Printing Bulk Mailings


Printing Bulk Mailings

If you keep a mailing list of customers, club members , or other contacts and you want to send the same postcard or brochure to all of them, you don t have to address and print each one in turn . You can use Publisher s mail merge feature to print a set of similar documents ready for bulk mailing.

The mail merge process involves two documents. You create one document called the main publication that contains the information that does not change from printout to printout ”for example, the text and graphics of the postcard. In the main publication, you insert placeholders called merge fields for the information that does change ”for example, the name and address of each person who should receive the postcard. (You can also insert codes that control the merging process.) You create another document called the data source that contains a database of the variable information. For this example, you ll use the postcard you have already created as your main publication, but you need to create a data source. Then you can merge the two files together to print a set of publications ready for bulk mailing.

Creating the Data Source

If you already have a list that you want to use for bulk mailings, you don t have to create it again. You can use it with Publisher s mail merge process. If you don t already have a list, Publisher can guide you through the steps for creating one, like this:

1. With the Postcard file open , click Mail Merge and then Create Address List on the Tools menu.

You might need to install the Mail Merge feature before proceeding. Publisher displays the New Address List dialog box shown in this graphic:

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Publisher lists all the commonly used merge field names in the Enter Address information area.

2. Click the Customize button.

The Customize Address List dialog box appears, as shown in this graphic:

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More ways to customize field names

In the Customize Address List dialog box, you can add a new field by clicking the Add button, typing a name for the new field, deciding whether you want the new field to appear before or after the selected field, and then clicking OK. To rename a field, select it, type a new name, and click OK. To change the field order to match the order in which you enter data, use the Move Up and Move Down buttons .

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3. With Title selected in the Field Names list, click the Delete button, and then click Yes to confirm the deletion.

Publisher removes this field from the list.

4. Repeat step 3 to remove the Company Name , Home Phone , Work Phone , and E-mail Address fields from the list.

5. Click OK to return to the New Address List dialog box with the updated list of field names.

6. Enter the information shown in the following table in the indicated fields, pressing either Tab or Enter to move from field to field, and clicking the New Entry button to move to a new entry once you ve completed the previous one:

Field

Entry 1

Entry 2

Entry 3

First Name

Erik

Michael

Dale

Last Name

Gavriluk

Matey

Washburn

Address Line 1

1504 14th Avenue SW

117 Main Street

1301 Brookline Road

Address Line 2

 

Apt. 5A

 

City

Great Falls

Moose Jaw

San Luis Obispo

State

MT

Sask.

CA

ZIP Code

59404

S6H 1S4

93401

Country

 

CANADA

 

When you have entered at least two names and addresses, you can use the Next or Previous buttons in the View Entry Number area to move back and forth through the entries.

7. After adding the three names and addresses, click Close .

Publisher displays the Save Address List dialog box, which looks very similar to the Save As dialog box shown throughout this course.

8. Save the file as Data Source in the My Data Sources folder.

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Data source decisions

Before creating the data source for a mail merge publication, you should think through how the data source will be used. If you plan on sorting your data, you need to put the information you want to sort in separate fields. For example, instead of a single Name field, you might want fields for First Name and Last Name. If you will use the data source for different kinds of mail merge publications, you might want to add fields that won t be used in one type of publication but will in another. For example, the first line of an address label might include a name and job title, such as Sandy Rhodes, President, but the salutation of a letter might include only a first name, such as Dear Sandy. You ll have more flexibility if you include all the information but organize it in separate fields.

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Completing the Main Publication

The back of the postcard includes an address frame but does not include the merge fields you need to carry out the mail merge process. Let s add them now:

1. Move to page 2 of the postcard, select the text in the address frame, and delete it.

2. With an insertion point in the blank address frame, click Mail Merge and then Insert Field on the Tools menu.

You see the Insert Merge Field dialog box shown in this graphic:

3. With the First Name merge field selected, click the Insert button to insert the merge field into the address frame.

Publisher inserts a <<First Name>> field in the address frame. (If necessary, drag the dialog box out of the way so that you can see the results.)

4. Double-click Last Name in the Insert Merge Field dialog box.

Publisher adds a <<Last Name>> field immediately following <<First Name>> in the address frame. You need to close the dialog box to insert a space between the first and last name fields.

5. Click the Close button to return to the postcard, click an insertion point between the << First Name >> and << Last Name >> fields, and press the Spacebar once.

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Using data sources from other programs

If you have already set up a suitable table of information in another program, you might be able to use the table as the data source for mail merge publications. For example, Publisher can use information in files created with certain versions of Microsoft Access, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Works, Microsoft Excel, Paradox, and dBase. (The information doesn t have to be in a database, but it must be set up in a table or be separated by tabs or commas for Publisher to be able to use it.) Click an insertion point in the text frame where you want the merge fields to appear, and click Mail Merge and then Open Data Source on the Tools menu to display the Select Data Source dialog box. Then select the file you want to use.

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6. Click an insertion point after the << Last Name >> field, press the Enter key, and then press Ctrl+Shift+I to redisplay the Insert Merge Field dialog box.

7. Double-click the Address Line 1 merge field and then the Address Line 2 merge fields, close the Insert Merge Field dialog box, and insert a space between the two address fields. Then click an insertion point after the << Address Line 2 >> field, and press the Enter key to start a new line.

8. Redisplay the Insert Merge Field dialog box, add the City , State , and ZIP Code merge fields, and then close the dialog box.

9. Format the new line of merge fields by clicking an insertion point after << City >> , typing a comma and a space, clicking an insertion point after << State >> , and typing two spaces. Then click an insertion point after << ZIP Code >>, and press the Enter key to add a fourth line.

10. Redisplay the Insert Merge Field dialog box, add the Country merge field, and then close the dialog box.

The results are shown in this graphic:

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Using an Outlook contact list

To use a contact list created in Microsoft Outlook as the data source, click an insertion point where you want to add the merge fields, and click Open Data Source on the Mail Merge menu. In the Profile Name list, select the profile you want, and click OK. If you have more than one Outlook contact list, select the list you want, and click OK. You can then insert the required fields and proceed with the mail merge operation as usual.

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For this example, you inserted the merge fields in the order in which they appear in the list. However, you can insert them in any order or any combination. You can also manually rearrange merge fields after you have added them to a publication.

Merging and Printing the Publications

Now you are ready to merge the main publication with the data source so that you can print the addressed postcards. Follow these steps:

1. Click Mail Merge and then Mail Merge Wizard on the Tools menu.

Publisher displays the Mail Merge task pane to the left of the postcard, as shown in this graphic:

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Filtering and sorting data

If your data source contains many entries and you want to merge only those entries that meet certain criteria (for example, only those with specific postal codes), you can filter the entries to extract the ones you want. Click Filter or Sort on the Tools menu. On the Filter Records tab, select a field and then a comparison setting, and then type the value to compare the field to in the Compare to box. (You can enter up to three different filter settings.) To sort the information contained in your data source, click the Sort Records tab of the Filter and Sort dialog box. Select the field you want to sort by, and then click either the Ascending option to sort from lowest to highest value or the Descending option to sort from highest to lowest value. (You can enter up to three different sort settings.) To redisplay the entire data source, click the Remove Filter or Remove Sort button on the appropriate tab of the Filter and Sort dialog box, and then click OK.

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Editing data sources

If you need to edit the datasource entries or add more entries, you can click Mail Merge and then Edit Address List on the Tools menu, open the data source, and make the necessary changes. When you are confident that the merge process produces the set of publications you want, you can proceed to the next step.

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As you can see, the Mail Merge Wizard assumes that the Data Source file you created will be the source from which the address fields in the main publication will be filled.

2. At the bottom of the task pane, click the Next: Create the publication link.

3. You don t need to create a new publication because you re using Postcard , so in the Step 2 of 4 area of the task pane, click the Next: Preview the publications link.

The Mail Merge Wizard displays the next step in the task pane, and the merge fields are replaced by the first address entry in the Data Source file, as shown in this graphic:

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4. Click the ( >> ) button in the task pane to display the fields for the second entry, and then click the ( >> ) button again to view the third entry.

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The Print Troubleshooter

The Print Troubleshooter helps you identify potential printing problems. You can tell Publisher to activate Print Troubleshooter every time you print by clicking Options on the Tools menu, clicking the Print tab, selecting the Automatically display Print Troubleshooter check box, and clicking OK.

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Printing labels and envelopes

Publisher can create several types of labels and envelopes with the mail merge feature. To create a label or envelope publication, click the style you want in the Labels or Envelopes category of the New Publication task pane. If the category does not list the label or envelope size you need, you can customize one in the Page Setup dialog box. You can then enter merge fields in the publication and format them as usual. For specific information on how to print envelopes or labels, see Publisher s Help feature.

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5. When you finish previewing the data, click the Next: Complete the merge link at the bottom of the task pane.

The Mail Merge Wizard displays the next step in the task pane and waits for you to print the merged document. If you need to make adjustments to the placement of the merge fields before printing, you can do so directly on the page.

6. Click the Print link in the Merge area to display the Print Merge dialog box.

This is a modified version of the Print dialog box.

7. Next click OK to print all three merged postcards.

You can also click the Test button to print just the first entry of a merged publication so that you can check that everything looks fine on paper.

8. When the printing has finished, close the Mail Merge task pane, and then save and close the postcard.




Online Traning Solutions - Quick Course in Microsoft Publisher 2002
Online Traning Solutions - Quick Course in Microsoft Publisher 2002
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2003
Pages: 76

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