Easy Labels with MS Word
by George Campbell
From PC World, January 1999
Need to print name badges for the company meeting, but dread the
convoluted process involved in creating a mail-merge file? Your
word processor's handy label tool can help. Here's how to create
labels without mail-merging in Word, WordPerfect, and Word Pro.
Start with a blank document in all three programs.
Word 6.0 and later:
Open a blank document. Select Tools, Envelopes and
Labels. Click the Labels tab in the Envelopes and Labels
dialog box; then click Options.
In the Label Options dialog box, select your label type from
both the 'Label products' and 'Product number' lists. We use
Avery 5160. Then click OK (see Figure 1 below).
Back in the Envelopes and Labels dialog box, don't enter
anything in the Address area. Make sure the "Full page of the
same label" option is checked, and then click New Document.
Word will immediately open a new document that contains a
table laid out in the format of your label sheet. If you don't
see the grid lines, select Table, Gridlines (Word 6 and 7)
or Table, Show Gridlines (Word 97).
To simplify label formatting, select all the cells in the
table--before you enter any text--by clicking in the first cell
and dragging down and across (don't use Table, Select
Table). Use the Formatting Toolbar to select a font name and
size for your labels, as well as a text alignment.
Type text for each label in the cells, adding other
formatting or graphics elements as necessary. Notice that the
spaces between the labels are also table cells; be careful not to
enter text in those spaces. When you're done, put your label
sheets into the printer and print as you normally would.
Alternatively, print the labels on a regular sheet of paper
and make the labels on a copy machine.
If you think you'll need this set of labels again, save it as a
normal document (see Figure 2 below).
From http://www.pcworld.com/hereshow/article.asp?aid=8739
Last revised: February 15, 2001