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How to use mail merge to create bulk labels from Excel spreadsheet

1 – Download and link the sample Excel

First download the ‘Mail Merge Word Template’ together with the ‘Sample Excel file’.
When you download and save the ‘Mail Merge Word Template’ to your local computer, the link between the ‘Mail Merge Word Template’ and ‘Sample Excel’ will be invalid. You need to link the two files again following the procedures below.

Click “Yes” in the following dialog.

Click ‘Find Data Source’ in the dialog below, then select the ‘Sample Excel’ file in your computer.

Turn on the option ‘First row of data contains column headers’

Now, the Word and Excel files have been linked.

2 – Mail Merge Basics

Video

https://youtu.be/yr0szWDBJYo

Text

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Mail-merge-using-an-Excel-spreadsheet-858C7D7F-5CC0-4BA1-9A7B-0A948FA3D7D3

Attention

Mr-Label have already create the mail merge template, you don’t need to select the label type as showed in the video above.

3 – Edit labels – First one for all, then one by one

Design the first label, then apply it to all the rest labels with one click.

With help of the function “Edit Individual Documents”, you have the flexibility to make change for every individual label based on the previous batch design.

After you click the “Edit Individual Documents”, another Word document will be generated, and you will continue to work on this new file,
Remember to save the previous “Mail Merge Word” document for future batch design.

4 – Add pictures and shapes

Add pictures or shapes to the first label, then apply them to all the rest. You can also edit them individually later.

5 – Add Barcodes or QR codes from Mail Merge fields

If the barcode type you plan to add is one of the followings:
UPCA, UPCE, JAN13, JAN8, EAN13, EAN8, CASE, ITF14, NW7, CODE39, CODE128, JPPOST, QR.
We will recommend to use Word’s field code to generate barcode, no extra cost compared with other commercial Barcode Add-In.
Here is the PDF guide: Download

If the barcode type is not one of the list above, then we recommend to use TBarcode Add-Ins.
Here is the guide: GO

Both methods support Mail Merge Fields.

6 – Bleed Design

Bleed design is important if you want to make your labels look professional.

For sheet label Horizontal Spacing > 6 mm Vertical Spacing > 6 mm, for example MR860. You can do different bleed design for each labels.

For sheet label’s without enough spacing, for example MR321. You can only apply one bleed design for all labels.

During the design, to make the label’s outline visiable is important, we can do it by changing the shape’s background picture’s transparency value to 10%. and change the transparency value back to 0% befor printing.

7 – Edit the Excel

While the “Mail Merge Word Document” is open, the related MS Excel file is not editable. you need to close the “Mail Merge Word Document” first before making any changes to the MS Excel file.
After you make changes to the MS Excel file, then open the ““Mail Merge Word Document”, all records and fields will update automatic.

8 – Design with tolerance

Printers have an accuracy of approximately 1mm in the vertical and in the horizontal, and the paper can also rotate slightly as it goes through the printer. You need to take this into account when you design your labels.

9 – Print

Always test printing on a plain white paper first, then holds up to the light against a sheet of labels to check that your design is roughly aligned. Adjust your printer and design if necessary.D

7 thoughts on “How to use mail merge to create bulk labels from Excel spreadsheet

  1. There’s definately a lot to find out about this topic. I love all of the points you have made.

  2. I truly appreciate this article.Thanks Again. Great.

  3. These labels are not that great. EVERY time I feed into printer it jams and prints out of line. I have wasted a lot of labels and I even did test prints. I should have used AVERY labels. They go thru the printer seamlessly and you don’t waist money/paper/time. NOW I KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    1. Dear customer,
      Thank you for purchasing with us.

      We would like to sincerely apologize for your experience with our product.

      The first reason, which you can verify pretty quickly, is that you are not using the proper paper thickness setting while printing. To be able to print jam free, you need to set the paper thickness to “labels” in the printer preferences dialog box. Paper thickness can also be shown as “Media Type” or “Paper Type”. If “labels” is not an option then just choose the thickest possible paper thickness. This should prevent your labels from jamming, but it will also considerably slow down printing speeds depending on the model printer you have. This is the most common reason for jamming labels.

      The second reason, which is less common, is that there is debris, such as a label that has come off the sheet, and has stuck to any one of the rollers or on the fuser assembly. There could even be a whole sheet of paper stuck in the fuser which might be tough to see. You’ll have to open up the printer from all possible angles to check that. Check the places in laser printers like the top access door where you can take out the toner or a back door that is for thru printing (so that the rollers don’t bend the paper or labels).

      If this problem still happens please feel free to contact us for a refund or replacement.

      We strive to offer the 100% satisfaction for all our customers and will try our best to resolve customer problems.

      Thank you for giving us the opportunity to make this right

      Sincerely,
      Mr-Label

  4. […] Mail Merge Word TemplateWord Template ( for Windows )Sample Excel ( for Windows)How to use mail merge to create bulk labels from Excel spreadsheet […]

  5. I have a range of 120 lines in the excel sheet but only one page shows in the word document. How do i select all lines?

    1. Dear Wfmbrinkman,

      Thank you for your feedback regarding the label update process.

      After clicking “Update Labels” and confirming that all 32 labels on the page have been updated, the final step is to complete the merge and generate your labels. Please follow these instructions:

      Finish and Merge:
      Click on “Finish & Merge” in the toolbar.
      Select “Edit Individual Documents” to generate a single document containing all your labels.
      We appreciate your input and will update our instructions to include this important step.

      If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please feel free to contact us.

      Best Regards,
      Mr-Label

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