How do I Mail Merge Labels

With a lot of playing around and a fair amount of research as well. I was able to get Pages to mail merge designed labels.

First, the issue of design. I could of done this in FileMaker pretty easy, but I needed the output to be tweekable. I was doing name tags, not mailing labels, so needed the first name larger than last, but also to be able to split the company name to two lines if necessary. I also needed logos to print per name tag.

Second, the one label per page issue. This was harder to figure out, but I was exploring the idea that each label needed to be its on text box, rather than the table that the imported Avery Labels template generated, then came across this website: http://stiragir.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/doing-a-label-mail-merge-on-pages-mac/ It confirmed the idea of text boxes, but made my design issue a little bit more complicated, since the two or three column document approach wouldn't allow for graphics per text box.

So for the design issue, I created a new document, sized the text box, placed graphics, and added a second text box, also with a merge field, then grouped everything together. Copied and placed into the document that would be my template.

My template, for the name tags is a two column document, no tables or table cells. Just two columns, with the following grouped items inserted right at the text insert area. You'll need to set all the correct margins yourself. But I grabbed them from the Avery file.

Next, and this was the main issue, after the design was completed and tested, merging the file produces 100+ pages of individual name badges. This is where STIR/AGIR's website, linked above, was invaluable. The Find and Replace of all the section breaks, that created multiple documents. The quick find and replace, then had each name tag stack six per page, as expected.

If design isn't an issue, then the MOST IMPORTANT thing to remember is NOT to use tables.

1. Create a document with the appropriate number of columns you need: one, two, three.
2. Design a textbox to the label size specifications from Avery.
3. Insert the textbox into the first column insertion point, as if you were typing. I copied and paste, the box and contents. DO NOT repeat, this. Just allow the one textbox to be used. It will be created, 6, 10, 30 times, as needed.
4. Run Mail Merge. I'm assuming you've already connected your numbers document and mapped field data.
5. FIND/REPLACE section breaks from the now multi-page document created after mail merge. Your labels will appear as they should 6, 10, 30 per page.

Lastly, and VERY IMPORTANT, save this file as a template. Once it's a template you can call it for re-use, again and again.

Pages only allows one merge per page, but there are ways around this;

http://www.freeforum101.com/iworktipsntrick/viewtopic.php?p=272&mforum=iworktips ntrick#272

To get what you want print from Address Book directly, which has full support for all the standard labels and allows a lot of formatting, even some addition of graphics.

Peter

z,

You can avoid contaminating your personal Contacts if you do your business address list in another User Account.

Merging from Numbers is a bit complicated to set up, and slightly more complicated to use than merging from Contacts, but it's a good solution for the reasons you stated.

The basic procedure using Numbers is as follows:

Design a Pages merge document with only one label field, and only one set of merge links. The size of the label field will be the same as one of the labels on your actual label sheet.

When you do a Mail Merge from Numbers, choose to merge to a Pages document, not directly to the Printer. You will get a number of Sections in the merged document equal to the number of records in your Numbers file, with one label on each Section/Page.

You then collapse the pages document by using Find and Replace to eliminate the Section Break characters. Now you will have as many label fields on each page as will fit there. The trick, and you only have to do this once if you save the result as a Template, is to design the Pages merge document to have the proper number of columns and the proper label field height so that the result matches your physical print media.

Jerry

You can import your CSV addresses into Address Book, using Groups to divide up your collection and output those to the printed labels.

It is quick and easy to narrow down your contacts using the search field which will work on whatever you may use as labels in the Notes as well, selecting all then dragging them to a Group which you print.

Or just select all the VCards resulting from the search and printing those, without making a Group.

Peter

Shift select your Addresses list

Menu > Edit > Delete Cards

Takes a couple of seconds.

Peter

Hi zpeteman,

You wrote: "The last thing I want is a bunch of strangers clogging up my contact list."

I agree. This may help you to use a CSV file of addresses that you have saved in Numbers.

Under the Pages Help Menu, type merging data.

Choose Merging Data from Contacts, Address Book, or a Numbers Document

In the Help window, scroll down to: To insert merge data for one or more contacts using a Numbers document.

It says:

1. Choose Edit > Mail Merge, and then click Numbers Document.
2. Choose a Numbers document in the window that appears, and click Open.
3. For each merge field, click the Target Name pop-up menu in the Merge window, and select a target.
4. Print the document.
5. To reuse the document with other Numbers data, select another Numbers document, and repeat steps 1 through 4.

Sheesh, finding Mail Merge in Help is not easy! On this topic, the Pages09 User Guide is as useless as tits on a bull.

Hope this helps.

Ian.

P.S. I just had a go at this in Pages, and Edit > Mail Merge is greyed out. Back to the drawing board.

Episode 2

Doh! We need to set up a Numbers documents such as:

Save it. You will need to choose this as your source file.

Then we need to insert Merge Fields in a Pages document. I used Link Inspector:

First Name Last Name

Address1 Address2

State Post Code

First Name Last Name

Address1 Address2

State Post Code

Then in Pages, Edit Menu > Mail Merge... and Merge to new document to get this:

Joe Blow

23 High Street Woop Woop

NSW 9999

Joe Blow

23 High Street Woop Woop

NSW 9999

Hmm. As you found, it just repeats Row 1 from the Numbers document.

Those are the basics that I have been able to find, and **I am not impressed**. Perhaps somebody in this community could offer you a template to suit your labels.

Ian.

zpeteman wrote:

.... Surely there's a new version of Pages due out soon that will address this sort of thing, right?

We've been thinking that for many years now, so far the only changes have been those that support the evolving OS X features, as updates.

I often get the urge, upon reading posts along the lines of yours, to design a set of Pages templates for this purpose. Unfortunately almost never do the people asking the question state what Avery label number they plan to use and since I wouldn't know where to begin I let the urge pass.

Jerry

Stop trying to make Pages do this. RIGHT NOW go to Avery Design and Print Online. You're welcome.

Now I am off to buy some stock in Avery, or their Web designer. This is the slickest little Web doohickey I've seen in awhile.

I can't believe I've had Pages for many years and never run up against this. I mostly use FileMaker for labels, or my DYMO printer for just a few. Truly a ridiculous omission.

I 100% agree with Anelin, after a hour with pages and numbers, I went to Avery in two lists were done in 5 minutes.

You could do it with scripting:

1. Start in Numbers, setting up a table with names and addresses

2. Go to Pages and set up one label with unique "variables" in place of all of the key items (eg FirstN, FamN, Address1... etc). Copy that label as many times as you need it. (or you could paste new ones as needed at the begining of step 4)

3. Go to Numbers, read in one line of data assigning data to variables

4. Switch to Pages, find and replace one instance only of each of the variables

5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 until you reach the end of the list of addresses.

You could record steps 3 & 4 as you do them and then edit them to repeat.

alnisa

Ignoring the overly complicated way you went through this, the basic method was worked out by Jerrold, I think, and posted here yonks ago.

I added it to the iWorkTipsnTricks forum that was linked to in STIR/AGIR's article. I in fact had that link in the first reply in this post.

So you have gone full circle by posting it on here and telling us about it.

If you had followed the same link, you would have discovered that you can do most of this using the AVERY label settings in Address Book/Contacts, also referred to in STIR/AGIR's article.

Peter