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#1
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Word 2003 Mail Merge Issues - Help Needed
I've got to be missing something... and it is probably very simple.
I pull up a blank Word document. Add verbiage for a generic letter formatted in Times New Roman with 12 point font. Create a new mail merge list in Word. Insert where the datapoints/bookmarks will go. When the data is added to the letter, all of the datapoints have different font sizes and types! What have I missed? Why does a Times New Roman with 12 pt font turn into 10 pt Courier New and 10 pt Times New Roman? I do a Ctrl+A to change the font all back to what it should be, but there has to be a way around this font change during the recipient list merge. Thanks, Lisa |
#2
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Word 2003 Mail Merge Issues - Help Needed
Hi Lisaveena,
What happens when you press Ctrl-A, Ctrl-Space? With this action, you remove direct formatting. Only the formatting defined in your styles is left. I suspect 12 pt to be direct formatting, where the mergefields only have style formatting. Have your styles right, and you are probably ok. Good luck, Cooz -- PS: If this is a satisfying answer to your question and you're logged in via the Microsoft site, please click Yes to "Did this post answer the question?". Thanks. " wrote: I've got to be missing something... and it is probably very simple. I pull up a blank Word document. Add verbiage for a generic letter formatted in Times New Roman with 12 point font. Create a new mail merge list in Word. Insert where the datapoints/bookmarks will go. When the data is added to the letter, all of the datapoints have different font sizes and types! What have I missed? Why does a Times New Roman with 12 pt font turn into 10 pt Courier New and 10 pt Times New Roman? I do a Ctrl+A to change the font all back to what it should be, but there has to be a way around this font change during the recipient list merge. Thanks, Lisa |
#3
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Word 2003 Mail Merge Issues - Help Needed
Hi Lisa
I can't explain WHY this happens; it's just something mail merge fields sometimes do. But I can tell you how to get control of it, I think 1. Alt+F9 to display all the field codes 2. Now run Find/Replace to remove this text: \* MergeFormat 3. Alt+F9 again to hide the field codes 4. Test merging to a new document. 5. If there's still some instability, note which fields are a problem, go back into the main merge document, display the field codes again and add, at the end of the field: \* CharFormat This will force the field result to adapt the formatting of the first character in the field code. I pull up a blank Word document. Add verbiage for a generic letter formatted in Times New Roman with 12 point font. Create a new mail merge list in Word. Insert where the datapoints/bookmarks will go. When the data is added to the letter, all of the datapoints have different font sizes and types! What have I missed? Why does a Times New Roman with 12 pt font turn into 10 pt Courier New and 10 pt Times New Roman? Cindy Meister INTER-Solutions, Switzerland http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004) http://www.word.mvps.org This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-) |
#4
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Word 2003 Mail Merge Issues - Help Needed
Thank you! Sadly, the word format does not appear anywhere after I
display the field codes. ~ Lisa |
#5
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Word 2003 Mail Merge Issues - Help Needed
Wow! That changed the entire document. Now the surrounding text
matches the merged font style and size. How bizarre. Thank you for the tip. Now I just need to figure out how to turn off the auto-style format piece. Or get the styles set up correctly for this document. This is my first real gig as a tech writer, so I have not used styles very much. Thanks again for your help! Lisa |
#6
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Word 2003 Mail Merge Issues - Help Needed
Learn and use styles. They are at the heart of formatting in Word.
http://addbalance.com/usersguide/styles.htm http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/styl...sOnStyles.html -- Charles Kenyon Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome! --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn from my ignorance and your wisdom. wrote in message oups.com... Wow! That changed the entire document. Now the surrounding text matches the merged font style and size. How bizarre. Thank you for the tip. Now I just need to figure out how to turn off the auto-style format piece. Or get the styles set up correctly for this document. This is my first real gig as a tech writer, so I have not used styles very much. Thanks again for your help! Lisa |
#7
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Word 2003 Mail Merge Issues - Help Needed
That doesn't matter - add the \*charformat switch manually to the affected
fields thus {Mergefield fieldname \*charformat} Then update the fields and toggle the display back again. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org wrote: Thank you! Sadly, the word format does not appear anywhere after I display the field codes. ~ Lisa |
#8
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Word 2003 Mail Merge Issues - Help Needed
I tried to locate the information on Microsoft prior to posting, but I
must have been querying the wrong phrase. Thanks so much for the links. I will read them. Generally, I dislike Word's styles and prefer to do my own thing. It would probably be good to learn how to work with the beast rather than fighting it all the time. |
#9
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Word 2003 Mail Merge Issues - Help Needed
If it is any help to you, I never use Word's built-in styles if I can
possibly help it. When I define my own paragraph styles, I always base them on "(no style)" or other styles I have defined (i.e. I don't even base them on Normal). However, you may find that you can't avoid using some of Word's style names, particularly for stuff such as footnote references and so on. Peter Jamieson wrote in message oups.com... I tried to locate the information on Microsoft prior to posting, but I must have been querying the wrong phrase. Thanks so much for the links. I will read them. Generally, I dislike Word's styles and prefer to do my own thing. It would probably be good to learn how to work with the beast rather than fighting it all the time. |
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