Microsoft Office 2007 -

Illustrated

Merging Word Documents

Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

• Understand mail merge• Create a main document• Design a data source• Enter and edit records

Objectives

Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

• Add merge fields• Merge data• Create labels• Sort and filter records

Objectives (continued)

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

• 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

Understanding Mail Merge

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Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

• 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

Understanding Mail Merge

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Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

• Merge fields inserted in main document must correspond with field names in associated data source

Understanding Mail Merge

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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

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Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Creating a Main Document

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Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

• 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

Creating a Main Document

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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

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Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Designing a Data Source

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Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

• 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

Designing a Data Source

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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

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Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Entering and Editing Records

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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

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Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Adding Merge Fields

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Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Adding Merge Fields

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• 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)

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

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Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Sorting and Filtering Records

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Microsoft Office 2007 – Illustrated

Sorting and Filtering Records

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• 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