MAIL MERGE
Letters, Envelopes & Letters, Envelopes & Labels Labels
WHAT IS IT?
Handling sending the same thing to a list [maybe Christmas cards?] of people:– Envelopes– Labels– Letters
TO: LOTS OF PEOPLE
The process we want to do is known as “merging” – frequently referred to as “mail merge”
To carry this process out needs two sets of information– The document to be produced – “Starting
Document”– Who To? – Recipient List – a “Data Source”
MAIL MERGE WIZARD
Once upon a time you needed special knowledge to carry out a merge. This may still be necessary for a complex merge. For example, when different text items may need to be inserted in different letters
For most personal uses “Mail Merge Wizard” will do what you want
The Wizard “talks” you through step-by-step
MAIL MERGE WIZARD
MAIL MERGE WIZARD
BEFORE WE BEGIN:
Some things to be aware of: Envelopes: Not a good plan to mix envelope
sizes when merging! Use labels instead Labels:
– Look through the list of labels to identify a size and manufacturer that suits.
– If you buy an alternative product- double check size & layout
– Check usage: some are laser only!
THE DATA SOURCE
Can be created inside the Wizard – but this can be a little clumsy
Can be an Excel file – created in Excel before merging begins
Can be a special form of Excel file created from your Address Book/Contact List – before merging begins
THE DATA SOURCE MUST CONTAIN ALLALL THE INFORMATION NEEDED FOR THE SET OF DOCUMENTS TO BE PRODUCED
STEP 1:CREATE OUR DATA SOURCE
We are going to work – initially – with an Excel file we create. This will tie together our previous work with Word & Excel
To save time – this has been pre-prepared
OUR FILE
WHEN THE FILE HAS BEEN CREATED:
Must be saved Can save anywhere but [in Windows 7] “My
Data Sources” is the best place – the Wizard looks here first as we shall see
The file must be closed before being used in a merge
SAVING THE FILE
NOW WE START THE WIZARD
We see this
WE ARE GOING TO USE “ENVELOPES” AS A FIRST EXAMPLE
Check “Change Document Layout” as we do not have either of the other options
Click “Envelope Options” to choose the size
CHOOSING:
NON-STANDARD ENVELOPES
WE SEE OUR ENVELOPE
WANT A RETURN ADDRESS?
GO TO STEP 3
OPEN YOUR FILE
“Browse” takes us to “My Data Sources” by default.
If you didn’t store your file here the look where you did store it
Double click to open the file
YOU WILL SEE:
NOW YOU SEE THIS
REFINE THE LIST IF NEEDED
Why might this be necessary? You may have a “master list” – but don’t want to send to all of
them This is a way to group if, for example, you are using different
envelopes
GO TO STEP 4
WHY DO WE SELECT “MORE ITEMS”?
The other options work best when the list has been created within the Wizard itself. This is the better option for a file you created
NOW YOU SEE THIS:
Note that you get a list of the “titles” that you created in the Excel file.
If you had NOT done this, the first line of “data” would have been lost since it would have been used as “titles”
START THE LAYOUT
Click on the first item you want to use, then click “Insert”
Click “Close”
WHAT YOU SEE
IMPORTANT
We will be repeating this process for each piece of data we need.
From a “format” aspect, each piece is inserted as if we were typing the actual data
So we need to add other formatting – spaces, punctuation, returns – BEFORE we insert the next piece
MORE INSERTS
We continue until all needed information has been inserted
Now click “Next” to go to Step 5
THE PREVIEW
Preview let’s you look at the finished results
By clicking the arrows, you can scroll through to see each one if desired
WE SEE THE MERGE HAPPENING
LAST STEP
Click “Next” to go to the final step
Click “Print” – make sure your printer is ready to go