Mail Merge with Your Classroom Database

 

First, create a Classroom Database using Microsoft Excel:

 

Directions for Student Information Spreadsheet in MS Excel:

  1. Open Excel.
  2. On sheet 1, define the fields in the first row for master sheet.

 

Suggestions:

 

Last Name

First Name

Mother

Father

Address

Phone #

Adams

Bob

Ann

Tim

121 Royal

890-0000

Baron

Angela

Betty

Bob

87 First St

904-0000

 

  1. Insert the needed information.
  2. Click File and save as (Save on floppy disk a:)

 

Creating another copy of your student database:

  1. Rest arrow pointer on the word “Sheet 1” on the tab at the bottom of the page and right click the mouse.
  2. Click Move or Copy.
  3. Click sheet 1 and place a check in the box for create a copy.
  4. Click Ok

A new sheet has been inserted in Book

  1. Insert more fields in the new sheet

Suggestions:

 

Insert the needed information in each cell.

  1. Click File.
  2. Click Save as (Save on the floppy disk.)
  3. Using this copy method, you can create as many copies of your student information lists as you need during the school year.

 

The Mail Merge option is a wonderful tool to aide in the creation of letters, labels, certificates, envelopes, name tags, or any other document, which requires information from your Classroom Database.

 


In Microsoft Word

 

 

1.      Create or open the letter, which you wish to use in your merge.

 

·         For this exercise, open the letter entitled Classroom Expectations on the Advanced Word disk.

 

2.      From the Menu bar, Click on Tools.

 

3.      In the drop-down menu, choose Mail Merge.

 

4.      In the Mail Merge Helper dialog box, click on the Create button next to Step One.

 

5.      In the drop-down menu, select form letters.

6. In the Microsoft Word dialog box that appears, choose the Active Window option.

7. In Step Two, click on the Get Data button.
8. In the drop-down menu, select Open Data source.

Note: At this point, because you are in Word, you will only see Word files listed. In order to access your database, click on File Type and select either Excel files, Access files or All files to see the one that contains your database.

9. In the Open Data Source dialog box, locate your classroom database and double-click on the name of your database

10. Make sure the name of your table is highlighted and click OK

11. In the next dialog box, click on the Edit Main Document radio button

12. Place your cursor in the document at the point of the desired insertion

13. Now, look above the upper left of your document. The mail merge toolbar has appeared on the screen. Click on the Insert Merge Field button, then the desired field.

Remember, all spaces and punctuation marks must be entered manually.

14. Now, click Merge on the toolbar.

If you do not want to merge to all records in your database, you will need to do a query. Click on the Query Options button in the Merge dialog box. Set your query preferences for each desired field.

15. Finally, click Merge again in the Merge dialog box

Hint - Reduce the Zoom button to 25% to check that all your records merged successfully!

Tips on inserting merge fields:

Merge fields:
Result after merge:

"Title" "FirstName" "LastName"		 Mr. Paul Martin

"Company" 		Astro Mountain Bike
"Address1"

987 1st Street
"City", "State" "PostalCode" Kent, WA 55588

 

· To emphasize merged information, you can format the merge fields. For example, you might want to make an address bold or use a different font for a product name.

Envelopes and Labels

The Envelope feature in Word will assist you in addressing an envelope. Word will set up the envelope for you and place the address and return address in the correct places. If you have already created a business letter, with an address in the letter, Word will automatically insert that address as the mailing address when you initiate the envelope process. You can print the envelope by itself or you can add it at the beginning of the document and save it.

To print envelopes:
Click the Tools button on the menu bar.
Click the envelopes and labels function.
Click the envelopes tab.
In the delivery address box, enter the delivery address (if it is not already there).
In the return address box, enter the return address (if is not already there).
At this point, either
Click print. -or-
Click Add to Document to save it as part of the document. If you change the return address, Word will ask you if you want to save this new address as the default. If you do, click yes. If not, click no. You can also check in the box Omit return address, if you do not want one to show on the envelope.

Options button
Envelopes options allows you to…
§ Change the font for either address
§ Add a barcode for mail in the US
§ Choose a different size envelope (or even custom size it)
§ Position the addresses on the envelope (or accept the auto position)

Printing options lets you change the way you feed the envelope into the printer. The program will suggest the best way for the printer you are connected to. Notice this to position you envelope the correct way.

The label feature allows you to create a variety of types of labels - mailing, file, disc, etc. You can tell the processor what type of label you are using by brand and number or custom sized and it will size it for that label. You can create a single label or a sheet full of labels all with the same address, or each with a different one.

To print labels:
Click the Tools button on the menu bar.
Click the envelopes and labels function.
Click the labels tab.
Choose either Full page of same label or single label.
Click the options button.
Select the label you are using from the list (there are dozens). If the label you are using is not in the list, click the New Label button on the right.

If you are setting up a new label, you will need to give it a name so that you can identify it the next time you use it.
Type in the following in the appropriate boxes:
Margins (this means within the single label.)
Height and width (of the actual label)
Vertical and horizontal pitch (the distance from the top of one label to the top of the next and from the left edge of one label to the left edge of the next. Sometimes the vertical pitch is the same as the height but the horizontal pitch is a little longer.)
Number or labels across and down the page.

Other features in labels:
If you have addresses stored in a database such as Microsoft Exchange, you can access them from the labels feature. Click on the address icon.

If you are making one or a whole sheet of return address labels, your return address will enter automatically if you have entered in the Word program. Here's how
Click Tools on the menu bar.
Click Options
Click the User Identification tab.
Enter your return address as you want it to appear. After that it will show up when you use the envelope or labels features.

If you want to save the labels you have created, complete the above steps, but before you print, you will save the label page as follows…
Click New Document
Save the document giving it a name.


Headers and Footers

Use the Headers and Footers feature to insert information that you want to repeat at the top and bottom of every page. Word allows you to set up different headers and footers on the first page, and on odd and even pages. You can also have different headers and footers in different sections of the document.

To work with headers and footers, you must be in the Print Layout view. (View/ Print Layout)

To insert Headers and Footers, click on View on the menu bar.
Click Headers and Footers. (At this point the document text will appear gray. You cannot edit the document text while you are in the Header and Footer mode.)
A box will appear at the top of the page. The Header and Footer toolbar will also appear.

Click in the box and type the text you want to appear in the header. Notice that Word automatically sets up a left tab, center tab and right tab in the header box, so that you items will be aligned appropriately. You can move these tabs as you choose.

Look at the Header and Footer toolbar and notice the functions you can use by clicking on it.


Insert Auto Text allows you to choose from a variety of typical items that you might want to include. Click the drop down list to view these items and click on the one(s) you want to insert. Experiment with these:

 

To create a different header on the first page:

To create different odd and even headers and footers:


Bullets and Numbering

1. Type the following list. You will type the word, the press Enter to make the list as shown:

Apple
Orange
Grape
Mango
Cherry

2. Highlight the words you just typed.
3. Click on Format.
4. Highlight Bullets and Numbering. Press Enter.
5. Click on the Numbered tab, if it is not in the front.
6. Several styles are available to you. Click on the style you want to use.
7. Click on OK.
8. Your list should now be numbered.

To remove the numbering:
1. Highlight the list again.
2. Click on the Numbering icon on the toolbar:
3. The Numbering icon can be used to add or remove numbers.

To add bullets:
1. Highlight the list you typed.
2. Click on Format.
3. Highlight the Bullets and Numbering. Press Enter.
4. Click on the Bulleted tab, if it is not in the front.
5. Several styles are available to you. Click the style you want to use.
6. Click OK.
7. Your list should now be bulleted.
8. To remove the bullets, follow steps 1 through 4, choose None, click OK.

Borders and Shading

You can add borders or shading features to your document. You can select one of more paragraphs or the whole page. You can also format your borders using different line styles.

To insert a border around a paragraph
Highlight the paragraph.
1. Click Format.
2. Click Borders and Shading.
3. Click the Borders tab.
4. Choose one of the following
· Box
· Shadow
· 3-D
· Custom
· None (for no border)
5. Click the style, color and width border you want from the section in the middle.
6. Click OK.

If you want the border to apply only to certain areas of the section, click the desired sections from the preview area on the right. (Clicking here will automatically switch your border to Custom on the left of the dialog box.) You can create some interesting effects to call attention to a section of text by using this feature.

To control the spacing between text and the border, click the Options button.

To insert a border around the whole page
Put the cursor in some text. Follow the directions above, but click on the Page Border Tab.

To shade a section of text
1. Click Format.
2. Click Borders and Shading.
3. Click the Shading tab.
4. Choose a fill color from the chart, or click on More Colors for even more choices.
OR-
5. Choose a pattern from the drop down list. These have a little "texture." Choose a color from the drop down below the pattern list.
6. Click the Options button to change the margins within the shaded area.
7. Click OK.

Caution about shading: Choose a light shade so that your text does not become difficult to read.

Microsoft Photo Editor

Microsoft Photo Editor comes with the Windows 98 operating system. It is a basic image editing program. With it you can resize an image, adjust brightness and contrast, crop, and change image resolution and format.

Toolbar Icons
Start the Program
Click on the button, choose Programs, then Microsoft Photo Editor

 

Open a File
1. Pull down the File menu Open . . .
2. Locate your file or image
3. Click Open

Resize an Image
1. Pull down the Image menu Resize . . .
2. Enter the new width and height or the percentage of the original
3. Click OK

Adjust Image Brightness/Contrast/Color Balance
1. Either click on the Image Balance icon or pull down the Image menu and choose Balance . . .
2. Slide the Brightness bar to change the brightness
3. Clide the Contrast bar to change the contrast
4. Slide the Gamma bar to change the color balance
5. You can change individual colors by pulling down the All colors menu
6. Click OK when done

Crop an Image
1. Click on the Select icon on the toolbar
2. Drag the mouse over the area you want to keep
3. Pull down the Image menu Crop
4. Click OK

 

Change Image Resolution
1. Pull down the File menu Properties . .
2. For Web paegs, set the Resolution to 72 Pixels
3. Click OK

Change File Format/Saving
1. Pull down the File menu Save As . . .
2. In the Save as type box, click the file format you want:
            .gif for drawings
            .jpg for photographs
3. Give the file a name. (There can be no spaces in the file name,)
4. Click OK

Create Transparent GIF Image
If you are putting a gif image on the Web, you can make the image's background transparent so the background color of the web page shows through, ie., the transparent areas of the image will take on the same color as the web page. You cannot make jpg images transparent.
1. Click on the Set Transparent Color icon
2. Position the tool over the color you want to make transparent, and click
3. The Change Color to Transparent dialog box appears
4. Click OK

 

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