WD97: How to Merge Envelopes and Labels If Records in One Column

ID: Q140343

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SUMMARY

Ordinarily, Word cannot merge with data when all the information is in one column, as in the following example:

Joe Howard
123 Main Street
Anytown, US 12345

Jane Clayton
Microsoft
456 Elm Street
Sometown, US 67890
Word needs the information to be laid out in a table or in tab-delimited format. Normally, to perform a mail merge, you have to first convert the text to a table to use as a data document. To convert the text, you need to have the same number of fields in each record. This becomes increasingly more difficult to accomplish with a large number of records.

This article provides simpler methods for use with envelopes and labels.

Note that these methods are useful only when you have an existing document that is laid out in one column and you don't need to merge the information in the future. Using a data document that is laid out in a table provides many more options for merging data, such as the ability to use one data document for merging to different types of documents.

For information about converting address information into the table or tab-delimited format that Word needs, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q140344 WD: How to Convert Data in One Column to a Table for Merging


MORE INFORMATION

Method 1: For Both Envelopes and Labels

  1. Open the data document and make sure there is no information in the document other than the records and that the records are in the first format shown in the "Summary" section of this article.


  2. At the beginning of the records, add a line that says "MergeRecords" (without the quotation marks).


  3. Press ENTER twice so that there is a blank line between "MergeRecords" and the first record, for example:


    4. MergeRecords

    Joe Howard
    123 Main Street
    Anytown, US 12345

    Jane Clayton
    Microsoft
    456 Elm Street
    Sometown, US 67890
  4. On the Edit menu, click Replace.

    1. Place the insertion point in the Find What box. Click Special and choose Paragraph Mark.


    2. Repeat the previous step so that "^p^p" (without the quotation marks) appears in the Find What box.


    3. In the Replace With box, type an asterisk (*).


    4. Click Replace All.


    5. Click OK.


    6. Click Close.


    Your document should now look like the following:


    5. MergeRecords*Joe Howard
    123 Main Street
    Anytown, US 12345*Jane Clayton
    Microsoft
    456 Elm Street
    Sometown, US 67890
  5. On the File menu, click Save As. Give the file a new name. Click OK.


  6. On the File menu, click New to create a new, blank document. Click OK.


  7. On the Tools menu, click Mail Merge.


  8. In the Mail Merge Helper dialog box, click Create. Click either Envelopes or Mailing Labels.


  9. Click Active Window.


  10. Click Get Data. Select Open Data Source.


  11. Select the data document that you saved in step 5. Click Open.


  12. In the Field Delimiter box, select (none).


  13. In the Record Delimiter box, select asterisk (*). Click OK.


  14. Click Set Up Main Document.

    If you are setting up Labels, make the appropriate selections in the Label Options dialog box that appears. Click OK.


  15. Click Insert Merge Field. Only one field, MergeRecords, is available. Select this field. It appears in the Sample Label box.


  16. Click OK.


  17. Click Merge.


  18. In the Merge To box, choose New Document or Printer. Click Merge.


The document should merge successfully.

NOTE: If a single field data file is in a paragraph-delimited form, the dialog box
Header Record Delimiters
appears at several points during the mail merge process. To work around this problem, see the following Knowledge Base article:
Q188872 WD97: 'Header Record Delimiters' Appears Repeatedly in Merge

Method 2: For Envelopes Only

In this method, you do not actually perform any merging. Instead, you reformat the document so that each address is on an envelope-sized page by itself.
  1. On the File menu, click Save As. Give the file a new name. Click OK.


  2. Open the data document and make sure there is no information in the document other than the records and that the records are in the first format shown in the Summary section of this article.


  3. On the Edit menu, click Replace.


    1. Place the insertion point in the Find What box. Click the Special button and choose Paragraph Mark.


    2. Repeat the previous step so that "^p^p" (without the quotation marks) appears in the Find What box.


    3. Move the insertion point into the Replace With box. Click Special and choose Manual Page Break.


    4. Click Replace All.


    5. Click OK.


    6. Click Close.


  4. On the File menu, click Page Setup.


  5. Click the Paper Size tab.


  6. In the Paper Size list, select Envelope # 10.


  7. In the Orientation area, select Landscape.


  8. Click the Margins tab.


  9. Change the Margins to the following measurements:


    10. Top: 2.5
    Bottom: .5
    Left: 4.0
    Right: .5
  10. Click OK. Each record is now on its own envelope.


  11. Click Print.


The envelopes should print successfully.

Additional query words: mmh merging print merge howto label

Keywords : kbdta kbenvelope winword word97 kbmerge
Version : WINDOWS:97
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbinfo


Last Reviewed: November 16, 1999
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