Mail merge from a CSV file in Publish by Zaweba

Twenty certificates with twenty different names are a chore to make one at a time, and the chance of a typo grows with every copy. Mail merge in Publish by Zaweba lets you design the certificate once, point it at a list of names, and get every version from a single layout.

The list comes from a CSV file, the plain table format almost every spreadsheet, address book and booking system can save. Publish reads it, shows you the columns, and lets you drop each one into your text wherever it should appear.

Getting the data ready

Mail merge reads CSV only, so if your list lives in a spreadsheet, save or export it as CSV first. Publish is relaxed about the details: the values can be separated by commas, semicolons or tabs, fields can be in quotes, and the file can be UTF-8 or the usual Windows code page. The one firm rule is that the first row holds the column names, such as Name, Club, Award or Table, because those are the names you'll pick from when placing fields.

Tidy the list before you merge. Check that names are spelt the way people want them, that there are no blank rows in the middle, and that each column holds one kind of thing. Ten minutes in the spreadsheet saves reprinting later.

Placing the fields

Open Tools > Mail merge and choose your CSV file. The columns appear in a list. Click into a text box where a value should go, then click the column, and its field goes in at the caret. Insert > Mail-merge field does the same from the menu. You can put fields in the middle of a sentence (Congratulations to a Name field, for example) and give them ordinary formatting like the text around them, so a name can be large and bold on a certificate while the date sits small at the bottom.

Leave a little room in each text box for the longest value in the list. A name field that fits nicely for a short name may push onto a second line for a long one, so preview a few of the longer entries before you print.

Previewing and producing the results

Preview the merge record by record to see each version on the page as it will come out. This is where you catch the long name that overflows, the empty column you forgot about, or the field placed in the wrong box.

When it looks right, either export one merged PDF, with a page for each record, or print merged straight to a printer through the normal Windows print dialog. The PDF route is the more flexible one: you can check every page, send the file to a print shop, or keep it as a record of what went out.

The data is kept inside the .ozp publication file, so the merge travels with the document. Open it next month and the list is still there, ready to preview or update.

Jobs mail merge suits

Certificates for a school, a sports club or a course are the obvious one: same design, different names and achievements. Invitations with each guest's name and table number work the same way, as do letters to members with their own membership details, place cards for a dinner, and tickets numbered or named for each person. Name badges and label sheets take it a step further, putting several records on one sheet, and that has its own article.

Mistakes to avoid

Don't forget the header row; without it the first person's details are taken as column names. Don't place fields in a frame that's too tight, since text that doesn't fit will overflow. And check the encoding if accented letters come out wrong, saving the CSV again as UTF-8 usually sorts it.

Mail merge turns a fiddly afternoon of copying and pasting into a few minutes of setup in Publish by Zaweba, and the result is consistent from the first page to the last.