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A Print merge example in CorelDRAW X4

March 30th, 2009 Val Posted in CorelDRAW | 2 Comments »

Today I was creating nametags and folder lables for an upcoming church retreat for the women of the church. Last time I did this, I was using X3, so today I decided I’d try the Merge to New Document feature in X4 just to see what it did.

The retreat chairman sent me a list of the women’s names that we know are attending at this point. I stuck them into a .txt file and added “First, Last” to the top of the list, then put a comma between each woman’s first name and her last name. Now my data file was all set up and the whole thing for 30 women took only about 60 seconds. I’d designed the logo for the retreat brochure from clipart back in the fall. I simply resized it to fit the two kinds of labels I needed.

Now my normal procedure is to use the Avery label page set up, add a Master layer for the logo or byline that has to go on every page, then do the print merge onto those labels I have names for. Then I print a few more blank labels with just the generic stuff and names will be added with markers whenever we know who they belong to. It’s kind of a print twice procedure, because you never know if those with longer names are going to actually fit in the label area until you go to print. Either that, or you’ve got to design your label around the longest name you know. We teach this procedure in the CorelDRAW Introductory classes at http://lvsonline.com .

With the Merge to New Document feature in X4, I can see – and adjust – the names so they all not only fit, but look right on the label without having to type them all in and risk typing someone’s name wrong. That’s great! The labels and the name tags were two different sized labels, so with CorelDRAW, it was super easy to adjust everything to fit each size. (And I didn’t have to type it all in correctly TWICE!)

What I didn’t expect was that when the merge is done, the logo Master layer jumps to a plain layer on each label page. (Those of you who have taken my classes or are familiar with how the label page setup works will remember that each label is a “page” and the imposition is done for you automatically.)

The solution to get the extra blank labels with just the logo on them was to duplicate the last page using layers and contents, delete the name on it, then duplicate again to fill the extra “pages” on my label sheet.

Here’s my nametag. Maybe not the absolute best quality design, but the ladies will think it’s more than fine.

A finished name tag.

Have fun!

Val P.