How to create name badges using mail merge in Word 2010

20 Jun 2012

How to create name badges using mail merge in Word 2010

Question from one of our superhero customers: How do you handle your name badges for larger group events? I’ve learned we use Excel and mail merge into Word, but it takes me 2 hours to format and adjust, then re-adjust, then I have to manually copy and paste the logo onto the label, which takes more time to format because it then messes up the formatting I’ve just done. There has to be a smarter way. Any ideas?

RedCape Answer: If your list of attendees is stored in Excel, you can use the mail merge feature in Word 2010 to quickly and easily create name tags. The trick is to set up one name tag the way you want it and use the “Update Labels” command to create the remaining labels.

Check out the video here:

Posted in Word 2010 and tagged Mail merge, Name tags

16 thoughts on “How to create name badges using mail merge in Word 2010”

Hetty van Boven on January 31, 2013 at 2:47 AM said:

At 3.10, I see a grid on your video that delineates the labels. I do not see that when I try it. This makes it hard to design the name badge.
I hope you can tell me how I can get it correctly.
Thanks
Hetty

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Vickie Sokol Evans on January 31, 2013 at 6:00 AM said:

Hi Hetty, I’m SO glad you asked that question. The table’s gridlines are turned on in my example. It sounds like the gridlines are turned off on your screen. If you are inside the table that was created (even if you can’t see the grid) then you should have two new tabs on your ribbon. The group of tabs should say Table Tools and there’s one tab for Design and one for Layout. Go to the Layout tab and click View Gridlines. That should resolve your problem. If not, let me know.

Hope this helps.

P.S. For additional support, Like our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/redcapeco and post more questions on anything Microsoft Office.

Cheers!

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Hetty van Boven on February 1, 2013 at 9:33 PM said:

Thanks so much Vickie, that worked so well and I never would have worked it out on my own. One more question: there are 8 labels to a page, but my list is much longer. When I add another page, it is a blank one. Is there a way pages are automatically added or should I have created the pages at the beginning?
Hetty

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- Vickie Sokol Evans on February 1, 2013 at 9:52 PM said:
  
  If you’re still setting up the labels, there is no need to add another page. Just set up one label the way you want it, then use the Update Labels button to fill in the remaining labels on that one page. Once you do the final merge, all of your labels will be created and the additional pages inserted automatically.
  
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  - Hetty van Boven on February 2, 2013 at 10:09 PM said:
    
    Thanks again Vickie, I tried it and it does!
    Hetty
Marcus Kroek on March 18, 2013 at 9:35 PM said:

Thank you. You have made my day.

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David Morin on May 19, 2013 at 2:58 PM said:

Is it possible to use a merge to make name badge with the photo of the person?

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lisa barney on June 22, 2013 at 3:38 PM said:

YOU ARE AWESOME! LIFESAVER! THANK YOU!!

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Jeff Bones on July 8, 2013 at 5:03 PM said:

I can do the labels you show very well thanks to your help. But I want to replicate these labels for different groups. Do I have to start over each time, or can I have a template to start with that has the codes and just point to a different resource? Thanks

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Maureen on August 30, 2013 at 7:33 PM said:

You are my favorite person in the world right now. I’m the go-to person here for software and I couldn’t remember where the badges were in Word mail merge. Anyway, sent your great video to the people who were asking and then stuck around to look at the rest of your blog. Two words: amazingly helpful.

I’m so happy I found you. Thanks so much for sharing all of this with us.

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Shannon on November 27, 2013 at 2:00 PM said:

Vickie,
Can you please tell me if you have these instructions written out anywhere or just the tutorial through Youtube?
Thanks

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Natalia on January 13, 2014 at 11:37 AM said:

My image is a full size background for the template and I have it set to appear behind text, it looks perfect on the template but once previewed in merge they all move sideways as if the text was pushing them. How can I avoid this happening?

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Donna on January 31, 2014 at 10:04 AM said:

Hello,
This was very helpful and a great explanation! I have one question… Why do I get the same name on all of the name badges on one page. Each page has one name so I am getting 6 for the same person. What do I need to do?

Thank you!

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Ed Vaillancourt on August 22, 2014 at 2:56 PM said:

Dear Redcape: this is a very helpful video, but I need to change the ‘logo’ to a classmates picture for reunion name tags. I have all the classmates pictures and I can insert them as paths (links) on each individual record row in Excel, but then I’m stuck. Help?

Ed Vaillancourt

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Beth on October 13, 2014 at 11:10 PM said:

This was a lifesaver for me; I really appreciate the tutorial!

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Alison Scott on March 10, 2016 at 2:59 PM said:

i am getting the same name on a full sheet instead of one per badge?
help!

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