Catalog Cloud: what it is and why more and more companies are choosing it to create their catalogs

When designing product catalogs, both digital and on paper, Adobe InDesign is, undoubtedly, the preferred program for designers. However, not all companies have an editorial designer on their team. Those who do know that for a creative, regular generation of a catalog usually becomes a mechanical, repetitive and unenviable task, with a high risk of making data errors.

But, what if the client had control over the design? What if they could create high-quality documents without needing to be an InDesign expert, quickly, easily and error-free?

Catalog Cloud makes it possible. It’s the ideal tool for generating your catalogs quickly and easily, with your customized design and error-free.

Efficient and centralized data management with Sales Layer.

For your catalog to be automatically generated, it is essential for your data to be correctly stored on Sales Layer. Sales Layer is a PIM (Product Information Manager): a platform that centralizes all the product content and allows any person to update it from any device, as it stores all information on the cloud.

Sales Layer has several types of output channels, which allow data to connect to different apps or tools. Nousmedis has developed a specific connector for Catalog Cloud, which allows you to select which products, fields, and resources to publish: product names, descriptions, images, technical features, prices…

Catalog Cloud, the intermediary between your data and your catalog.

Once configured, the products stored on Sales Layer reach Catalog Cloud, which receives all data fields and images previously defined in the PIM output channel. With a friendly and easy-to-use interface, you’re all set to start designing your catalog. The process is quick and easy:

1. Create a new catalog to import data from the PIM. You can create as many catalogs as you want, as often as you need. You can also add corporate information, publication data, or claims in the footers.
2. Decide the design for the catalog: use predetermined or customized templates according to the designs of your agency or creative team. Each page can have a different template applied, and there are no limits on the number of pages or the variety of templates.
3. Drag each product to where you want it. You can move them, delete them and even change the model with which you want it to appear in the catalog: featured product, offer, promotion…
4. Edit the information on each product. If you need to change any data, you can do it easily without using Sales Layer. 
5. Export your catalog. Once you have finished designing all the pages, Catalog Cloud will generate an InDesign file that will paginate your catalog just as you imagined.

EasyCatalog: the plugin for automating content and design

Catalog Cloud has two operating modes:

• The user downloads a JSON file to import to their computer.
• Catalog Cloud automatically generates your catalog in PDF format, and optionally, in InDesign format.

If you wish to control all aspects of the design of your catalog before sending it to print, we recommend the first type of output, a JSON file. For your product data to be transferred to InDesign and shown correctly in your catalogs, just use the EasyCatalog plugin. The tool interprets the data on the JSON file exported by Catalog Cloud, replicating the structure of each page.

The creation of the catalog is fully automated: the data is filled-in automatically and placed on the correct page and position, saving up to 90% of the time it takes to design the same content manually.

The resulting file is fully editable, giving your designer the freedom to make any final adjustments and creative touches before exporting the final file to print or publish online.

Conclusion

Creating product catalogs is an essential task for any company. No matter the tool or platform, the process of achieving a quality catalog is usually slow, complex, and prone to errors.

Try Catalog Cloud now and discover how to create quality catalogs faster, and above all, so that they are always updated and error-free for your clients.