Hello to all and thanks for any help you can provide me...



I have Office 97. Trying to use Word to print some mailing labels from an Excel spreadsheet.

I can get the mail merge to work OK and the names and addresses appear but what I have set up on the labels goes away.

I want to place some information (same for each) like return address and a line of information on each label and have the individual address print in the center. Can this be done or must I print each part separately?

Thanks!

You need to do the setup for the first label, so as to get the required layout. Use the merge preview to confirm. IIRC, Word 97 has an 'update labels' button, which will then propagate the first label's layout & content to all the other labels. you should then be able to run the merge and get the correct output.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Thanks for the reply.

There is no "update labels" button or anything like that that I can find in Word 97.

The only way I can add text to the labels (there are 6 on a page) is to first do the mail merge and get the names to appear. Then open a text box and add some text.

That works and it will print there but I find no way to copy that to the other labels.
I'd have to retype for every single one.

Suggestions?

The process for Word 97 is described at: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/141992. It seems in that version you should only need to use the 'Create Label' dialog box to define a 'Sample Label' and Word will take care of the rest. See under 'Step 3: Edit Main Document'.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Just not going to work, I don't think.

Followed the directions to the letter. Yes, I can add some extra text in the dialog when I set up the fields (I assume this is what they mean) and it will put that text on every label with the individual address but...

Really no way to edit the format. Can change the point size from the default set before the merge and sort of adjust spacing using the space bar between lines... but that only gets me the first label. The others remain the same.

Looks like this old version does not have the ability to do this. Perhaps a standalone mailing label program is what I need to look for.

That, or I need to print all the pages with my return address and additional line of text first, then rerun the sheets a second time for the addresses. That will work... but I'm afraid another pass on the laser printer will cause the sheets to curl and jam up.

Thanks for the help. If you have any other ideas I will surely try them.

You do all the format editing in the dialogue, not in the labels; otherwise you'll need to copy the first label, then paste it over the other labels then add a 'next record' field to the start of every label except the first.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Well, tried as you suggested.

Yes, if I add the return address to the top and the additional line of text I want to appear to the bottom in the set up dialog and place the fields between these then all of it appears on the labels after the merge.

The issue, for me at least, is that it is all the same point size and the layout not to my liking.

Would prefer to be able to set up the master label with different font and point size and position it better. Also was hoping to add a small graphic that says "peel" to the corner. Cannot do that in '97, apparently.

What you suggest work, though, and I thank you for that