Turn a spreadsheet into a deck (Data Merge)

This article is for anyone with a deck of 20 or 200 cards who does not want to lay out each one by hand. Data Merge lets you design one card, fill a table, and generate the rest.

What this page helps you do

• Add fields to a master page.
• Fill the table by typing, pasting or importing a CSV or Excel file.
• Put artwork on every card from one upload.
• Generate and update the cards, and make one card different when you need to.

You'll start from the Data Merge tab of the side panel inside a component (Prototypes > Components, then open a component).

Before you start

• Beta, rolling out to teams. If Prototypes is missing from your sidebar, your team is not in the rollout yet.
• Plan: Pathfinder plan and up. Adventurer teams see "Prototypes are a Pathfinder plan feature" with Upgrade to Pathfinder. Virtual Table AI is Oracle and LaunchBoom only, 50 builds per team per day.
• Roles: Collaborators cannot use the Component Designer or 3D Mockups.

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Add fields to a master page

A field is a named slot, like name or cost. In the Data Merge panel, under Fields, type a name in New field, e.g. name and press Enter. A {{name}} placeholder lands on the current page, and that page becomes a master page.

Helpful details

• Key areas: Each field in the list has Click to place as text and Place as image (rows hold an image address). A field on no page is marked not placed.
• What you can do: Place the same field on the front and the back. Style the placeholder like any text: font, size, color, alignment.
• Good to know: The panel's one-line summary says it all: "Put fields on a master page and fill the table: every row makes 1 card." Tiles and tokens work the same way.

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Fill the table

Under Source table, click Edit table. The Data table dialog opens with one column per field and one row per card.

1. Type in a cell. Tab moves across, Enter and the arrow keys move down and up a column.
2. Click Add row for the next card, or Add field for a new column.
3. To fill many cells at once, copy a block in your spreadsheet and paste into any cell.

Helpful details

• Key areas: The column menu offers Column type (Text or Image) and Remove column.
• What you can do: Import CSV or Excel reads .csv, .xlsx, .xlsm, .xls and .ods files. The first row becomes the column names; the first sheet that has data is used. Export CSV downloads <component>-data.csv.
• Good to know: An import replaces the whole table, rows and columns. Export first if you want a copy of what is there.

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Put a picture on every card

Set a column's type to Image, or name it something like art or image. Each cell then holds an image address.

Helpful details

• Key areas: Clicking an image cell offers Upload image, Component images (every picture uploaded to this component, shared by all rows) and Or paste an image address.
• What you can do: Use the upload icon in the column header to send many files at once. A file lands in the row whose cell, or whose name column, matches the file name (the extension is optional). Name your files after your cards and a whole deck fills in one go.
• Good to know: The panel reports "18 of 20 rows have a picture" so you can spot the gaps. On the master, select the image placeholder to set Image fit (Fill, the default, which crops from the centre; Fit, the whole picture; or Stretch) and a Frame shape (Free, 1:1, 2:3, 3:4, 3:2, 4:3, 16:9, 9:16).

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Use the reserved column names

Some column names carry meaning. Use them when you need them.

• copies, qty, quantity or count: how many times the row repeats in print and Tabletop Simulator exports.
• master, template or layout: which master page the row uses. Empty means every front master.
• back or verso (also backs, card_back, cardback): which back this row's card prints, by page name or by its number among the backs.
• name, title or card: the card's name in exports and on the Virtual Table.

Helpful details

• Key areas: The Fields list explains each reserved field when you hover it.
• What you can do: Mix them. A row can say copies = 3, master = Spell and back = 2.
• Good to know: Reserved columns do not need to be placed on a page.

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Generate the cards

Under Cards, the summary reads "1 master page · nothing generated yet". Click Generate cards (20). One card appears per row, after the masters in the Pages view.

Helpful details

• Key areas: After you change the table or move something on the master, the button reads Update cards (20). Remove the cards deletes the generated pages and keeps the table.
• What you can do: Edit the master and watch every card follow: position, size, style, stacking order, new elements and deletions all pass down. Long values on cards shrink to fit the master's text box; on the master itself the box grows instead.
• Good to know: The button's noun follows the component type: cards, tiles, tokens, pages.

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Make one card different

Elements on a card are linked to the master and locked. To change one card only, select the element and use the lock slot in the toolbar, or right-click, and choose Unlink from master. A dialog lists what that means before you confirm.

Helpful details

• Key areas: Relink to master restores the master's look and the row's value. Edit on master jumps to the source element.
• What you can do: Move, restyle or delete an unlinked element on that card alone. Update leaves it alone too.
• Good to know: An unlinked edit belongs to the card's position in the table (master plus row number). If you insert rows above it, the edit shifts to a different card. Finish your table before unlinking.

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Pull text and art from a game

The Game Data tab links the component to one of your team's games. Pick it under Game, then use the Info and Media tabs to drag the game's details and images onto the page.

Helpful details

• Key areas: A Drive tab appears when cloud storage is on for you. It opens the game's linked folder, or your own Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive, and lists what you brought in under Imported this session.
• What you can do: Drop a game image onto the canvas or add it to the component's images for the table.
• Good to know: The link is saved on the component, so the game's data is there next time.

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Tips & common questions

How do I make a card appear three times in the print? Add a copies column and type 3 in that row. Exports repeat it; the Pages view still shows one card.

My import wiped my columns. Can I undo it? Not from the editor. Imports replace the whole table, so use Export CSV before importing. Your old file is the backup.

Why does a field show "not placed"? It exists in the table but is on no page. Click Click to place as text or Place as image to add it to the current master.

Can two cards share one uploaded picture? Yes. Open the cell and pick it from Component images, or paste the same address in both rows.

Related articles

• Create and manage components
• Master pages, fronts and backs
• Export: print and play, images, TTS, PDF
• Send a component to the Virtual Table
• Game media