LESSON 3

ADVANCED WORD PROCESSING SKILLS

Lesson Objectives

• Use some advanced capabilities of Microsoft Word commonly used to increase productivity and efficiency;
• Effectively use these features to help improve the productivity of an organization through maximizing the potential of Microsoft Word;
• Create form letters or documents for distribution to various recipients;
• Create labels and envelopes for distribution;
• Create media-rich documents for printing or publishing.

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 per se is 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 matter 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.

Form Document

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 fro 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.

Enter a caption

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-formatted. 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-formatted 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.

The Update Labels Icon can be found under the Mailings tab.

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 better 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 lettering, line drawings, or simple graphics. .JPG images are relatively small in file size.

Example of a .jpeg format picture.

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 better 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.

Smart Art

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.

Screenshot Icon – can be found under the Insert tab.

III. Image Placement

Layout of  text wrapping options.

A. In Line with Text

           This is the default setting 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 setting 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 setting allows the image you inserted to be placed anywhere with the paragraph with the text going around the image in a square pattern like frame.

C. Tight

            This is almost the same as the Square setting, 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 setting can mostly be achieved if you are using an image that supports transparency like a .GIF or .PNG file.

D. Through

            This setting 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 setting 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 setting 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.

For more Understanding about Advanced Word Processing Skills , Click the Link below↓

Advanced Microsoft Word - Formatting Your Document