Excel import / software question

[Rubenick]

Hi everyone.

I am brand new here, and need help. Have no idea if this is the correct place to post, but I hope someone here has the experience and knowledge to solve my issue. I'll also take this moment to apologize in advance for my English, it's not my native language so some thing might be difficult to understand. Please do ask if anything confuses you and I'll try my very best to explain.

I work at a small sign making company and we use laser engraving quite often to do small plates (74x22mm usually) which are used for example as identification plates in factories or such. The amount can vary from a couple of hundred plates, to several thousand... Right now, we get a Excel file from the customer, and then manually copy all the data and placing it in their right place on the plates in CorelDRAW x7.
I am now wondering if there is any software or "Add-on" for CorelDRAW x7 or Adobe Illustrator where you can make a base design for a plate, and then import a Excel file and have the machine/software place the data in for you automatically in a certain specified size and font?

For example: A basic design we usually do is 3 rows, so it would be nice if you could import a Excel file and have it automatically put column A on row 1 on the plate, column B on row 2 and column C on row 3. I know Corel has its Photo Merge function, but with that you can't move the plates after it's made them all. Since the plates are never identical (the sizes are never exactly the same) there is always a small difference in the total width and height of the whole table. So we always have to make sleight changes to get all of them to have the texts in the middle of the plates.

We have tried EngravePro 30-day trial which didn't work for us. But we'd love something similar! I've also read on Google about "Macros", but I am not familiar at all with those features and doubt I could make anything work with them cause it looks quite complicated.

So in conclusion, we'd want a program of sorts that can take a Excel file and import the data and put said data on a defined spot on a plate design. Which you then can still make changes to, and not like the Photo Merge function in CorelDRAW. It does not by any means have to be freeware, we'd gladly buy a software that can do all of this.

This would save us A LOT of time, cause right now, several hours a month are wasted on sitting and manually copying/pasting/placing all the data from the Excel files into Corel.

I hope I have been clear with my explanations, and I thank you very much for any help!

[LINUS]

I see what you mean,but without having a way to resolve the issue