Print 2 half-sheet mail merge docs on one sheet of paper

[Sue]

I would like to print 2 half pages of a mail merge per 8.5 x 11" sheet of
paper. I have the Page Setup > set for two pages per sheet. I get the
documents on a half sheet but only one document per sheet of paper. I would
like to have it print two documents on one sheet of paper.

When I go to File > Print to change the Zoom--the Zoom is grayed out so I
cannot change it. Is there a way to make this option available to change
"Pages per sheet:" from "1 page" to "2 pages".

If I set the Page Setup > Pages to "Normal", the Zoom is now available on
the File > Print. But it still only prints one document per page and the
document is half the normal size (with "No Scaling" option on).

Is there a way to print a half page mail merge document--2 pages per sheet
of 8.5 x 11" paper?

Thank you for the help.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I have done this, and it was not especially difficult. I set it up as a
Directory merge with the first paragraph on the page formatted as "Page
break before." It may be possible to do this as a Letter merge, but I
haven't tried it. When you use "2 pages per sheet" in Page Setup, you don't
need to use "2 pages per sheet" in the Print dialog; they are mutually
exclusive.

My guess is that you have a page break (or something that causes a page
break) at the end of your mail merge main document, and that is creating a
blank page following each record; see
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/BlankPage.htm

 

[Sue]

Thank you, Suzanne!! Putting the document as a Directory merge worked like a
charm. I just had to put a "Page Break" at the end of the document and
voila--two documents per page. I have been cutting paper in half for a
year--Finally got tired of it and vowed to get to the bottom of the issue.
Never thought of putting it in a directory format because I did not think of
the document as a "directory"--just a "half-page letter".

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Oddly, I don't think I started with it as a Directory merge, even though
what I was making *was* a directory; I tend to think of the
Catalog/Directory option as being for having more than one record on a page.
I think I started with form letters, since each record was going to be a
separate page (it was for a loose-leaf pictorial directory of my Rotary
club, one member per page), but then that results in a lot of section
breaks, which I wanted to avoid.

 

[Pooja Gupta]

Would it be possible for you to list the step-by-step instructions for doing
this? I have the exact same problem but your solution is not working as well
for me and I'm pretty sure I've missed a step somewhere.

Basically, I have a 8 1/2 by 11 template that I use for generating meeting
notices to mail out to the community. I'd like to use mail merge to have the
first residents address printed on the top half, and the second residents's
address printed on the bottom half and so on. That way I can cut the paper
in half and mail them postcard style.

Thanks.
Pooja

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Since you have not quoted any of the previous thread, it's hard to know what
you may already have been told, but you can start by selecting "2 pages per
sheet" in the Page Setup dialog (using the Portrait setting so that you get
one page above the other). Then set up page 1 as your mail merge main
document.