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#1
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Problem using text boxes
I'm trying to print a set of card labels using mail merge in Word 2003.
In order to get the text just where I want it I've put the merge fields in text boxes. It all looks good, but when I come to merge the document each label contains the same data and it's equivalent to the values that should be in the last label on the page. That is if there are 10 cards per page then each card on page 1 shows the data in the 10th record, each card on page 2 shows the data in the 20th record, and so on. It seems to be using the text boxes that causes the problem, but I need to have some way of positioning the fields with some degree of control. I've tried using a table, but I need more flexibility. Can anyone suggest a work around or a fix for the problem. Thanks, |
#2
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Problem using text boxes
Use a table with fixed cell dimensions.
Also see the article "Mail Merge to Labels with Word XP" on fellow MVP Graham Mayor's website at: http://www.gmayor.com/mail_merge_lab...th_word_xp.htm -- Hope this helps. Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my services on a paid consulting basis. Doug Robbins - Word MVP wrote in message ups.com... I'm trying to print a set of card labels using mail merge in Word 2003. In order to get the text just where I want it I've put the merge fields in text boxes. It all looks good, but when I come to merge the document each label contains the same data and it's equivalent to the values that should be in the last label on the page. That is if there are 10 cards per page then each card on page 1 shows the data in the 10th record, each card on page 2 shows the data in the 20th record, and so on. It seems to be using the text boxes that causes the problem, but I need to have some way of positioning the fields with some degree of control. I've tried using a table, but I need more flexibility. Can anyone suggest a work around or a fix for the problem. Thanks, |
#3
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Problem using text boxes
Doug,
Thanks for your suggestion. I've tried using tables, but they don't quite cut it for the effect that I'm looking for. What I need is an L-shaped area for one piece of data and the other quarter of the box for another. I can achieve this using text boxes as I can overlap them. I'm having to make do with tables for now, but the final output isn't what I was after. Does anyone know if this bug is known by Microsoft and on the knowledge base? Regards, |
#4
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Problem using text boxes
It isn't a bug - it is by design. Text boxes are in the drawing layer of the
document and fields contained in them do not work predictably. http://www.gmayor.com/graphics_on_labels.htm may give you some ideas, but Word is a poor application for this type of work. Publisher would make things much simpler. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org WebUrchin wrote: Doug, Thanks for your suggestion. I've tried using tables, but they don't quite cut it for the effect that I'm looking for. What I need is an L-shaped area for one piece of data and the other quarter of the box for another. I can achieve this using text boxes as I can overlap them. I'm having to make do with tables for now, but the final output isn't what I was after. Does anyone know if this bug is known by Microsoft and on the knowledge base? Regards, |
#5
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Problem using text boxes
One approach (bearing in mind that text boxes and fields are not necessarily
a good mix) would be to create a new data source with one set of columns for every field /on the page/. Then, suppose you have 21 labels and 3 fields per label, you use fielda1,fieldb1,fieldc1 in label 1 fielda2,fieldb2,fieldc2 in label 2 and so on. Whether that is feasible and how easy it might be depend partly on your data source and how you are hoping to use it. As long as the number of labels per page is less than the maximum number of columns in a Word document, you could consider performing a preliminary catalog/directory merge with a one-row table, one cell for each label, e.g. cell1: fielda fieldb fieldc cell2: Next recordfielda fieldb fieldc and so on. You would have to add a heading row at the end or use a separate header record (not completely straightforward in Word 2002/2003). If you need more than around 63 cells, a Word table won't work - in simple cases you could probably output to a comma-delimited format, but many types of data source have a maximum of 127 or 255 columns. Just my 2c-worth. Peter Jamieson as long as you do not exceed a field count limit. "WebUrchin" wrote in message ups.com... Doug, Thanks for your suggestion. I've tried using tables, but they don't quite cut it for the effect that I'm looking for. What I need is an L-shaped area for one piece of data and the other quarter of the box for another. I can achieve this using text boxes as I can overlap them. I'm having to make do with tables for now, but the final output isn't what I was after. Does anyone know if this bug is known by Microsoft and on the knowledge base? Regards, |
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