LESSON 2.

1
Advanced Word Processing Skills

Lesson Discussion

In the professional world, sending out information to convey important

information is vital. Because of ICT, things are now sent much faster than the traditional
newsletters or postal mail. You can now send much faster than the traditional
newsletters or postal mail. You can now use the Internet to send out information you
need to share. What if we could still do things much faster – an automated way of
creating and sending uniform letters with different recipients? Would that not be more
convenient?

I. Mail Merge and Label Generation

A. Mail Merge
One of the important reasons in using computers, its ability to do recurring tasks
automatically. But this ability has to be honed by learning the characteristics and
features of the software you use with your computer. After all, no matter how good or
advance your computer and software may be, it can only be as good as the person
using it.
In this particular part of our lesson, we will learn one of the most powerful and
commonly used features of Microsoft Word called Mail Merge. As the name suggests,
this feature allows you to create documents and combine or merge them with another
document or data file. It is commonly used when sending out advertising materials to
various recipients.
The simplest solution for the scenario above is to create a document and just
copy and paste it several times then just replace the details depending on whom you
send it to. But what if you have hundreds or thousands of recipients? Would not that
take too many hours? What if you have a small database of information where you can
automatically generate those letters?
Two Components of Mail Merge

1. Form Document

The first component of our mail merged document is the form document. It is
generally the document that contains the main body of the message we want to convey
or send. The main body of the message is the part of the form document that remains
the same no ma er whom you send it to from among your list.
Also included in the form document is what we call place holders, also referred to
as data fields or merge fields. This marks the position on your form document where
individual data or information will be inserted. From our sample document, the place
holders are denoted or marked by the text with double-headed arrows (<< >>) on each
side and with a gray background. On a printed standard form, this will be the underlined
spaces that you will see and use as a guide to where you need to write the information
that you need to fill out. In its simplest form, a form document is literally a “form” that
you fill out with individual information. A common example of a form document is your
regular tax form or application form.
2. List or Data File

The second component of our mail merged document is the list or data file. This
is where the individual information or data that needs to be plugged in (merged) to the
form document is placed and maintained. One of the best things about the mail merge
feature is that it allows data file to be created from within the Microsoft Word application
itself, or it gets data from a file created in Microsoft Excel or other data formats. In this
way, fields that needed to be filled up on the form document can easily be maintained
without accidentally altering the form or main document. You can also easily add,
remove, modify, or extract your data more efficiently by using other data management
applications like Excel or Access and import them in Word during the mail merge
process.
B. Label Generation

Included in the mail merge feature on Microsoft Word is the Label Generator. It
just makes sense that after you print out your form letters, you will need to send it to
individual recipients in an envelope with the matching address printed directly on the
envelope or on a mailing label to stick on. By using virtually, the same process as a
standard mail merge, Microsoft Word will print individual addresses to a standard form
that it has already pre-forma ed. Simply put, it creates a blank form document that
simulates either a blank label or envelope of pre-defined size and will use the data file
that you selected to print the information, typically individual addresses. So even in
generating labels, the two essential components of creating a merged document are
present: the form document and the data file. Only in this case, you did not have to type
or create the form document yourself because it was already created and pre-forma ed
in Microsoft Word. All you need to do is select the correct or appropriate size for the
label or envelope and select the data file that contains the addresses (data) to be
printed. You can also preview your merged labels before printing if you want to.
II. Integrating Images and External Materials

Integrating or inserting pictures in your document is fun and it improves the

impression of your document. A common use of inserting a picture on a document is
when you are creating your resume. Though seemingly simple to do, your knowledge
on the different kinds of materials that you can insert or integrate in a Word document
and its characteristics can help you create a more efficient, richer document not only in
content but also in physical form. A be er understanding of the physical form of your
document as well as the different materials you would integrate in it would allow you to
be more efficient and versatile in using Microsoft Word.

A. Kinds of Materials

There are various kinds of materials Microsoft Word is capable of integrating to

make the documents richer, more impressive, and more informative.

1. Pictures

Generally, these are electronic or digital pictures or photographs you have saved
in any local storage device. There are three commonly used types of picture files. You
can identify them by the extension on their file names.
a. .JPG/JPEG

This is pronounced as “jay-peg“ and is the short form of .jpeg or Joint

Photographic Experts Group. Like all the rest of the image file extensions, it identifies
the kind of data compression process that it uses to make it more compatible and
portable through the Internet. This type of image file can support 16.7 million colors that
is why it is suitable for use when working with full color photographic images.
Unfortunately, it does not support transparency and therefore, images of this file type
can be difficult to integrate in terms of blending with other materials or elements in your
document. But if you are looking for the best quality image to integrate with your
document then this is the image file type for you. .JPG does not work well on line
drawings, or simple graphics. .JPG images are relatively small in file size.

b. .GIF

This stands for Graphics Interchange Format. This type of image file is capable of
displaying transparencies. Therefore, it is good for blending with other materials or
elements in your document. It is also capable of displaying simple animation.
Apparently, this may not be too useful on a printed document but if you are sending
documents electronically or through email, or even post documents into a website, then
this could be quite impressive. The downside is that it can only support up to 256 colors
so it is good mostly on logos and art decors with very limited, and generally solid colors.
.GIF is much be er for logos, drawings, small text, black and white images, or low-
resolution files.
 Example of a .gif format
picture.
c. .PNG
This is pronounced as “ping “. It stands for Portable Network Graphics. It was
built around the capabilities of .GIF. Its development was basically for the purpose of
transporting images on the Internet at faster rates. It is also good with transparencies
but unlike. GIFs, it does not support animation but it can display up to 16 million colors,
so image quality for this image file type is also remarkably improved. .PNG allows the
control of the transparency level or opacity of images.

Example of .png format picture.

2. Clip Art

This is generally a .GIF type; line art drawings or images used as generic
representation for ideas and objects that you might want to integrate in your document.
Microsoft Word has a library of clip arts that is built in or can be downloaded and used
freely. There are still other clip arts that you can either purchase or freely download and
use that come from third-party providers.
 Clip Art Icon in Microsoft Office
2010.

3. Shapes

These are printable objects or materials that you can integrate in your document
to enhance its appearance or allow you to have some tools to use for composing and
representing ideas or messages. If you are designing the layout for a poster or other
graphic material for advertising, you might find this useful.

Shapes Icon under the Insert ribbon

tab.

4. Smart Art

Generally, these are predefined sets of different shapes grouped together to form
ideas that are organizational or structural in nature. If you want to graphically represent
an organization, process, relationships, or flow for infographic documents, then you will
find this easy and handy to use.

5. Chart

Another type of material that you can integrate in your Word document that
allows you to represent data characteristics and trends. This is quite useful when you
are preparing reports that correlate and present data in a graphical manner. You can
create charts that can be integrate in your document either directly in Microsoft Word or
imported from external files like Microsoft Excel.
 Chart – Used to illustrate and compare
data.

6. Screenshot

Sometimes, creating reports or manuals for training or procedures will require the
integration of a more realistic image of what you are discussing on your report or
manual. Nothing can get you a more realistic image than a screenshot. Microsoft Word
even provides a snipping tool for your screen shots so you can select and display only
the part that you exactly like to capture on your screen.

III. Image Placement

 Layout of text wrapping options.

A. In Line with Text

This is the default seeing for images that are inserted or integrated in your
document. It treats your image like a text font with the bottom side totally aligned with
the text line. This seeing is usually used when you need to place your image at the
beginning of a paragraph. When placed between texts in a paragraph or a sentence, it
distorts the overall appearance and arrangement of the texts in the paragraph because
it will take up the space it needs vertically, pushing whole lines of texts upward.

B. Square

This seeing allows the image you inserted to be placed anywhere with the paragraph
with the text going around the image in a square pa ern like frame.

C. Tight

This is almost the same as the Square seeing, but here the text “hug” or
conforms to the general shape of the image. This allows you to get a more creative
effect on your document. This se ing can mostly be achieved if you are using an image
that supports transparency like a .GIF or .PNG file.

D. Through

This se ing allows the text on your document to flow even tighter taking the
contours and shape of the image. Again, this can be best used with .GIF or .PNG type
of image.

E. Top and Bottom

This seeing pushes the texts away vertically to the top and/or the bottom of the
image so that the image occupies a whole text line on its own.

F. Behind Text

This allows your image to be dragged and placed anywhere on your document but with
all the texts floating in front of it. It effectively makes your image look like a background.

G. In Front of Text

As it suggests, this seeing allows your image to be placed right on top of the text
as if your image was dropped right on it. That means whatever part of the text you
placed the image on, it will be covered by the image.

IV. Key Terms

Mail Merge – a feature that allows you to create documents and combine or merge
them with another document or data file.

Form Document – the document that contains the main body of the message we want
to convey or send.

Data File – includes the individual information or data or the recipient’s information.

Merge Field/Place Holder – marks the position on your form document where
individual data or information will be inserted.
.JPG – file extension for the Joint Photographic Experts Group picture file.

.PNG – file extension for Portable Network Graphics image file.

.GIF – file extension for the Graphics Interchange Format image file.

Clipart – line art drawings or images used as a generic representation for ideas
and objects.

Smart Art – predefined sets of different shapes grouped together to form ideas
that are organizational or structural in nature.

Text Wrap – adjusts how the image behaves around other objects or text.