d7design

Adobe InDesign · Photoshop · Illustrator · Innsbruck, Austria

Design it once. Every version, automatically.

A monitor shows a catalog spread. In front of it lie five printed versions of the same page, differing only in one color block.

We build plugins and automation for Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator, with a focus on catalog and publishing production. Your team designs; a reliable process handles the repetition.

We build our plugins with UXP, Adobe's current plugin technology for InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator, on Windows and macOS.

Book a callSee our services

Free, no obligation, 30 to 60 minutes.

Where production gets stuck

  • The same page, redone by hand for every language and every promotion.
  • Prices and product data copied and pasted into the layout.
  • Exports that only one person on the team can run safely.

These are the steps we automate. Not the design, just the repetition.

Repetition by handOne page turns into six copies for language, promotion, format, region, print PDF and web PDF, each made by hand and each slightly different.ONE PAGELANGUAGEPROMOTIONFORMATREGIONPRINT PDFWEB PDFEVERY COPY BY HAND
Repetition by handOne page turns into six copies for language, promotion, format, region, print PDF and web PDF, each made by hand and each slightly different.ONE PAGELANGUAGEPROMOTIONFORMATREGIONPRINT PDFWEB PDFEVERY COPY BY HAND

The whole chain, from one team

From the plugin on the designer's desk to InDesign Server, data and the web. We work inside your existing Adobe setup and don't sell you a platform.

For the Adobe apps your team already uses:

  • InDesign: Build catalogs, books and magazines from data, with versions and exports done automatically.

  • Three printed contact sheets lie side by side, each with nine identically prepared product photos of the same gray ceramic bottle. A green sticker dot sits on the middle sheet.

    Photoshop: Prepare, name and export images in batches.

  • Three white boxes in different sizes carry the same label, each scaled to fit, with a sheet of label variants in front. A green sticker dot marks the middle label.

    Illustrator: Generate graphics, labels and diagrams in every variant.

The whole chain from one sourceOne continuous chain connects the desktop with an InDesign plugin, your InDesign Server, data from a page database, Excel or ERP, and web tools for planning, briefing and approval.DESKTOPINDESIGN PLUGINSERVERYOUR INDESIGN SERVERDATAPAGE DATABASE, EXCEL, ERPWEBPLANNING, BRIEFING, APPROVALONE CHAIN, ONE WORKSHOP
The whole chain from one sourceOne continuous chain connects the desktop with an InDesign plugin, your InDesign Server, data from a page database, Excel or ERP, and web tools for planning, briefing and approval.DESKTOPINDESIGN PLUGINSERVERYOUR INDESIGN SERVERDATAPAGE DATABASE, EXCEL, ERPWEBPLANNING, BRIEFING, APPROVALONE CHAIN, ONE WORKSHOP
Twelve page proofs are laid out as a page plan in a grid, three of them marked with a green flag.

1.1

Adobe InDesign · Photoshop · Illustrator

Process analysis and consulting

We look at how your documents are made today and tell you what's worth automating, what should stay manual and how we'd approach it.

Process analysis
Five stacks of identical flyers, all the same height, stand in a row; only the color stripe along the top edge changes.

1.2

Adobe InDesign · Photoshop · Illustrator

Custom plugins and scripts

Tools built around your templates, rules and file names in InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator. We build them with UXP, Adobe's current plugin technology, for Windows and macOS.

Custom plugins
A monitor shows a grid of page thumbnails, some outlined in green, with a stack of printed catalog pages in front.

1.3

Adobe InDesign · InDesign Server

Database, server and web integration

Catalogs from product data, automatic PDF exports on your InDesign Server, and web portals for page planning, briefing and approval.

Database, server and web

1.4

Adobe InDesign · Photoshop · Illustrator

Training and support

Handover with documentation, training for your team, and maintenance whenever Adobe ships a new version.

Training and support
A handover set lies in a row: an open handbook with a flow diagram and a green index tab, a catalog, a checklist with three items checked off, and a pencil.

Built in production. Made for production.

close to 100 million

catalog copies a year

Our tools come out of live catalog production with many language and promotional versions, not a lab. They support the production of catalogs with a combined print run of close to 100 million copies a year. We know deadlines, correction rounds and special cases from our own work, so we build tools that hold up every day: traceable, documented and easy for your team to run.

A stack of thick bound catalogs stands next to a press sheet with color control patches.

Ready-made tools from the same workshop

When the same problem shows up in many companies, we turn the solution into a product.

D7versions
Four versions of the same magazine page are fanned out. Only one color block changes, with yellow in front.
One page, four versionsFour layers in one file, layer A is active.LAYER ALAYER BLAYER CLAYER D

One page, four versions

D7versions

D7versions stores layer and print versions in one InDesign file and exports them all in one go.

See D7versions
D7catalog

In development

Bound catalogs stand on a shelf, one with a magenta spine, and an open catalog with a product grid lies in front.
Catalog assembly from dataProduct data is placed onto catalog pages.DATAPAGES

Catalog assembly from data

D7catalog

Catalog pages from your product data: planned, sorted and built.

See D7catalog
D7server

In development

D7server will drive your InDesign Server (in development)Jobs from the team join the D7server queue, and the dashboard shows their status. Planned: D7server hands the jobs to the customer’s InDesign Server (your own system, licensed from Adobe or an Adobe partner), which exports PDF files and preview images.JOBSFROM THE TEAMSTATUSD7serverQUEUE, CONTROL,DASHBOARDPLANNEDINDESIGN SERVERYOUR SYSTEM ·LICENSED FROM ADOBEOR AN ADOBE PARTNERPDF · PREVIEW IMAGES

D7server

Take exports off the desk: D7server will drive your InDesign Server, with a queue and a dashboard.

See D7server

All plugins

For teams that produce on a schedule

  • Retailers and brands

    with their own design and catalog production

  • Agencies

    producing for clients again and again, and as partners

  • Publishers

    with language and edition versions

  • Designers

    looking for a ready-made tool Plugins

How we work

  1. 01

    Initial call

    Show us what you produce and where it sticks. Free, no obligation, 30 to 60 minutes.

  2. 02

    Analysis and plan

    We describe the new workflow in writing, in stages.

  3. 03

    Build

    In stages, tested on your real material.

  4. 04

    Handover and support

    Documentation, training and, if you like, a maintenance agreement.

We also design print, websites and brand identities, and have for 15 years. → Agency

Which step costs you the most time every week?

Tell us. We'll give you an honest answer on whether automation pays off.

Book a callBrowse plugins