N8N to InDesign Export?

Questions
1

I’m trying to figure out how to connect my automation flow, using n8n, to Adobe InDesign on my desktop. I know this is a weird ask since n8n is online, but I have to keep using InDesign for the super strict Pantone colors and our specific PDF rip settings.

I’ve used ChatGPT to write the InDesign scripts already, so the main hurdle is: How do I get the data from my n8n workflow to trigger and run the script inside InDesign, then grab the finished PDF and send it to our client proofing platform?

I’m new to n8n, but I know Zapier/Make/etc. I was thinking maybe I could use Robomotion RPA to act as a go-between, since it says it can handle desktop apps. I just need a way to bridge the gap between the web automation and the local design software to stop spending a whole day customizing event templates.

2

You can have n8n workflow that is able to write the script out to a google drive (or one drive), for example. It can trigger a Robomotion via HTTP trigger. The machine with InDesign can have google drive (or one drive) mounted so InDesign should have access to it.

Khem

3

Hey @dormalee I don’t know much about RPA on desktop software, but here are a few options from an InDesign automation perspective.

Generate CSV from N8N then use InDesign data merge to generate multiple layouts.

Create IDML templates for each event, then populate these programmatically from N8N content.

Look at third-party solutions that run batch run InDesign scripts, such as https://zevrix.com/outputfactory/

and https://runscript.typefi.com/

Hope this helps!