This & That: Fun With Mail Merge

     by Elizabeth B. Wright   June 2005

     Now that's an oxymoron if ever there was one.
     Except for the people who have mastered mail merge, and that person is still obscure, the rest of us just muddle through.
     This article will be published in either two or three installments, starting this month. In it we will address the designing and printing of organizational name badges using The Print Shop software.
     Pioneering programmers at The Print Shop actually dealt with mail merge as successfully as any software company with which I am familiar. It is far easier to access the built-in address book than in the typical applications from the pricey “Office-type” products. This feature is especially helpful when printing badges for groups using label card stock. A different name can be printed on each badge (label) using the mail merge function. The advantage is the ability to automatically insert and scale each name to fit within the limits of the badge's text box, regardless of the length of any individual name. Some names will appear in larger type than others when printed, but at least the names are not reduced to the smallest size type that will accommodate all the names in an address book. Fran Crane (our editor) was the first of my computer friends to find this program and to introduce me to it when we were making badges for the SeniorNet User Group. As I recall, the process was simpler in the earlier program than in the upgraded version I am now using, but the technology is still there.
      Currently I am using ver. 20 of the program. I will try to simplify the instructions for using this routine. The label-making module in The Print Shop can be accessed from the program when it first opens or from Left-Clicking File>New on the menu bar at the top of the screen.
     After choosing a label type and size, the next step is to create an address book with the names you want to merge onto the labels. On the menu bar at the top, Left-Click on Tools>Edit Address Book. If the “Options Wizard” dialog box opens, Left-Click on “No”. We won’t use the Wizard since this will be a do-it-yourself exercise.
     On the menu bar, Left-Click File>New. Type a name in the space provided in the dialog box that opens on this command. Left-Click on “OK”. The “Add Address” dialog box will appear, but for now, we will close that box.
     On the menu bar, Left-Click on View>Settings. If you have used this before and modified any of the settings, those settings are probably stored in the program’s memory. You can return the settings to Default by Left-Clicking the Defaults button at the bottom of the box. Then you can choose the options you want to modify. I chose to uncheck all but “Shade Every Other Record” and “Show Names as Last, First”. The second option helps with sorting names later. I also chose “Inches” under the Measurements option. Left-Click on “OK” and the box will close. You will now be in a separate program titled “Ultimate Mail Manager”. While part of The Print Shop, it can be opened and closed without affecting the main program.

Modifying the Address Book
     The address book is, at its core, a spreadsheet database that has been customized for The Print Shop. As such, it can be modified, but only to a limited degree. We are going to use some of the existing Fields in the default address book, ignoring the ones we don’t need. We will put the Renewal Date for membership in a club in one of the existing Fields that shows on the primary screen of the data entry form for the address book. The trick is to remember that you are using that Field when adding information to the book and subsequently printing your labels/badges.
     While in the “Ultimate Mail Manager” screen, Left-Click File>New on the menu bar. A dialog box will open asking for a name for the new address book. Type in a name, probably one related to the project on which you are currently working. There is a default choice for the storage location of the address books and my suggestion is to use this, at least until you are more familiar with the program. Left-Click on “OK” and you will then have a blank address book on your screen and the “Add Address” dialog box will be open on top of it.
     Enter the name of any person you want included in the book. Use the fields provided. You can navigate through them using the “Tab” key or by moving the text icon bar to a field and Clicking the Left mouse button. In this example, we are using the “Organization” Field as a placeholder for the Renewal Date information, e.g., September 2005. (September happens to be the longest month name with nine letters, so that plus a space and the year is the size needed for the Text Box placed in your badge in the main program, more about that next month.) As you add names, the program will automatically sort them alphabetically on “Last Name.” To continue adding names, Left-Click on “New” at the bottom of the dialog box. The first entry will be added to the book and you can begin typing the information for the next name. Continue this process until you have added all the names you plan to use. Left Click on “OK”.
     Now that you have created an address book, we will move on next month to creating the badge itself and printing badges from within The Print Shop.

Elizabeth Wright is a member of the CCOKC and a regular writer for the eMonitor