How do I specify the fill order of mail merge Labels?

[Michael Tang]

Hi,

When I setup the mail merge for printing labels, the labels are filled from
left to right, and top to bottom.

Is there a way to change the fill order to [top to bottom] and then [left to
right]?

That is, instead of the labels

A B C D
E F G H
I J K L

I want

A D G J
B E H K
C F I L

I did some research on this subject, and I only saw sugguestions to use
Macro or VB to programatically do this. Does Word not have the function to
specify this fill direction?

Thanks,
Michael

 

[Anne Troy]

No, Michael. Word does not have a function to perform this action.
*******************
~Anne Troy

www.OfficeArticles.com
www.MyExpertsOnline.com

 

[Doug Robbins]

But, this macro can do what needs to be done to the data source to get the
labels to print that way.

' Macro to assign numbers to data source so that it can be sorted to cause
labels to print down columns
Dim Message, Title, Default, labelrows, labelcolumns, i As Integer, j As
Integer, k As Integer
Message = "Enter the number of labels in a row" ' Set prompt.
Title = "Labels per Row" ' Set title.
Default = "3" ' Set default.
' Display message, title, and default value.
labelcolumns = InputBox(Message, Title, Default)
Message = "Enter the number of labels in a column" ' Set prompt.
Title = "Labels per column" ' Set title.
Default = "5" ' Set default.
labelrows = InputBox(Message, Title, Default)
ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Columns.Add
BeforeColumn:=ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Columns(1)
ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Rows(1).Range.Cut
k = 1
For i = 1 To ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Rows.Count - labelcolumns
For j = 1 To labelrows
ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Cell(i, 1).Range.InsertBefore k + (j - 1) *
labelcolumns
i = i + 1
Next j
k = k + 1
i = i - 1
If k Mod labelcolumns = 1 Then k = k - labelcolumns + labelcolumns *
labelrows
Next i
ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Sort FieldNumber:="Column 1"
ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Rows(1).Select
Selection.Paste
ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Columns(1).Delete

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[Michael Tang]

Thanks guys,

I will give this a shot.

But, this macro can do what needs to be done to the data source to get the
labels to print that way.

' Macro to assign numbers to data source so that it can be sorted to cause
labels to print down columns
Dim Message, Title, Default, labelrows, labelcolumns, i As Integer, j As
Integer, k As Integer
Message = "Enter the number of labels in a row" ' Set prompt.
Title = "Labels per Row" ' Set title.
Default = "3" ' Set default.
' Display message, title, and default value.
labelcolumns = InputBox(Message, Title, Default)
Message = "Enter the number of labels in a column" ' Set prompt.
Title = "Labels per column" ' Set title.
Default = "5" ' Set default.
labelrows = InputBox(Message, Title, Default)
ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Columns.Add
BeforeColumn:=ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Columns(1)
ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Rows(1).Range.Cut
k = 1
For i = 1 To ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Rows.Count - labelcolumns
For j = 1 To labelrows
ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Cell(i, 1).Range.InsertBefore k + (j - 1) *
labelcolumns
i = i + 1
Next j
k = k + 1
i = i - 1
If k Mod labelcolumns = 1 Then k = k - labelcolumns + labelcolumns *
labelrows
Next i
ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Sort FieldNumber:="Column 1"
ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Rows(1).Select
Selection.Paste
ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Columns(1).Delete

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

Hi,

When I setup the mail merge for printing labels, the labels are filled
from
left to right, and top to bottom.

Is there a way to change the fill order to [top to bottom] and then [left
to
right]?

That is, instead of the labels

A B C D
E F G H
I J K L

I want

A D G J
B E H K
C F I L

I did some research on this subject, and I only saw sugguestions to use
Macro or VB to programatically do this. Does Word not have the function
to
specify this fill direction?

Thanks,
Michael