Graphics that incorporate merge fields?

[Ed]

I'm dreaming of a personal project, so this may not be possible. My son is
a teacher. I think it would be neat to have a collection of maybe six or
eight different graphics that can be imported into a Word doc to create a
card. Each graphic would have a mail merge field that would pull the name
of a student from his class list. That way all the kids aren't getting the
same card.

I figure if these graphics were all laid out in a template with fields in
place, the merge action would just fill the fields top to bottom as many
pages as needed. But is there a way to imbed a merge field into a graphic,
so he can chose the 6th graphic to go to the 4th child and so forth?

Ed

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi Ed,

I'm dreaming of a personal project, so this may not be possible. My son is
a teacher. I think it would be neat to have a collection of maybe six or
eight different graphics that can be imported into a Word doc to create a
card. Each graphic would have a mail merge field that would pull the name
of a student from his class list. That way all the kids aren't getting the
same card.

I figure if these graphics were all laid out in a template with fields in
place, the merge action would just fill the fields top to bottom as many
pages as needed. But is there a way to imbed a merge field into a graphic,
so he can chose the 6th graphic to go to the 4th child and so forth?

I'm afraid it's not possible. At least, not exactly as you envision.
Mergefields are old technology; the graphics current versions of Word use
aren't "native" to Word, but integrated from a common, Office tool. In a
nutshell, lots of Word's core functionality doesn't "see" graphics.

What might be possible would be to place the graphics "behind" the text, in a
table. Then the merge fields can be in the table cells, superimposed on the
graphics.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

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[Ed]

What might be possible would be to place the graphics "behind" the text,

in a
table. Then the merge fields can be in the table cells, superimposed on
the
graphics.

Would I be able to save the integrated table with graphic as something so
one call would insert the "set"?

Then again, if I've only got six or eight graphics and it's going to take
some code to insert his choice, maybe I should just capture his choice and
use some kind of look-up table to tell Word where to draw a text box and
write in the name. Not sure which would be easier. Both would be "learning
curves" for me.

Ed

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi Ed,

Would I be able to save the integrated table with graphic as something so
one call would insert the "set"?

Then again, if I've only got six or eight graphics and it's going to take
some code to insert his choice, maybe I should just capture his choice and
use some kind of look-up table to tell Word where to draw a text box and
write in the name. Not sure which would be easier. Both would be "learning
curves" for me.

I'm afraid I don't understand what you're asking me, here?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[Ed]

Sorry for the confusion. I'm looking at two possibilities, wondering which
would be easier for a limited set of maybe six or eight graphic elements.

When you say "place the graphics "behind" the text, in a table. Then the
merge fields can be in the table cells, superimposed on the graphics.", I
get a mental picture of creating a table, inserting a graphic into the
table, and then sending it behind the text, leaving a table cell with my
merge field in front of the graphic. Can this
"table-with-field-over-graphic" be saved as one single element that can then
be inserted? (If all of this was in its own template, could the combination
be saved as an AutoText entry?)

The other possibility was simply allowing a choice of graphics through a
UserForm and capturing which graphic was inserted. A look-up table would
tell the code that for graphic A, insert a text box of this size at this x
and y, or perhaps insert a table of this size, and write the child's name in
the box or a specific cell.

I'm not experienced enough to know how much I'm biting off to chew with
either option, if indeed any of them are even possible!

Ed

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi Ed,

When you say "place the graphics "behind" the text, in a table. Then the
merge fields can be in the table cells, superimposed on the graphics.", I
get a mental picture of creating a table, inserting a graphic into the
table, and then sending it behind the text, leaving a table cell with my
merge field in front of the graphic. Can this
"table-with-field-over-graphic" be saved as one single element that can then
be inserted? (If all of this was in its own template, could the combination
be saved as an AutoText entry?)

Yes, you could certainly select the table and create an AutoText entry from it.
You'd want to be careful to format the graphics relative to the text ("Move
with text") and not relative to the page.

If you're talking about saving each cell's content (picture + mergefield), then
you'd need to test this. My instincts tell me there should be a combination
that would work, but it might take some "fiddling" with paragraphs and anchors
in order to get a reliable one.

The other possibility was simply allowing a choice of graphics through a
UserForm and capturing which graphic was inserted. A look-up table would
tell the code that for graphic A, insert a text box of this size at this x
and y, or perhaps insert a table of this size, and write the child's name in
the box or a specific cell.

This would be much more difficult to control <shudder>

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[Ed]

Thanks so much for your patience and your advice in this, Cindy. I'll go
play now and see what I come up with.
Ed