from 00001-00065. Ticket 2 might number from 00066-00130. Ticket 3 might number from 00131-00200. and so on. Each ticket has a different quantity and a unique number. There is no spreadsheet data, variable data or excel file to link - they are sequentially numbering, each one picking up where the previous left off. They must be stripped and stacked so that when cut, they remain in order. When done, I will have 11425 uniquely numbered tickets, with 432 varying fronts and 3 different backs.

Greetings. I have a mammoth job I would certainly appreciate help or shortcuts with. I am a NOVICE FusionPro user. We have had for about two years, and I have literally only used it for about 10 jobs, all sequential numbering. The problem here is that I need to sequentially number tickets - there are 432 separate lots with a differing number of different tickets per lot for a grand total of 11,425 finished items, each unique. I have figured that if I make 6-up per sig, I will have 72 sigs. I have native InDesign art, but my question is: Is there a way to make a master FusionPro item in the InDesign file on a master page to setup sequential numbering upon pdf export (so all I have to do is impose it with my numbering sequence), OR do I have to manually hand place the sequential numbering instructions on the finished pdf 432 times (for each lot)? Last year I had this same project, only I only had 48 lots last year with the number placed twice on each ticket (so I hand placed the sequential number instructions 96 times). http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj298/cjnuxoll/Picture1.jpg