Mail Merge

Envelopes and Mailing Labels

If you can do a mail merge using a letter, doing amerge for envelopes or mailing labels is even easier. Word will assist you in setting up your document to be an envelope or a sheet of mailing labels. Let's go back to Step 1 of the Mail Merge.

The procedure for doing mailing labels and envelopes is exactly the same. The lone difference lies in the type of envelope to choose or the type of mailing label to choose. (Both images are shown below.) We will use a new document to make the envelope and use the data source we created earlier in this section.

Once we have selected the data source, we must continue setting up the main document. If you are doing envelopes, the dialog box above pops up to give the choice of the type of envelope. We can even change the font for the delivery and return addresses. If we were making labels, Word would prompt us to choose the type of label. Word, like many word processing programs, uses the Avery standard of labels. Even if the labels you use weren't made by Avery, they will have the corresponding Avery label number on the box. This is the number you must choose. Once we click on OK, the following dialog box appears.

You'll note that this dialog box also contains an Insert Merge Field button. The procedure for adding fields for an envelope or label is the same as it is for a letter. One important addition, though, is the fact that Word will insert the Postal Bar Code if you provide the fields that contain the ZIP code and address.