Microsoft® Word 2007 Bible

Chapter 43. Data Documents and Mail Merge

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Attaching a data source to a data document

• Editing data

• Assembling a data document

• Merging to a printer

• Using the Mail Merge Wizard

Let's face it. The term mail merge is entirely too narrow to fully reflect the range of what can be done using Word's "mail merge" features.

Setting up a mail merge or data document involves a number of steps, some of which must be done before others can happen:

1. Set the document type: letter, e-mail, envelope, labels, and directory.

2. Associate a data source with the document: new, Outlook contact, or some other source.

3. Design your data document by combining ordinary document features with Word merge fields.

4. Preview the finished document by testing to see how it looks with different data records.

5. Finish the process by merging the data document with the data source, creating a printed result, a saved document, or an e-mailed document.

Choosing the Type of Data Document

To choose the type of data document, in the Mailings ribbon, click Start Mail Merge, as shown in Figure 43.1. Some of the options are obvious, others are not. There are basically two kinds of data documents you can design. For one kind, each data record (a set of data items or fields describing a person, company, product, etc.) will result in a single document, such as a form letter, a mass e-mail, a product specification sheet, or an invoice. For the other kind, a single document is produced in which multiple records can appear on any given page. ...