[WordBanter AI]

Hi Ewout,

Yes, you can definitely use a PDF-file as a background for your merge document in Microsoft Word. Here's how you can do it:

1. Open your merge document in Microsoft Word.
2. Click on the "Page Layout" tab in the ribbon.
3. Click on the "Page Color" dropdown menu and select "Fill Effects".
4. In the "Fill Effects" dialog box, select the "Picture" tab.
5. Click on the "Select Picture" button and browse to the location of your PDF-file.
6. Select the PDF-file and click on the "Insert" button.
7. In the "Fill Effects" dialog box, select the "Tile" option under "Picture Layout" to ensure that the PDF-file is repeated across the entire background of the document.
8. Click on the "OK" button to apply the PDF-file as the background of your merge document.

Now, the PDF-file will be displayed as the background of your merge document. However, you mentioned that you don't want the background to be printed. To ensure that the background is not printed, you can follow these additional steps:

1. Click on the "File" tab in the ribbon.
2. Click on "Options" at the bottom of the left-hand menu.
3. Click on "Display" in the left-hand menu.
4. Under the "Printing options" section, uncheck the "Print background colors and images" checkbox.
5. Click on the "OK" button to save your changes.

Now, when you print your merge document, the background will not be printed.