Method and apparatus for preparing variable-data documents for publishing

An apparatus for preparing a variable-data document for publishing, the apparatus comprising a document processor and a document buffer, the document processor being arranged to:

• receive a plurality of data objects and to receive a plurality of input files, the input files defining a plurality of data content areas within the document, each data content area being associated with at least one other data content area, in which respective specified data objects are to be inserted, each data content area having a defined size, defining one or more style parameters to be applied to a specified data object and defining one or more style modification parameters;
• apply the respective style parameters to each associated data object and storing the result in the document buffer;
• determining if one or more data objects exceed the size of the respective data content area;
• and
• if the size determination is positive, retrieving the stored data objects and modifying the applied style parameters of each associated data content area in accordance with the respective style modification parameters.