hi, thanks for the reply.

no, i have about 20 different letterheads for each mail merge value, i am using this equation(?) {INCLUDEPICTURE ".../pictures/Logos/{MERGEFIELD "internal_party" }.jpg \*MERGEFORMAT \d }

I have saved the .jpg files to be the same name as the {MERGEFIELD "internal_party" } result. this works well enough that it selects the correct picture.

thank you for the clarification on floating images, it appears from the testing that i have done that "in line with text" is the only type that gets the mail merge. as soon as i adjust to floating i keep the picture but lose the merge.

I will continue to use the links provided below and let you know how i get on. thanks for you help