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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The Blind and Target.com

Target and the National Federation of the Blind

Many of us probably don’t think of the blind and the Internet in the same sentence, but there are tools available to the blind and others with vision disabilities so that they can visit, read, and shop online.

This fact was made clear to Target just last month as they settled a class action lawsuit with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) for the amount of $6 million.The monies will be placed in an interest-bearing account, and members of the case brought against Target in California can make claims.

PAC Mate

Target has until Feb. 28, 2009 to make their web site more accessible to the blind, particularly for those who use “screen-reading software” which reads aloud the text content of a web site. Some popular programs for screen reading include JAWS for Windows and the PAC Mate portable Braille reader, both from Freedom Scientific.

The class action suit was centered on the Americans With Disabilities Act, a law enacted in 1990 that requires retailers and other public places to be accessible to people with disabilities. Target tried to make the case that law only covered “physical spaces” such as their stores and offices.

Most people would interpret that the same way, but in 2000 the law was amended to apply to governmental and other institutional web sites also.

Over next few months, the NFB will work with Target to make their web site more accessible.

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