Printing Labels

You also can print a label?or a sheet of labels?using either your delivery address or your return address. To do so, choose Tools, Letters and Mailings, Envelopes and Labels, and click the Labels tab, as shown in Figure 6.13.

Word follows the same rules for finding an address to include on your labels as it did for finding the address for envelopes. If you entered a specific name and address in the Envelopes tab, Word places it in the Labels tab as well. Again, you can edit it if you want. And, as with envelopes, you can click the Address Book button to insert names from your Microsoft Outlook or other address book.

By default, Word expects to print a full page of identical copies of the text in the label. Therefore, the Full Page of the Same Label button is selected. You can, however, click Single Label to print only one label. You might use this option to create a shipping label for a large envelope or package, to create a large return address label, or to allow you to reuse most of a sheet of labels in the event you need to print only one.

If you've dealt with partially used label sheets before, you know that printing a single label means choosing a specific location of the sheet to print to. So, when you choose to create just one label, Word wants to know which of the label locations on your sheet it should print on. For example, you might want to print on the second label in the third column of labels. Use the Row or Column scroll boxes to specify the row and/or column number on which you want to print.

Specifying Label Printing Options

Word assumes that you feed your labels manually. To tell it otherwise, click the Options button. The Label Options dialog box opens (see Figure 6.14). Select another paper source from the Tray drop-down list in the Printer Information area of the dialog box.

Word supports an extraordinary variety of labels, including labels sold both in the U.S. and in global markets. The Label Products drop-down box in the Label Options dialog box (refer to Figure 6.14) contains 14 groups of laser and inkjet labels from around the world:

• Avery standard (the default U.S. setting)

• AOne

• APLI

• Avery A4 and A5 sizes

• Devauzet

• ERO

• Formtec

• Herma

• Hisago

• Kokuyo

• MACO/Wilson Jones Standard

• Pimaco

• Rank Xerox

• Zweckform

Additional categories are available for dot-matrix printers, notably the CoStar LabelWriter. To see which label to use, see the packaging your labels came in.

The labels Word supports (or can be customized to support) include far more than just address labels: You can create disk, videotape, and CD-ROM labels; file folder labels; name badge labels; postage labels; tent cards; portfolio labels; and much more. To choose a label, select the manufacturer and product category from the Label Products drop-down box; then select the specific type of label from the Product Number scroll box. There, Word provides not only product numbers, but brief descriptions of each label as well.

Creating a Custom Label

If none of Word's hundreds of built-in label definitions matches yours?hard as that is to imagine?you can build your own label. In the Label Options dialog box, click New Label or click in the Label Information area. The New Custom Laser dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 6.15. (If you have specified dot matrix as your printer type, this dialog box is titled New Custom Dot Matrix, and the picture of the label is somewhat different.)

To create a custom label size, follow these steps:

Although you can create labels of virtually any size, you must print them on one of Word's standard paper sizes, such as 8 1/2"x11".

Creating a File of Labels for Later Printing

You may not want to print your labels immediately. For example, the computer you are using right now may not be attached to a printer that can print your labels; or the labels you need may be in the supply cabinet at the office while you're at home. You can create a file consisting of labels for later printing.

To do so, include the text you want to appear in your label (for example, add a name and address, as discussed in earlier sections). Establish the label settings you want (for example, choose whether you want to print a full page of the same label, or just one label). Then, click New Document. Word creates and displays a new document consisting of the labels you have created (see Figure 6.16). Be sure to save the file Word creates.