Microsoft Office 2007 - Illustrated

Microsoft Office 2007 - Illustrated Merging Word Documents

Objectives • Understand mail merge • Create a main document • Design a data source • Enter and edit records Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Objectives (continued) • Add merge fields • Merge data • Create labels • Sort and filter records Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Understanding Mail Merge • With mail merge you merge a standard Word document with a file that contains customized information for many individuals or items • The standard document is the main document • The file with the unique data is the data source • Use Mail Merge task pane or the commands on the Mailings tab Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Understanding Mail Merge (continued) • Main document contains boilerplate text and merge fields • Boilerplate text appears in every version of the merged document • A merge field indicates where the data from each record should be inserted when you perform the merge Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Understanding Mail Merge (continued) • A data source contains data fields and data records • A data field is a category of information • E.g., last name, City, postal code • The names of the data fields are called field names • A data record is complete set of related information for an individual or an item • E.g., one person’s name and address Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Understanding Mail Merge (continued) • Merge fields inserted in main document must correspond with field names in associated data source Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Creating a Main Document • The first step in a mail merge is to create the main document • Create from scratch • Save an existing document as a main document • Use a mail merge template • Use the Mail Merge task pane Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Creating a Main Document (continued) Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Creating a Main Document (continued) • Using a mail merge template: • If you are creating a letter, fax, or directory, you can use a mail merge template to start your main document • To use a template, click the Start from a template option button in the Step 2 of 6 Mail Merge task pane, then click Select template • Select Template dialog box opens Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Designing a Data Source • Next step in the mail merge process is to identify the data source • Data source file contains the information used to customize each version of the merge document • You can use an existing data source or create a new one • To create one, you determine the fields to include and then add the records Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Designing a Data Source (continued) Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Designing a Data Source (continued) • Merging with an Outlook data source: • You can merge a main document with an Outlook contact list • Click the Select from Outlook contacts option button in the Step 3 of 6 Mail Merge task pane • Then, click Choose Contacts Folder to open the Choose Profile dialog box Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Entering and Editing Records • Each record includes the complete set of information for each individual or item you include in the data source Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Entering and Editing Records (continued) Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Adding Merge Fields • Merge fields are placeholders for text that is inserted when main document and data source are merged • Names must correspond to the fields names in data source • Use Mail Merge task pane or Address Block, Greeting Line, and Insert Merge Field buttons in the Write & Insert Fields group (Mailings tab) Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Adding Merge Fields (continued) Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Adding Merge Fields (continued) • Matching fields: • Merge fields inserted in main document must correspond with filed names in associated data source • If using Address Block merge field, you must make sure that the default address field names correspond with the field names used in the data source • Use Match Fields dialog box Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Merging Data • Before merging, preview merged data for accuracy • Use the task pane or the Preview Results button (Preview Results group, Mailings tab) • When merging, choose between merging to a new file or to a printer Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Merging Data (continued) Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Creating Labels • Use Mail Merge task pane or commands on Mailings tab to create labels or print envelopes for a mailing • Select a standard label or envelope size to use as the main document • Select a data source, then insert merge fields in the main document Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Creating Labels (continued) Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Creating Labels (continued) • Printing individual envelopes and labels: • Use Mail Merge or commands in Create group on Mailings tab Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Sorting and Filtering Records • Sorting records determines the order in which the records are merged • Filtering pulls out the records that meet specific criteria and includes only those records in the merge Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Sorting and Filtering Records (continued) Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Sorting and Filtering Records (continued) • Inserting individual merge fields: • Include proper punctuation, spacing, and blank lines between merge fields in main document if you want them to appear in merged document • <<City>>, <<State>> <<ZIP Code>> Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Summary • Perform a mail merge by merging a main document with a data source • The main document contains the standard information • The data source contains the customized information • Mail Merge task pane walks you through the mail merge process Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Microsoft Office 2007 - Illustrated