How to Put Different Labels on One Sheet

The use of printed labels as a means of addressing envelopes has grown in popularity, especially for larger mailings. Many people prefer the printed label over its handwritten counterpart not only for the time savings but also for the increased legibility. Address information can be pulled from an existing address book or other data file, simplifying the label creation process. Utilizing Microsoft Word's mail merge feature allows for the creation of label sheets from the information already stored on your computer.

• 1

  Open Microsoft Word, click the "Mailings" tab, and then click the "Start Mail Merge" option.

• 2

  Click "Labels," and select the appropriate printer and label information in the "Label Options" dialog box. Choose between a continuous-feed or page printer. Select the appropriate label vendor from the drop-down menu, and then locate and select the product number found on your label package.

• 3

  Click "OK." This will create a document containing the sheet of labels. Since Word creates this layout using a table, you should see lines separating each label. If not, click "Table Tools," followed by "Layout," and then click "View Gridlines."

• 4

  Select the desired recipient source by clicking the "Select Recipients" option under the "Mailings" tab. If you want to use your Outlook Contacts list as the source, click "Select from Outlook Contacts." Click "Type New List" and use the form that opens to create a list from scratch, or click "Use Existing List" to use an existing file and then locate the file in the "Select Data Source" dialog box.

• 5

  Refine the recipient list by clicking the "Edit Recipient List" option from the "Mailings" tab. Available options will depend on the data source type. The "Select Individual Records" option, good for short lists, allows for the exclusion of certain recipients simply by clearing the record's corresponding check box. The "Sort Records" option allows you to sort the recipients alphabetically or however you see fit. The "Filter Records" option, good for larger lists, filters out of any undesired records per your preferences. Lastly, the "Add Recipients" options allows for the addition of recipients to the existing data file.

• 6

  Confirm that Word can locate a column in the data file that corresponds to each required address element by clicking "Match Fields" from the "Mailings" tab and opening the "Match Fields" dialog box. The address elements appear on the left, and the data file column headings appear on the right of the screen.

• 7

  Add special formatting, if desired, by selecting the mail merge field and applying the preferred format options from the "Font" group located on the "Home" tab.

• 8

  Preview the labels using any of the options available in the "Preview Results" grouping located under the "Mailings" tab. Options include clicking "Preview Results," paging through each label using the "Next Record" and "Previous Record" button, or by clicking "Find Recipient."

• 9

  Print the labels by clicking the "Finish & Merge" option located under the "Mailings" tab, followed by the "Print Documents" option. You can choose between printing the current label only, a subset of labels specified by record number and the entire set of labels.

• 10

  Save the label document for future use if desired. Saving the document also saves the data file connection.