Select Window > Variables.
Learn how to import CSV or XML data source files using the Variable panel and manage data sets in Adobe Illustrator.
You can import a data source in the Variables panel and bind variables to the desired data. You can have only one data source file selected per document.
In the Variables panel, select Import.
In the Load Variable Library dialog box, select a data source file in CSV or XML format and select Open.
You can edit, rename, or delete the data set later by selecting it from the Data Set dropdown menu and editing its options.
- To switch between data sets, select a data set from the Data Set dropdown in the Variables panel.
Toggle between data sets by selecting the Previous Data Set or the Next Data Set.
- To apply the data on the artboard to the current data set, select Update Data Set from the Variables panel menu .
- To rename a data set, edit the text directly in the Data Set text box and press Enter or return.
- To delete a data set, select Delete Data Set from the Variables panel menu .
The CSV (UTF-8 Comma Delimited) files containing double-byte characters from Excel can’t be imported in the Variables panel. If you open the file in a text editor and save it as a CSV with UTF-8 encoding, it imports correctly.