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How to Use Excel and Word with Your Data

The creation of letters or mailing labels is one that requires some experience using the products, and using text file import. If you are using Microsoft Word, you should be experienced using Mail Merge.

Select the product you are using:

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Word

Loading into Excel

The following examples are taken from Microsoft Excel 2000.

Use the open dialog to select the text file.

Make sure that the "Delimited" radio button is checked. Press the "Next >" button.

On this dialog, check the "Comma" check box, and uncheck the other check boxes in the "Delimiters" frame. Leave the Text Qualifier with the default (") entry in it. If the settings are correct the Data preview will look quite well organized. Press the "Next >" button.

On the final part of the dialog you see the data fields. Notice that the first row of the data file contains the field names. You can change the data layout to improve the usability of the data file. Select the first column, and change its layout to "text" (in the Column Data Format Frame) top left. The Birth Date and Registration Dates can be changed to date. Then press the Finish button. The text file will load into the Excel worksheet.

Some candidates desire to break up the "Voter Name" field, breaking the First Name and Middle Initial from the Last Name. If the following settings are used for Step 2 or 3 in the Text Import Wizard, then you can do this. However notice that the field names will no longer align with the data.

Using Microsoft Word to Create Mailing Labels

This example is prepared with Microsoft Word 2000. The example has also been verified for Word 97.

Select Mail Merge from the Tools Menu.

Under Main Document, press Create button:

• Select Mailing Labels.
• Next Select Active Window.

Next Select the Get Data Button

Select Open Data Source...

The combo box labelled "Files of type" will need to be changed to Text Files (*.txt). Then you can see your export Text File. Here I have selected FlexExport.txt.

[This step does not Appear for Word97 running on Windows 98] Here the file type is selected as Unicode(UTF-8). This was the default, and I left it as default. Select OK button.

The select "Set up main document"

Next you must select your label type:

Here I have selected the 5160 label which is the standard label printed here. You should select the Avery equivalent label size to suit the label you have purchased.

Next you must layout the single label.

This gives the basic mailing label. It will serve most needs. Press OK

Press the Merge... button.

The default is to Merge to "New Document". You might want to consider merging to printer. This will send the final merge product direct to your printer, rather than creating another document first. Press close when you have selected the options you want.

Next select the Query Options... button.

This dialog allows you to screen the records that will create labels. Here I have selected Democrats. You should review the layout at the top of this topic for selections that you might want to make. Press OK.

Finally press the Close button on the Mail Merge Helper dialog. You will see the whole set of labels laid out. You can then print your labels.

The example above gives you an idea of how to use the Mail Merge tool. You could have created a letter, or envelopes by varying the selections that you make.