How to leave out blank address lines on labels

Use the {Address} merge field in Labels by Zaweba. It stands for the street lines through to the country, and it leaves out any of those lines that are blank. On top of that, any line on the label whose fields are all empty disappears, so a contact without a company has no gap where the company would be. Every label closes up neatly, whatever is missing.

Gaps in address labels are one of the oldest annoyances of mail merge. Some addresses have three street lines and some have one; some contacts have a company and some don't. Labels deals with it for you.

Setting up the label

On the designer tab, add a text item and type the fields you want on it. The starter design is {Name}, {Company}, {Address}, each on its own line, which already does the right thing for most people. Name first, the company line only if there is one, then the address with no blanks.

If you prefer to lay out the address yourself, the separate fields from {Address1} to {Country} are there too. Any line where every field is empty still disappears, so a line holding just one empty field won't leave a hole.

Checking with real data

The same layout feeds the preview, the PDF and the printer, so a label that looks tidy on screen will look tidy on paper. Sample data appears in the merge fields as you design, so you see a real-looking label. The real test is the live preview after choosing who to print. Scroll through every sheet and look at the contacts with short addresses and those with no company. They should look as tidy as the rest.

Where gaps can still sneak in

Using {Address} and the separate street fields on the same label repeats lines, so pick one approach and stick to it.

Gaps that remain usually come from the address book rather than the design. An address typed into the wrong boxes, such as the town in the second street line, will print in the wrong place even though nothing is blank. If one contact's label looks odd in the preview, open that contact and tidy the fields. It is worth doing after a CSV import from an older list, where columns may not have matched perfectly; the import reports any columns it didn't recognise, which is a good clue.

Making long addresses fit

Some addresses are long, particularly overseas ones. Text can shrink to fit, down to 5 pt, and wraps within its box, so a long address stays inside the label. Check the preview for any that end up very small, and consider a larger label stock if many do.

Why it matters

The same rule helps envelopes. When you print DL, C5 or C4 envelopes, the delivery address sits lower right, and a tidy address without gaps looks far better in that space. Your return address, top left if you want it, is saved in settings so it doesn't need typing each time.

A neat label looks cared for. Christmas cards, club newsletters and customer parcels all reach people who notice whether their address looks right. Letting the {Address} field handle blank lines means you design the label once and every contact gets a tidy result.