Q8N@PSUVM.BITNET (Scott D. Camp) (12/08/89)
I finally got a break from reading essays and term papers, so here goes... Please find below a summary of the very helpful suggestions mailed to me regarding printing mailing labels with MS Word 4.0 and a DeskWriter. I should first point out that when I posted my request for information, I was mistakenly using my Word 3.0x manual at home (I didn't fork out the extra bucks for the manual when I received my free upgrade to 4.0) -- mea culpa. However, as seen below, some of the suggestions did not involve printing labels as suggested in the 4.0 documentation (I did check it one day while in the office). As such, particular thanks to the first response reviewed below. > From: Peter Hutchinson <munnari!nt.sait.oz.au!CCPBH@uunet.UU.NET> > In response to your query about mailing labels on the Deskwriter, > I think you have misunderstood how to go about your task. > > I suggest you have a look at the details of how to do mailing labels > on a LaserWriter, starting on page 174 of the Word 4.0 manual. The main > trick is that you have to set up your main document to contain all the labels > you require on one page. Then you won't have the problem with paper size > which you complained of. > > I must concede that I have not tried to print labels on either > type of printer, but I think it should work. Good luck ! > I must confess that I did not actually try the printing solution proposed in the 4.0 manual (since I always work at home and the only 4.0 manual I have access to is at my office), but as P. Hutchinson notes (and I concur), this should work. > From: Fred Schulz <CHEE77@uhvax1.bitnet> > The thing to realize is this: > > Word inserts a section mark after each row of labels, as opposed to a page > break. If you specify "No Break" > for the start of the section, then you will get a full page of labels before > each page break. > How are you doing the 3 columns. I find the best thing is to use a table of > three columns, putting the <<DATA filename>> in the first column(i.e., cell), > and <<NEXT>> in columns 2 and 3. Then you get 3 columns, and can still > specify no break between sections. > I find this is preferable to using side-by-side paragraphs, because you get > truncated long lines instead of wrapped long lines, which would mess up > the labels below the line that wrapped. This response pointed me in the direction that I finally took (in conjunction with the next response reviewed). However, I had to set up a template table with 9 rows and 3 columns to get things printed on one page (even with no break in the section it still ejected to another page). One thing I couldn't get to work is the truncation of long lines instead of autowrap to the next line, thus messing up the 1 inch allotment per row of labels. > From: William C. DenBesten<denbeste@andy.bgsu.edu> > I am having a problem getting Word 4.0 to print 3 column mailing labels. > > How about trying to use word 4.0 Tables to set up an entire page of labels. > > Alternatively put 27 or 33 templates on one page using 3-column mode. > I have done this with 33 labels per page in macwriter II. I have not > tried this with the deskwriter. > > If you get a really good template that uses tables, post it to > comp.binaries.mac. This is something that people would probably like > to see. > Have you found a particularly good brand of label to use that does not > bleed too much? I have found that the type of paper significantly > affects the quality of deskwriter output. As noted, this is the tactic that I employed. I used 27 labels since you cannot print to the top or bottom of a page with the DeskWriter (at least not in a manner that I am familiar with). (I have played around with HP LaserJets to get at this in the MS-DOS world by playing with PCL commands, but I would just as soon give up the two rows of labels as to try and replicate this type of thing on my DeskWriter.) It is fairly easy to set up one of these templates, and I don't think it would be worth posting one to comp.binaries.mac. You would have to have three line mailing addresses (Word will actually let you set things up without this type of restriction), want to use Helvetica typeface at 10 point with 12 point leading, in other words, my preferences. In other words, it is not a general enough solution to justify posting (if anyone wants to take a look at one solution, I'll be glad to e-mail assuming I can get to you). By the way, I haven't found a "good" mailing label stock that doesn't bleed. If I do, I'll post. I received another e-mail reply that provided an excellent summary of the issues covered in the previous two replies. Unfortunately, I lost it somewhere or somehow. However, I would like to thank the author (who is unknown to me at this point). > From: straka@ihlpf.att.com (Richard J Straka) > > I use Silicon Press to do mailing labels. I don't know if it is compatible > with the DW, but the program is 4 years old and is still basically > compatible with everything I have run across so far (new systems, MF, ...) > > The layout window for the IW is tailored more for continuous labels, while > the layout window for the LW is more tailored for full-sheet operation. I > don't have any clue how this would be for the DW. > > I suggest that you take advantage of MacConnection's 60 day money-back > guarantee and try it. > > Si Press is a bit clunky by today's standards, but it DOES work, and is still > QUITE versatile. Since I was able to get Word to handle my limited mailing needs, I didn't try out this solution. However, I include it here for the sake of inclusiveness. There was also a suggestion, not listed here, to change the custom paper size in the edit - preferences menu. I played a little with this but couldn't get it to work. Again, I didn't really try to hard to thoroughly test all of the solutions sent to me--I gave up my attempted consulting career to simply teach a few sociology courses. Thanks to all who responded. It kind of helps keep the faith in the Mac user community in this day of corporatist trends (my opinion obviously). ------- -- A disclaimer is such a silly necessity. Anyone foolish enough to listen to my opinions is probably just that. My employer rarely does (if ever). Scott D. Camp Dept. of Sociology Pennsylvania State University 305 Oswald Tower University Park, PA 16802 814-863-0121