Streamline Your Proposals with the ProjectMark InDesign Plugin: A Step-by-Step Guide
The ProjectMark InDesign plugin allows teams to pull project, company, and team information directly into Adobe InDesign. This connection makes proposal creation faster and more consistent — but only when the underlying data in ProjectMark is accurate and well organized.
This article explains how to structure and maintain your ProjectMark data so it can be reliably used inside InDesign. It focuses on best practices, not step-by-step usage, and assumes ProjectMark is your single source of truth.
ProjectMark as Your Source of Truth
The InDesign plugin provides direct access to your ProjectMark Data Hub. Everything that appears in the plugin — files, team members, projects, and related information — comes directly from ProjectMark.
There is currently no two-way sync between InDesign and ProjectMark. Changes made in InDesign do not update ProjectMark data. For this reason, ProjectMark should always be treated as the authoritative system where information is created, updated, and maintained.
The more structured and accurate your data is in ProjectMark, the easier it will be to find, insert, and update that content in InDesign.
Understanding the Data Hub in InDesign
Inside the InDesign plugin, the Data Hub gives you visibility into:
- Project records and their associated data
- Team member profiles
- Files and assets stored in ProjectMark
The plugin is designed to surface existing information — not to replace how that information is managed. Proposal quality depends directly on how well this data is maintained in ProjectMark.
Keeping Project Information Organized
Each project in ProjectMark includes a structured set of tabs that mirror how teams work across the platform. These typically include:
- Overview (general project information)
- Financial data
- Context and stakeholders
- Tasks
- Team planning
- Notes
- Files
- Optional custom sections, depending on your configuration
Best practice is to log information in the appropriate project tab, rather than storing key details only in uploaded documents. This makes project data searchable, filterable, and easy to reference — both in ProjectMark and inside the InDesign plugin.
When project information is consistently maintained across these sections, proposal teams can quickly research past work and confidently reuse accurate content.
Managing Team Member Information for Proposals
Team member profiles are one of the most commonly reused elements in proposals. To support this, it’s important to keep team data complete and up to date in ProjectMark.
This typically includes:
- Career history
- Publications
- Past/Current Projects
- Credentials and certifications
- Awards or recognitions
Keeping this information structured inside ProjectMark — rather than scattered across documents — makes it much easier to locate and insert into proposals through the InDesign plugin.
Avoiding Common Proposal Data Issues
Teams often run into issues when proposal content is managed outside the system or inconsistently across projects.
To avoid problems:
- Do not rely on standalone files as the only source of information
- Update project and team data as changes occur
- Keep historical project information accurate, even after work is completed
- Use ProjectMark consistently across teams so data remains reliable
Clean, structured data reduces last-minute edits, rework, and proposal errors.
How This Improves Proposal Workflows
When ProjectMark data is accurate and well maintained:
- Proposal teams spend less time searching for information
- Content inserted into InDesign is more reliable
- Updates are faster when details change
- Proposals stay consistent across teams and projects
The InDesign plugin works best when it reflects a well-maintained ProjectMark environment.
