Mastering Mail Merge in Microsoft Office 2007: A Comprehensive Guide
This guide provides an in-depth understanding of the mail merge feature in Microsoft Office 2007. Learn to create a main document, design a suitable data source, enter and edit records, and incorporate merge fields effectively. Discover methods to merge data for personalized documents, create labels, and utilize the Mail Merge task pane. This resource is essential for anyone looking to streamline their document creation process by merging standard documents with unique individualized data using MS Word 2007.
Mastering Mail Merge in Microsoft Office 2007: A Comprehensive Guide
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Presentation Transcript
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
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) 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) 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
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) 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
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) 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) 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