Print blank lines in Office 2003 mail merge.

TheGift73 · 09-08-2007, 08:40 AM

Hi,
i have been using Office 2000 to do mail merges for a long time now, but recently i have been trying to do a mail merge in 2003 without success. The problem is that when i was ready to do send the merged data to the printer, i would always have the choice to 'Print blank lines' or 'Don't print blank lines' in Office 2000. This was critical as not all addresses are the same length (some may have 4 lines of address and others 8 lines). So i would select 'Print blank lines' in Office 2000 (It's in the window that pops up when you have finished merging your data to the letter and then press 'Merge' which sends it to the printer.

However in Office 2003 i cannot seem to find the option to either 'Print blank lines' or 'Don't print blank lines', with the result being that the text on the letter will jump up and down depending whether the address line is 4 long or 8 lines long.

I know that is a long explanation, but any help would be greatly appreciated and stop me from pulling my hair out on a daily basis at work.

Zazula · 09-08-2007, 12:33 PM

I'm away from my Word 2003 at the moment to check this out myself, but give it a try to see if it works:
1. In a Word data-merge main document that is ready to be merged, select Macro on the Tools menu, and then click Macros.
2. In the Macro name box, type MailMergeHelper, and then click Run.
3. The Mail Merge Helper dialog box appears. Click the Merge button.
4. In the Merge dialog box, select Print blank lines when data fields are empty.

TheGift73 · 09-08-2007, 01:19 PM

Thanks a lot Zazula! I am also away from the computer with 2003 on them (They are at work) but i will try that first thing Monday morning. Trust me, this will hopefully sort out a few headaches and random bouts of tourettes.

Will i have to run the macro each time i do a merge. Bearing in mind that we normally send out about 70,000 ish mailings a day. It's just that seeing that all support for Win 2000 has now stopped i am trying to put Office 2003 on all the rest of the computers.

Once again, thank you for your help.

TheGift73 · 09-13-2007, 07:15 AM

Hi Zazula, thank you very much. It worked great! Do i have to run the macro everytime i wish to do a mailmerge or is there a way to associate the macro with mailmerges as default. Also, when i merge to the printer, it seems to take about 3 times longer for the data to be recieved by the printer than Office 2000 did? Is this just one of those things that is present in Office 2003.

I should add by the way, that the computers that do the mailmerges are not connected (nor have they ever been) to the web, so there have been no updates to the suite for about 2 years. This is for security purposes as the data is very confidential

Once again, thank you for your assistance.

09-08-2007, 08:40 AM	#1 (permalink)
TheGift73 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Lewes UK Posts: 151 OS: XP Pro SP3 My System	Print blank lines in Office 2003 mail merge. Hi, i have been using Office 2000 to do mail merges for a long time now, but recently i have been trying to do a mail merge in 2003 without success. The problem is that when i was ready to do send the merged data to the printer, i would always have the choice to 'Print blank lines' or 'Don't print blank lines' in Office 2000. This was critical as not all addresses are the same length (some may have 4 lines of address and others 8 lines). So i would select 'Print blank lines' in Office 2000 (It's in the window that pops up when you have finished merging your data to the letter and then press 'Merge' which sends it to the printer. However in Office 2003 i cannot seem to find the option to either 'Print blank lines' or 'Don't print blank lines', with the result being that the text on the letter will jump up and down depending whether the address line is 4 long or 8 lines long. I know that is a long explanation, but any help would be greatly appreciated and stop me from pulling my hair out on a daily basis at work.

09-08-2007, 12:33 PM	#2 (permalink)
Zazula Manager Emeritus, I'm blond, James Blond Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Athens, Greece Posts: 7,667 OS: Win XP Pro SP2	Re: Print blank lines in Office 2003 mail merge. I'm away from my Word 2003 at the moment to check this out myself, but give it a try to see if it works: 1. In a Word data-merge main document that is ready to be merged, select Macro on the Tools menu, and then click Macros. 2. In the Macro name box, type MailMergeHelper, and then click Run. 3. The Mail Merge Helper dialog box appears. Click the Merge button. 4. In the Merge dialog box, select Print blank lines when data fields are empty. __________________ "Time is the wisest because it discovers everything" Thales of Miletus (ca.624BC-ca.546BC) "Everything flows, nothing stands still." Heraclitus of Ephesus (ca.535BC-475BC) "One thing I know, that I know nothing" Socrates of Athens (ca.470BC–399BC)

09-08-2007, 01:19 PM	#3 (permalink)
TheGift73 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Lewes UK Posts: 151 OS: XP Pro SP3 My System	Re: Print blank lines in Office 2003 mail merge. Thanks a lot Zazula! I am also away from the computer with 2003 on them (They are at work) but i will try that first thing Monday morning. Trust me, this will hopefully sort out a few headaches and random bouts of tourettes. Will i have to run the macro each time i do a merge. Bearing in mind that we normally send out about 70,000 ish mailings a day. It's just that seeing that all support for Win 2000 has now stopped i am trying to put Office 2003 on all the rest of the computers. Once again, thank you for your help.

09-13-2007, 07:15 AM	#4 (permalink)
TheGift73 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Lewes UK Posts: 151 OS: XP Pro SP3 My System	Re: Print blank lines in Office 2003 mail merge. Hi Zazula, thank you very much. It worked great! Do i have to run the macro everytime i wish to do a mailmerge or is there a way to associate the macro with mailmerges as default. Also, when i merge to the printer, it seems to take about 3 times longer for the data to be recieved by the printer than Office 2000 did? Is this just one of those things that is present in Office 2003. I should add by the way, that the computers that do the mailmerges are not connected (nor have they ever been) to the web, so there have been no updates to the suite for about 2 years. This is for security purposes as the data is very confidential Once again, thank you for your assistance. Last edited by TheGift73; 09-13-2007 at 07:19 AM.