Digital Coupon Template for Physical Games

In the spirit of Bits-and-Mortar, use this template to create inserts for the digital copy of the game. Each insert is printed with a unique download key, allowing you to sell a physical version of your game/zine at an event (when we are eventually able to safely have those again) and also give the buyer a way to add a digital copy to their itch account at no additional account.

Video instructions and templates are currently available for 2 applications:

• Microsoft Word (Requires Office 365 License)
• LibreOffice Writer (Free and Open Source)

Video Walkthroughs

Creating itch Download Keys

Using Download Keys with MS Word Mail Merge

Using Download Keys with LibreOffice Mail Merge

Current Status and Plan for Ongoing Support

Currently the templates for MS Word and LibreOffice are available for download.  Eventually, I will work on a more complex template for InDesign. Unfortunately, Affinity Publisher currently does not support data merge, but if that feature becomes available in a future version of Publisher, I will consider adding a Publisher template as well.

The initial set of files for this project were created as an proof of concept using LibreOffice Writer (a free open source alternative to MS Word). My goal was was to create something that folks can do on a minimal budget. I will continue to refine all 3 layouts over time, but as word processing applications like Word and Writer are difficult to do complex layouts with they probably won't get much fancier than what is currently available.

Change Log:

• 2020 Mar 03: Released with MS Word Template v1, LibreOffice Template v1, and instructions for both.