Envelopes and Labels

I’ve been receiving a lot of question about printing address labels and envelopes using a contact list or address book. So I’ll be starting a series of articles today on various printing methods relative to the questions I’ve received.

One of the simplest methods for maintaining an address book or contact list is with Microsoft Word.  The two most commonly found versions today are Word 2003 and Word 2007, though some people are still using Word XP (2002).  Word XP (2002) and 2003 are very similar to one another and their preceding versions, but Word 2007 is very different, and will most likely “put off” anyone familiar with the older versions. If you’d rather stay with the familiar, plenty of used and new copies of Word 2003 can be found online through Amazon or eBay.

Simple Contact Management with Word 2003

There are several methods you can use for storing addresses in Microsoft Word. The easiest method works best if you only print one address label or envelope at a time.

To store your contact information just type a list of addresses as you would if you were addressing an envelope. Place the first and last name on one line, the street address on the next line, and the city, state, and postal code on the thrid line.  Additional information such as phone numbers and email addresses can be entered beneath that.

Skip a line between each individual person or business on your list.

Some may ask, “How do I sort this list?” Well, there’s no easy way to do that with this method, you have to do your sorting by hand, either by cutting and pasting to rearrange items, or by dragging and dropping.

The easiest way to make your way around a long list of names is to use CTRL +F on the keyboard, or select “Find” on the “Edit” menu. Then you can type a name or some piece of information that you’d like to find.

Printing Single Labels or Envelopes

This contact list is very easy to use when printing single address labels or envelopes. All you have to do is highlight a name and address in the list. Then click Tools > Letters and Mailings > Envelopes and Labels.

• If you’re printing a single address label, click the Labels tab, then click the “Single label” option. If you’re reusing a sheet of labels, specify the “column” and “row” for the label to be printed on. You can use the “Options” button to specify which label product and size you are printing on.
• If you’re printing an envelope, click the “Envelopes” tab, fill in a “Return Address” if you wish, and specify the envelope size with the “Options” button.

Envelopes and Labels Tool

Come back tomorrow for more methods on managing address lists and printing envelopes and labels. We’ll be working our way up to mail merges for mass mailings, and I’ll show you some other printing tools and software packages along the way.

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Excel’s Fill Handle

Friday evening I was meeting some friends for dinner. One of the worked at a law office on Seventh Avenue, so I met them at their office beforehand. They were performing some calculations on an Excel spreadsheet at the time, and as they were copying and pasting a repetitive formula, I showed them this trick which I am now sharing with you. This technique works with Excel 2003 and Excel 2007.

Sometimes you may want to use a formula or function repeatedly. In such a case you can easily copy the formula from one consecutive cell to another by using the fill handle of the active cell. The fill handle is the small square that appears in the lower right corner of an active cell.

To Copy A Formula With The Fill Handle

1. Activate the cell that contains the formula you want to copy. (This typically done by clicking on the cell).
2. Use the mouse to grab the fill handle. (Move the mouse close enough to the fill handle so that the mouse turns into a small black cross. When you see the small black cross, hold down the left mouse button.)
3. While holding down the left mouse button, drag the mouse down for as many rows as you would like to copy to. Then release the left mouse button.

Fill Handle Usage

That’s it! The references used in the formula will be updated to match the new rows, so that the answers will be correct for the new rows.

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Internet Printing Tricks

Thanks to friends who believe in me.

I was trying to decide what to write about for today’s post. It had come down to “Microsoft’s Decides to end the Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld ads” (Too bad) and the “Sarah Palin Runs State Business on Yahoo Mail” (What’s She Thinking?). Each kind of, sort of, interesting in so many ways, but really not fitting for this blog.  Or are they?  Comments?

What I did decided to write about was a question I received by email on Wednesday:

Very recently the font size in printing email messages has been reduced. I need help in perhaps doubling the present small size. Can you help me?  —Thanks, Sarah

Turns out they get their email through Google mail at www.gmail.com using Internet Explorer. So I could give them two different solutions. One “That’s so easy, thanks!”, and one “Cool! I didn’t know you could do that!”

I emailed them the “That’s so easy, thanks” solution, but I’ll share with you the “Cool! I didn’t know you could do that” answer, and, finally, I’ll give you a bonus.  Leave a comment and I’ll tell you how to print photos from the web nice and easy.

The “That’s So Easy” Answer using Internet Explorer

If you get you email through a whatever.com web site using your “Internet Explorer” web browser, you can use the “View” menu to increase the “text size” before printing.

1. Click the “View” menu
2. Click the “Text Size” listing
3. Click “Medium”, “Larger”, or “Largest”
4. Then use you normal method of printing. (I like to use CTRL + P)

FYI, Medium is the default setting.  You might notice a ‘dot’ or ‘checkmark’ on the “Text Size” list.  The mark indicates which size your browser is currently using, so just choose a size or two larger than what you’re currently using.

The “That’s Not So Easy” Firefox Answer

Firefox options

Firefox, at least not version 3, doesn’t have a text size option on the View menu.  They have a Zoom option, which enlarges text onscreen, but doesn’t affect the print outs. But you can still change the text size for printing with this longer series of clicks.

1. Click the “View” menu
2. Click “Page Style”
3. Click “No Style” (What a difference in looks this makes)
4. Click the “Tools” menu
5. Click “Options”
6. Click the “Content” tab
7. Under “Fonts & Colors” change the “Size” to a larger number
8. Click “OK” and print as you normally would (Again, CTRL +P works great)

After you print, go back to View >> Page Style and this time choose “Basic Page Style” to make you web look nice again.

The “Cool! I didn’t know you could do that” Word Processor Answer

Okay, so I didn’t prepare you for the Firefox answer, but so many of you use Firefox I couldn’t ignore it.

Anyhoo…

You can do Internet printing with your word processor.  Either with Word or WordPerfect, or any other word processor for that matter.

1. Highlight the text you want to print
2. Click the “Edit” menu and choose “Copy”
3. Start your word processor
4. Click the “Edit” menu and choose “Paste”
5. Use CTRL + A to highlight everything, and then change the font size
6. Now go ahead and print

You can even save it if you think you’ll need it later, and you can delete or erase the portions you don’t need. There are a few more things you could do, but I kept it simple.  If you have any questions on this method, feel free to contact me, or better yet, leave a comment below.

Hey, kids, if you decide to use this method when working on your school reports, don’t forget to put it in quotation marks and footnote it.  You wouldn’t want to be accused of plagiarism, would you?  That goes for you college kids, too, they can kick you out for that. For your own personal use though there’s no need to worry about plagiarism.

Bonus Answer: Printing Select Text Online

Print dialog box

Ever print something from the web and said to yourself, “I didn’t want to print all of that.” Well, you don’t have to print everything. You could use the method I outlined above for your word processor, and erase the parts you don’t want before printing, but if you just want a few continuous sentences or paragraphs there’s an easy way to do it.

1. Highlight the text you want to print out. (If you highlight too much, just try again.
2. Click the “File” menu and choose “Print” (Or use CTRL + P as an alternative)
3. In the “Print Range” section choose “Selection”
4. Click OK

That’s a great technique, all you’ve got to do is remember it. You could always try using it on this article, then you’ll have a copy for future use.

Okay, now for that picture printing trick —Oops! I said I wanted to see some comments posted first. So please post your comments and I’ll show you the picture printing trick. Or you can share you own printing tips in the comments, too.

Post Comments or Questions with the link below. Keep up-to-date with Skylarking: By Email or RSS Newsfeed or on Twitter. You can also send questions with my email form. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

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