Font size change after mailmerge (labels)

[Ludo_S]

Hi,



I'm creating labels using label mail merge in Word 2010.
The labels (Brady ELAT-7) are filled with data from a Excel sheet.
then i change the font size from the bottom text line (there are 3 text lines above each other) to Arial 14 (the two other text lines are Arial 8), and save the document.
So far so good.

When i re-open the document, and data is parsed from the Excel file, i'll note that the font size for the third text line changed back to Arial 8, instead of Arial 14.

Is there a way to prevent this so that the font size of the label remains 8 for the two upper text lines, and 14 for the bottom text line?
I'll also center the text within the label.

Best regards,
Ludo

[macropod]

Word won't ordinarily change merge formatting on you, so it seems there is more going on than you've described. One workaround would be to select the mergefields for the last two lines, then press Shift-F9 to reveal the field codes, which will look something like:
{ MERGEFIELD MyField } or { MERGEFIELD MyField \* Mergeformat}
You can then add a Charformat switch to the field, thus:
{ MERGEFIELD MyField \* Charformat}
and format the 'M' of 'MERGEFIELD' with whatever font attributes you want. Delete the Mergeformat switch, if present. Press F9 again to update the fields when you're done. Your formatting should now be preserved during the merge.

[Ludo_S]

Originally Posted by macropod

Word won't ordinarily change merge formatting on you, so it seems there is more going on than you've described. One workaround would be to select the mergefields for the last two lines, then press Shift-F9 to reveal the field codes, which will look something like:
{ MERGEFIELD MyField } or { MERGEFIELD MyField \* Mergeformat}
You can then add a Charformat switch to the field, thus:
{ MERGEFIELD MyField \* Charformat}
and format the 'M' of 'MERGEFIELD' with whatever font attributes you want. Delete the Mergeformat switch, if present. Press F9 again to update the fields when you're done. Your formatting should now be preserved during the merge.

Thanks Paul for the information.

I don't know if this has an influence on the font size, but I used for the fields the 'Address block', and not the 'Insert Merge Fields'.
Created a new Word doc, but this time I used the 'Insert Merge Fields' and the results is now as expected, the font size doesn't change anymore, so problem should be solved.
I have no experience at all regarding Mailings, so it's still a lot of try and error.

Is there somewhere a easy to understand document regarding the use of Mailings / using the right fields for merging, or what book can you recomment that covers Mailings in detail?

Best regards,
Ludo

[macropod]

I don't know of any particular books on mailmerge, though the Mailmerge Tip & Tricks 'Sticky' thread at the top of this forum (https://www.msofficeforums.com/mail-...ps-tricks.html) addresses a lot of common issues.

As indicated in my previous reply, though, your problems have less to do with mailmerge and more to do with proper document formatting. Your problems were indicative of a document in which someone had overridden the Style definition for the paragraph in which the filed was located to make it look different than what the Style definition says. This is quite common and afflicts the documents created by many people who haven't taken the time to learn to use Word properly. The solution is to learn to use Styles the way they are meant to be used.