Attach or embed PDF when merging to email?

[ryanlink]

Using Office 2004 for Mac (11.2.3), we are trying to merge to email
between Word and Entourage.

The mail merge works fine using Query Options to a category in the
Office Address Book.

BUT, we are trying to embed or attach a PDF document to the Word
document we are merging.

If we drag-and-drop the PDF file into Word, it appears as an embedded
picture, but only the first page of the PDF. It shows up as a
too-small-to-read, out-of-focus image in the recipient's email.

Is there a way to embed a PDF file in the Word mail merge doc so that
all pages show up, and they are enlargeable?

Or is there a way to ATTACH a PDF file to the Word document that
becomes the main body of the outgoing email merge?

Thanks,
Ryan Link
Personal Technology Solutions
www.ptsolutions.com
212-206-9619

 

[Elliott Roper]

Using Office 2004 for Mac (11.2.3), we are trying to merge to email
between Word and Entourage.

The mail merge works fine using Query Options to a category in the
Office Address Book.

BUT, we are trying to embed or attach a PDF document to the Word
document we are merging.

If we drag-and-drop the PDF file into Word, it appears as an embedded
picture, but only the first page of the PDF. It shows up as a
too-small-to-read, out-of-focus image in the recipient's email.

That sounds about all you can expect. Word handles graphics abysmally.

Is there a way to embed a PDF file in the Word mail merge doc so that
all pages show up, and they are enlargeable?

I don't think so. You are asking far too much of Word's ability to
handle a PDF without wrecking it. As a general rule, you can rely on
Word to rasterize your PDF and otherwise make a complete mess of it.

Or is there a way to ATTACH a PDF file to the Word document that
becomes the main body of the outgoing email merge?

Hah! And again Hah!

At first thought, you would be better off trying to print the Word docs
as PDF then using Automator or Applescript and some PDF utility to glue
them all together. If this is a monster mail merge, I don't fancy your
chances of matching the result with the intended recipient. You might
try some clever naming convention for the concatenated PDF to be used
by a subsequent script that does the mailing.

Or why don't you give up on PDF and convert the attempted attachment to
text that becomes part of the Word doc?

Me, I never mail Word docs unless the recipient is meant to edit them
further. In that case, I'll usually send a PDF as well, so they can see
what it should have looked like before their Word settings, their
printer, my Word settings and the phase of the moon conspired to mangle
their view of it.

It is not the most well thought out aspect of the software.

 

[ryanlink]

That sounds about all you can expect. Word handles graphics abysmally.

Gathered that, thanks.

Hah! And again Hah!

At first thought, you would be better off trying to print the Word docs
as PDF then using Automator or Applescript and some PDF utility to glue
them all together. If this is a monster mail merge, I don't fancy your
chances of matching the result with the intended recipient. You might
try some clever naming convention for the concatenated PDF to be used
by a subsequent script that does the mailing.

Or why don't you give up on PDF and convert the attempted attachment to
text that becomes part of the Word doc?

Let me clarify. This is a financial group that is trying to send out a
monthly statement to a selection of their Entourage contacts. The
sender receives the PDF file from a third party, but they can also
receive it as a PPT file (which is not even possible to embed in a Word
doc). Waiting to hear whether they can receive the statement as a
straight Word doc, which should make our problems go away.

 

[Elliott Roper]

That sounds about all you can expect. Word handles graphics abysmally.

Gathered that, thanks.

Hah! And again Hah!

At first thought, you would be better off trying to print the Word docs
as PDF then using Automator or Applescript and some PDF utility to glue
them all together. If this is a monster mail merge, I don't fancy your
chances of matching the result with the intended recipient. You might
try some clever naming convention for the concatenated PDF to be used
by a subsequent script that does the mailing.

Or why don't you give up on PDF and convert the attempted attachment to
text that becomes part of the Word doc?

Let me clarify. This is a financial group that is trying to send out a
monthly statement to a selection of their Entourage contacts. The
sender receives the PDF file from a third party, but they can also
receive it as a PPT file (which is not even possible to embed in a Word
doc). Waiting to hear whether they can receive the statement as a
straight Word doc, which should make our problems go away.[/QUOTE]

If I read you right, you are making personalised documents for each
recipient. Each document contains a fixed portion that you get as PDF
of PPT from the third party.

Given that delivering a Word doc that looks simultaneously right to a
whole swarm of people is harder than herding cats, I'd persevere with
the PDF gluing script idea. It ain't pretty but it has some chance of
working.

The coward's way would be to send two attachments in each mail. One
personalised letter, one unmolested PDF. But I guess you already
rejected that.